The Magnet (Vol. 6, Issue 1)

December 2019

Vol. VI

Issue 1

The Magnet Natalie’s Brings the Heart of Peru to Glendale ‘Execute Order 66’ ‘Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’ is a game that combines great storytelling with action, adventure, and puzzle solving

The Disposable Struggle Going zero-waste proves challenging

Courtesy of Aaron Burden from Unsplash

Clark Calendar

Letter from the editors: Welcome back to the first issue of the Pantera of the 2019-2020 school year! We hope you had a relaxing Thanksgiving. Just a few finals and fewer weeks to go until winter break, and if you need new restaurants to try, movies to watch, or just some interesting reading to do, look no further than the following pages.

The PSAT was administered earlier this year and a bunch of memes relating to the test questions have sprung up as a result. Be sure to check out Katherine Shovlin’s feature story on the many memes made from the October test, on pages 4-5.

With all the studying for finals, sometimes it’s best to take a step back. Focus on your mental health, and read Ernesto Aguilar’s feature story on the importance of mental health. On pages 6-7.

All that studying giving you a big appetite?

Take a look at the reviews of Natalie’s, a Peruvian seafood eatery and Karas, a traditional Armenianthemed restaurant written by Carol Rodriguez and Aleks Zadorian, respectively. They can be found on pages 8-9.

We also have artwork done by none other than our own creative and talented students in Mrs.

Paronikyan’s AP Studio Art class on pages 10-13.

All of these pieces have had a lot of effort and time put into them by our artistic peers and stand to show the amount of creativity and self-expression that can be conveyed and demonstrated.

Maybe you want to take a swing at making your own food? Check out Reed Maruyama’s story detailing her experience on making her own food for one week, on pages 14-15. Or maybe you want to learn about how to reduce your food waste, make the planet greener as a result? Then flip to pages 16-17 and read Lois Ramilo’s story on “The Disposable Struggle.”

Everyone procrastinates. We can see you procrastinating right now, reading our magazine instead of studying for your test. But that’s okay, we procrastinated multiple times while writing this letter. So be sure to look at pages 22-23 to read Anna Arutunian’s feature story on how and why people procrastinate.

This is Clark, and in Clark, we have a mild obsession with AP classes, which is completely great. It would also be great if you would check out Kenneth Castro’s story on how AP has changed this

past year and how the pros outweigh the cons.

To all movie goers and enthusiasts, be sure to check out the reviews for movies such as Harriet

by Emili Cruz Sosa and A Heist with Markiplier by Griselda Eychner on pages 30 and 31. If Rom-coms are more your speed, then we suggest taking a look at Tanya Yarian’s review of Last Christmas on page 29. And if you love Star Wars, flip to page 28 and check out Rafael Aroustamian’s review on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

A lot of time and effort went into the planning, arranging, and printing of these pages, and we at Publications definitely know, acknowledge, and share the amount of stress that you are all under, and we really do appreciate you taking your time to pick up a copy and reading this issue of the Pantera.

Happy Holidays and thank you,

Aleks Zadorian, Rafael Aroustamian, Tanya Yarian, Pamela Faller Editors, The Magnet

Table Of Contents Features

Remember me (4) Tanya Yarian

Mental health is no joke (6) Ernesto Aguilar

Our sport is your Punishment (20) Serineh Ohanian

“I’ll Explain Later”: Breaking down the science behind procrastination (22)

Lifestyle

Anna Arutunian

Karas offers a taste of Yerevan right in the middle of Glendale (8)

In The Life

Aleks Zadorian

Cooking every day for one week (14)

Natalie brings the heart of Peru to Glendale (9) Carol Rodriguez

Reed Maruyama

No waste for a week (16) Lois Ramillo

Journaling through high school (18)

A&E

Alexandra Der Boghosian

“Execute Order 66” (28) Rafael Aroustamian

Opinions

The U.S. shouldn’t have pulled out of Syria (24) Aleks Zadorian

A healthy serving of propaganda (25) Rafael Aroustamian

From underground railroad to proper recognition in a Hollywood (30)

Emili Cruz Sosa

‘A Heist with Markiplier’ breaks expectations, steals hearts (31) Griselda Eychaner

Democratic candidates’ take on women’s reproductive rights (26) Carol Rodriguez

2019 AP changes: Why the pros outweigh the cons (27) Kenneth Castro

Magazine Editors: Rafael Aroustamian Pamela Faller Tanya Yarian Aleks Zadorian

Brought to you by

Staff Writers: Anna Artunian Ernesto Aguilar Rafael Aroustamian Anna Arutunian Keneth Castro Emili Crz Sosa Alexandra Der Boghosian

Griselda Eychaner Serineh Ohanian Reed Maruyama Lois Ramilo Carol Rodriguez Tanya Yarian Aleks Zadorian Photographers: Anna Arutunian Emili Cruz Sosa Lois Ramilo Tanya Yarian Aleks Zadorian

Website Editors: Ernesto Aguilar Pamella Faller

Business: Rafael Aroustamian Nicole Ordubegian Advisor: Chris Davis

The Magnet, an open forum, is published by the Clark Magnet High School Publications class (4747 New York Ave., La Crescenta, CA 91214, 818.248.8324), which is solely responsible for all copy, designs and ideas contained herein. The Magnet has the right to edit any letter for purposes of clarification, length and grammar. The expressed opinions are not that of Clark Magnet High School nor of the Administration. Layouts completed on-site. This magazine was printed by aPrintis Inc., 4695 Chabot Dr, Site 200 Pleasanton, CA.

Visit us online!

clarkchronicle.com

Features

“Remember me” Tanya Yarian

Glendale community celebrates third annual Dia de los Muertos celebration on Artsakh street

The altar is located in Studio 127 where families walk in and out all night to honor the deceased

By Tanya Yarian Playing Latin music, lighting candles, hanging papel picado (chiseled paper), painting children’s faces, and grabbing tacos from the stand were just a few of the activities at Glendale’s third annual celebration of Dia de Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead).

On Nov. 2, people from all over the L.A. area came to the one place where the Glendale community held an event to celebrate the holiday and honor the memory of lost loved ones. Their main goal was to expose families and young children to the traditions of The Day of the Dead and have a fun celebration.

“This event introduced me to this holiday and all the traditions and rituals that came with this day,” said Melia Movsesian, a volunteer and Hoover High 4 • The Magnet

School junior.

The Day of the Dead remains one of Mexico’s most important cultural traditions. This three-day holiday is dedicated towards remembering deceased relatives by keeping their spirit alive through sacred traditions, one of which includes the altar. The celebrations begin on Oct. 31 honoring the spirits of the children, continue Nov. 1 to honor the spirits of the adults, and conclude Nov. 2 to honor the spirits of all the dead.

The holiday began in Mexico but is now celebrated throughout Latin America as well. The Mexican culture believed that “the dead would be insulted by mourning or sadness,” which is why this holiday consists of lively festivities to honor their memory.

At the event, community members

set up an altar in Studio 127 — an old shop that is now a city-owned property — where people placed pictures of their relatives, mementos, candles and food. They place an ofrenda (offering) on the ritual altar. Throughout the night, people walked in and out of the room commemorating the deceased, and most people were fascinated with this tradition.

The altar is said to guide the deceased through the afterlife, ensuring their happiness and safety. Sometimes, the candles are placed in a cross shape in order to act as a compass for the departed. Altars could also be filled with lots of food that the person enjoyed.

This holiday traces back to the Aztec Empire in Pre-Columbian Mexico. The Aztecs worshipped the goddess of the underworld also called ‘The Lady of the Dead.’ Catholic influence changed the original holiday date from August to November.

Today, most people who attend the city-wide celebrations make themselves look like calaveras (skulls), with makeup.

At the face paint station, children’s smile grew bigger when one of the artists painted the skull on their face. This is one of the ways they honor the deceased and most have begun to use this as a Halloween costume.

This year’s event featured different activities children could participate in and many organizations such as Glendale Water and Power and the Latino Association had their own table to advertise and workers discussed with the public. Most young kids looked forward to coloring the sugar skulls with paint; however, after the mess it had caused in the past, this year kids colored the skulls with markers. The skulls are another piece of decor to celebrate the holiday and some can be eaten while

Tanya Yarian

Features

others just represent the relative.

The holiday is not represented in cities in America, but the movie industry has also used this holiday to create Coco — an animated film based on The Day of the Dead. In the movie, families must put up the picture of their deceased family members or else they are considered forgotten and will forever perish from the Land of the Dead. “The only things I’ve learned about this holiday is from the movie Coco,” said Hoover junior Monet Nadimyan. She was happy she attended this event, she said, as she learned more about this holiday and the roles that each tradition plays.

Glendale’s Office of the City Clerk and the Glendale DDM (Dia de Los Muertos) had been planning and preparing leading up to the day of the event. They arrived on Artsakh along with other volunteers early in the morning to set up the event.

Movsesian said that she was excited to

help take part in such a big event.

Young students opened the event promptly at 4 p.m. singing a mashup of different songs as families began crowding the street. The Urartu Coffee shop even closed for the night as they knew that the street would be filled with lots of people. Also, a stand of Colombian coffee was being sold next to the churro stand.

Mayor Ara Najarian of Glendale and City Council members attended the event to celebrate with the community.

“The attendance was twice as much as last year,” said Councilmember Vartan Gharpetian when asked about the event at the City Council meeting the following Tuesday.

“It was a fun and exciting event that allowed all of us to come together and celebrate a very interesting holiday,” Movsesian said.

Tanya yarian

The chiseled paper hangs from the poles while volunteers sete up tables for the organizations

A young girl shows off her calavera (skull) makeup

Winter 2019 • 5

Features

Mental health is no joke The rise in mental health related challenges deserves to be taken seriously

By Ernesto Aguilar “Honestly, thinking about the future and what school I’m going to go to and what I’m going to be doing with my life later on scares me because it makes me stress out so much because I’m constantly thinking about it, even if I’m on vacation or trying to relax,” said junior Mariam Rushtuni. “It’s constantly on my mind, and I’m constantly thinking about school and my work.”

Like Mariam, many high school students feel anxious and concerned about their lives. Every now and then, teenagers tend to feel more irritable and upset than usual due to stress or anxiety. In some cases, these feelings are temporary, and other times, they can be key indicators of a major underlying problem regarding their mental health.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), rates of anxiety and depression diagnosis in children living in the United States from ages 6-17 have risen substantially from 5.3 percent in 2003 to 8.4 percent in 2012.

The rate continues to escalate drastically through the years as well.

In addition, according to a study conducted by Case Western University, teenagers and children report and manifest higher levels of anxiety than those of psychiatric patients in the 1950s.

The study details that due to this, the ever increasing rate of depression will continue to rise substantially. According to the report, a contributor to this statistic is easy access to illegal drugs which is a considerable factor in the rising rates of depression, which in turn is detrimental to adolescents’ physical health.

Stress and anxiety in teenagers can be attributed to a combination of factors.

Academic stress, like that Rushtuni faces, can be enough for a student to feel pressured beyond normal. Because 6 • The Magnet

high school is crucial to the determination of students’ futures, it can be especially pressuring. According to the American Psychological Association, adolescent stress levels during the school year surpass levels of stress in adults’ everyday lives due to the pressure academic rigor places on them.

In other cases, stress and anxiety are products of personal challenges. “I’d say half of my stress is from loss of family and the other half comes from health,” said junior Vahe Haleblian. Haleblian, like many of his peers, feels anxious and experiences occasional panic attacks. However, he has developed healthy coping mechanisms to make himself feel better. “To calm myself down, I like to exercise, go out after school on Fridays with friends, and play with my dog.”

Despite the recognition of mental health issues, many adolescents fail to obtain proper assistance in dealing with these problems.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, only 50.6 percent of children from ages 6-17 receive adequate and sufficient treatment for their needs.

Failure to obtain proper help is often due to social and cultural stigma, most notably in a school setting. The fear of being looked down upon by peers and instructors often prevents teenagers from reaching out to get help when they most need it at school. “It’s important that we understand that there is selfreflection and self-improvement and really caring about your well being is an important part of living a happy and healthy life,” said AP Psychology teacher Patrick Davarhanian.

“There is absolutely no connection to being weak or inferior, and unfortunately, in some cultures, there is a stigma around getting help, seeing a therapist, or talking about your problems. Time and time again, we have seen that the best way to improve your life and succeed is to talk about your problems, to seek help,” he added.

Many teens are fearful of recognizing that they have mental health problems due to the fear of being shunned by their peers. United

States History teacher Eric Kursinski says he is a living testament of just that. “I remember as a teenager I had a really hard time with [getting help] because I would tell myself ‘If you’re going to get help, then that means there is something wrong with you,’” he said. “That made me think ‘If nobody else knows that I’m going through this, then good because then I appear normal to everybody.”

A common belief among many adolescents is that teachers are not understanding and disregard mental health over academic performance, which attributes to their fear of getting help from them. Kursinski disagrees. “Your teachers care about you, and they might not express it as outwardly or directly as some teachers do, but they definitely all care about their students,” he said. “They wouldn’t be teachers if they didn’t like their students, because that’s the whole point of being a teacher, having students.”

Mathematics teacher Amir Ghavam agrees. “We really don’t coordinate against students when planning assignments,” he says. “Bad grades don’t affect the perception I have of my students. Life is going to go on.”

There are many resources available that can help students get extra assistance if they need it. Casey Schaeffer is available at Clark Magnet High School on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. If students are in need of assistance from him, he is available for check ins on those days. Students may explain their challenges and feelings in a confidential, professional environment in order to obtain help from Schaeffer.

“At Clark, I support all students whether they are in special education or general education. I am here for all sorts of different supports, most notably the social, emotional aspect of school life,” Schaeffer said. “Peer relationships, study skills, work habits, things of that nature.”

If it is deemed that the student requires

Photo Credits go HERE

Features

United States History teacher Eric Kursinski’s “Mindfulness Corner” is available to help students based on their mental health needs.

written approval of the student’s parents or guardians.

“Often students are not aware that they can come in to talk to us at anytime,” Schaeffer said. “We have myself, the psychologist, that is available as an as

needed basis for students experiencing emotional difficulties or social difficulties, as well as wonderful interns who work with us on a daily basis for mental health, social, and emotional needs.

Courtesy of wikimedia commons

extra support, counseling from one of Clark’s social worker interns will be implemented. This, however, requires a consent form to be signed by the student and his or her legal guardian or guardians. Counseling is performed weekly in 30-minute sessions during classes the student feels comfortable being excused from.

In addition, teachers and staff can be an extra source of support in assisting their students with their needs and concerns. For example, Kursinski has invested into creating a “Mindfulness Corner” for students to use based on their needs.

The area offers a secluded, tranquil environment with resource books and activities, such as coloring, in hopes of making a student feel better when challenges surface.

At most schools, counselors and psychologists designated to the campus are available at no fee. School districts offer services to support students and their families such as counseling.

Glendale Unified School District offers free access to school counselors, social workers and interns, and licenced therapists upon request and with the

Clark students on the first day of school of 2019-2020, before all the stress set in.

Winter 2019 • 7

Lifestyle

Karas offers a taste of Yerevan right in the middle of Glendale Aleks Zadorian

One can enjoy Armenian cuisine that’s worth its weight in Lavash

By Aleks Zadorian

8• The Magnet

Karas serves a wide variety of ethnic soups like spas and borscht.

type of tea, and have an order of lamajun as well. It’s a very relaxing combo and only costs around $5.

Karas offers food that many in Glendale grew up with. Its environment is friendly and familiar to many in Glendale, and its food, while a bit expensive, fills you up and gives you a taste of Yerevan.

It’s not like other resturants, where the food looks and tastes bland. Every piece and parcel of food that you are served in Karas tastes handmade and does not look plastic or bland.

Everything on the menu: the golden brown chicken, the white fluffy rice, the vegetables glowing with flavorful dressing, the thick and hearty tan that’s filled with mint, the scrumptious baklava, the warm and ebullient spas, the textured bread, the smoky lamajun with crispy edges and lemon to top it off, stands as a testement and momument to the thousands of years of Armenian culture that has given birth to such foods.. Plus, it all culminates into an amazing resturant experience.

Aleks Zadorian

On the corner of Brand Blvd. and Harvard St., Karas stands indifferently from the other buildings, but as you enter, you see sharply dressed waiters, a bar, and you are hit with the smell of freshly made food. There’s no long waiting time to get seated, and you’re taken care of almost immediately.

Opening up the menu, you see that most of the foods are Armenian/Russian in origin, except for a few sandwiches and pizza. There’s kebabs, soups like borscht and spas, and appetizers such as lahmacun and a cheese plate.

Once my friend and I were seated, we ordered a chicken lule kabob plate with a glass of tan (rhymes with won), which is a mediterranian yogurt drink. A chicken plate was $12 and the tan was $4, which was a little expensive for me. However, I could tell that my tan was freshly made and that my chicken and rice were as well.

The rice isn’t dry and is thoroughly cooked, the chicken was savory and you can really sink your teeth into it, and the salad on the side was refreshing and contrasted really well with the rice and chicken.

With the soup, I ordered a serving of spas, which is an Armenian soup made mainly with yogurt, greens, and rice. The spas in Karas is made with buckwheat instead of rice. They also give you a complimentary bowl of bread and lavash, which is eaten by dipping it in the spas.

The portions are large, so bring your appetite with you. After we ate, our check was brought to us inside a piece of pottery instead of a leather booklet, which really complemented the theme of traditional Armenian cuisine.

I’ve been to karas multiple times, and you don’t always have to order big plates of kebab or family-sized bowls of borscht.

If you want to sit down and catch up with a friend or take a load off, get a kettle of any

Seniors Aleks Zadorian and Rafael Aroustamian get tea and baklav at Karas.

Lifestyle

Natalie brings the heart of Peru to Glendale Carol Rodriquez

Yum yum! It’s a seafood delight!

By Carol Rodriguez

Natalie’s green spaghetti is accompanied by breaded chicken along with a slice of potato

ordering papa a la huancaina and choros a la criolla. These are exceptionally delicious appetizers due to the balance of a creamy and sour taste. Papa a la huancaina is a dish consisting of potatoes covered in a yellow, creamy sauce, which complements the sour taste of choros a la criolla, a dish consisting of mussels with cutup onion.

The entrees we ordered consisted of tallarines verdes, or “green spaghetti”, arroz chaufa, and lomo saltado. Personally, tallarines verdes are the highlight of my Peruvian dining experience. However, I particularly enjoyed Natalie tallarines verdes relatively more than the other Peruvian restaurant. The other restaurants don’t exactly capture the exquisite taste

Carol Rodriquez

Along the street of Central Avenue stands Natalie, a Peruvian seafood delight.

Natalie originally was only located in Hollywood, but has recently opened a location in Glendale.

Upon entering Natalie, you’re instantly met with beautiful paintings that reflect Peru’s beauty, along with the sound of beautiful Hispanic music that invites a relaxing atmosphere to peacefully enjoy your food. Although the ambience of the restaurant is wonderful, the space is quite limited and it’s difficult for big families to comfortably indulge in their food while the area is small.

What I love most about Peruvian restaurants is the fact that they always welcome us with warm bread and butter.

This sets the tone for the meal, which we’re about to devour. Anyone who comes here should try the water, which is enhanced by mint and lemon. Not only does it come in a big jar, leaving plenty for refills, but it leaves you with a sense of refreshment. Two wellknown drinks everyone should try include Inca Kola — a golden bubblegum-like drink — and chica morada — a grape-like juice.

To begin the meal, we started off with

Natalie Peruvian Seafood Restaurant has just recently opened in Glendale, with a variety of delicious dishes to offer.

of the dish. Whether it’s too creamy, not enough sauce, or just tastes completely off, Natalie had none of these qualities and exceeded my expectations. What’s great about ordering tallarines verdes is that it was accompanied by cooked potato and breaded chicken. I’ll admit that the constant taste of the spaghetti’s sauce can be exhausting, but the potato and chicken calm the constant repetitiveness down.

For all of you Chinese food lovers, arroz chaufa was influenced by Chinese fried rice. You even get the choice of deciding if you want it to be accompanied by shrimp or chicken. Lomo saltado was made for meat-lovers, a dish made up of beef, onion, tomato, and rice.

To end the meal on a good note, we ordered lucuma, a delicious ice cream based off of the Peruvian fruit, which resembles an orange avocado.

It’s now become a weekly ritual for my family and I to go eat there since the food is too delicious to resist. Since I haven’t had the chance to visit Peru, Natalie is a way to experience the great food Perú has to offer. However, going there can be pricey, especially if you’re going to buy more than five plates as it almost amounts to $100.

I’d recommend you only bring a couple of people along with you due to the food being more on the expensive side.

No need to go all the way to Perú for it’s authentic food, when you can go to Natalie.

Winter 2019 • 9

Student Work

The camera lense captures blooming flowers AP Photography students study the little things around them in close detail

Cynthia Mehrabi, senior

Rita Keuhskerian, senior 10 • The Magnet

Ani Igityan, senior

Andre Musaderyan, senior

Student Work

Painting pictures with words Students create literary fantasies through the creative writing process Blueberry Love

What do I see?

By Michelle Petrossian

What do I see?

I see the night sky covered in lights A city, a kingdom Unfolding before my eyes The majestic lights Gleaming from tower to tower The cotton clouds above And below, through the streets An open stage And a music box A beautiful melody Mesmerizing as she comes to life She prances across the stage As a graceful dancer As clouds part To reveal the full moon To shine on her smooth, porcelain skin Illuminating the stage Where she dances alone For the lights, moon, stars, clouds, and I

We have blueberry love We’re sweet-tart sweethearts Kind, and honest We have breakfastime love Sunrises And morning breath And yoghurt parfaits They sell our type of love At carnivals and farmer’s markets It’s not a lot, but it’s enough And we have quality on our side We have springtime love Like mockingbirds meeting to sing in the branches above the trellises of pastry-scented coffee shops We have blueberry love Small And sugar-filled And sweet against the tongue

Winter 2019 • 11

pixabay.com

publicdomainvectors.org

By Khalia Krusee-Leaver

Student Work

Self-expression on canvas

AP Studio Arts students showcase their artistic talents through varying styles Lost in the Library

Stacey Hovhannisyan, junior

He said he loved me

Amira Abu-Jaber, senior

12 • The Magnet

Reflection

Natalie Dzhambazyan, senior

Student Work

Students express themselves through creative writing Whiteboard Rainbow

By Egypt Jimenez

By Naomi Beach

You had stars on your ceiling Your dad hung the solar system too Your stars are glow-in-the-dark

Actual stars are so far away Big balls of burning gas that died out years ago, but still seem to shine for us.

You made me feel like the stars were on Earth More specifically, on your bedroom ceiling

Looking at them made me so calm So relaxed All my cares vanished when I looked at the stars on your ceiling

Now I have to find the stars in the sky again through light pollution and clouds Find the burning dead gases of charred light to make me calm again

I drew a rainbow in expo markers On the whiteboard Next to the homework And below the falling date It was a teacup rainbow Drawn with crayon hands In markers dutifully collected From around the perfectly lined desks It curved, my rainbow Like the letters in “Get signatures from mom and dad” And “June 22, 2015” Scrawled in nice black Only My rainbow’s curves were crooked Bent in and out The squiggled colors overlapped And separated A crooked rainbow Ashamed, I reached for the duster Foam, old, punctured From pencil stabs Of apathetic children And I swiped away my rainbow My crooked rainbow Until all that was left Were faint, faded colors

goodfreephotos.com

commons.wikimedia.org

2AM: Starry Ceiling

Winter 2019 • 13

In the Life

The (mostly) joys of cooking

Reed Maruyama

A week of making my own meals makes me appreciate chefs and the work they do in the kitchen

The final product of Monday’s night of cooking: carnitas, guacamole and a bin full of warm tortillas

By Reed Maruyama It was at the point when I was scrambling around the kitchen, making guacamole, stirring my not-yet-cookedall-the-way-through taco meat, and turning off my rice which had boiled over, all while getting ready for work when I knew that I would never take my mom’s cooking for granted ever again.

When I first decided that I was going to make dinner for my family for a week, I was determined to fit it into my busy schedule of college apps, four AP classes and work as a lifeguard and swim instructor at the YMCA. I knew that cooking was a good practice and a much better option than eating out.

Growing up, my parents only took us to restaurants as “special treats,” but for many other families, eating out for meals is the only option.

According to Statista, 44 percent of Americans will visit a restaurant for dinner instead of making their own food. That’s almost half of America’s population which dines out instead of eating in.

On top of that, The Guardian stated

14 • The Magnet

that nearly 60 percent of 18 to 25-yearolds are leaving home without the ability to cook. That was not going to be the case for me.

I sat at my computer with Food Network’s “30 minute recipe” page open and pondered the many options. When I brought home some of the ideas for recipes and ingredients I needed to make them, my mom laughed at me.

“We have 52 spices in our cabinet,” she said. “I am not buying you a spice mix.”

My mom disregarded Rachel Ray’s 30-minute recipes and brought down the cookbook that she and my dad made when they first moved in together.

Desserts in the front and dinner recipes in the back. I flipped through the pages and my mom brought down another cookbook from our wide collection.

“How to Eat,” my mom read. “One of the books you need a copy of when you leave this house.”

I took the book and read through those recipes. All of them looked hard, with prep times of an hour or 45 minutes.

I decided to go with my mom and dad’s recipes.

I planned the recipes that I chose around my week. On Monday, I would

make carnitas. My mom told me that they’d take a bit of time but they wouldn’t eat into my day.

Tuesday, I would make taco bowls with rice and quinoa. Tuesdays I have work and I get home around 8 p.m. My family normally eats around 6 p.m., and I didn’t want to make them wait, so I decided to make it and leave it in easily accessible pans so they could just heat it up and eat whenever they were ready.

Wednesday, I was determined to make oyakodon, a Japanese dish which was deemed an “easy comfort food” by Just One Cookbook. Thursday, another work day, I’d make black bean soup and cornbread.

Friday was the big one. I decided to end with a bang and have a small dinner party for my friends. That night, I’d make spaghetti with sausage.

Taking on a week of cooking was definitely out of my comfort zone. My mom taught me how to saute onions and cook simple recipes when I was a kid, but since then, I’ve never really had time to practice.

Before I took on this week of cooking, I tried to find some kids my age who liked to cook.

“I always cook when I have time,” said Paige Rosales, a junior at Renaissance Arts High School. “There is such a rewarding factor in cooking. I love seeing my family’s reactions when I make them food for family reunions and things like that. I even make excuses to help my mom with dinner when I have homework to do that same day. It’s kind of like an addiction.”

It was hard to find people my age who cooked. Most of them asked me if making instant ramen or a box cake counted.

This was a similar response that of Food and Wine magazine when they surveyed 40 people between the ages of 16 and 20 years old (28 males and 12 females) and asked them about their eating habits.

These people described their cooking as “jar-based,” with the microwave being the most used kitchen appliance. One of their most popular “home-cooked meals”

starting to chop up onions and prepare my taco meat.

I hopped around the kitchen while my taco meat cooked and filled up pots with rice and quinoa all while trying to make a Quizlet for my AP Government quiz the next day. When I looked up at the clock, I only had five minutes before I had to leave for work. I grabbed my work bag and ran to my room to change into my swimsuit while the oven was still on. When I returned to the kitchen, my quinoa was boiling over and my rice was burning at the bottom.

I managed to save my rice and clean up the quinoa. I left the dinner on the stove for my family to heat up when they got hungry and I made it to work two minutes early.

Wednesday was for oyakodon. I had read that this dish was an easy, go-to, comfort food so I was ready to relax and make something easy. It was while I was making this dish that I realized my amount of respect for Japanese moms.

To make this dish, I had to make one serving at a time. Each serving took about ten minutes after the prep time of about 45 (I’m sure I could have cut that prep time in half if I hadn’t accidentally put worcester sauce in the broth instead of soy sauce.) In the end, it was a good dish. I didn’t mess up terribly and it tasted really good.

Thursday was another stupidly easy day. I put bean soup in the slow cooker and made cornbread before I went to work. My family heated it up when they wanted to eat and I ate when I got home.

Friday was my big day. I set the table in the living room with candles, flowers and nice silverware. I made a big pot of red sauce in the morning and let it cook all day. I got a nice French baguette and made garlic bread in the oven while I cooked pasta and tossed salad. When my friends got to my house, I made them big plates of pasta and covered it with red sauce. We ate our spaghetti, drank Italian soda, and

Reed Maruyama

was cheese on toast.

After talking to people my age, I decided to talk to my aunt, Kendra Maruyama, an avid cook with a degree in nutrition. I asked her what she thought a good dinner consisted of and planned to incorporate it into my cooking. “Because of the important role that food plays in our daily lives, I think good dinner should be delicious,” she said. “Meals are an opportunity for families and friends to come together.”

“From a nutritional standpoint, I’m always dreaming up interesting ways to incorporate color which is to say vegetables. I don’t believe that they necessarily need to be the base of a meal, but generally I like to include lots of plants,” she said. “Proteins can be chosen as a matter of taste, cost and availability and there are many great options both animal and plant-based. I think that beneficial fats are very important (olive oil, avocado, nuts/seeds). Beneficial fat helps us to stay satiated and nourished.”

After gathering enough research and hearing differing opinions, I decided I was ready to take on the task.

After school on Monday, I got home ready to cook. I did my copious amounts of homework and then started to prep my pork for the carnitas in my family’s pressure cooker. While it cooked for an hour, I had time to do some more studying and exercise.

When it was done, I took the pork out of the pressure cooker, shredded it, and put it into the oven. While it cooked, I prepared tortillas and guacamole and set the table. My mom and I sat down to eat at 6 p.m. like I had planned. Monday was awfully easy.

On Tuesday, I got home with an hour to prep dinner before I was needed at work. I threw my bag at the front of my house and went straight to the kitchen,

The mix to create cornbread to go with the bean soup for Thursday night’s dinner.

Reed Maruyama

Alekandra Der Boghosian The table is set with candles and a bowl full of parmesan cheese, ready for Friday-night dinner.

listened to an Italian playlist my friend had made for the dinner party.

Friday was a success, as was every other day. Cooking, although stressful, had a nice routine and a sense of peacefulness to it. I know that cooking probably won’t ever fit into my high school schedule but now, I’ll do it any chance I can get.

“Friday night felt very homey and very cosy with the homemade cooked meal,” said senior Alexandra Der Boghosian after attending my Friday dinner. “The effort Reed put in the meal truly showed how much she cared about cooking.” The smiles people had when they ate my food was worth all of the stress and boiling over life could throw at me.

Spaghetti and red sauce, the final product of Friday’s cooking and the main dish for the dinner party.

Winter 2019 • 15

In the Life

The disposable struggle My experience going zero waste proves challenging

By Lois Ramilo

Lois Ramilo

The world is sinking in waste.

According to a study conducted by the World Bank, humans have generated over 2 billion tons of solid waste. That means each person produces about 0.74 kilograms of waste per day, with waste generation expected to increase by about 70 percent in 2050. 0.74 kilograms doesn’t seem much, but when combined with seven billion other people, it becomes a huge problem that puts the planet at stake.

As an ardent supporter of taking care of the Earth, I know I can do better than 0.74 kilograms. If Greta Thunberg, a sixteen-year-old Swedish teen leading the climate change movement, can make a difference from an environmental standpoint, so can I. It was that determination to make an impact to do my part in helping the Earth that

Going waste-free also means moving towards a healthier diet, as most junk foods use plastic bags or leave behind waste. I began eating more vegetables and explored other options that were outside my comfort zone like dandelion greens and beets.

16 • The Magnet

motivated me to go zero waste for two weeks.

For two whole weeks I was to — at all costs — avoid buying or using anything that involves solid waste, ranging from plastics to paper. The only waste I could have left was anything recyclable or biodegradable, but I would still prioritize not leaving anything behind because recycling, although helpful, isn’t enough to stop the continuing onslaught of solid waste.

Recently China, one of the largest importers of American waste, stopped accepting any recyclables produced here, creating a huge waste problem the US government has yet to fully address. Once accepting almost 760 million tons of waste in 2016, China has now reduced its intake of recyclable waste by 95 percent.

In response to the change, the U.S. has resorted to dumping waste in other Southeast Asian countries for recycling, but even they have come to refuse it as well.

Due to the lack of alternatives domestically, most of the items designated as recyclable are unfortunately taken to the landfills, only adding to already astronomical amounts of trash.

“Things people think are getting recycled aren’t actually getting recycled,” said senior Adam Kaplan. Kaplan and the four other members of Evans-Bye’s environmental GIS team, the Plastiques, have been conducting research on the effects of plastics both short and long term and believe people have to do more than just throwing their items into the recycling bin.

“Bottle caps or other small materials can fall through during the actual process of recycling, so they’re not really recycled,” Kaplan said. “Also, there’s too much trash to filter out during the recycling process so you can’t recycle anything if there are too many nonrecyclable things with it as well.

That’s why in the three R’s (reuse, reduce and recycle), recycling is last.”

Right away, I could immediately feel the impact of going zero-waste.

I literally couldn’t buy anything. On the

first two days of the challenge, going to any store was a pain. Aimlessly walking down the aisles filled with tempting foods, unfortunately, packaged in plastic, it hurt to look away. I wanted those chips, that bucket of ice cream, and that bottle of skin toner I desperately needed because I didn’t want another acne breakout.

The consumerist me wanted to buy everything, but instead I proceeded to ignore the tantalizing temptations and kept walking in the name of saving the environment. But perhaps the most affecting aspect of my life by this challenge was the food.

My diet was completely turned upside down. I was deeply saddened by the fact that I couldn’t eat anything my family was, like a pack of Doritos or a sandwich that was packaged with wasteful materials. Even during my class’s senior trip to Catalina, I was forced to pack my own snacks (with reusable containers of course) and awkwardly ask the waiter at the restaurant I was eating to take out any paper or plastic items that came with my food.

Once a die-hard fan of bagged chips, packaged cookies and gum, I switched out the junk food for healthier options.

Since the more healthier options — such as produce and vegetable s— didn’t leave much waste behind, most of what I ate came in the form of fruits and vegetables like apples and celery.

Though I didn’t enjoy the healthy transition at first, I unknowingly found myself enjoying the various produce I got. I began eating things I never thought of trying, like beets and dandelion greens (yes, you can actually eat dandelions).

Instead of unhealthy sodas or overly sweet juices, I primarily drank water that was regularly refilled at the water fountain at school. I also bought a new water bottle that replaced the use of plastic water bottles.

Other than food, it was also a struggle to find replacements for the other items I usually use on a daily occurrence like

In place of plastic water bottles, I bought a new, reusable metal water bottle that not only saves waste but also keeps my water cooler for longer periods.

Aleks Zadorian

I found myself so close to throwing some items in the trash. It was scary to realize how automatic it was for me to use and dispose and how I never thought about what happens to my trash once I threw it away.

Giving up my favorite things and forcing myself to improvise just to be waste-free makes me understand why so many people are reluctant to go wastefree, but the challenge isn’t impossible.

In fact, in exchange for the extra time and dedication, I saved a lot of money long term. Instead of using plastic bags or Ziplocs, I made sure to invest in reusable bags (like canvas totes) and mason jars to keep my stuff ranging from jewelry to snacks. I saved a lot of money by buying reusable items that’ll last a longer time than short-term disposable plastic bags or Ziplocs.

The experience has provided me with a new awareness about everything around me. Walking down the supermarket aisles has a different significance for me now. It isn’t just a lust to buy more things I don’t need any more; it has become a questioning of how long our world has before our waste kills most, if not all, of the Earth’s biospheres. “[The current state of the Earth] is an emergency. It’s horrible,” said environmental science teacher Dominique Evans-Bye. Evans-Bye, who recently won the Presidential Award for Excellence. Waste, especially plastic, is negatively affecting the ecosystems and takes longer to degrade than what most people expect, according to Evans-Bye. “Plastics don’t biodegrade, they just break down into smaller and smaller pieces,” she said. “It really takes a lot to degrade plastic. They have to be put in a landfill and they have to be in the right conditions to biodegrade. They don’t just naturally biodegrade in the environment quickly enough.”

Although the current condition of the environment is at an increasingly dire state, Evans-Bye remains hopeful the damages already done aren’t irreversible yet.

“There is something everyone can do, “ Evans-Bye said. “Avoid using single-use plastics and throwing those away. Reuse things like silverware instead of using plastics or use reusable water bottles instead of plastic ones. Little things like that do make a big difference.”

Reusable waterbottles such as Hydroflasks, have evolved to become a huge trend many are joining.

The movement has also prevented numerous plastic bottles from being used and wasted as well.

Lois Ramilo

Lois Ramilo

skincare. Instead of using soap in plastic containers, for example, I turned to bar soap that wasn’t wrapped in plastic.

Although I bought soap that didn’t include any plastic, soaps can also become a simple, fun DIY project to make yourself.

Junior Murielle Haenning, for example, has been making soaps with her family to save waste and prevent using more plastics. “You can make soap at home that’s as effective as soap you buy in the store,” Haenning said. “It’s simple because it’s useless putting plastic [around the soap] and then taking the plastic off and putting it in the trash. Living without plastics is hard, but there are many alternatives.”

But for most things, unfortunately, I was forced to give them up because there wasn’t a “waste-free” alternative or I just didn’t have the time to make my own product.

Since the reliance on disposable goods is so strong and necessary to go about daily life, finding other ways in order to be wasteful was tedious at times. I found it a nuisance to make the extra effort to go to specialty stores or go on hunting for products that didn’t leave waste that wasn’t recyclable.

Another struggle that stuck with me throughout the two weeks was breaking the ingrained habits of using disposable items and nonchalantly throwing them away. I caught myself numerous about to use something with or made of waste, ready to throw it away.

Sometimes, the habit would get the best of me and, on a couple of occasions,

Going waste-free forced me to get rid of potential waste like gum, candy wrappers and paper tissue from my backpack. It was hard to go throughout the day without those items, but I eventually got used to it.

Winter 2019 • 17

In the Life

Journaling through High School Journaling, an ancient form of self-expression, find new life in digital tools that allow for online expression I was about to throw my phone across the room. Stressed out and on my last nerve, the number of thoughts circling around in my head reminded me yet again that life is not all easy. As you age, life and relationships become more stressful and hectic. Days become shorter, and the work keeps piling up.

Sometimes, you want to scream out your thoughts.

Journaling allows people to scream out their thoughts, except instead of screaming, they write it down. The idea of journaling has been practiced by many thinkers in the past. According to Inbreathe, many thinkers including Leonardo da Vinci, Lewis and Clark and Anne Frank kept journals.

Journaling began in 15th-century Italy where many people would keep journals and record their days. During the 1980s, many school districts required English classes to use journals to help students create independent Many people who journal embrace their creativity in their journal entries. thinking.

Due to modern technology, of journaling is pulling all of the stressful didn’t have the need to share my feelings. journaling apps have been created to thoughts I have out of my mind and onto I kept thinking that there were no benefits allow users to journal on their phones. I the app.” in journaling and that it was a complete knew when I decided to journal for two My first journal entry on the app waste of time. However, the more stress I weeks that it was going to be difficult. DayOne was quite short compared to the felt with school, the more I wanted to use I’m not really one to share my feelings rest of them. On a Monday night, I wrote the DayOne app. and stress level out in the open. I figure around 9 p.m., right after I completed Like DayOne, many journaling apps that keeping that in would help me my homework. I wrote about how I was have encouraged journaling. DayOne get the job done. However, the result craving French fries and that I was way too is known to be the number 1 app for of journaling truly affected me in a excited about the release of Disney+. journaling. Premium membership, $2.95/ positive way.

That Monday just happened to be a month, holds unlimited features. The To many students, journaling relaxed day; nothing too special happened. features include access multiple journals, encourages them to be more Every random thought I encountered unlimited access to photos and much more. productive. Senior Anna Fedderson I wrote down. I wrote down all of my I accessed the app with the free mode, enjoys to journal so she can remember complaints I had for the amount of which is compared to a typical journal but her good memories. “I journal on homework I faced and how I needed a on your phone. the DayOne app when I have had a good nap.

According to the Huffington Post, great day or when my day didn’t go as Two days passed and I couldn’t continue journaling helps users achieve goals, wanted and I feel the need to write it using the DayOne app. I felt that I did not increases remembrance of memories, out,” Fedderson said. “My favorite part have time to continue journaling and I improves communication skills and helps

18 • The Magnet

Alexandra Der Boghosian

By Alexandra Der Boghosian

Alexandra Der Boghosian

users emotionally and physically heal.

After reading this article, I had to come to terms that journaling may be the solution to all of my problems.

With Coldplay songs playing in the background, I tied my hair and wrote everything I wanted to. I wrote about my feelings, what I did that day, and who or what annoyed me. Two hours passed, and I was left in tears. Reflecting on my day and myself, I noticed that I had many responsibilities and things to do that I hadn’t even started. It felt as if life was the wind and I was the plane trying to push through it.

A few days passed while journaling, and I noticed myself more enlightened than before. I felt more organized with my thoughts and much calmer. I noticed that journaling helped me clear up any confusion I had with homework and tasks.

One of the many things I learned with journaling is you have to express yourself.

It’s your journal, so you can draw, scratch things out, write your deepest, darkest secrets, absolutely anything that makes you free from feeling overwhelmed.

Besides writing down your thoughts, many creative artists have brought back the idea of bullet journaling. Bullet journaling is defined as a system “to help you track the past, organize the present, and plan for the future,” according to Guide to the Bullet Journal System.

“Ever since I started journaling, I felt more accomplished within my day; I always tell my friends to journal because it benefits everyone’s schedule,” said senior Sofiya Haiduk. Haiduk started journaling earlier this year and has been feeling less stressed since doing it, she said.

“At first, I felt overwhelmed with journaling because there was so much I wanted to accomplish, but after a while, journaling has let me be more successful with school,” Haiduk said.

According to the Chicago Tribune, journaling is different from putting thoughts on Facebook because social media is not designed for authenticity; rather, social media encourages its users to put on a happy face. Journaling can be more than just a diary; it can also function as a habit tracker or an organizer.

The passion for journaling is not

Urielle Corcuera

In the Life

GCC student Urielle Corcuera started journaling in high school.

compelling for everyone. The more I journaled, the more I noticed that few people journal, digitally or on the printed page. They’ve always thought about the idea of keeping a journal, but never continue the idea to do so.

Many students in high school tend to complain that they don’t have time to journal. However, some college students find benefit to starting journaling then.

GCC student Urielle Corcuera has been passionate about journaling since she started in high school. “Unlike planners, journals can be about your school work and personal life,” Corcuera said. “Many people get intimidated with journaling because they think that it has to be overthe-top artistic, but that’s not really the point of journaling — It’s about staying organized and keeping a perspective.”

“A lot of people would benefit from journaling because it helps you achieve your goals, whether it be personal or academic. I learned a lot from journaling, but most importantly, it taught me how to be more disciplined and responsible because it requires setting time aside, which then becomes a habit,” Corcuera said.

Winter 2019 • 19

Features

Our sport Is your punishment

Chris Davis

Anna Arutunian

Cross country is a challenging team sport of endurance

Middle school runners participating in the LA84 Run 4 Fun program start their race.

By Serineh Ohanian Unlike most popular sports, cross country runners typically do not grow up practicing as they would sports like basketball or soccer. “I’ve been seriously running since freshman year,” said senior Gabriela Quinones from Hoover High School. “I did a little bit of middle school cross country, but I wasn’t as dedicated to it as I am now. Running has become my passion. I love seeing the beautiful scenery as I take each step during a race or practice.”

Quinones said that her first experience with cross country was through her middle school extracurricular activities.

Her P.E. teacher encouraged her to run in her local Run4Fun youth running program. The LA84 Foundation hosts the annual Run4Fun to serve Los Angeles-area school districts’ students with sports opportunities. The program

20 • The Magnet

introduces students to a sport that most kids typically are not eager to partake in. “It made me realize that running in a distance race wasn’t totally an impossible feat,” Quinones said of the experience.

One of the most challenging aspects of cross country is that the terrain one runs can include loose, rocky hills or even open streams. Preparing for a cross country race naturally requires competition, but also learning how to cope with mother nature.

Unlike most sports, a field is not prepared for the runners’ competition. A runner never knows what to expect during a race; they can encounter endurance training but they also must have the ability to quickly adapt to changing environments.

A successful runner must learn to be focused and motivated to overcome any challenge presented.

Cross country running is about strength as much as it is about speed. Over nine miles a typical length of a workout, often

through fields and over hills. Running is especially tough on the calves and it’s difficult shifting one’s body in different positions to cope with the uneven ground.

It is not like racing on a track, and the only preparation a runner can do is to spend time running in different environments.

Runners constantly feel the toll of running cross country on their body. “I get horrible cramps in my legs, and sometimes I can’t even move because of how badly they hurt,” said senior Avo Arabetyan.

Arabetyan would often get terrible shin splints. “I felt very frustrated after my injuries, and there were a lot of times I could not make practice and wanted to give up on running,” Arabetyan said.

Junior Sinitia Khosravian began running her sophomore year. When asked about why she did not try out for cross country her freshman year, she said, “It would be a lot of work.” Although being on a school sports team is time consuming, Khosravian manages to run extra miles on the weekends and keep up her grades.

Running schedules also restrict the time runners have to hang out with friends and family. Runners are required to attend meets, run a minimum of six days of the week, and wake up at 6 a.m. for morning practices on Saturdays.

Many of the team members are also active with their academics and extracurricular activities. The runners work hard in all areas, but see cross country as a place where they can achieve and succeed outside of the classroom,” Khosravian said.

Cross country not only hones a person’s athletic abilities, it teaches them lessons and skills to use for any part of their life, according to Khosravian. Runners learn to organize their time from rigorous training, completing upcoming assignments and maintaining a social life.

In cross country, learning how to manage time is important, most runners say. Practices ending at 7 p.m. (such as the Hoover High practices) can interfere with the time to do homework and study. “You learn how to adapt to the difficult schedule.

Emili Cruz Sosa

Features

Freshman Parker Simons nears the finish line at a race in Crescenta Valley Park.

Joining cross country really made me step up my game in time management,” Khosravian said. “There is no time for procrastination.”

Runners such as students at Hoover High School typically train on nearby hiking trails in Verdugo Park and Brand Park. They strive to improve their times for their races by running on terrain similar to the race courses.

Every practice their coach incorporates elements of what they will encounter during races by integrating steep hills and grassy surfaces in to the workouts.

Practices typically start with a warm up, end with a cool down and are completed with weights and strength training. “During a tempo run, I have the runners run at a speed 15 to 30 seconds slower than your race pace and at roughly eight out of 10 on the exertion scale,” said Jack Sallakian, coach of the Hoover Cross Country team.

Tempo runs increase metabolic fitness and their higher intensities build lactic acid thresholds, meaning that when race day comes, runners will not

fatigue as quickly. Runners train hard to ensure that they can keep a consistent pace for the duration of the race. Most cross country races are 3.1 miles and require endurance built over time to keep running at a high intensity for a long period.

Freshman Parker Simmons pushes himself during every practice to accomplish his main goal to participate in the California Interscholastic Federation cross country championships. CIF is the governing body for high school sports in California. The competition involves the top runners from each school. With two marathons under Simon’s belt, he has become accustomed to facing difficult challenges to achieve his ultimate goal.

With constant hard work and training given to the sport, Simmons has won multiple medals for being a top runner in races. Simmons’s best time from this season was 15:10 for a 3-mile race, an improvement of two minutes from his previous year. “I was one of the slowest runners my first year of cross country.

It just pushed me harder to put in more mileage to improve on my speed and

consistency,” Simmons said.

Simmons has dedicated countless hours to running, on and off season.

The team usually practices through the summer until the season starts for three hours a day.

Once the season starts in August, they usually have longer practices that consist of four to five hours of running.

The team also has Saturday practices beginning at 6 a.m. and ending at 1 p.m.

“All of that hard work is consistently paying off in the improvement of the team’s race times,” Simons said.

Simmons became the new school record holder, pacing the field with a time of 15:10. He credits his success on the course to his recent training, saying, “We had done hill work leading up to the race, which definitely helped with going up the last hill and finishing the race fast.”

Winter 2019 • 21

Features

Anna Arutunian

‘I’ll explain later’: the science behind procrastination

By Anna Arutunian Junior Daniel Arakelian personally labels himself as a chronic procrastinator.

“I think [what makes me procrastinate] is a combination of how much work there is to do on a given day and how my brain reacts to understanding how much work I have to do,” he said. “I’m bothered [by the habit] because [I know] It’s not a matter of getting the work done, it’s mostly me doing things that I would want to do later after work.”

In contrast, junior Jannice Rigor thinks of procrastination in another way. “I wouldn’t call myself too much of a procrastinator; though I have some of my lower points. I catch up really quick. I think I’ve learned better now [in terms of procrastinating] because I’m investing myself into things I’m a little more passionate about,” she said. “I think that I’m challenged because the work environment frustrates me, but getting it

22 • The Magnet

done seems so worthy in the end.”

Procrastination can be an irritating habit to handle, but fortunately, recent research proves that it’s easily avoidable with some understanding of psychology and a little effort.

It’s safe to say that society’s current views on procrastination are different compared to those of the past.

Procrastination actually has an extensive history; it even dates back to 3500 B.C.E., when Neanderthals created board games to pass time.

However, procrastination wasn’t necessarily seen as a negative thing until the mid-eighteenth century. The viewpoint changed when preacher Jonathan Edwards gave the sermon “Procrastination, or The Sin and Folly of Depending on Future Time,” and English writer Samuel Johnson wrote “however dubious or sluggish, I was now necessitated to write” in his periodical called “The Rambler.” Consequently, procrastination is now viewed as something that needs to be controlled

and/or stopped.

Approximately 20 percent of adults label themselves as chronic procrastinators.

Furthermore, a study conducted by StudyMode network in 2017 proved that out of 1300 students in high school and college surveyed, 87 percent of them admitted to procrastinating on school assignments. In order to understand exactly why humans are so prone to procrastination, psychology is here to help.

UPMC HealthBeat describes procrastination to be “a battle between the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex” in the brain. Simply put, the limbic system is the area in which the brain processes pleasure, while the prefrontal cortex is known to be the rational part of the brain that helps us make decisions. The human prefrontal cortex is supposedly underdeveloped compared to the limbic system, which is why we are so prone to procrastination.

AP Psychology teacher Patrick Davarhanian says that this is an accurate

way to explain procrastination. “There’s a reason people love to go, for example, to theme parks. There’s always this battle, this back-and-forth in terms of doing things you want to do in life and doing things you need to do,” he said. “It’s a matter of balancing and it’s a matter of priorities.”

Tim Urban, who runs the blog called Wait But Why, creatively models procrastination using drawings in this TED Talk to demonstrate a simple way of what happens when someone procrastinates.

Another aspect of procrastination is the concept of human needs and goals, as demonstrated by Abraham Maslow’s Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, first developed in 1943. “If … something is connected to your overall well-being, so your ability to say, pay the rent, people usually try and prioritize that,” Davarhanian said. “The need for those basic fundamental needs, those are going to be for the most part, priority over … pleasure-seeking. We tend to make sure there’s a roof over our head, that we have our next meal covered, so that would be fundamental.” The hierarchy essentially explains the fact that humans have basic needs such as food, water and rest, which are our motivators as well.

Personality could also contribute to one’s habitual procrastination. UPMC HealthBeat also mentioned that there are three general types of procrastinators: thrill-seekers, avoiders and indecisive procrastinators. That being so, the procrastination everybody v iews negatively, and the type most dread, is known to be “passive procrastination,” which makes us feel guilty for delaying work and adds extra stress to our daily lives.

However, there exists the good side of procrastination as well — known as “active procrastination” — which according to AlterNet.org means “putting off projects that don’t really need to be done right away.”

Active procrastinating is generally for people such as Clark counselor Anna Margaryan, who prefers to work under pressure and (in some cases) procrastinate to make better use of their time and productivity. “I am, if I can be honest, a chronic procrastinator. In fact, I actually think I work better under pressure,” Margaryan said. “When I have to really sit,

and focus, and get it done I think I’m pretty productive, whereas if I have a lot of time I tend to put things off.”

“In talking with students about procrastination, one response I often hear is ‘I don’t have time.’ While I know that students have very busy lives, saying ‘I didn’t have time’ is not a very good excuse,” she said regarding how big of an issue procrastination is with Clark students.

“For other students, they underestimate how long an assignment might take them, so they procrastinate because they think they’ll get it done, only to find out that it’s more labor intensive then they realized.

I believe that for most students who procrastinate, poor time management and lack of organization negatively impacts school performance and creates unnecessary stress.”

Because everyone is their own person with unique learning styles, one could figure out what works best for them and what makes them the most productive.

“Something important to know is that most everyone does procrastinate at some point; however, not everyone is a procrastinator,” Davarhanian said. “So there’s a significant difference between procrastinating some tasks occasionally and also being like a chronic procrastinator.”

It’s also no surprise that technology is a culpable aspect of keeping us distracted and fueling procrastination. An article

by CNN claims that modern technology is highly responsible for memory loss and lowered focus in the youth if abused.

Technology is especially sensitive to people with “impaired cognitive control,” which includes small children and the elderly.

As a result, it’s safe to say that “turning off mobile notifications and making an effort to use only one high-tech device at a time is a way to stretch our cognitive resources.”

Margaryan suggests a quiet area “devoid of distractions” in order to effectively do work. “It’s so easy to get distracted, and I try to really find a quiet space to work at home when I need to do that, and I think all students need a place like that,” she said. “When you procrastinate, speaking from personal experience, you put induced stress on yourself that you can avoid just by breaking things down and doing them earlier.”

In terms of scientifically proven ways of breaking the nasty habit of passive

Anna Arutunian

Features

procrastination, there are several approaches one could take: the Seinfeld Method, the procrastination equation, digital minimalism, and mindfulness.

People have their own approaches to countering procrastination. “When I’m reading, I always like to have an audio. I like to imagine a movie playing so that keeps me on track,” Rigor said. “It sounds goofy and all, but it really does help.”

Arakelian, however, is still on a mission to find what works best for him. “I’ve tried different things, mainly music, which doesn’t work because I can’t focus. I’ve also tried getting everything out of my way but that doesn’t work either because I have a short attention span,” he said. “What I’m trying right now is frequent breaks, which is actually helping.”

Winter 2019 • 23

Opinion

The US shouldn’t have pulled out of Syria On Oct. 13, the Trump administration made the decision to pull American forces out of Syria as part of his plan to pull troops out of the Middle East in general. This action automatically came under harsh criticism, and for good reason.

The main criticism was that this would leave the Kurdish militants of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, also known as Rojava, open to being attacked by Turkey, whose government has been adamantly antiKurdish inside its own borders and outside as well.

A bit of backstory is needed. Ever since the Republic of Turkey was established in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, there has been a strict policy of Turkification, or encouraging the Turklish culture and language to be the dominant one in Turkey.

This involved the outlawing of any other language being spoken (this law has yet been repealed), and this was harmful for every minority in Turkey, specifically the Kurds, who make up 20 percent of Turkey’s population.

In face of oppression by the Turkish government, a Kurdish insurgency rose in Turkey in the 1980s called the PKK (Kurdish: Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê), or Kurdistan Workers Party. Generally defined as a terrorist group, they fought for Kurdish rights in Turkey using guerrilla tactics.

Rojava, while taking light inspiration from the PKK, is not the same thing as the PKK. First of all, Rojava is an area with many ethnic groups, such as Arabs, Turkmen, Assyrians and Armenians, as well as Kurds. However, Turkey doesn’t see Rojava in Syria, Turkey sees the PKK that has been carrying out terrorist attacks in Turkey for the last 40 years.

Wasting no time, Turkish forces invaded Syria under the ironic title Operation Peace Spring (Turkish: Barış Pınarı Harekâtı) through the northern Syrian border shortly after U.S. forces pulled out, bombing Kurdish cities and attacking civilians.

This has led to worldwide condemnation and even the Syrian President, Bashar Al-

24 • The Magnet

Wikipedia

By Aleks Zadorian

Viyan Antar, a Kurdish fighter of the Women’s Protection Unit, or the YPJ. She died at the age of 19 liberating the town of Manbij from ISIS.

Assad, has stated that there will be war if Turkey doesn’t pull out of Syria.

While less American involvement in Middle Eastern politics and wars is a good thing, what the Trump administration fails to understand is that pulling out in one action with no regard to the consequences is ignorant and doesn’t take into account the complex and downright confusing nature of the Syrian Civil War, especially if it’ll displace almost 300,000 people.

Opposıng what Presıdent Trump saıd, “like two kids in a lot, sometimes you have to let them fight” is not a good way to deal with ethnic warfare like the one Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is so adamant about conducting.

Not only was this decision hasty and irresponsible, it is a stab in the back to the Kurdish militants who gave their lives and allied themselves with the U.S. to help fight ISIS earlier in the Syrian civil war. This betrayal just spits on the hard work of both Kurdish and American soldiers who risked and gave their lives in Syria.

This also ruins and holds back the possibility of peace in the Middle East, which the U.S. has apparently been trying to work towards and maintain. It goes unsaid that directly opening up the chance of more war and bloodshed is

counterproductive, especially since the only reason Turkey wasn’t bashing Rojava was because the U.S. was there, and if they were to attack the U.S., that would be it for Erdoğan.

However, sınce the US ıs now out of the equatıon, Turkish government forces can have a field day with NATO supplied weapons on U.S. allies.

One also has to question what the U.S.’s goal in the Middle East is anymore.

Is it to provide protection to civilians and keep groups with malicious intentions away by helping the people living there with their armed struggle? If so, why did it so carelessly leave a friendly guerrilla group open to be attacked by the single biggest anti-Kurdish force of the century?

Why would it let 300,000 innocents get displaced while there was a huge refugee crisis going on just a few years ago?

This ignorance of the Kurdish situation by the West has been going on since the mid-20th century. In order to keep Turkey, a NATO member, calm and friendly, they ignore the crimes and massacres that the Kurds face, all in the name of politics. One can’t help but draw comparisons to the genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Opinion

A healthy serving of propaganda I love military shows as much as the next person. They are action packed, full of grit and suspense, and in the end they leave you feeling like a war hero while you sit on your couch munching on popcorn.

And a lot of shows on the military tend to lean towards the idea of an alternate world, a fictitious universe where many things are different from the world we live in today.

One of these such shows is CBS’s Seal Team, a military action drama created by Benjamin Cavell, which first aired on CBS on Sept. 27, 2017. The show has since been met with overall positive reviews, including a 7.3/10 on IMDB and 70 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The musical score for the show has also been praised, being nominated in the 2018 Emmys for Outstanding Musical composition for a TV series.

In the third episode of Season 3, a scene is portrayed in which the SEALS are gathered around a map of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Ensign Lisa Davies (portrayed

by Toni Trucks) starts off by saying that “12 hours ago Armenian Armed forces violated the ceasefire with Azerbaijan, in the disputed Nagorno Karabakh region.”

After some small talk between Master Chief Special Warfare Operator Jason Hayes (portrayed by David Boreanaz) and Special Warfare Operator first class Sonny Quinn (portrayed by A.J. Buckley), Davies states that “Azerbaijan is our only ally within the Caspian region.” I remember myself immediately turning off the TV after hearing those words, staring at the blank screen as I tried to comprehend what they had just said. Only ally? Armenia attacking Azerbaijan? I was utterly shocked.

Many people might argue that the show itself is based in a fictitious universe, and well, I disagree with that completely.

Although there might be minor changes to who and what the SEALS are fighting at times, their adversaries are ones to be expected: ISIS, Al-Qaeda, pirates, etc.

But Armenia? A country that has never had any bad relations with the United States since their release from the communist Soviet Union. A country that almost became a United States mandate under President Woodrow Wilson has been painted the bad guy once again.

But not by Azerbaijan, or by Turkey, for once. By the United States, a country that is seen as a beacon of democracy by almost all other countries. Yet the Azerbaijan government was responsible for the FourDay War back in April 2016 that led to the loss of life of over 100 Armenian soldiers and countless civilians trying to defend their country which they won rightfully back in the war for Artsakh. Azerbaijan was originally gifted the regions of Nakhchivan and Artsakh regions by Stalin, the corrupt dictator of the Soviet Union.

Yet during the episode, Special Warfare Operator first class Sonny Quinn (Buckley) brought up a very good point during his discussion with Ensign Lisa Davies (Trucks). “Why the hell should I care about turf wars between countries I can’t even spell?” This statement, I feel, is what many Americans think about the Artsakh War and the following ceasefire put in place between the two countries. (Granted, it isn’t really a ceasefire, since Azerbaijan is known to violate the ceasefires on a nearly daily basis.)

Americans don’t understand and know the deep seated violence between the two nations. The average American won’t know the history behind how Armenians living in Artsakh and Baku were constantly harassed and killed by the Azerbaijani government. Some notable examples include the burning of their capital to the

massacres of Armenians in Baku. Seal Team got around 4.77 million views on the second episode of the second season, and I can guarantee at least 95 percent of all viewers have never heard of the Artsakh War or the current circumstances surrounding the two countries.

This will immediately put the Armenian government and Armenian people in a bad light, as the show seems to clump the Armenian armed forces with the likes of ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Not so fun fact, but both ISIS and Al-Qaeda members fought in the War of Artsakh before forming their terrorist organizations. Needless to say, the writer(s) of this episode need to go back and do their research on the wars and who was the aggressor and who was the defender, to show at least a small bit of realism. The idea of Armenian forces attacking Azerbaijan preemptively and violating a ceasefire is the most far-fetched idea I have ever heard from a show that I enjoyed up until now.

Unless the writers decide to retcon the whole thing or make the story sound even a tad believable, I will stop watching this show. And I encourage others to do the same, as if people continue to watch the show they indirectly support the ideals of the corrupt Azeri government and their vile dictator, as well as supporting the painting of Armenians in a bad light in western media.

Magnet staff photo

By Rafael Aroustamian

Clark students read books about the Armenian Genocide. Glendale Unified is one of the few districts to have April 24, Armenian Genocide Rememberance day off.

Winter 2019 • 25

Opinion

Democratic candidates’ take on women’s reproductive rights

By Carol Rodriguez

Flickr

Imagine living in a nation that controlled people’s bodies and treated them as if they had no rights. Oh wait! That might actually become a reality if we elect a president who’s ignorant when it comes to basic human rights.

Thankfully, we have a variety of candidates to choose from who will support and fight for the right to make decisions about your own body.

The fourth democratic debate on Oct. 15 was one of the best debates so far. We got to see 11 familiar ones, along with a new one, who were ready to attack on certain topics.

For some candidates, this was a make it or break it situation that would determine the rest of their presidential career.

As the debates continued, the topic of women’s rights became less mentioned and none of the moderates brought it up during the third one, until now.

In one of the most memorable moments of the night, the candidates took part in answering questions over the topic of women and their reproductive rights. It’s heartbreaking to see that we’ve come so far in 2019, yet we’re still debating whether or not women should have reproductive rights, when this issue should be a no brainer.

“People need to keep their hands off of women’s bodies and let women make

the decisions about their own lives,” said Senator Kamala Harris. Although Harris is my least favorite candidate, I applaud her for bringing matters to the issue since it was clear that it wouldn’t be a big topic that night.

Harris even pointed out how outrageous it is that there have been states that are attacking women by having passed laws

by Republican legislatures that prevent women from having access to reproductive health care, and emphasized the possible consequence this may have on women of color — death.

Harris’ statements sparked fellow candidate Cory Booker to speak on this issue. “Women should not be the only ones taking up this cause,” Booker said. “Women are people and people deserve to control their own body.”

Several candidates have also brought light on this issue in past debates. “I don’t believe in just reproductive freedom, I believe in reproductive justice,” Julián Castro said. He was also the first candidate to address issues of the trans community during a debate. “Just because a woman, or let’s also not forget someone in the trans community, a trans female is poor, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have the right to exercise that right to choose.” (It should be noted that he later corrected himself and specified trans male instead of trans female.)

Kamala Harris makes the fourth democratic debate a memorable night by being the first candidate to brings up the issue of women’s access to reproductive health care, “which is under full-on attack in America today.”

26 • The Magnet

It’s sad to see that whether women should have reproductive rights are a very opinionated topic since it should be considered a human right. Why should a human right be negotiated in the first place? These are real people we’re talking about, not some “opinion” that you can disagree on. Only you know what’s right for your body, so why are we going to let some cis men choose what’s right and what isn’t for your body?

Our nation didn’t always do a poor job of separating the state with the church.

Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling in 1973, struck down many laws that were against abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution protected a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion without immoderate government restriction, therefore making abortion legal nationwide. In the case of Griswold v.

Connecticut in 1965, the court invalidated a state law that prohibited women utilizing any drugs to prevent conception since it was considered unconstitutional as it violated the right to marital privacy.

The United States had been on a trajectory of respecting women’s reproductive health for the past couple of decades; however, that has changed ever since Trump got elected. It isn’t surprising that he wants to take away women’s rights, though, since he and his administration have been transparent about their view on reproductive rights, especially after trying to take away the access of a particular basic health care — birth control. Before and throughout his election, Trump has even vowed to appoint justices to reverse Roe v. Wade.

Those who are pregnant should not have to see a day where they have to engage in safe practices in order to stay alive, which is why it’s crucial to elect a candidate who’s well informed about such issues. We should never have to see the day where Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Hopefully, in 2020, a president who respects the right to make decisions about one’s own body will be sitting in an office.

Opinion

2019 AP changes: Why the pros outweigh the cons New AP test changes to prepare students and alleviate some testing-taking stress

Senior Ruben Erkanian reviews his notes in his AP US History class last year.

suggestions from their teachers. Extra help comes in the form of course overviews that let you see what content is in your course and how much that content will actually be present on the AP exam.

This is a very welcome addition that will benefit any student willing to use the program to its fullest. Yet even this supplement has been scrutinized as part of a larger problem with AP courses by shifting the focal point to passing the AP Exam itself rather than actually learning a lesson.

Despite the drawbacks, the new 2019 changes to AP will make students reconsider if they can commit to one or more very demanding classes, but now they have more tools to tackle their courses.

Sophomore Manvel Murachyan builds an index card tower in his AP World History class.

Winter 2019 • 27

Jimena Vildoza

Whether you take an AP course for the GPA bonus, the chance to earn some college credit, or the experience of being in a college-level environment, some significant changes have made landfall in the program starting this fall.

The most immediate and noticeable change is the required online registration during fall semester for the AP courses you are taking on the College Board website using a classroom code which automatically signs you up for the respective test.

The streamlined ordering process gives students peace of mind knowing that they are correctly signed up for their exam and won’t have to worry about meeting nerveracking, last-minute deadlines.

Critics of some of the new changes say that the required registration in the fall puts too much stress on students by not allowing them enough time to prepare and comprehend the difficulty of the material. Although this may be true to an extent, students who take a reasonable number of AP classes and who have good time management skills will not find their school year overwhelming.

Tacked onto the early enrollment, College Board has also introduced a $40 late fee and cancellation fee that has been castigated as a considerable hassle for low-income families. However, most students know taking an AP course will entail taking a grueling exam, so having an early commitment drives students to give it everything they have.

Enrolling in the College Board website with the required classroom code also allows you access to AP Classroom — a shiny new resource that allows students to receive customized assignments, gain personalized feedback, and find out what skills they should focus on. Students are free to obtain answers with justifications after completing assignments or customized

Ani Avakian ­­­

By Kenneth Castro

A&E

Up-and-coming artist Layton Greene begins to find her voice in her new EP ‘Tell Ya Story’ Tell Ya Story. Three words, two different worlds connected, and one powerful EP from an artist who was never expected to make it mainstream. It’s a simple, telling title that seems perfectly fitting for rising R&B star Layton Greene, as she expresses her life and struggles through her music as her journey into the music industry was quite an unusual one.

Hailing from East St. Louis, Illinois, Greene grew up in a turbulent household surrounded by drugs and abuse and even found herself homeless at times. Her talent in singing wasn’t a noticeable one either; she was both rejected by major talent shows like X-Factor and America’s Got Talent before garnering noticeable attention through the popular audio distribution platform, Soundcloud.

With this in mind, Tell Ya Story has evolved into a personal memoir for Greene, an outlet channeling the raw emotions and deep internal reflections about those times. She gets really personal in each song, addressing the various friends and family she’s known throughout the years both good and bad. It was those people that Tell Ya Story is partly inspired by and devoted to and the first song of the EP “Blame on Me” is a sure testament to that.

Pertaining to her childhood and early life, Greene is very literal and blunt with her lyrics. Describing deeply personal struggles such as being sexually harassed by her cousins or being left by her own mother for another man, there is nothing metaphoric that could be found in her words — everything is blatantly real and, in a way, “Blame on Me” sets the tone for how the rest of the six songs play out.

There is a recurring theme of Greene singing out her thoughts and doubts regarding love and life, almost as if she’s thinking aloud what could’ve been or what once was. In fact, it seems as Greene wants

28 • The Magnet

her music to focus more on herself, as she decided not to feature any other artists in any of her songs, a bold move for any artist on the come up. The interconnection between all the songs is perhaps the best part of the EP itself, and stark contrasts between two adjacent songs “Never Know” and “I Love You” was particularly enjoyable.

“Never Know” describes love at its height while “I Love You” is essentially a love letter to an old flame. Both songs provide great mood changes that send one on an emotional rollercoaster. It is if both

relate to. Greene’s first EP is true R&B. Her confidence to be true to herself with her lyrics is simply inspiring, and her willingness to be seen as vulnerable as she puts her heart out within each song can be nothing more than respected.

The only fault within the EP is that oftentimes the sounds and effects used in each song have this collectively similar vibe to them overall, making the EP redundant at times. However, it is almost expected from an up and coming artist like Greene, who is still finding her voice and identity as an artist. Tell Ya Story symbolizes her

Courtesy of gomoxie.org

By Lois Ramilo

Layton Greene’s new EP, Tell Ya Story dropped late September and been a mainstay at the Billboard’s top R&B charts

songs equate to a personal interview with her, as listeners can understand what she is going through. One can feel her anguish from moving on an old flame or trying to understand why her past relationships didn’t work.

It’s a classic R&B theme many artists write about in their songs, but she makes her struggles a lot more personal, something a lot of her listeners can

moving on from her past and move forward in better things like her music career.

So far, Tell Ya Story is currently number one in R&B albums on the Billboard music charts and for an EP, it’s quite an impressive feat and a sign of how good Greene is and how much better she can be. The sky’s the limit for Layton Greene and, before you know it, her name will eventually become a household name in the R&B world.

A&E

‘Execute Order 66’ ‘Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’ is a game that combines great storytelling with action, adventure, and puzzle solving Everybody loves Star Wars. Even the people who say they don’t love Star Wars love Star Wars. It’s not a secret that the epic space opera created by George Lucas is one of the best of its time, as it has become a worldwide pop cultural phenomenon.

And after spawning multiple films and countless merchandise, the idea of a Star Wars video game came to the mind of its creators.

Among the most successful of these video games are The Force Unleashed and its sequel The Force Unleashed two, and Star Wars Battlefront One and Two. And now, game developers Respawn Entertainment have made another Star Wars themed game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order follows a young padawan, Cal Kestis (voiced and motion captured by Cameron Monaghan) on the run from the empire after The Jedi Purge (codenamed Order 66) decimates the Jedi Order kills most of the remaining Jedi. The young padawan has been hiding on the planet of Bracca working as a scrapper of ships. But as he and his friend Prauf (voiced by JB Blanc) encounter a life threatening situation, he is forced to use his force powers to save his friend. This would get the attention of the Empire and one of it’s Inquisitors, The Second Sister.

(The inquisitors are a branch of Dark Side Force users who were dispatched by Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine to hunt down any remaining Jedi as well as any force sensitive children.) Cal is forced to escape with some newfound friends before deciding to kickstart his journey towards helping other Jedi’s escape from The Empire.

When you first open up Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, you are greeted with a plethora of great features. When you first spot Cal in the game he is wearing headphones and jamming out to Black

Wikimedia Commons

By Rafael Aroustamian

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, follows the story of Cal Kestis, a padawan on the run from the Inquisitors.

Thunder by The HU. The way the song was integrated into the game makes it sound like an actual song made for the Star Wars Universe, and the different races and droids working together in a scrapyard while the song played in the background makes it sound even better.

During the first thirty minutes of the game, the player gets to control Cal for the first time, and run around the junkyards of Bracca, trying to keep up with Cal’s friend Prauf. This allows the game to show the player what exactly are the controls, while still keeping the person playing the game immersed in the great dialogue and fascinating location. It also allows for the game to show off the multidimensional character that is Cal, as he cracks jokes constantly, even in the worst conditions.

The game mechanics and game flow are natural, and climbing and wall running is easier than in most games. The combat system is also very advanced, as Cal has choices between using his forcerelated powers or his lightsaber. Overall, movement and combat in the game is

smooth and natural, and any player can understand it and use it with relative ease.

Something that makes Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order different from all of the other previous Star Wars games is its puzzle solving. Unlike many of the other Star Wars games, where it’s a straightforward objective, Fallen Order makes the player explore around the map. It makes players take the longer way and forces them to find vines to climb on, slopes to slide down, and ropes to swing off of. There isn’t a straightforward path in any of the maps, and it forces Cal and the player to think more strategically in order to avoid even longer paths and fight unnecessary enemies.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order brings a new breed of action, adventure puzzle solving games to the video game industry.

I see it as a cross between the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed two and Uncharted 4: A thief’s end, while having its own unique aspects and elements that make it a very strong contender for Game of the Year.

Winter 2019 • 29

Arts & Entertainment

From underground railroad to proper recognition in a film flickr.com

‘Harriet’ brings respect and accuracy to famed historical figure Harriet Tubman

By Emili Cruz Sosa Twenty years ago, writer Gregory Allen Howard proposed the idea of creating a film about an extraordinary female who plays a crucial role in American history, but due to some political issues, this film couldn’t have been made until Hollywood’s movie policies changed.

This long-awaited film was finally brought to life and released in theaters throughout the United States Nov. 1.

Harriet centers around a black slave named Minty, who is later known as Harriet Tubman — one of the most famous female conductors on the Underground Railroad — and her journey, not only to freedom, but also as an abolitionist. Throughout her journey, she is presented with many different obstacles, but with the guidance of God she was able to overcome them.

Minty, played by Cynthia Ervino, is tired of her master, Gideon (Joe Alywn), and is also afraid of being sold. She decides to find a way to escape in hopes of finding the land of freedom. With the help of many people along the way, she is able to accomplish her 100-mile journey.

Finally reaching her destination in Philadelphia, she meets a man by the name of William Still (Leslie Odom Jr.), who allows her to change her name to Harriet Tubman (Harriet for her mom and Tubman for her husband). With this name and with the help of John, she is able to become a successful and well known conductor on the Underground Railroad, proving herself to be more than just a “free slave.”

When directing this film, Kasi Lemmons wanted it to be suitable for all ages while still being able to communicate the beautiful story of Tubman. She does an excellent job in accomplishing this as Harriet doesn’t focus much on the torture 30 • The Magnet

Film is based on the story of American abolitionist, Harriet Tubman.

that a slave has to to go through, but rather focuses more on the relationship that slaves have with their masters; this is also partly why this movie is quite unique.

Ervino does a phenomenal job interpreting Tubman’s life on the big screen. Although she is British and naturally has a British accent, with months of practice, she was able to put her accent away and adapt to the accent that Tubman had. Viewers can certainly tell that Ervino has a strong connection with her role, as she does an excellent job in conveying Tubman’s message through her actions.

By the end of the movie, viewers will definitely have better knowledge on the life of Tubman and what an exceptional woman she was. She was able to escape to freedom, alone, which shows how strong she was, not only physically, but emotionally as well.

I couldn’t imagine anyone, other than Ervino, playing this role. She portrayed the character with such grace and emotion, that it was as if I was seeing the actual Harriet Tubman on the big screen.

Despite its backlash for having one of

the antagonists be a black man, Harriet has managed to make about $12 million at the box office, just within the opening weekend.

Like movies such as 12 Years a Slave and Freedom, Harriet is a heavily historicallybased movie that touches on one of the most delicate subjects in world history, which is why it stands out from what movie-lovers typically tend to see as a “successful” movie and why it is a movie that is definitely worth seeing.

I’m glad that my generation produced this film as it details the life of an abolistionist who dedicated her life to save the lives of others.

Arts & Entertainment

‘A Heist With Markiplier’ breaks expectations, steals hearts The YouTube interactive special draws in all kinds of viewers, young and old alike You’re crouching inside the museum; it’s the night of your big heist. In front of you is your partner in crime, the one with whom you’re pulling off this heist — Mark.

You stay there for a moment; he reminds you to stick to the plan. Then, without warning, he grappling-hooks out of sight.

This is the setup for the story of A Heist With Markiplier, a YouTube Original that makes the viewer a character in the fictional world of the story.

Created by Mark Fischbach (known as Markiplier), A Heist With Markiplier is only the second of its kind; the first is A Date With Markiplier. Both are directed and starred in by Fischbach. However, thanks to its sponsorship from YouTube, A Heist With Markiplier has a lot more in store for the viewer.

It doesn’t take long for you and Mark to find what you were looking for — a strange box containing something mysterious and powerful. Mark walks up to it and carefully lifts it off the pedestal. For a moment, it seems fine. Then the room is lit up by red light. Alarms blare. Mark turns to you, and asks you a question: how do you want to escape?

Here’s the thing: A Heist With Markiplier does everything it can to make the viewer feel like part of the world. The perspective is similar to that of a first-person video game, with characters addressing the camera as if they are talking to you.

Gender-neutral terms are always used for the viewer. Arms and legs appear whenever action is involved.

However, the single most important — and most unique — thing about A Heist With Markiplier is the control it gives the viewer over the story.

A Heist With Markiplier is cut into segments in such a way that at the end of each one, you are given a choice between any two things; two annotations appear on the video that, when you click on

them, lead to an entirely new video that continues the story from the previous one.

The number of choices it takes varies, but eventually, you’ll reach an ending.

Then there’s only one annotation, which leads back to the beginning so you can start again.

This isn’t the first YouTube video to use annotations to create a “choose your own adventure,” but it’s certainly one of the most popular. In fact, the only one with more views is its predecessor, A Date With Markiplier. Through these videos, Fischbach is helping to popularize a potentially powerful storytelling tool for creators.

However, this system wouldn’t be nearly as effective without all the different branching storylines and endings you can get. Fischbach uses the system to his advantage, giving his story that much more effectiveness. The story (and acting) is very cartoonish and exaggerated in all the right ways.

There are exactly 31 endings, all with very different outcomes. Every single choice you make has the potential to lead

you into either a zombie apocalypse, a pirate crew, or aliens; many of them are played by various friends of Fischbach’s, such as Matthew Patrick (MatPat) and Dan Avidan and Arin Hanson (Game Grumps).

You might think the point is to get all the endings. You can do that if you want, but it’s not. The idea is just to try out different choices because it’s fun to see where it goes.

In a world where endings are binary and not getting the “perfect ending” is a failure, A Heist With Markiplier stands out — not only by featuring many wonderful endings, but by putting the focus on the journey instead.

That’s what sets this series apart from everything else on YouTube: it’s made for the viewer. The story is what you decide it should be. And it will go in a completely nonsensical direction no matter what you choose, so you can pretty much do what you want without fear of consequences.

If you do get a bad ending, you can just try again! Who knows, might be even better the second time around. Maybe you’ll even figure out what’s in that mysterious box…

Griselda Eychaner

By Griselda Eychaner

The thumbnail for A Heist With Markiplier. The video has already gained over 8 million views a week after its release.from ISIS.

Winter 2019 • 31

Graduating Class of

2020

Clark Magnet High School

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