Inkwell ANNIE WRIGHT UPPER SCHOOL
JANUARY 2020
THE ISSUE
ANNIE WRIGHT UPPER SCHOOL
Letter from the editors The year 2020 marks the beginning of a new decade. It is also the year of the much anticipated presidential election, the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment and the launch year of NASA’s next rover to Mars. Inkwell explored these topics and more with the 2020 issue, including a brief commemoration of the last all-girls class. The staff also compiled a list of trends that we predict will come IN and go OUT. Inkwell hopes readers find something to look forward to in 2020 with this issue.
Inkwell JANUARY 2020
827 North Tacoma Avenue Tacoma, WA 98403 inkwell@aw.org | 253-272-2216 Issue 2 | Volume 59 EDITOR IN CHIEF Abby Givens PRINT EDITOR YoungSeo Jo ONLINE EDITOR Julia Henning
Happy New Year!
ARTS & ENVIORNMENT EDITOR Gabrielle Krieger
Abby Givens Editor-in-Chief
NEWS EDITOR Jade Cheatham
YoungSeo Jo Print Editor
SPORTS EDITOR Kaitlin Tan REPORTERS Parker Briggs Sebastian Bush Lauren Cook Reagan Easter Sofia Guerra Emily Simons Laney Sneva Inkwell aims to provide the Annie Wright community with dependable and engaging coverage of school, community and global topics. Inkwell publishes articles of all genres weekly at anniewrightinkwell.org as well as four themed magazines during the course of the school year. Submissions of articles and photographs, correction requests and signed letters to the editor are most welcome. Please email the editors at inkwell@ aw.org. All published submissions will receive credits and bylines.
On the front cover: 10th grader Sean Lee and 9th grader Lauren Cook. Photos and cover design by YoungSeo Jo.
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Contents
Fashion trends of the past decade include bucket hats and tiny sunglasses. Graphic by YoungSeo Jo.
Class of '20 marks the end of an era Nevertheless, she persisted To the movies, and beyond! Electability trumps policy 7 popular fashion trends of the 2010s IN & OUT
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Born in 1980, but only 9 years old by Sebastian Bush
2020 is a leap year. During a leap year, there are 366
days instead of 365, and leap years occur every 4 years. That extra day is added to the end of February, creating a “leap day.” One event that stands out related to leap years is the Salem Witch Trials. According to multiple reports, the Salem Witch Trials started on February 29, 1692. According to The Atlantic, over 187,000 people in the US were born on leap day. They call themselves “Leaplings.” Some famous Leaplings include Ja Rule and Pope Paul III.
Superman was also said to have been born on Leap Day. Michael White, cousin of freshman Lauren Cook, is one of these people. Born on February 29, 1980, White will celebrate his tenth birthday in 2020.
Inkwell interviewed White about being born on a Leap Day. Inkwell: When and how do you celebrate your birthday?
White: For many years, especially when I was
younger, it fell on or around a weekend. My friends and I used to call it the Mike White Freedom Festival and would celebrate the 28th and the 1st.
Inkwell: What are people’s reactions when you tell them your birthday?
This is not a meme Surrealism redefined by Gabrielle Krieger The cultural movement of surrealism became prominent in the 1920s. One hundred years later, it’s making a comeback – this time redefined through memes. Surrealism was originally created to transcend the conscious human mind and reject the expectations of rational thinking through a variety of mediums. According to Upper School for Girls French teacher Olivier Soustelle, who majored in art history, surrealism is “often a critique on the tenants of social order or norms.” Surrealist meme featuring "Meme Man," made in imgflip by Gabrielle Krieger.
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White: Most do a double take when hearing or seeing
my ID. Every once in a while I get the, “you aren’t old enough for…” That got old when I was young but as you get old you don’t mind it so much.
Inkwell: Do you like having your birthday on February
am only nine years old, the look on their face is amazing. Being a leap year baby is a special honor. Everyone else’s birthday happens every year, so every four when I get mine it’s special, especially because I don’t care much about my yearly birthdays anymore, so it’s nice when a real one comes around. Plus whenever I have a birthday, the summer Olympics will take place the same year.
29th, or do you wish it wasn’t?
White: I love it. Always have. It’s something that
can be a conversation starter, or when I tell young kids I
A Leap Year happens every four years, and is called leap year due to every day "leaping" forward 24 hours. Graphic by Sebastian Bush.
Some famous surrealist artists were painters Salvador Dalí and Frida Kahlo, and filmmaker Jean Cocteau. In recent years, surrealism has reemerged in memes, but slightly changed. A meme is typically a photo or illustration with a humorous caption. Meme creators have been incorporating elements of surrealism through nonsensical captions and photos that often contain a cultural reference or commentary. Some staples of surrealist memes include Meme Man, a computer generated 3D head, and Mr. Orange or Orange Min, a human-like illustration of an orange.
While the creators of these memes see and label them as surrealist, there are those who do not accept these memes as a true form of surrealism. “Surrealism has a lot to do with the validity of the unconscious; however, none of these [memes] strike me as that type of content,” said Upper School for Girls art teacher John Weir. Soustelle agrees and warned, “A lot of things can easily pass for surrealist when they’re not grounded in reality, but a lot of what we see is debased from what it truly was.” Despite this, Weir said that he believes “surrealist” memes are still “absolutely valid as a way to express ideas and make a point.”
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Class of '20 marks an end of an era
by Kaitlin Tan
The seniors will be Annie Wright's last all-girls graduating class. Photo by Jen Willey.
In 2020, Annie Wright will see its last all-girls class graduate. As the senior class throws their graduation caps, they will conclude 136 years of all-girls graduating classes from the Upper School. Next year's senior class will be the first to have both boys and girls graduating, though the graduations are separated according to the Upper School for Girls and Upper School for Boys divisions. Forty-six years after Annie Wright’s founding, Annie Wright Seminary opened its doors to boys, who were allowed to enroll in the kindergarten. In 1970, Annie Wright Seminary was changed to Annie Wright Schools when the co-educational structure was extended to the upper elementary grade levels. In 1990, the school graduated its first class of middle school boys. It wasn’t until 2017 that the Upper School for Boys opened, a separate division devoted to an all-boys experience and education. “It will be very melancholy to see the last graduating class which is all-girls,” said Director of Business Development
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Rex Bates, who has been at Annie Wright in various roles for over 20 years. While history and tradition will remain important aspects of Annie Wright, Bates said, “We also have to care for the future of the school,” explaining that the addition of the boys' division will likely support a sustainable future. Echoing the rhetoric of Bates, Senior Audrey Johnson said that interacting with boys while also being apart of an all-girls class is something that the entire class values. According to Johnson, being a part of the last all-girls class is valuable due to the unity and care for the legacy that the class shares. “We’ve seen the progression [and] we’ve seen the differences,” said Johnson. However, according to Bates, while there will be boys and girls graduating class next year, the model that Annie Wright has adopted, which is to keep academic classes all-girls and all-boys, will continue to preserve the unique learning environment which generations of all-girls classes have enjoyed.
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Back & forward to the 20s in Tacoma by Jade Cheatham
In the past century, the city of Tacoma, known as the "City of Destiny," has developed significantly.
At its founding in 1865, Tacoma was a pioneer town that later developed a port with heavy industry in the 1920s.
In 2008, construction began to transform the contaminated site. This area now has apartments, a movie theater and many restaurants. In 2020, a new grocery store will open as well as a hotel by the water. The new location also connects downtown to Point Defiance Park.
In the 1920s, the main source of transportation was the Prairie Line, which connected to Union Station, which was only a few years old and changed how people traveled around Tacoma. It was placed in the middle of the warehouse district, making it an easy way to move around the city. The use of the railroad declined as cars became more popular in the 1940s, but still continued to be a major hub for transportation.
In 2018, the commencement of the new light rail began, and by 2022 a new form of transportation will run through the city. The Light Rail more than doubles the length of the current route and will pass through the Stadium District, near Wright Park, and reach the Hilltop neighborhood. Now that Union Station is no longer used as a transportation center, it is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
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2020 SUMMER OLYMPIC EVENTS AND ATHLETES
JULY
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24TH-AUGUST
9TH
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Remember their names: 2020 Olympic athletes & events to keep your eye on article and graphic by Reagan Easter
According to a survey of the Annie Wright Upper School for Girls, women’s gymnastics is the most popular summer Olympic sport to watch. Other events popular in this community include men’s swimming, women’s swimming, and women’s soccer.
Women’s gymnastics
50% of Upper School students are most inclined to watch women’s gymnastics. During the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, gymnastic events will take place at the Olympic Gymnastic Centre, Tokyo Bay, between July 25 and August 9. Events categories include artistic, rhythmic and trampolining. Female gymnastics athletes to keep your eye on: Kayla DiCello, 15 DiCello is only 15 years old and is a sophomore in high school. Athletes must be 16 or older in order to compete in the Olympics; luckily for DiCello, she will turn 16 just before the Olympic qualifiers. Her Olympian rise began when she captured the gold medal at the U.S. Junior National Championships. Simone Biles, 22 Simone Biles won four gold and one bronze medals at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Biles became the first woman to
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win four World Championships all-around titles in 2018 and has accumulated 20 World Championship medals – 14 of which are gold.
Men’s swimming
38% of Upper School students are most inclined to watch men’s swimming events. All swimming competitions at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo will take place from July 25 to August 2 at the Olympic Aquatics Centre. Swimming will feature a record total of 37 events with the addition of the men's 800m freestyle. Male swimmers to keep your eye on: Jordan Wilimovsky, 24 Jodan Wilimovsky, from Malibu, California, is the first American to secure a place at the 2020 Olympic Games. He will join Team USA’s open water contingent during his tenure in Tokyo. This year will mark his second Olympic appearance. He swam into the open water scene in 2015 with a 10K national championship that qualified him for the world championships, where he then took home the gold medal and qualified for his first Olympics in Rio in 2016. He also qualified in the pool for Rio, becoming the first American to qualify for both open water and pool competitions in one Olympic Games.
Caeleb Dressel, 23 In July 2019, Caeleb Dressel surpassed Michael Phelps's 10-year-old record of 49.82 seconds in the 100m butterfly with a time of 49.50. He has even matched Phelps’ seven gold medals. Dressel is unmissable for his array of arm tattoos.
Women’s swimming
35% of Upper School students are most inclined to watch women’s swimming events, which will also take place at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo from July 25 to August 2 at the Olympic Aquatics Centre. Female swimmers to keep your eye on: Haley Anderson, 28 Haley Anderson participates in 400m, 800m and 1,500m open water freestyle events. She is a two-time Olympian (2012, 2016) and Olympic medalist. She is also the first American to earn an Olympic medal in open water swimming. Ashley Twichell, 30 Along with Anderson, Ashley Twichell became the first American swimmer to qualify for the open water events in Tokyo. The 2020 Olympics will be her first Olympic run, but her extensive winning history should serve her well this summer.
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Women’s soccer
29.5% of Upper School students are most inclined to watch women’s soccer. The group stage section of women’s soccer matches will be held from July 22 to July 28. From there the knockout phase will begin on July 31 and the final match will take place on August 7. Female soccer players to keep your eye on: Vivianne Miedema, 23 Vivianne Miedema is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward for Arsenal and the Netherlands women's national football team. In 2019 the London Football Awards named her Women's Player of the Year. This past season she scored 20 goals over just 834 minutes of play.
“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” -the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Mallory Pugh, 21 Making her national debut for Team USA at just 17 years old in 2016, Pugh has proven her worth on the national field. Pugh was called up to the U20 national team at the age of 16 and went on to become the youngest US women’s player to score an Olympic goal. She also helped lead the US national team to victory during the 2019 World Cup.
Opening & Closing Ceremonies The 2020 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony will take place July 24 from 3:00 am to 6:00 am Pacific Standard Time. The 2020 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony will take place August 9 from 3:00 am to 6:00 am Pacific Standard Time.
Nevertheless, she persisted
The 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment by Sofia Guerra The 19th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States granted women the right to vote alongside their male peers in national elections. Passed in 1920, this amendment was the product of over sixty years of women’s suffrage. The suffrage movement was a political and social movement of the nineteenth century. It aimed to reform societal views regarding women’s roles and granted women the right to vote. Numerous grievances such as “he has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice,” and “he has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns” were recognized by women’s suffrage leaders in the now-famous Declaration of Sentiments. The Declaration of Sentiments was a document imitating the Declaration of Independence created in 1848 at the
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Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention. This document acted as an agenda for women’s rights movements and kick started the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, and many other now-famous names were among key suffragists. Women’s suffrage, which built an alliance with the Abolitionist Movement in 1850, was corroborated by people of all ages, genders and races. However, a majority of the United States remained adamant in their beliefs that women should not be granted the same rights as men. In 1868, after twenty years of protesting, Women Suffrage faced defeat when the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, exclusively defining both "citizens" and "voters" as male and again in 1871 when the Anti-Suffrage Party was founded. Nonetheless, women’s suffrage prevailed, bringing about the Progressive Era in 1890. The Progressive Era, as its name
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entails, was a period in the late 1800s and early 1900s when women of different backgrounds began to enter public and professional life, broadening and changing women’s roles. Upon the Progressive Era, Colorado, Washington, California, Oregon, Kansas, Arizona, Nevada, and Montana all adopted Women’s Suffrage before 1915.
to take advantage of the opportunity to vote. “For a hundred and fifty years, women didn’t have a voice in our nation, and some women still don’t have a voice in their nations, so I think in the United States, [voting] is a tribute to the legacy of those who worked on our behalf to get us this voice, and that it’s a privilege that shouldn’t be taken for granted,” she said.
On August 26, 1920, three quarters of the state legislature verified the 19th Amendment, granting all American women the full right to vote.
As a teacher, Dr. O’Brien makes it a priority to educate her students on these issues and empower them to fight for equality. “I try to think about that in a scaffolded way. The first way I like to think about that is in my classes, empowering people to have a voice, even just in the classroom...I think growing the confidence and realizing that we as women don’t have to be defined by one identity. There is no one way to be a woman, there is no one version of feminism that’s the right way, and it’s that privilege to define ourselves rather than having others define us, which I think plays a large role in us feeling
With the 100th anniversary of this amendment approaching, it is important to look at the impacts the Women’s Suffrage movement left on the nation. One major effect to note is the significance of the votes of women in today’s society. Bridgette O’Brien, World History and Global Politics teacher at Annie Wright Schools, said she believes it is crucial
empowered to do, think, and act in the way we that we see fit in the world. I think that’s going to move us as women towards a more equitable playing field.” Acalia Randall is a senior at Annie Wright and co-leader of the Women’s Empowerment group, which aims to educate and provide women with the confidence to distinguish between right and wrong in society and stand up for themselves and others. Randall noted some of the steps American society is yet to make towards equality. “One big issue is equal pay for women, women of color, indigenous, all across the board. Economic empowerment is such a key aspect. It’s also allowing women equal access to education, full control over their bodies...There’s a lot of steps we need to take, but I think as a generation we are on the right track of acknowledging this...and taking account of all these intersections.”
Annie Wright May Day celebration in 1920, the year women got the right to vote. Photo from Annie Wright Schools archives.
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Women's rights 100 years on A personal and professional perspective from local women's rights leader Miriam Barnett, CEO of the Pierce County YWCA
against women still, and we are still paid less than men for the most part. The pay gap is real and must be addressed. I anxiously await celebrating our first woman president.
Inkwell: Can you tell me about what role you play in the YWCA and some of the action the YWCA takes in advocating for equality?
Inkwell: As an advocate for modern women’s rights, Barnett: I am the CEO, which for me stands for Chief what do you think are some of the other major steps towards equality we have made?
Barnett: The Me-Too movement has been huge in
that it opened the door for many women to share their stories that had been held inside for a very long time. I am one of those women. I had never told anyone about being raped in college when I was 19 by an adjunct professor. I held it inside for 45 years. When Christine Blasey Ford testified against Kavanaugh, I found the courage to share my story, along with thousands of other women. We are still questioned and not believed by many men in power, but by claiming our story we claim our own power.
Inkwell: What aspects do you think still need a lot of work, especially in regards to politics?
Barnett: So much, unfortunately. We will not have fully succeeded at having women valued until we have a woman president. There is so much discrimination
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Executive of Opportunity. We provide domestic violence victims and their families with comprehensive services to start new lives free of violence. I have been in this role for 14 and a half years. We advocate to empower women in everything we do, from helping our clients heal to organizing rallies. We organized four rallies against Kavanaugh and also organized a rally to “Keep Families Together” to protest ICE and detention centers around the country and in Tacoma. We also pay women on the same scale as men and support initiatives that improve the lives of women, like mandatory sick pay.
Inkwell: What initiatives does the YWCA take to promote voting?
Barnett: We register our clients in the shelter
if they want to vote and don’t realize they can vote confidentially so their abuser cannot find them. We also have voter registration information at our events and promote it via our Facebook page as well.
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Rover to roam the red planet
NASA to launch next Mars Rover in 2020 by YoungSeo Jo
the minerals on its own, it’s very limited.
Mars is the fourth planet away from the Sun in our solar system.
NASA plans to launch the Mars 2020 rover in July, 2020. Its primary mission will be to find evidence of past life. According to NASA, the rover will collect samples of rocks and soil to analyze for possible signs of fossilized life and threats to future manned missions. To accomplish this, the new rover is equipped with a drill, sample tubes and scientific equipment that will provide high resolution feedback back to Earth. Andy Gleckman, an Annie Wright Upper School for Boys math teacher, worked previously for both NASA and SpaceX. He said he believes the rover will look for certain minerals that could only come from fossilized forms of life. While the rover does have some ability to analyze
Gleckman also spoke about the improvements made to this rover compared to the previous model. At this moment Curiosity, another rover that landed in 2012, is roaming on Mars. According to Gleckman, the Mars 2020 rover closely resembles Curiosity in size and configuration. This model, however, will have better wheels and equipment that will bring back more in-depth data. Margaret Shawver, an Upper School for Girls Math and Science teacher who previously worked for Boeing, believes one of the biggest challenges in designing robots for space exploration is shielding it from cosmic and gamma rays. Gamma rays are able to change the sensitive field programmable gate arrays, potentially ruining the mission. Gleckman expressed concerns about landing the rover on Mars. “It’s the size of a car; how do you land a car safely without it blowing up?” he mused. He described the “nail biting moment” when the rover loses contact as it enters the atmosphere. After that, the rover either comes into contact 10 minutes later or there’s silence, signaling that it failed in its landing. “That’s happened at Mars before; there have been many sacrifices to the planet,” Gleckman said. He emphasized, however, that there is a big possibility it will succeed since this rover is based on Curiosity, which successfully landed on Mars eight years ago.
Mars 2020 Rover will closely resemble Creativity, another past successful rover.
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Shawver also brought up environmental issues regarding space engineering. Because there are so many risks involved
with space exploration, the machinery must be sturdy and flawless, meaning it’s necessary to use materials that aren’t environmentally friendly. “Things that are very sturdy don’t get changed by nature, which means they are not very recyclable,” she said. According to Shawver, this is one of the challenges facing space exploration in the future. When asked about the significance of this mission, Gleckman stressed the importance of new questions. “I feel like each one [rover] gives some answers but opens up more questions,” he said. He elaborated that each mission gives society a new understanding of the planet, building upon the answers that we already have but opening up new areas to be considered. Junior Daniel Wang is a space exploration enthusiast who expressed his excitement for the mission. “If NASA can successfully send the fetch rover to collect the samples, the scientists can analyze the samples on Earth, which I believe no other countries have done," he said. "It would be the first time scientists on Earth could analyze these Mars samples in laboratories.” The Mars 2020 rover launch is just one of many recent progressions in space exploration. Shawver hopes future missions take advantage of artificial intelligence in space exploration as they can survive extremely long missions. Wang expressed excitement over manned missions. According to him, both NASA and SpaceX are planning for manned mission to Mars. “I hope in the future, astronauts can go on to Mars to do exploration, and companies such as SpaceX can make everyone afford Earth to Moon traveling,” he said.
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To the movies, and beyond!
article and graphics by Julia Henning
The Irishman
Top contenders for 2020 Oscar nominations The Farewell
Frank Sheeran leaves his life as a truck driver to join a crime team. Through his work, he makes ties with Jimmy Hoffa, the leader of the Teamsters, and goes to extreme measures to stop Hoffa’s rise.
Jojo Rabbit
Billi returns to her hometown in China to stand by her grandmother’s side as she lives her final weeks – except no one has told her grandmother she is dying. To bring all the family together to celebrate their matriarch, they put on a fake wedding and rediscover their familial love and bonds.
In a satirical look on WW2 and the rise of Hitler, young Jojo idolizes Hitler and befriends him in his imagination. After finding a young Jewish girl his mother is hiding in their attic, he begins to question his loyalty to Hitler and weighs the rights and wrongs of the Nazi regime.
Marriage Story
Successful couple Charlie and Nicole experience marital trouble as they try to produce Charlie’s play starring Nicole in New York. After counseling is unsuccessful, Nicole leaves the show to pursue a new TV program in LA. The critically acclaimed film by Academy award nominated Noah Baumbach tells a story of pushing oneself to creative and personal extremes.
Little Women
Sisters Amy, Jo, Beth and Meg, in the aftermath of the Civil War, find love and bonds during hard times. This comingof-age movie, based on the famous novel by Louisa May Alcott, looks at the roles of women, love, and sacrifice.
Joker
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Once a famous and well known actor, Rick Dalton struggles to find work in Hollywood and turns to alcoholism. Actress Sharon Tate and her husband, director Roman Polanski, move next door to Dalton, unaware that their futures will be altered by members of the Manson Family.
Rocketman
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Arthur Fleck lives with his mom, and both have been abused by her boyfriend in Gotham City. After his failed career as a comedian and a lack of connection, Fleck descends into madness as the“joker” and commits crimes.
Following the true story of Elton John, this movie incorporates his music and tells the story of his life from childhood to the present, revealing the addictions, relationships, and the ups and downs of Elton John’s ongoing music career.
Parasite
In this Korean film, the Kim family lives a low profile life while struggling to make ends meet. The Kims make connections with the Parks, a wealthy and high class family. This drama/mystery film takes a deep look at status and class discrimination between families.
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Us
Movies suspected to be released in 2020:
Adelaide Wilson and her family return to her childhood home only to be haunted by a traumatic past. As Wilson senses more and more bad things occurring, four masked people attack their home only to appear as duplicates of the family.
• • • • • •
Toy Story 4
Woody and Buzz Lightyear return for the fourth movie of the Toy Story franchise. This time they go on a road trip with characters old and new and discover what they really want out of life as toys.
Yesterday
After waking up in the hospital after a power outage, Jack Malik learns that no one remembers the Beatles. Malik makes the Beatles’ music his own as his way to put himself on the path to fame. Incorporating the music of the Beatles, this film shows a light take on living a lie and dealing with the effects of your actions.
Take Down The House
This documentary follows the women running in the 2018 midterm election for seats in office, specifically Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. From her job as a bartender to her position in the House of Representatives, Ocasio-Cortez narrates her life story and how this campaign changed her life.
Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
• • • • • • • • •
Godzilla vs. Kong The Croods 2 Fast & Furious 9 Minions: The Rise of Gru Friday the 13th (remake) Wonder Woman 1984 (sequel to Wonder Woman) Mulan (live-action) Ghostbusters 3 A Quiet Place 2 The Conjuring 3 Purge 5 The Walking Dead Movie Spongebob Movie 2: Sponge on the Run The One and Only Ivan (based on the book) Scoob! (a Scooby-Doo movie)
Movies that mention (or are set in) 2020: • Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet • • • •
(1965) Droid (1988) Stranded (2001) Reign of Fire (2002) Annihilation Earth (2009)
Top choices by Annie Wright students for Oscar nomination:
This film follows the true story of the Fyre festival, an exclusive Coachellastyle party on an island, that failed to come to fruition. The documentary sheds light on how the failed festival affected the festival-goers who were scammed as well as the locals who were mistreated.
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For 2020 democrats, Electability Trumps Policy by Abby Givens In November 2020, citizens of the United States of America will cast their ballots, a first for many Upper School students, in support of the Presidential candidate they believe will usher in the change they hope to see, or possibly simply the one they think will win. Winning, or a candidate’s electability, has in many ways become the main focus point of this election; the topic dominates the debate stage and interactions between local campaigners and Democratic voters. Educators and civic leaders continue to underscore the importance of voting as part of the democratic process. According to Mo Pannier, the High School Engagement and Leadership Development Coordinator at the Washington Bus, a non profit that works to increase youth access and participation in politics, “If you're voting, you are civically engaged and I think that is so important. Every vote does count.”
Miriam Barnett, the CEO of YWCA Pierce County, echoed this sentiment, “Every vote matters and we need to vote.” In addition, both women argued that voting is critical among underrepresented groups. According to Pannier, in Washington, the largest voting constituency is above middle age. “The average age of a Washington state voter in an off election is 62 years old,” she said. To ensure that the leadership of the country and state represents all Americans, younger generations, in addition to the older, must vote. This pertains to gender as well. “Women think differently than men. We need different thinking styles to weigh in on what our democracy will look like,” said Barnett.
The Annie Wright Upper School for Girls’ voting constituency will, according to a survey, likely support democrats Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders or Pete Buttigieg.
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To connect the ideals of voting as articulated by Barnett and Pannier to
the actual work of the presidential candidates in the 2020 election, specifically the three listed above, I spoke with their campaign volunteers. To elucidate a description of the candidate from the perspective of an individual who supports the vision, I asked why they believe their candidate to be compelling. A Buttigieg volunteer described the South Bend mayor as a “Common uncommon man. He lives in a middle class neighborhood... he’s very young. I think he represents the heart of America. On the uncommon side I think he’s brilliant.” Warren was described as the woman with the plans: “She really has thought of everything...I think people want someone who has that vision and a plan to get it passed. She has the big
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dream, but she also has the details for how it gets done.” The Sanders message was consistency: “He’s been saying the same thing for 40 years.” Volunteers also spoke of grassroots momentum sufficient to get resolutions like the Green New Deal passed.
If this voter and the volunteer campaigners are any indication, the Democratic party’s primary focus is beating Trump. It is impossible, however, to truly know what Americans will do on election day. As the Warren campaigner pointed out, many Democrats were confident that Hillary Clinton would win in 2016, and they were wrong.
Despite the differences in the draws of each candidate, each volunteer campaigner said they receive the same question about their candidates: Is he/she electable?
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According to Rosenbluth, the political divide is at a high, indicated by the all time low of competitive congressional seats, around 60%. This competition lies mainly in primaries, and people that vote in primaries tend to have more “extreme preferences,” so, according to Rosenbluth, “people who get elected in those districts tend to be farther to the right and farther to the left. So then you get polarization.” This polarization makes it more difficult to get policies passed, for Mitch McConnell or Nancy Pelosi to get their more extreme and more moderate civil servants to work to appeal to the median voter. So instead, Rosenbluth said they turn to rhetoric and vilifying the opposition.
The Buttigieg campaigner mentioned a passerby who dismissed Buttigieg, commenting, “He will never win.” The Warren campaigner identified “beating Trump” as the issue Seattelites cared most about in the upcoming election, and the Sanders campaigner said she frequently received the same question, “But is he electable?” As demonstrated by these campaigners and conversations on the debate stage, the question of electability has taken over this election. A signatory of the document to get Buttigieg on the ballot commented, “I just really want someone that could win to be honest with you. I’m much less loyal to a particular Democrat than just getting someone that can win,” in response to my question of whether he was a Buttigieg supporter.
another source: our political parties are weak.
Maybe it is that loss, or maybe it is the sentiment that if their party or candidate doesn’t win then their vote was wasted, but whatever the case, electability has dominated the national conversation, taking attention away from the candidates’ policy objectives. This lack of focus on policy objectives, according to Francis Rosenbluth, a comparative political economist and political science professor at Yale, has
“When parties are strong, they are more likely to pursue national policies that appeal to the median voter... the party has to be strategically moderate,” he said. Since the parties are weak, however, they do have “have to worry about electability... that’s the name of the game.” Regardless of the attempts of the party to put forth an electable candidate, or for the populous to vote for a candidate seen as electable by their compatriots, the result is in the hands of the people. As the Sanders campaigner pointed out, “He’s electable if we elect him.”
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“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” - Toni Morrison "Beloved: Homage to Toni Morrison" by Dimitrios Giovis, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
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Remembering icons of fashion, film, activism & literature by Laney Sneva
A number of notable icons died in 2019. The following four, according to a survey, were particularly poignant for the Annie Wright Upper School community.
Gloria Vanderbilt
Gloria Vanderbilt was an iconic fashion designer and model. She grew up in France with her wealthy aunt and developed an early love for modeling and art. When she turned 21, she inherited a multi-million trust fund from her father, helping jump start her career. She married and divorced several times while pursuing her art. She sold millions of pairs of jeans with her signature as her label grew in popularity. She died at the age of 95 in her Manhattan home. Her legacy lives on through her art and businesses.
Cameron Boyce
Cameron Boyce was a child star and developed a very early love for acting. In an anonymous survey, a few Annie Wright Upper School students admitted he was their childhood crush. He debuted in the film Mirrors when he was nine years old. He continued to pursue acting and landed a role on the Disney Channel series “Jessie,” which aired for four seasons. He then went on to do
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numerous Disney movies. He died in July 2019 at the age of 20 due to a seizure in his sleep. His parents continue his legacy by establishing the Wielding Peace campaign to prevent gun violence.
Azam Teleghani
Azam Teleghani was a women’s rights activist best known for her persistence in running for President of Iran. She has registered as a presidential candidate in 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2017, but was denied a spot to run each year by the Guardian Council. By fighting to become the first female presidential candidate, she inspired many young women to become involved in politics. In 1979 she married Morteza Eghtesad and continued to be educationally and politically active, finishing high school as a mom of two. She and two of her brothers were arrested in 1975 for their involvement in different foundations that went against the government's political standing. She was sentenced to life in prison but was later released in 1978 along with many other political prisoners because of the revolutionary movement. After the revolution she tried to form an organization to get resources for women's rights, but it wasn’t until 1992 that it was able to be formed. In
the 1990s many other women entered politics with the same mindset as Teleghani.
Toni Morrison
In 1993, Toni Morrison became the first African American female writer to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She wrote fiction for children and adults and received many awards for her work. One of her novels, The Bluest Eye, was especially celebrated. It is about a young girl living in Ohio who dreams of having blue eyes. Throughout the book she goes through many tragedies surrounding her desired blue eyes. Her novel Beloved was also made into a film in 1998 and won a Pulitzer Prize. It was works like these that made her such an inspiration. Morrison grew up in Ohio and received a bachelor's degree from Howard University, majoring in English. She then went on to earn a master’s in Enligh from Cornell and taught at Texas Southern University for two years. Morrison has influenced many in her career and was a central figure of women's rights and black communities.
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7 popular fashion trends of the 2010s article and graphics by Emily Simons The 2010s were an interesting decade for fashion. From the recycling and popularization of retro fashion trends, to the awkward experimentation with new ideas, here are some trends that flourished in the 2010s.
UGGS
Mom Jeans
Tiny Sunglasses
Scrunchies
Skinny Jeans
Bucket hats
Shearling boots, especially the UGG brand, were huge throughout the decade. Love them or hate them, all we have to say is wear socks with them.
A more recent trend, tiny sunglasses, has become a necessary accessory piece. UV protection has left the chat…
We all know about how popular these tight pants became in practically everyone's wardrobe.
Mom called and she wants her jeans back. A far cry from the tight fit of skinny jeans, mom jeans are much more comfortable, baggy, and all the rage.
Probably the most recent trend, the scrunchie. The lovable fabric covered hair tie has made a comeback this past year, thanks VSCO girls.
Move out of the way baseball hats; the bucket hat is here. A hat that kind of looks like a bucket somehow made it to this list…
Crop Tops
These tiny shirts look like they could fit a toddler, but who doesn’t love a good crop top?
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Ripped jeans
Purposely having rips in your jeans is on point, despite all of the comments older people make.
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20/20 Vision
article and photos by Parker Briggs The average American doesn't often think of eye health relative to its importance in daily life. Because of this, Inkwell thought it important to dispel myths, gather advice, and generally spread knowledge about how to keep those two globular organs in your face in optimum condition. Mark Gildenhar, MD, is a retired staff ophthalmologist and sixyear president of Cascade Eye and Skin Centers. He is currently serving as chairman of the board for the company. Dr. Gildenhar attended medical school at the University of Cincinnati and did his residency at Northwestern University in Chicago. Inkwell: What does it actually mean to see 20/20? Dr. Gildenhar: 20/20 vision means you can see any image of a certain size at twenty feet, that with perfect vision you should be able to see from that distance. That means the higher the second number, the worse your vision. 20/30 means you can make out from twenty feet an image that you should be able to see from thirty feet. At 20/100, something you should be able to see at one hundred feet you can only make out at twenty.
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Inkwell: Can eating carrots improve your vision? Dr. Gildenhar: Eating carrots will improve your eyesight only if you are deficient in Vitamin A, and most people get plenty of Vitamin A from other sources in their diet. In some parts of the world there are dietary deficiencies that can affect eye health, but in the standard American diet it is highly unlikely that would happen. Inkwell: Can excessive cell-phone and computer screen usage damage your eyes? Dr. Gildenhar: While there once was concern about that, nobody has been able to prove that screen usage negatively affects eye health. One way that screen usage can affect you through your eyes, though, is caused by the bluish light from cell phone and computer screens. That exposure can suppress melatonin production in your brain, causing you to have trouble falling asleep. Because of that, people who like to stay on their computer during the last hour or two before getting to bed might turn out the lights and lie there but have trouble getting to sleep. Inkwell: Why is it important to wear sunglasses? Dr. Gildenhar: Any time you’re around intense ultraviolet (UV) light you should protect your eyes from getting burnt. If you’re out in intense snow or extremely bright, sunny weather, you should always wear sunglasses, because you can get snow blindness which is an ultraviolet burn on your cornea. There is also some thought that UV radiation can contribute to cataract formation. If you spend a lot of time outdoors, wearing sunglasses with ultraviolet screening capability is probably a good thing, and your risk of cataracts might go down.
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Inkwell: What protocol should you take if you get something in your eye?
your eyes, and so they might tire out more quickly than they would from farther away.
Dr. Gildenhar: If there’s something minor stuck in your eye like an eyelash, you can attempt to flush it out. Sometimes the classic ‘hold your eyelid open to get your eye to water’ trick can work for small things. We’ve all been able to get out an eyelash by blinking or even washing it out with eye drops, but if you just can’t then you need to get help. Some of the most common minor injuries I’ve dealt with are scratches caused by a small, embedded foreign body in the eye.
What happens is there’s a lens inside your eye that is bi-convex, meaning its curved on both sides, and it’s suspended by these little strands of fibers called zonules, attached to a ring of muscle right behind your pupil. When this ring of muscle contracts, the zonule fibers relax and allow you to focus by changing the convexity of the lens, which is somewhat elastic. So in order to focus you have to employ this ring of muscle, and if you do that on a sustained basis, it’s going to fatigue just like any other muscle in your body. Now, it has not been shown that you can damage the muscle by focusing from too close, it just exercises it. And like any other muscle, when it gets tired it starts talking to you. But it’s not damaging.
If you ever get something caustic in your eye you want to rinse it thoroughly and immediately with whatever mild liquid you have, whether that’s at a sink or with a carton of milk. Most people just splash their eye, but that’s not enough. In the ER they’ll run a couple of liters of fluid to wash your eye for 15 to 20 minutes. Inkwell: Can sitting too close to the TV damage your eyes?
The younger you are the more elastic the lens is, and the greater focusing capacity you have. Because their lens is more elastic, it takes less effort for a child or teenager to focus on something than it would for someone who’s say at 30 or 35 years old, who would tire out sooner.
Dr. Gildenhar: If you are watching TV or reading with your book right in front of your face, that requires focusing effort from
2020 census sparks controversy article and graphic by Lauren Cook
In 2020, the United States will conduct its 24th census. Some of the notable changes include controversial questions that could impact the way Annie Wright Schools collect data from students. The census is a survey conducted every 10 years since 1790 as an official population count required by the US Constitution. Typical questions involve sex/gender, race, and relationships between household members. However, with the current political climate in which more people are labeling themselves differently and many topics are deemed “too political” to discuss, the survey does not seem inclusive to all Americans. Since 1970, the Census Bureau has sent out two official government surveys. The short survey is sent to every US
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household and asks questions about the home: whether it is owned or rented, how many people reside there, and the relationships between household members and their respective ages. Additionally, a longer questionnaire is assigned to every six households that includes long answer questions. Only this survey includes a question about citizenship.
several changes in the diversity survey because of the changes to the census. According to Annie Wright Director of Institutional Advancement Jennifer Haley, these changes specifically include, “the breakdown of the Latina(o)/Hispanic categories, the changes to the race categories, and the non-binary student questions.”
The survey also informs the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) what questions their member schools are required to ask in terms of diversity. NAIS consists of more than 1,500 independent schools in the US, including Annie Wright.
Haley said the data is then used to “report on diversity breakdowns across schools, regionally and nationally.” Often, she noted, this diversity information can help schools to apply for grants. The data Annie Wright collects is then shared with NAIS, who compares this data against all NAIS schools.
This 2019-2020 school year, Annie Wright Schools has already implemented
Because the census is an official government document that asks
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somewhat personal questions, many wonder what their data is used for. According to the US Census Bureau, the data collected is mostly used in distributing federal funds to local, state, and tribal governments. The census also determines how many representatives each state is allocated in the House of Representatives. This year, Washington State has 98 state representatives and 10 in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. The records also help to establish government budgets for various projects such as new roads, schools and community centers. Additionally, the information can help people qualify for passport applications, social security/retirement benefits, or proving relationships in estate settlements.
Controversial moments in US Census history 1. White supremacy in race survey
From the first US Census in 1790, new terms were added to differentiate between “types” of black people. Aside from marking someone as black, the most common phrase was “mulatto,” a derogatory term used to describe a biracial person. Additionally, terms like “quadroon” and “octoroon” were added to indicate the percentage of African heritage a person had. These words were replaced in 1930 with one all-encompassing word: Negro.
2. The Slaves & The Native Americans
When North and South disagreed on whether to include slaves in the census, the government compromised: each slave would count as ⅗ of a person and would be listed under their master’s name. Native Americans were not counted at all.
3. Japanese Internment
The information about individual people collected from the census is not supposed to be shared with other parties. However, evidence was uncovered that the US Census Bureau gave information about where many Japanese and Japanese-American people lived during WWII and Japanese internment.
4. Master of the house
Women did not count as the “head” of the house on the census. This title automatically went to the oldest male, and, if there was none, the house wouldn’t qualify for data collection. It wasn’t until 1970 when the survey added a box to indicate the wife as head of house, after years of only including them as the “wife/mother of head”. In 1980, the Census Bureau dropped the concept of the head of the house, and replaced it with “household member,” who is the individual with his or her name on the lease or mortgage.
5. Naturalization
In March 2018, the US Commerce Department announced that they would include a question on citizenship in the 2020 Census – a question that had not been included since 1950 and could lead to the deportation of an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants. At least 12 states threatened to sue the Trump Administration over this, and in June 2019, the Supreme Court blocked its decision to add the question.
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OUT & IN
Inkwell's picks for what's out for 2019 and in for 2020 Hydroflask
Thermoflask
Scrunchies
Spiral hair ties
Elemeno
LMNO
Netflix
Disney +
Mom jeans
Granny Panties
Vaping
Lung Disease
Spiderman
Night Monkey
VSCO girls
Granola Girls
Cardi B
Megan Thee Stallion
Measles
The plague
Impeachment
Election
Mr. Sullivan
Mr. Guadnola
Makeup
Skincare
Russia
Ukraine
Snapchat
TikTok
Jonas Brothers
One Direction
Baby Groot
Baby Yoda
Bookstore
Gator Alley
Unicorns
Llamas
Compiled by the Inkwell team. Graphics by YoungSeo Jo.