BRYAN LIANG PORTFOLIO 2015
content clippings from recent works/
BRYAN LIANG PORTFOLIO 2015
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turn it up vol 12, iss 2
one giant leap for bandkind vol 12, iss 5
the day atlanta froze (literally) vol 12, iss 6
dance: the art of motion vol 12, iss 8
TURN IT UP
Northview’s transformation in the music scene
BRYAN LIANG, Staff Writer
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orthview’s own Rishi Singh, and many others, compose in a genre called electronic music. Arising in the 1960s, electronic music gradually rose to the spotlight, rife with sounds and rhythms unable to be produced by conventional instruments. Gradually, the cost of electronics equipment precluded widespread popularity. Soon, the availability of affordable music technology brought forth a new generation of electronic music enthusiasts. These avant-garde artists come from all walks of life, each with his own story. However, they all share one thing: passion. Whether it be working in a bedroom or an office at work, these artists will never quit and always strive for the best. Like many others, Singh, a senior, first drew his passion for music from traditional instruments. At the age of 5, he began learning piano and studying classical music. In middle school, he joined the band program and started playing the saxophone. “Over the years it kind of developed. After 9 years, I began taking [music] into my own direction,” said Singh. “It kind of turned into something that means a lot to me and really something I can confide in.” Singh began his transition to electronic music in 9th grade. With dubstep’s popularity on the rise, he experimented with creating electronic music. “[My music] was very ugly and stupid,” said Singh. “I didn’t even know about any electronic artists at the time; all I was trying to do was look cool. All I knew was Scary
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Monsters and Nice Sprites by Skrillex. And I would try to make stuff like that.” In December 2012, he began to lose motivation and feel down. This fall, however, marked the turning point in his life where he was truly able to find his heart in music. Around this time, he discovered Madeon, a French electronic artist, who was able to galvanize him to create music with a different mentality. “Madeon kick started the giant drive and inspiration to become detailed, emotional, and depth-oriented music, instead of stupid patterned based house [music],” said Singh. “So that helped build the inspiration part to help me get out the emotion that was stuck inside.” His siblings have also played a large role in the development of his musical career. Despite a wide age difference, his sister, Bhavna Singh, and he have developed a strong bond, sharing many interests together like Doctor Who. “I love his passion for music. He’s so lucky that at the end of the day he has something that he can be so passionate about,” said Bhavna Singh. “I always tell him that his ability to create something from nothing is the most amazing thing in the world, especially when I’m there for this process.” To set himself apart from other aspiring artists, he puts a huge emphasis in putting emotion and life into his music, rather than using repetitive rhythms. However, all the hard work has payed off in the end.
“For every single song now, I might just have a really random big idea burst and I just have to run to my room and lock myself in for a few hours to get it all sketched out,” said Singh. “And then while I wait for the next idea burst, which may take another few weeks, I then refine the details inside of the skeleton and build like the muscles and skin and make it sound more natural.” For Singh, music has helped him endure through tough times. Unlike the limitations of notation in traditional music, electronic music provided him with a whole new world of imagination and creativity. “[Music] was able to start to pull me out of the mental state I was in around December and it gave itself a whole new meaning to my life and plays a crucial part in turning into who I am,” said Singh. Joseph Keenan, another aspiring artist at Northview, began producing electronic music after attending an electronic music concert. He is currently signed with two record deals: Surefire and Plasmapool. Keenan plans to release five songs in the next month and hopes to put on a concert in the future. Whether or not he chooses to pursue it as a career, he will always have a passion for music. “There’s so many different sub-genres [in music]. And dance music is limitless. Other genres of music can be limited because they’re played on live instruments.” said Keenan. “But dance music, sounds can be synthesized and made out of nothing-ness. It’s unlimited... It’s like a cartoon because they can push the limits as movies can’t.”
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BRYAN LIANG, Staff Writer
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y April, the Northview High School band program will be able to access the new band room, which began construction this past year. This new facility boasts practicing rooms, a library, storage rooms, as well as restrooms. The room is also lined with many cabinets and provides additional space for students to move about. Also affected, Northview’s orchestras will begin having classes in the old band room during the change. An audiological audit performed in one of the high schools discovered the levels of sound were detrimental to the employees and students. “Fulton Co. has been remedying this dangerous situation by remodeling band rooms with better acoustical treatments,” said Emily Dickerson, the Northview band director. “Our band will continue to grow and flourish in a better space both from a size standpoint as well as acoustical safety.” Based in Atlanta, Amacher Bros. Construction Company supervised the construction of the band building. Amacher Bros. has had experience from years of construction projects, building sports fields, churches, and recycling centers. Bruce Underwood was the project manager for the Northview band room construction. “It was natural for me to work summers in construction while I was attending Georgia Tech,” said Underwood. “After studying 3 years in Mechanical Engineering, I realized that I would rather work outside on building projects than being tied to a desk.” The Northview band room is not the only band building Underwood has built. Also experienced in renovation and construction for schools, Amacher Bros. has constructed band suite additions for four schools, including Chattahoochee High School and Alpharetta High School. “I realize that the band instructors, principle, students and parents all lobby for this kind of building addition to further the extent of the students education,” said Underwood. “It is good to know that the facility will be used in this manner.” “One of the cool things about the old room is how connected it is with the other classes,” said senior Preben Are. “We can see the orchestra room
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through a window and often the two classes make faces at each-other and say hi.” Freshmen, on the other hand, do not share as much enthusiam as the upperclassmen for the switch to the new band room. Freshman Jeremy Gundugollu expressed his apathy for the process. “I won’t miss much in the old band room because I’ve only been in there for one semester, said Gundugollu. “I just had a lot of fun with the other people in my band.” Unlike freshmen, seniors have spent most of band in the old room. The postponement of the construction disappointed some, since they will not have much time to experience the new band addition. “I look forward to going to the new band building,” said senior Eddie Wang. “I definitely wish that it was built a couple years before then so I could have played inside for a longer time period.” The new room does come with its added benefits. The facility is equipped with many accommodations, such as an additional instrument repair room. “A change of setting always has potential to change the way people act,” said Are. “Students may be on their toes a bit more in the new room, and the extra space will make things less cramped and possibly make rehearsal and music making more relaxed and enjoyable for some.” As the band program begins to transition to the new room, many old memories and experiences will be lost. “I think that a lot of the things that we do in the old room we will be able to do in the new room,” said Are. “But memories of random dance parties and games will be with the old room for sure.” The Northview band program, however, will continue to prosper and form everlasting passions. “Band helped cultivate my love for music and I don’t think that it will ever leave me in my life,” said Are. Although her seniors are leaving this year, Dickerson enjoys talking and
the day
atlanta
froze (literally) atlanta isn’t exactly known for its brutal winter conditions. But on Tuesday, January 28, a mere two inches of snow crippled the city and brought all activities grinding to a halt. By the time officials canceled schools around midday, the roads were already icing over, causing extreme transportation difficulty for homebound students and teachers alike. In its wake, the storm left nearly a thousand auto accidents and far too many unanswered questions. pages 3-4
who is even be this hap cancele be preve will be this set precede change
to blame? is anyone eing blamed? how could ppen? why wasn’t school ed earlier? how will this ventedinthefuture?what e the consequences? will t a precedent? will that ent be followed? has this ed atlanta’s reputation?
BRYAN LIANG and JESSICA MA, Staff Writers
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intry conditions and government unpreparedness created unexpected difficulties in the metro-Atlanta area on Tuesday, January 28. Schools, commuters, and government officials faced major traffic congestion and transportation dilemmas, many taking refuge in vehicles, stores, and public facilities. Although the governor is responsible for storm planning, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency is the behind-the-scenes organization that coordinates the preparation for events like this. Functioning like the Federal Emergency Management Agency, GEMA also deals with natural disasters and threats to security, just on a state scale. Every year, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency issues the Georgia Emergency Operations Plan, an extensive document detailing the roles and duties of each agency during a wide spectrum of emergencies, everything from droughts to cyber-attacks. For possible snow events, the plan is divided into two parts: preparation and response. During the preparation phase, agencies such as the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Transportation monitor the status of the state’s four wheel drive vehicles as well as supplies for treating roads. GEMA, on the other hand, begins maintaining the State Operations Center, a temporary multi-agency coordination center used to respond to emergencies and natural disasters. During the response, the State Operations Center becomes fully functional, communicating with the governor and different agencies to execute methods for dealing with the snowstorm. The Department of Public Safety begins emergency rescues while the Department of Transportation continues to monitor traffic and treat the roadways wherever necessary. However, it wasn’t until the day of the storm when GEMA director Charley English warned Governor Nathan Deal to take action in preparation for the storm. The State Operations Center only activated three hours after traffic and accident reports began to flood in. “I made a terrible mistake, and I put the governor in an awful position,” said English. “I got this one wrong by at least six hours.” On the other hand, Deal claims that the weather forecasts were inaccurate. “The National Weather Service continually had their modeling showing that the city of Atlanta would not be the primary area where the storm would hit, that it would be south of Atlanta,” Deal said Wednesday. “You’ve already heard some of our agencies saying that based on that modeling, they had not brought in some of the resources earlier because
they thought there were going to be other parts of the state that were going to be more severely impacted than the metropolitan Atlanta area.” Regardless, Deal did not want to risk shutting down Atlanta. “If we closed the city of Atlanta and our interstate system based on ‘maybes’, then we would not be a very productive government or a city,” said Deal. “We can’t do it based on the ‘maybes.’” In a press release on the following Thursday, however, Deal took full responsibility for the unpreparedness of metropolitan Atlanta. “I’m not going to look for a scapegoat,” said Deal. “I am the governor. The buck stops with me. I accept responsibility. Our preparation was not adequate.” Schools in the metro-Atlanta area remained open as well, based on information from the National Weather Service and local meteorologists. However, when snow began to fall late Tuesday morning, schools closed and began to dismiss students. “Only the superintendent makes the call to close school/dismiss students, and that occurred for all schools around 1:45 p.m.,” said Sasha Dlugolenski, press secretary for the Georgia Governor’s Office. “Principals were encouraged to allow student drivers to check out with parent permission starting about an hour or so earlier.” Unfortunately, the inclement weather caused major transportation obstacles. “State government, private businesses and schools were all in the process of releasing employees and school children at the same time, resulting in a massive influx of cars on Atlanta’s roads,” said Dlugolenski. “The mass exodus left city gridlocked in less than an hour.” Conditions forced some students and staff to take shelter in their school buildings late or overnight. Many students waited for several hours at Alpharetta High School before being able to leave, and 20 students stayed throughout the night, according to Principal Shannon Kersey. “Many students depend on bus transportation and not all buses were able to get to AHS. Parents also were unable to get to AHS because of the road conditions and the traffic,” said Kersey. “Around 6:30 p.m., we still had several hundred students remaining and we felt we needed to provide those students dinner.” Alpharetta High School suffered more than other Fulton County schools because of its location at a major intersection and because, as a Special Education Center School, AHS requires more buses than other schools, according to Kersey. However, adult volunteers managed the emergency weather situation responsibly and facilitated the process of transporting and sheltering students. “A few of our parents drove up the school early in the morning on Wednesday. Because they had four-wheel drive vehicles, they offered to take home our remaining
“terrible mistake. ” i made a
i put the governor i n an awful posi t i o n. i got thi s one wrong by at least a few hours.
-charlie english
12:30 PM National Weather Service issues hazardous weather outlook for most of Georgia.
1/26 sunday
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4:53 AM National Weather Service extends winter storm watch across all of metro-Atlanta.
3:38 AM National Weather Service extends winter storm warning for all of metro-Atlanta.
1/27 monday 3:12 PM National Weather Service issues first winter storm watch for southern metroAtlanta area.
9:36 PM National Weather Service issues first winter storm warning for southern metro-Atlanta area.
12:30 PM Snow starts falling.
1:45 PM FCS dismisses all students.
2:00 PM Gridlock and accident reports begin.
the buck stops with me. i am the governor. i accept responsibility. our preparation was not adequate. -nathan deal
11:13 AM GA tweets that state offices will stay closed Thursday.
11:30 AM Deal gives winter storm response.
1/29 wednesday 1:00 PM Atlanta releases all non-essential employees.
5:28 PM Deal declares state of emergency.
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Patrol, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Natural Resources to mobilize resources to areas where inclement weather conditions were expected and issued a warning order for the National Guard. Local meteorologists’ warnings of a major winter storm also passed from state government to school superintendents and emergency management agencies. “Deal was able to encourage all Georgians in affected areas to make the necessary preparations […] Georgians also heeded the warnings, giving us the opportunity to get out and treat the roadways,” said Dlugolenski. “There was great coordination at both the local and state level.”
12:15 AM Atlanta announces that all government offices will be closed for the day.
1/28 tuesday 9:25 AM Deal tweets inclement weather warning.
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students and staff,” said Kersey. “We called the parents of the students to get their parent’s permission and the students [and several staff members] happily rode home with an AHS parent. I was so impressed with the way our school community pulled together to help each other out.” In fact, Alpharetta High School received positive feedback for staff ’s and students’ management of the emergency weather situation. “We even had Governor Deal come out to AHS last week and give our teachers and students a public Accommodation for how we supported our students during the winter storm,” said Kersey. “We were very honored to have the Governor come to our school and recognize the supportive efforts of our teachers and staff.” Milton High School encountered similar issues due to the snowy and icy weather. According to Principal Clifford Jones, students had to remain at MHS under the supervision of the administrative team and other staff members, only leaving between 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. the next morning. “Parents took multiple students in cars and students spent the night at each other’s homes,” said Jones. “The staff, students, and parents rallied together to support each other.” On January 29, Deal announced through a press release that all metro-Atlanta schoolchildren had been safely returned to their homes with the assistance of the National Guard and the State Patrol. After the governor-decreed state of emergency ended on February 2, changes were made on both state and local levels to prevent a similar emergency from taking place again. “With any situation there is room for debrief and process refinement,” said Jones. Milton High School updated the classroom rosters, updated bus driver contact information, and collected staff contact information to improve communication. According to a press release from February 3, Governor Nathan Deal also implemented changes after the inclement weather emergency, aiming to improve stateto-resident communication. Reforms include storm warning messages on mobile devices; a mobile state emergency app with information regarding shelter, transportation, and other areas; consultation between the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) and local meteorologists on current weather modeling and predictions; and emailing weather condition updates to school superintendents. Deal also appointed Fulton County Schools Superintendent Robert Avossa and other individuals to the Governor’s Severe Winter Weather Warning and Preparedness Task Force. Avossa and his fellow task force members will convene and advise Deal on weather preparedness, according to the press release. According to Dlugolenski, the reforms led to state and local preparedness when icy conditions developed again on Tuesday, February 11. Deal called on the State
11:10 AM GA State Troopers report 2 fatalities, 130 injuries, 1,254 accidents from Tuesday.
DANCE MOTION THE
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BRYAN LIANG, Staff
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allet, a form of dance that originated from the early Renaissance courts of Italy, has since become a popular, highly technical style of dance well-known throughout the world. Jenny Zhao, junior, and Leilani Tian, freshmen, are among the few students at Northview High School who study classical ballet. “Ballet has a strict technique and form that must be followed in every step,” said Zhao. “However, ballet also allows the dancer to be creative and express themselves with their upper body. Ballet is the perfect combination between discipline and expression, sour and sweet.” Zhao was exposed to dancing when she was nine years old. Although uninterested at first, Zhao became intrigued after watching her friends take ballet classes at an afterschool program. “It started to get pretty lonely so I decided to sit in the front of the dance studio and watch a ballet class,” said Zhao. “After doing this for a few weeks, I started to like dance and finally begged my mother to sign me up for dance class.” Zhao currently attends the Atlanta Professional Dance Academy with her friends, who have been greatly supportive--they bond at competitions and rehearsals, often practicing countless hours a week. “All of us are like sisters,” said Zhao. “Even though sometimes we may argue, in the end we are a family, joined by the same common passion in dance.” Dancing with her friends taught Zhao the concepts of discipline and teamwork. Ballet requires the dancers to perform intricate choreography that demands a harmony and joint effort of all the dancers. “By being part of a team, you are signing an imaginary contract that says you are willing to give up anything for the team,” said Zhao. “That the team comes before yourself. I have learned that teamwork is more powerful than anything any one person can do. Power really is in numbers.” Freshman Leilani Tian also dances classical ballet. When she was six, Tian reluctantly began taking dance classes after her mother signed her up. At the time, Tian wanted to quit classes, but her mother insisted on giving dance a try.
“I still remember when I first started I was the youngest in the class and I was so scared that my mom had to sit there with me,” said Tian. “I cried every class for no reason and my teacher had even suggested to my mom that I wait a little before starting again... It wasn’t until I was nine years old that I had really developed a passion for dance,” said Tian. “After that, dance had become more and more part of my life.” Due to its precise and technical nature, ballet is very demanding on the dancer. There were several moments in Tian’s dancing career where she considered dropping dance altogether, but her mother helped pull her through her moments of defeat. “She has helped me in countless ways such as by encouraging me, taking care of my costumes, being my companion, hugging me every time before I compete, and having conversations about dance and life in general. She has helped me in every way become a better dancer and a better person.” “I really just wanted to quit,” said Tian. “However, because my mom was there to support me and I told myself that I couldn’t quit, I went on stage again, performed my heart out, and it was worth it.” “Although ballet is extremely difficult physically, perhaps the toughest part is coping mentally, said Tian. “If you don’t have the passion, the drive, to push through, you will never improve. But after all these experiences in dance, I am so much stronger, mature, and confident in myself.” In addition, dance has taught Tian to work hard to achieve, to cooperate with other dancers, to endure hardships, to be disciplined, and to accept fate. “Without dance, I would not be the person I am today and I am so thankful that I have found something that I love,” said Tian. “Even though I’ve received several achievements in the past, I think that it doesn’t really matter if I place in a competition or not, said Tian. “What really matters is what I win from preparing for the competitions and the whole experience of everything. Competitions are a huge motivation for me and they are what drive my improvement.” Although ballet may not be their future career, Zhao and Tian are still planning to continue dancing after high school. Ballet will continue to shape their lives even outside the studio. Ballet provides an environment of family and teamwork, one of the many reasons why people begin classical ballet.