April 2015 by TPHS Falconer

Falconer The Torrey Pines High School

Thursday, April 30, 2015 | Vol. 40, Issue 8, 28 pages | San Diego | www.tphsfalconer.com

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PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

LGBT ADVOCATE ENCOURGAGES INCLUSION by Sarah Kim Hudson Taylor, founder and director of Athlete Ally, spoke to an assembly of students in the gym on April 28 about the importance of supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender athletes and students. The TPHS Gay Straight Alliance and the athletic department coordinated to bring Athlete Ally to TPHS. The nonproﬁt organization provides campaigns and educational resources to “foster inclusive sports communities,” according to its website. According to girls’ athletic director Charlenne Falcis-Stevens, the event was more about “awareness [of LGBT issues on campus] than anything else.” “I think that it’s important to show students that there are people willing to have a conversation about [LGBT issues],” GSA member Milena ChakravertiWuerthwein (11) said. At the assembly, Taylor emphasized the fact that “we all share a responsibility in making our schools, sports teams and

communities as inclusive as we can be.” “You don’t have to be a member of the LGBT community to care about LGBT [rights],” Taylor said. “I don’t have to be a woman to call myself a feminist. [The presentation is] about understanding that ally-ship is a commitment to making your school more inclusive and the realization that there’s never been a successful social justice movement for a minority without the support of the majority.” Taylor said that he is most concerned with how TPHS responds to his message. “I think it was a wonderful opportunity to speak to and work with so many students,” Taylor said. “But I’m really interested in and excited about what direction they take this message and carry it with them to make the culture of Torrey Pines more inclusive.” Taylor’s movement includes an online Athlete Ally pledge that has been signed by professional sports teams, collegiate athletes and Olympic athletes who commit

to creating an “inclusive space for people of all gender identities, sexualities and mixed gender expressions,” according to Chakraverti-Wuerthwein. On April 29, Falcis-Stevens and 34 TPHS athletes from football, track and field, lacrosse, basketball and field hockey went to Petco Park to line the bases and sign the Athlete Ally pledge with the San Diego Padres. “We are ... the first high school [to sign the Athlete Ally pledge] and that means, hopefully, that the overall high school community will be more inclusive,” Chakraverti-Wuerthwein said. “I think that the immaturity of many high schoolers and the ignorance about the topic is part of the problem, so by Torrey Pines stepping up as a huge school with amazing athletics, maybe we will start a trend that other schools will follow.” Principal David Jaffe said he hopes the LGBT acceptance and equality can grow “on a bigger scale” in future years.

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A binary of ... American versus Muslim would certainly be a false dichotomy. -Bahar Davary See “Pride Over Prejudice,” B2

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Chipotle collaborates with SDSU gallery exhibits students’ art TPHS on Torrey Tuesdays By Sarah Chan

FEATURE EDITOR

By Anna Lee OPINION EDITOR

Torrey Tuesdays, a series of TPHS fundraisers held at the Carmel Valley and Flower Hill Chipotle locations, will continue through May, according to TPHS Foundation executive director Bobbi Karlson. Chipotle gives the TPHS Foundation 50 percent of the proceeds from sales to customers who identify themselves as TPHS supporters between 5 and 8 p.m. on designated days. According to Karlson, other restaurants offer the same type of fundraising opportunities but generally donate 15 to 20 percent of sales. “Chipotle wants to set itself apart from any other fast food chain,” said Monica Martinez, apprentice to the Chipotle district manager. TPHS mother Karen Pope began organizing the fundraisers at the Carmel Valley location in the fall of 2014, and the ﬁeld hockey team made over $2,400 at two events in November and December. Thinking that it would be more efﬁcient to have one “point of contact” between Chipotle and TPHS, she worked with both Chipotle and TPHS liaisons to book many of the Tuesdays from February through May for various groups,

see CHIPOTLE, A3

Advanced Placement Art students Teresa Chen (12), Carolyn Chu (11), Jacki Li (12) and Mai Saito (11), and Drawing and Design students Stacy Hu (9) and Travis Rivera (9) all qualiﬁed to have their art exhibited at the Second Annual Groff Exhibit at San Diego State University’s Downtown Gallery from April 16 to May 4. “It’s a big competition because it spans all of San Diego, so I was pretty impressed that I, and ﬁve other people from our school, was able to get in,” Li said. “It really speaks to the strength of all of our artwork.” The exhibit, which features both 2-D and 3-D media, is a countywide competition juried by Mingei International Museum Director of Exhibitions and Chief Curator, Christine Knoke; Mesa College and Grossmont College instructor and artist, Brian Benfer and SDSU lecturer and artist, Philip Matzigkeit. “[Seeing my artwork in a gallery] validates

my art and adds a certain level of legitimacy to it,” Chu said. “Rather than me just being an art student compiling art for the AP test at the end of the year, I’m an actual artist.” Cash prizes of $500, $250 and $100 will be awarded to the ﬁrst, second and third place winners respectively during a closing awards reception on May 3. “It’s a really good opportunity for kids to showcase their work in a real gallery setting that’s open to the public,” said Emily Moran, art teacher and San Diego County Art Educator Association social media director. “It increases the visibility of the art programs across the county, and therefore [facilitates] more support for the arts, art programs and everything that we do in our classes.” The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, is a production of the SDCAEA, the SDSU School of Art and Design and the San Diego County Ofﬁce of Education. For more information, visit the SDSU Downtown Gallery website.

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news

april 30, 2015

Global Update Khartoum, Sudan President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan won 94.4 percent of the vote in the Sudanese presidential election, extending his 25-year reign. Al-Bashir had previously been indicted many times by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur and other places in Sudan.

Baltimore, Maryland Protests erupted after the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American man. He sustained injuries to his spine and larynx while in police custody, but was in good health at the time of his arrest. The cause of his sudden death is still unknown. As of April 28, 20 police ofďŹ cers have been injured, 200 protesters have been arrested and Baltimore has been declared to be in a state of emergency.

by Maya Rao Kathmandu, Nepal A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on April 25, followed by an even more devastating aftershock on April 26, killing 5,000+ people and leaving 9,000 injured. A number of international aid organizations are offering support to Nepal and taking donations from the public.

Indonesia Indonesia executed eight of the Bali Nine, a group of drug smugglers from Australia, Brazil, Indonesia and Nigeria that was caught smuggling $4 million worth of heroin into Indonesia on April 17, 2005. Only Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina maid, was spared at the eleventh hour.

ART BY SOPHIE YOU

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CHIPOTLE continued from A1

varsity badminton captain Michael Lin (12) said. “There were a bunch of other students, and it looked really successful.” Badminton, which became a CIF sport just this year, raised over $1,500. And boys golf, one of the smaller teams on campus, has made the most money so far at the time Falconer went to press — $2,100, according to Pope. Although the events have occurred more frequently at the Carmel Valley location, the Flower Hill Chipotle has also held fundraisers for various groups, and will have one for Speech and Debate on May 7, according to store manager Alex Mejia. They also hope to establish consistent Torrey Tuesday fundraisers in conjunction with the Foundation. The next fundraiser will be held on May 5 at the Carmel Valley Chipotle from 5-8 p.m. to raise funds for TPHS cheerleaders.

TORREY TUESDAY CARMEL VALLEY CHIPOTLE FUNDRAISER

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including sports teams, academic groups, PALs and the TPHS Scholarship Fund. “It’s really built a sense of community,” TPHS mother and Scholarship Fund board member Betsy Mackey said. “It’s really great to have something you can do over and over again, and that doesn’t happen a lot with fundraising … The TPHS Scholarship Foundation would really like to thank [Pope], and thank Chipotle for their generosity.” Carmel Valley Chipotle general manager Nick Vance declined to comment. According to Pope, some have begun calling the dates “No Cook Torrey Tuesdays,” so families can come to Chipotle and support TPHS while enjoying a meal they did not have to prepare themselves.

“It’s just great that everybody now knows Torrey Tuesdays,” Mackey said. “If we want to out to dinner, we’ll all be thinking, ‘Oh, let’s go on Tuesday’ because it’s going to support somebody at [TPHS].” Pope will no longer be helping with the fundraisers at Carmel Valley. The Foundation will organize them instead, continuing to publicize the event on campus through morning announcements and with the help of teachers. “It’s a really good way to fundraise,” varsity track member and basketball player Isabella Hoang (11) said. “Chipotle has been very nice. It’s easy … and a good way to bond with your team.” The events have allowed both members of the community to support TPHS and students to support one other. “[On badminton’s night], most of the ﬁeld hockey team went,”

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PALS Feb. 18 $1,125.70

LACROSSE Feb. 24 $1,340.21

TRACK & FIELD March 10 $1,439.00

TP ATHLETICS

March 31 $1,244.00

BASEBALL March 3 $415.89

SOCCER March 17 $628.00

GOLF April 21 $2,106.00

BADMINTON April 24 $1,570.69

UPCOMING EVENTS

AP English Lang AP US History

AP Euro/World Languages Biology

Chemistry Physics

AP Biology

AP Chemistry AP Physics B/C AP Enviro Sc

Algebra I/Geo Algebra II/Trig Precalculus

AP Calculus

LEAP Back-to-School Special Available until Oct 18* ONE FREE HOUR with each package of 5 hours *see our website for details

anne@leapaheadtutoring.com 858 336 6514! www.leapaheadtutoring.com 568 Stevens Ave Solana Beach CA 92075

*Information provided by Karen Pope

AN GR

ART BY GRACE BRUTON, SARAH BROWN AND SARAH KIM/FALCONER

THE CENTER FOR MARTIAL ARTS Would like to wish all Falcons an outstanding 2014/15 school year!

LEAP AHEAD TUTORING

TUTORING

AP English Lit

LEAP AHEAD

English (Honors)

CHIP[S AND GUAC] IN: Staff of the Carmel Valley Chipotle serve supporters of TPHS on Torrey Tuesdays. Chipotle donates 50 percent of proceeds earned from 5-8 p.m. on these days to the TPHS Foundation.

P OT L HI

PHOTO BY AVERY SPICKER/FALCONER

APRIL 28 – TRACK & FIELD MAY 5 – CHEER MAY 12 – WATER POLO MAY 19 – BASKETBALL MAY 26 – TPHS SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Carmel Valley 858.755.6470

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Encinitas 760.942.6470

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april 30, 2015

TPHS grad killed in Coachella train accident By Caroline Rutten

GROWS NEAR ROOM 24 BELIEVED TO BE THE INCARNATION OF THE GODDESS MAYAHUEL IN ANCIENT AZTEC MYTHOLOGY

ONLY BLOOMS ONCE, TOWARD THE END OF ITS LIFE

TYPICALLY LIVES FOR ABOUT 10-30 YEARS TAKES NEARLY 10 YEARS TO BLOOM IN WARMER PLACES AND APPROXIMATELY 60 YEARS IN COLDER CLIMATES

ORIGINALLY FROM MEXICO *Information provided by Mexicolore and Eden Project

INFOGRAPHIC AND PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER Jannik Andersen (‘09), a student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, died at 3:15 a.m. on April 13 in a train accident while he was attending the Coachella Valley Art and Music Festival. Andersen left the festival grounds alone, walked four miles northeast onto the tracks and was struck by a train, dying 40 minutes after impact. The Union Paciﬁc Railroad Police are investigating his death, but it is still unclear why Andersen was on the tracks, according to Fox 5 San Diego. “It was very tragic, and I think we are all still trying to come to terms with it,” history teacher Jim Harrah said. Harrah had been Andersen’s teacher and volleyball coach, and his son and Anderson were close friends in high school. “When I ﬁrst heard about [Andersen’s death], it hit me really hard,” Harrah said. “My son took it pretty hard, too. [He and Andersen had] even talked about meeting up at Coachella [before the accident].”

According to Harrah, the community has been very supportive and respectful of Andersen’s family. “The newspapers handled the situation very well and portrayed [Andersen] as gregarious and hardworking, which I think is a very accurate representation of him,” Harrah said. “I think we can take away that we need to be careful. [Accidents like this] can happen to anyone.” Some of Andersen’s friends held a memorial service on April 14 and created the hashtag #livelikejannik to celebrate his life. Andersen’s family did not respond to a request for a statement.

Jannik Andersen, 2009 TPHS grad

Four students will participate in Intel International Science Fair By Austin Zhang COPY EDITOR Christina Baek (11), Min Jean Cho (11), Stephanie Hu (11) and Francisca Vasconcelos (11) advanced from the 61st Annual Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair and will attend the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh on May 10-15. Baek’s project, which won ﬁrst place in the Medicine and Health Sciences category, dealt with salmonella and cancer cells. “Salmonella [bacteria] ... infects your small intestinal cells, [which] are very rapidly dividing cells,” Baek said. “Research shows that salmonella is actually able to colonize in tumors twothousandfold more than normal cells and other organs.” Baek found a protein secreted by the bacteria that targeted compounds found frequently in dividing cells, and her project uses the protein and bacteria to target and potentially deliver treatment to tumor cells directly.

Hu’s project, first in the Biochemistry category, also dealt with cancer. “My project is an integrative analysis ... of ovarian cancer,” Hu said. “I had two goals: to come up with diagnostic signatures that could help distinguish between tumorous tissue and normal ovarian tissue and to use the information from the diagnostic signatures to [better understand] the pathways to carcinogenesis.” While previous research focused on the diagnostics of cancer, Hu’s project concentrated on “understanding the pathways and processes of cancer.” Vasconcelos’s project won first in the computer science category. “My project was about getting a drone to follow me around based on computer vision object recognition,” Vasconcelos said. Vasconcelos spent several months establishing a connection with the drone and writing programs in the C++ computer language to create a system to guide the drone’s flight. Cho, who attended ISEF last year, won the Mathematics

category with her in-depth analysis of the Ebola virus and methods of targeting it with drugs. “I used a mathematical formula, information [or Shannon] entropy, to find antiEbola drug targets,” Cho said. In order to participate in the GSDSEF, competitors must submit a project proposal to fair officials for approval and a PowerPoint presentation as part of the screening procedure to select the final projects that will appear at the fair. The projects consist of a research write-up, synopsis of the design process, applications analysis, display board and oral presentation of the research. Some projects, like Vasconcelos’s drone, are also physically demonstrated. According to President of GSDSEF, Phillip Gay, this year’s screening process for projects was different from that of past years. Before, the organization held nine separate screening fairs across the county, and selected projects appeared at the Greater San Diego Fair. This year,

competitors were asked to submit PowerPoint presentations of their work, which were reviewed by a screening committee that chose about 1,800 projects to move on to GSDSEF. “[This process] is newer, faster and more efﬁcient,” Gay said. According to GSDESF director

Shirley Miranda, around 1,500600 students from “all 50 states and over 40 countries” will participate in ISEF. “It’s the largest pre-college science competition in the world,” Miranda said. All expenses for the trip are covered by GSDESF.

PHOTO USED BY PERMISSION OF CHRISTINA BAEK

INTEL[LIGENCE]: Min Jean Cho (11), Stephanie Hu (11), Francisca Vasconcelos (11) and Christina Baek (11) will advance to ISEF.

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Animal Care Club participates in Earth Day celebration By Tasia Mochernak & Lily Nilipour NEWS EDITOR & STAFF WRITER The TPHS Animal Care Club, partnering with Helen Woodward Animal Center, EarthWise Pet Supply and clubs from Westview High School, Canyon Crest Academy and La Costa Canyon High School, participated in an Earth Day carnival on April 25 outside the EarthWise store in Rancho Peñasquitos. Animal Care Club founder Christy Collins (11) organized the event, working with volunteers at the Helen Woodward Center to include Westview’s Against Animal Cruelty Club, LCC’s Friends of Helen Woodward club and CCA’s Cruelty Free club. “The carnival will not only raise awareness about Earth Day and animals, but also promote EarthWise at the same time,” Collins said before the event. According to Helen Woodward Community Fundraising Coordinator, Laura Goodman, club members came up with their own ideas for the carnival and organized the event themselves. “They wanted to do something for Earth Day to help the environment and also to help

the animals,” Goodman said. “So we decided that we would truly partner up for EarthWise, Earth Day, and be able to help the animals as well as the environment.” The carnival included a bake sale, planting and crafts table, henna, face painting, dirt cup pudding making and games, and each activity required some number of $1 tickets to participate. According to EarthWise store owner Norma Gervais, the store has done “a lot of promotions with Helen Woodward before, where they come here for events, and we do adoption events for them.” However, this is the ﬁrst carnivaltype event at EarthWise. Around $200 was raised for the Animal Center, and people also donated cat and dog food to the AniMeals program, which provides free food to 450 pets of home-bound seniors and disabled people each month. EarthWise Pet Supply offered “store specials” to customers who bought food and then donated it to AniMeals, according to Gervais. “We’re also doing the food raising for the AniMeals program,” Gervais said. “All of the food that people buy [at EarthWise], they can just go ahead and turn around and

donate it to Helen Woodward.” Because the event was completely volunteer-based and all of the food sold was donated, there were no costs to Helen Woodward, Gervais said. According to Animal Care Club

member Jamie Wisnia (11), the Animal Care Club participates in similar events about once a month, but the Earth Day carnival is “probably one of the bigger ones.” Collins said the event “didn’t

get as great a turn out as [the organizers] had hoped” because of the weather and location, but it went “pretty well even with those unfortunate factors.” Collins plans to organize a similar event next year with more activities.

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

BEST EARTH, PAWS DOWN: Members of Animal Care Club prepare the planting and crafts table. Animal Care Club collaborated with Helen Woodward Animal Center and EarthWise to organize the Earth Day carnival.

Melinda Wang named Presidential Scholar semifinalist By Maya Parella STAFF WRITER Melinda Wang (12) was selected as a semiﬁnalist in the Department of Education’s Presidential Scholars program. About 500 high school seniors who applied were selected, including students from Puerto Rico, Washington D.C. and American students living abroad. Wang is one of 25 students selected from California and one of two from San Diego. The purpose of the program, established in 1964 by order of the president, is to recognize students’ academic achievement, leadership, character and general involvement in school life. In 1979, the program was expanded to include students who have exceptional talent in visual, creative and performing arts. “I’ve done a lot of community service,” Wang said. “Freshman year, I started volunteering at a library and that ended with the library tutoring program. Through that I got involved

in [many different] kinds of tutoring.” Wang is part of international tutoring program Beyond the Classroom. She teaches English to Chinese students getting ready to take their college entrance exams and math to elementary school students from India. Even when time differences force Wang to stay up late, she “never quits,” according to her mother Jie Gong. “[Her father and I] are very proud of Melinda for getting this award,” Gong said. “She always tries her very best [even] if it’s time to stop or sleep. She keeps going until she’s ﬁnished everything.” In addition to her tutoring, Wang started her own nonproﬁt organization, Youth Health Education, at the beginning of the school year. According to Wang, the goal of her organization is to educate young people about hygiene and other health issues. It additionally provides necessary hygiene supplies to kids in need. “I visited an elementary school in China last summer, and I taught both English and hygiene

there,” Wang said. “The area is … very mountainous so it’s hard to [build developed communities]. A lot of the kids there don’t know about things like sunscreen and soap. It was very eye-opening to see the way they lived and interact with them and teach them [about hygiene].” Wang also serves as vice president of another nonprofit organization, Limbs With Love, which, according to Wang, “provides free prosthetic hands to people in need, both locally and internationally.” In addition, her writing has been published in local newspapers, the TPHS Literary Magazine and the American Chinese Culture and Education Foundation magazine. The Commission on Presidential Scholars, which includes the National Teacher of the Year, will review the resume of each semifinalist. One boy and one girl from each state and U.S. territory will be selected as finalists. Up to 141 students will be named Presidential Scholars and will be notified in early May.

PHOTO USED BY PERMISSION OF MELINDA WANG

BRIDGING THE GAP: Melinda Wang helps a young Chinese boy learn English. Wang was chosen to be a Presidential Scholars semiﬁnalist.

ART BY CAROLYN CHU/FALCON ARTIST

PRO By Varun Bhave NEWS EDITOR

It might be considerate or thoughtful for a woman to give up her airplane seat if she finds herself next to an ultra-Orthodox, or Hasidic Jewish man whose religion forbids close contact with a woman not his spouse, but mandating the accommodation would be coercive. Although recent flight delays and disruptions caused by ultra-Orthodox Jewish men refusing to sit next to women have sparked significant debate, the underlying question is fairly straightforward: Given that personal preferences will inevitably conflict, what does it mean to wrong someone? Denying a person the entitlement to force someone else to give up a seat is not intolerant, since freedom of religion cannot permit infringing on another person’s rights to act for personal purposes. Members of a cult allowing human sacrifice would find it difficult to argue that rules against the practice violated their rights; people should only be able to pursue their own purposes in a manner consistent with the freedom of others to do the same. Expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment, for example, is permitted only to the extent that it does not interfere with others. It is tempting to “weigh” between conflicting interests. Perhaps avoiding a violation of strict religious doctrine trumps inconveniencing a woman for a few hours. However, such arbitrary comparison seems to miss

Hasidic Jewish men ask women to change seats on planes to accommodate religious practice, pitting freedom of religion against personal prerogative. the point. Women who are already seated do not wrong Orthodox Jewish men by failing to provide them with a favorable context in which to pursue their religious ends. Indeed, the men would dominate the women if they could call upon the law to force them to provide such a context. That would require women to act on their behalf to advance purposes the men had set. Refusing to provide a suitable context to exercise powers is an exercise of freedom, not a violation. This conception of coercion is intuitive. You are not wronged merely because your preferred results are not available to you, and for the same reason, no one’s rights are violated by losing in a fair contest. I do not wrong you by purchasing the last jar of peanut butter before you get to the store, even if it leaves you with inferior options like jelly or marmalade — much like deciding to sit at a speciﬁc seat on an airplane leaves others with less desirable choices. If women’s refusal to subject themselves to the requests of strangers constitutes coercion because religious men do not receive what they wish, then even someone occupying space would be a denial of freedom. After all, what if someone else wants to occupy the exact same spot? Given the signiﬁcance of religious teachings to many people, it is probably compassionate to give up one’s seat when asked. But whether it is ethical to require women to move is an entirely different question. Similarly, it might be immoral for me not to donate some of my income to charity. But it would still be repugnant if someone stole my income and donated it for me. The ultimate problem is one of jurisdiction; whether the choices made by women in such situations are right or wrong, it is illegitimate for some third party to demand they choose a particular way.

The U.S. government can place “reasonable restrictions” on the freedom to speak about and practice religion.*

32%

68%

YES

said

*Poll conducted by Presentation Testing and TargetPoint Consulting, and commissioned by Ethics and Public Policy Center

The world today is more open than ever, and with the mingling of cultures and beliefs comes the inevitable clash of differing ideals. Recently, there has been a rising number of cases in which women onboard airplanes have been asked to change seats at the request of ultra-Orthodox, or Hasidic Jewish men. According to these men, sitting next to women who are not their spouses is forbidden by their religious doctrine. And this raises an interesting question: Are the religious beliefs of one individual enough of a reason for the inconveniencing others? Of course, one’s right to religion and his or her adherence to religious doctrine should not infringe upon another’s exercise of rights. But in the case of the airplane seating, the conﬂict is by no means a contest of “my rights versus your rights,” though some may construe it to be so. Rather, the issue must be looked at in context. To many, one seat on an airplane is not much different from another. But a religious code can be a very central part of a person’s life. The faith invested in religion varies from person to person, but most people maintain a moral or ethical code of some sort. For many, that code is a sort of bedrock, a foundation upon which they can draw security and a sense of structure, and this comes from continued adherence to that religious doctrine. In this case, the bother of moving locations on a plane is assessed against the compromising of one’s moral principles, so it is thus not without reason that the ultra-Orthodox men request alternate seating arrangements. In the United States, other considerations for religion are made. For example, regular school attendance is mandated by law; however, the law also allows for

CON By Austin Zhang COPY EDITOR

students to be excused for religious observance. Surely, the preparation and work a teacher must go through in order to ensure that a student is caught up upon returning, especially from a holiday spanning multiple days, is greater than or at least equal to the inconvenience of moving seats. Regardless, the New Jersey Department of Education lists over 107 dates and date ranges for the 2015-2016 school year that a student can be exempted from for religious observances. These include holidays such as Yom Kippur, Nirvana Day, Rami Navami, Ramadan, Gantan-sai and Zarathosht Diso. The values of one’s belief system should not unduly infringe upon the inalienable rights of another, but by the same token, we should be mindful of and respect the beliefs of others. It is understandable that women may feel irritated about the fact that merely sitting next to a Hasidic Jewish man is a religious offense in their doctrine. These women, after all, have no loyalty to such ideology. Still, one does not need to agree with the views of another to be accommodating and accepting of their personal beliefs. Indeed, several women agreed to move so that the man could be seated and the ﬂight could proceed. Ultimately, while religion is by no means a superseding factor over personal preference, it should not be disregarded either.

opinion

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STAFF EDITORIAL: OPTING OUT OF COMMON CORE

Students and parents have voiced their complaints about the Common Core curriculum. And with the introduction of this new program, students across the country have begun a boycott of the related testing. This protest is a fad and should appropriately be called a fad. The majority of students choosing to opt out of testing may not even know what Common Core really entails, but are merely climbing onto a bandwagon of complaints that pronounce the new system useless or ineffective — more because of the changes it brings and less because of any real issue with the system itself. The new Common Core testing would not be implemented in the ﬁrst place if it truly was useless or pointless, as many students and parents claim. It is a curriculum developed by people who have thoroughly examined U.S. education and determined how to improve it. This opt-out movement gathered momentum more because students do not want to take tests than because of any true concern for the American education system. If people joined this movement because of genuine worry, standardized testing would be even more necessary — without ﬁrst trying out the new curriculum and

assessment, we cannot reliably determine whether the system is effective, and we cannot evaluate and improve upon its weaknesses. If the protesters really want to make beneﬁcial changes to the education system, they should take the standardized tests. If Common Core really is as ineffectual as they say, the results would demonstrate such ﬂaws. Common Core testing is tied to the federal funding of education; if more than 5 percent of the district students tested choose not to take the Common Core-related tests, federal funding may be cut. But at some schools, up to 70 percent of students are opting out. It is the students’ responsibility to take these tests so that their schools can get the money necessary to improve their programs and, therefore, their overall quality of education. So while many students think they know what is best for their own educations, their decision to opt out of standardized testing may actually be doing more harm than good because it inhibits their individual schools’ improvement. From kindergarten to 12th grade, students in the United States take an average of 113 standardized

tests. And while that testing can be a burden to students, it is a necessary evil. Tests ensure schools meet certain standards of education by holding teachers accountable for properly intstructing students. These tests mark schools that are not up to that standard so that they can receive government help. It is a system that is beneﬁcial to students, no matter how much they dislike it. Although it is true that in some cases standardized tests are not able to fully measure and accurately compare mastery levels — in some cases there is more correlation between high test scores and high socioeconomic status than high scores and effective education systems — they still are fairly accurate indicators of a school’s education levels. The standardized tests are the best measuring tool we have. Students are opting out of Common Core testing because of their laziness, not because they are actually informed and incensed about Common Core. The American education system needs radical change, and Common Core is attempting to bring about that change. And while it may not be a perfect solution, it is a step in the right direction.

ART BY RUSSELL REED/FALCON ARTIST

STUDENT VOICES

“

I [don’t think] it’s OK because the school needs funding to function and tests are essential to a student’s success.

Grace Kormylo (9)

William Guan (10)

Can students opt out of Common Core testing as a form of protest?

”

I do think it’s OK for students to opt out because it is their right to [determine their own] education.

It is not a good idea because you’re decreasing federal funding ... and the opportunity for someone to get a proper education.

Brian Wright (11)

Margaret Izotov (12)

the strip by carolyn chu

“I think it’s OK because [students] should be making their own decisions about their education.”

Falconer

The Torrey Pines High School

We, the Falconer staff, are dedicated to creating a monthly newspaper with the intent of encouraging independent thinking, expanding our knowledge of journalism, and providing the TPHS student body and community with a truthful, unbiased news source, in accordance with our First Amendment rights.

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The Falconer is the student newspaper of Torrey Pines High School. Its content, which is the responsibility of the Falconer staff, is not subject to administrative approval. Unsigned editorials represent the opinions of the staff, while opinion columns represent the writer’s perspective. Advertisements do not necessarily represent the newspaper’s viewpoint. The Falconer, an open forum, welcomes signed letters on pertinent issues from the TPHS community, which may be submitted to room 102, via email at falconer.ads@gmail.com or to Mia Smith’s mailbox in the administration building. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

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Katie Mulkowsky Sarah Brown Anna Li Caroline Rutten Maya Rao Austin Zhang Varun Bhave Tasia Mochernak Anna Lee Sarah Chan Sarah Kim Myles Hamilton Charu Sinha Alex Jen Alice Qu Fernando Stepensky Grace Bruton Charu Sinha Caroline Rutten Grace Bruton Mia Boardman Smith

Staff Writers: Amanda Chen Kevin Chih Maya Kota Lily Nilipour Maya Parella Irene Yu Webmaster: Ben Lawson Photographers: Miles Arnold Eric Cunningham Robbie Johnson Michael Lee Kenneth Lin Avery Spicker

Artists: Marisa Chang Teresa Chen Carolyn Chu Michelle Hao Jacki Li Ellese Nguyen Russell Reed Micaela Roy Grace Yang

A8 the falconer

opinion

april 30, 2015

Women should be represented on US currency STAFF WRITER

To some, the United States is seen as the international guardian of equality, freedom and progress. U.S. currency is a symbol of those American ideals and commemorates the people who have upheld those ideals throughout history. Yet, the seven current paper denominations of currency contradict the standards they supposedly represent — every face on U.S. paper currency is a man’s. Women On 20s is an organization advocating the replacement of Andrew Jackson with a woman on the $20 bill by 2020. To choose who should be featured on the bill, people choose from four “ﬁnalist” candidates: Eleanor Roosevelt, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks and Wilma Mankiller, all of whom have impacted American and world history more than many of the men currently on bills. As First Lady, Roosevelt was actively involved in ensuring human and women’s rights; Tubman helped slaves escape to freedom

on the Underground Railroad; Parks brought attention to racial injustices against African Americans; Mankiller was the first woman chief of the Cherokee people and advocated for Native American rights. Meanwhile, Andrew Jackson enforced the cruel and oppressive Indian Removal Act; Ulysses S. Grant was an ineffective and weak president; and Grover Cleveland hardly achieved anything worthy of such recognition. These men, however, are on U.S. currency, indicating that their insignificant or dubious accomplishments are more relevant to American history than those of the four women. The lack of representation of women suggests that not a single woman has created an impact as meaningful to American society as any of the men already on bills, an implication detrimental to the morale of girls and women and a perpetuation of the idea that only men’s accomplishments are historically significant. Though adding a woman to a commonly used bill may seem revolutionary to Americans, the United States is actually far behind other countries in recognizing women on money; Syria, Mexico, Turkey and Israel, among others,

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE ALEX JEN The Falconer arts and entertainment editor ﬁnally tells his mom if he’ll drop art history for bioengineering: nah.

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

all have women gracing their paper currency. Although placing a woman on the $20 bill will not directly address issues like the gender pay gap, having absolutely no women on something as prominent as currency clearly shows that the United States lags far behind in gender equality. The absence of representation on money is just one of the effects of the patriarchal slant in American society. Previously, the Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea dollar coins never caught on. Anthony coins were only minted from 1979 to 1981

before being discontinued, and, although Sacagawea coins are still in circulation, they are always in low demand and unpopular with the public. This, however, is not a clear indication of what would happen to the $20 bill if a woman were featured on it — the dollar coins are often confused with quarters and less convenient than the paper dollar. A $20 bill is much too signiﬁcant to lose popularity because of a picture change, and it would be relatively

easy to put a new design into circulation. As a gesture of sincerity in the desire to improve gender equality, nobody should object to replacing Andrew Jackson, an impeached president who carries a history of racial discrimination, with a woman who is much more representative of American deals. Although Jackson can’t be fully faulted for his actions almost 200 years ago, the U.S. currency should match with more current and evolving ideas. Placing a woman on the $20 bill is just a small step toward gender equality, and if people cannot agree to take that ﬁrst step, they cannot hope to overcome the larger issues of sexism and gender bias the country faces.

On Instagram, 54 of my 62 posts thus far are art-related. On Facebook, the ratio is likely the same. I intern at an art museum and a gallery and spend Saturday evenings reading art reviews and watching art documentaries. In my free time, I like to visit ... art museums. It seems that I’m very sure about what I’m doing and where I’ll end up: I’ll graduate, go to college, ﬁnd a few more internships, work. There’s one problem, though.

my interests these past four years, I don’t think it’s easy to explain why you might be drawn to art history, or calculus, or chemistry. You just are. For me, art has been about chasing the experience. It isn’t about looking at a picture or a sculpture and seeing its beauty or even that the ideas are ingenious. It’s about experiencing what the artist was feeling and thinking at the time he or she was creating the piece and being able to have a personal experience as a viewer just by responding to it. But perhaps what’s best about these experiences is that they are frequent and changing — I’ve been attracted to and intrigued by or scared of and repulsed by many different works of art in the last year. And the experiences I’ve had since starting my final year at TPHS have similarly been all over the place. This past summer, I shot and edited a documentary to find out why pursuing the arts was so taboo. As a result, I got into some pretty uncomfortable conversations with parents about the value of art. I learned about “Parent Happiness Quotas” — not PhDs, though that’s a factor — quotas of income and “societal respect” that need to be fulfilled. I don’t really have a quota. It’s more of a hunger, a desire.

biggest question, though, I haven’t even tried to answer: Why couldn’t I have been “better” at STEM subjects, more interested in them? Why does my passion have to lie in such a “pointless,” unemployable major?

ART BY ELLESE NGUYEN/FALCON ARTIST

By Lily Nilipour

What really drives a passion besides the fact that you simply “like” doing what it is that you’re doing? I happened to choose a particularly unemployable field of study — my friends, peers, teachers, relatives and parents never fail to remind me of this. But I press on because I’m passionate, because I love what I’m doing, because I’m sure success will come if I really try hard enough. Yeah... The reason I come off as so unmistakably confident — or pretentious — at times is because I’m actually largely unconfident. I’m majoring in art history. For every person who’s found work in the arts, there are dozens more who haven’t. So the pictures and the statuses help cover it up. One like equals one supporter, right? Or something. I’m a second-generation Taiwanese-American and firstgeneration humanities major. People often ask me why I’m choosing to go into a field that’s so uncertain, and my answer each time is “I don’t know.” And yet it’s an answer that I’ve become satisfied with — because what really drives a passion besides the fact that you simply “like” doing whatever it is that you’re doing? I suppose you can choose to study something that is proven to be practical and will employ you right out of college. But having explored

I’ve been attracted to and intrigued by or scared of and repulsed by many different works of art in the last year. And ultimately, I think it’s important to keep that hunger, that desire, that need to pursue more. I suppose you know where your passion lies when you pursue it at all costs, without even knowing why you are or what the endgame is. So far, I’ve been asking a lot of questions: “Am I serious?” “Can I really do this?” — and so has my mom: “Why is he doing this?” “When will he switch to pre-med?” The

There’s no point in thinking ahead ... just focus on what you like to do, and what you want to do now. Closer to graduating, I mulled that over in my head again and again. Totally unfair, right? Not to be naturally drawn to something that also ensures a job after graduation. I ﬁnally stopped mulling, because I didn’t have an answer. I realized that there aren’t really any guarantees in anything. Majoring in STEM, being “good at it” wouldn’t necessarily make me smarter or more successful, nor would it have changed anything about me. I think I still would have gravitated toward art. I spent high school thinking about, researching and analyzing where I’d go to school and what I’d do in the future. And now I’m here, leaving in a month with nothing very much more clear — the school I’m going to was never on my “top 10 list” freshman year, either. There’s no point in thinking ahead, and ahead, and ahead. It’s hard, but just focus on what you like to do, and what you want to do. And do it now. A friend’s mom has recently labeled me a “free spirit,” and not in a particularly good way, I think. Going against what’s expected, wanting to take the “less popular” route, hoping to “stir things up” by pursuing my “passion.” Free, perhaps in that I’m doing what I want because I really want to do it. Free, in that I’m slightly unsure, but okay with it. Sounds too simple, but that’s really it. Free spirit it is, I guess. So be on the lookout — I’m about to post this Personal Perspective photo as my proﬁle picture.

opinion

tphsfalconer.com

the falconer

California needs automatic voter registration COPY EDITOR

Voting is the foundation of democracy. One person, one ballot, one vote. Citizens are allowed to choose who they would like to lead them; each candidate gets chosen directly by the people — all the people. Voting is a right given to us as U.S. citizens so that we can pick the people to represent our interests on a national scale — it is a right that many other people in many other countries do not have. We are extremely lucky in this country to have free and fair elections, but many people, especially in California, take this right for granted. They do not vote. California experienced a 42 percent record-low voter turnout in the November midterm elections, and only 10 percent of eligible voters voted in the March Los Angeles County election. So California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, as well as Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego are proposing a “motor voter” law that would automatically register those eligible to vote when they make contact with the Department of Motor Vehicles, which Padilla and Gonzalez hope will increase voter turnout statewide.

With the passage of this bill, people who renew their driver licenses will be mailed a ballot so that they do not have to take a trip down to their local polling place. Automatic voter registration is an efficient and convenient way to increase voter turnout and therefore assure the freedom and fairness of democracy. The U.S. government is, in Abraham Lincoln’s words, “a government of the people, by the people, for the people.” John F. Kennedy wanted the world to know that the United States would “pay the price, bear any burden, meet any hardship ... to assure the survival and success of liberty.” Our leaders have campaigned and fought and died for our right to actively participate in a democracy, one that no longer exists. A democracy cannot by definition be a democracy if its citizens refuse to vote in elections. That 10 percent voter turnout in Los Angeles County was not a democratic election — it was an election of that 10 percent, by that 10 percent, for that 10 percent. We complain that the government implements policies that only favor a small minority of people, not the whole population. And while it may be entertaining to criticize politicians, their failure to pass laws that benefit all the people lies solely with us. How can a government elected by a minority protect the rights of the majority? That 10 percent of people who voted in Los Angeles will benefit greatly from the newly-elected officials. The other 90 percent? Not so much. The new Los Angeles officials will fight for the 10 percent that voted for them, not for the 90

percent, the majority of the county, who did not. These record-low turnouts put democracy in jeopardy. We cannot pride ourselves on our leadership of the free world if our leaders are not elected by the entire population. Padilla claims that the voter registration process is a huge barrier to higher voter turnout rates — 26.7 percent of eligible voters in California, 7 million people, are not registered to vote. That is 7 million people who do not ﬁll out a ballot, 7 million people who do not participate in a democracy, 7 million people whose voices are not heard. By automatically registering voters, we can ensure that a major roadblock in the voting process is removed quickly.

Of course, abstaining from voting is a right given to the citizens of the United States, and if people think that there is no worthy candidate — not even one with whom they agree on even a few issues — then those people should be given the choice not to vote. Automatically registering voters does not, contrary to what some may think, force people to vote — it merely records their name under a speciﬁc political party so that when the election comes, ballots can be mailed out to every person. This allows people who cannot or do not want to make the voyage to the polling place to vote from the comfort of their homes. It is more difﬁcult to ignore a physical paper ballot than the idea of voting — automatic registration counters the

voter apathy of many Americans and instead encourages them to focus on the ideology of candidates and political parties. The United States has an embarrassingly low voter turnout rate, but with the passage of this bill, in California and in other states, we could turn that around. We are awarded an incredibly unique freedom here in the United States — we can choose our leaders. Our voices matter and our voices are heard, and we should vote in every election. We cannot squander this invaluable opportunity provided to us by the Constitution; we cannot disrespect the memory of the people who have sacriﬁced so much to give us this right.

ART BY MICAELA ROY/FALCON ARTIST

By Maya Rao

Water restrictions are not focused in right areas By Tasia Mochernak NEWS EDITOR

In 2014, after severe drought conditions became apparent, California Gov. Jerry Brown asked residents to voluntarily monitor and decrease their water use by 20 percent. “Voluntary” must have made the situation seem less dire than it really was, so people did not significantly cut their water usage, making new mandatory cuts necessary. Standing on a patch of withering grass where there should have been five feet of snow, Brown released an executive order for the state’s first-ever mandatory water cuts on April 1. The order, which states that Californians must reduce urban water use by at least 25 percent compared to 2013 usage, places the majority of new conservation restrictions on residential areas rather than agricultural water users. Approximately 400 water supply agencies throughout the state are in charge of reducing water use in the communities they serve, affecting homeowners, golf courses and businesses. Other components include replacing 50 million square feet of lawns throughout the state with drought-tolerant landscaping and updating standards for waterrelated appliances in residential communities. It is, however, almost too late for these measures to be implemented effectively because

they are protracting California’s dehydration rather than preventing it. Instead of focusing solely on water conservation in residential areas, Brown should be looking at ways to get water back to the state. Although these steps are crucial in reducing water waste, they should not be the only measures taken to combat the drought, the end of which is nowhere in sight. While it is important that all California residents are aware of their collective impact on the state’s water supply, the biggest use of water is for agricultural purposes, not residential areas. In an urban setting, unreasonable water usage would include allowing sprinklers to flood lawns, hosing down driveways and watering plants without a nozzle on hoses, but the production of some of the world’s most consumed agricultural products causes a much greater depletion of water resources. According to Bloomberg Business, California produces about 20 percent of the world’s almonds — an extremely profitable crop that sells for more than $3 a pound, but takes 1.1 gallons of water per almond to produce. Currently, almond growth in California uses enough water to supply about 75 percent of the state’s population, according to Carolee Krieger, president of the California Water Impact Network. Similarly, 13.8 gallons of water are needed for one orange, 5.4 for one head of broccoli, 4.9 for one walnut and 3.3 for one tomato. It is understandable that large Central Valley farmers would choose to direct the limited water they have toward the most profitable crops, but had they switched to crops that required less water, they could have prevented a significant depletion of resources, job losses and fallowed and dehydrated

land throughout the entire state, not just on their own farms. Government ofﬁcials should consider investing in technology that can prevent droughts from occurring in the future rather than attempting to conserve dwindling resources when it is almost too late. California has about 840 miles of coastline, and its agricultural center, the Central Valley, receives an average of 300 sunny days per year. All of these renewable resources can be used to efﬁciently create large reserves of fresh water through solar desalination plants, which are already utilized by countries with drought-like climates, like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Rather than behaving

reactively and spending millions on technology that can combat droughts, like drought-tolerant landscaping, the government, private investors and farmers should be more proactive and invest in solar desalination technology, which offers a solution to the drought rather than temporary relief. Furthermore, in accordance with the executive order, water suppliers determine the water conservation responsibility of their customers — homeowners, country clubs, businesses — creating a system easily subject to disproportionate distribution of such duties, where some people actually make an effort to reduce water usage while others

simply choose to pay a fine or a more expensive water bill. Water suppliers have certain required reduction percentages, but they also need to consider customer response to the restrictions they implement. California is in a severe drought. Conserving water is obviously important, but relying solely on this superficial conservation will provide only a temporary solution — it will not fix the problem. Instead, the government must look for technologies that can bring the water back to California, like desalination plants. California may never come back from this drought, but treating the symptoms will never cure the disease.

ART BY MICHELLE HAO/FALCON ARTIST

A10 the falconer

april 30, 2015

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The Falconer explores regional variations in the names of everyday items in the U.S. and Britain.

U.S. South

U.S. Midwest

U.S. North

U.S. South

t ea Gr

U. S.

E as

t and

ita in

s West Coast

U.S. M

. U.S

idland and Gulf States

U. S.

U.S.

Great Britain

North and South

la New Eng

Grea t of M o st

U.S.

Bri tai n

ART BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

In the wake of terrorist attacks on the ofďŹ ces of the French satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, in which 11 people were killed, and which, at least temporarily, ramped up anti-Muslim sentiment, the Falconer was interested in how safe local Muslims felt going about their daily lives.

PHOTO BY AVERY SPICKER/FALCONER

rms full of groceries, Nadine Kadri (11) walked out of Vons alongside her sister, when she saw the man. Walking through the parking lot, they watched as he spit on their car. Just minutes before, he had called out Nadine’s sister, who wears a hijab, in the store and rudely asked what she was wearing on her head. “It was not only terrible, but it also showed that these kinds of acts can occur anywhere, with all kinds of people,” Kadri said. Traditionally, the hijab, or head covering, is worn by Muslim women as a sign of piety and modesty, as was originally prescribed by the Quran. While it still signifies these values among Muslims, the hijab has become an outward identifier of Muslim women, who have become easy targets of prejudice by those who associate all Muslims with extremist terrorists. Any connection to Islam, in particular a woman wearing a hijab, has the potential to incite conflict, according to Bahar Davary, associate professor of theology and religious studies at the University of San Diego.

My mom wears a hijab to protect her dignity, and it serves as a way to bring her peace and remind her of her connection with God. But sometimes, people criticize her for wearing one. Arman Saadatkhah (10) ��

Kadri said she chooses not to wear a hijab because she does not feel her connection with God is strong enough to justify doing so. Last year, her sister made the decision to wear one and has since been harassed. When Kadri walks into a restaurant or another public place with her sister, she honestly feels that “people cringe a bit because they’re scared of what’s going to happen.” TPHS sisters Atieh Rastandeh (10) and Amineh Rastandeh (12) are both practicing Muslims, but only Atieh wears a hijab. According to Atieh, she chooses to wear a hijab because it is what Islam prescribes. “I wear my hijab for modesty and just for my religion,” Atieh said. “[the Quran] tells you to cover your hair and not show your outer beauty, but rather your inner beauty. I felt that my connection to God was starting to get stronger, and I wanted to show my modesty, so I decided to wear it.” Atieh’s older sister, Amineh, chooses not to wear a hijab, not because she does not fully believe in her faith and what it dictates, but because she does not feel she has a close enough connection to God. “I don’t wear a hijab [like my sister] because I don’t think I’m ready,” Amineh said. “I need to learn everything about my religion to be fully ready. I want to be able to teach other people about my religion, and if they ask about my religion or why I wear a hijab, I want to be able to properly answer them.” Both sisters say they see evidence of people making a connection between Muslims and terrorism, and hijabs are outward signs of a woman’s Muslim faith, so they also incite prejudice. “You can’t say a certain group of people is bad or assume that someone is dangerous because they wear something different on their head,” Atieh said. The correlation between hijabs and the assumption of terrorist affiliation has led to increasing levels of discrimination against Muslim women across the country. In an incident in February 2015, a white woman sitting near Darlene Hider, a practicing Muslim, and her family on a Delta flight to Denver screamed, “This is America!” When Hider attempted to get help from the flight attendant, the only thing she received was further harassment. “You better be quiet before I kick you off of this plane,” the flight attendant told Hider, telling her, rather than the woman who had insulted her, to

switch seats, according to the Denver Post. While discrimination against Muslims is often perpetrated by those of non-Middle Eastern descent, Muslim-American women who wear hijabs often also face criticism from those who do not. “My mom wears a hijab to protect her dignity, and it serves as a way to bring her peace and remind her of her connection with God,” Arman Saadatkhah, a practicing Muslim (10) said. “But sometimes, people criticize her for wearing one. And the people who criticize her are mainly other Persian women who don’t wear a hijab. They say to my mom, ‘You were in this regime and you were forced to wear a hijab. But, now you’re in America, so why don’t you take it off?’” Prof. Davary found that many people believe Islam encourages the subjugation of women and Muslim men coerce Muslim women into wearing hijabs rather than seeing the choice to wear the head covering as a woman’s personal promise to God. However, she also said that the prejudice toward hijab-wearing women is “somewhat surprising,” because the practice is not specific to Islam, but also practiced by women of Jewish and Christian faiths. Islamophobia is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as the prejudice against or dislike of Islam or Muslims, especially as a political force. While Davary said that Muslim women have experienced more discrimination with the recent growth of Islamophobia, she said that there has still been a “definite resurgence” of women in hijabs. “Muslim women may wear hijabs to create a greater gender balance in the workplace, or also simply as a kind of nostalgia. They could be longing for the past and for notions of identity and self,” Davary said. Davary looks to education as a tool to increase people’s exposure to different cultures — Islam in particular — and to get rid of the idea that the Islamic religion must be equated with acts of terrorism. “Learning about all religions and what they’re really about is very important to being empathetic and understanding of the values of others,” Davary said.

Islamophobia still pervasive in the media When “American Sniper” was released in Jan. 2015, it immediately suffered major criticism for its representations of Arabs and Muslims, along with its disregard for the emotional and moral implications of war for Iraqi civilians. The incidents of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hate speech and threats tripled in the United States shortly following the ﬁlm’s release, according to a letter sent by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee to director Clint Eastwood and actor Bradley Cooper, asking them to condemn the threats.

People forget that there are six million Muslims in the country and that they are both American and Muslim. To create a binary of Us versus Them, or American versus Muslim, would certainly be a false dichotomy. Bahar Davary

��

“People forget that there are 6 million Muslims in the country and that they are both American and Muslim,” Davary said. “To create a binary of ‘us versus them,’ or American versus Muslim, would certainly be a false dichotomy. There are 1.5 billion Muslims around the world, but the media constantly talks about ISIS and constantly portrays all Muslims as terrorists.”

Faran Tahir, a local practicing Muslim and Pakistani-American actor, says about 30 to 40 percent of the roles he is offered perpetuate the stereotypical image of Muslim and Arab people, so he turns most of them down. “When we talk about people from Europe, we don’t group the French with the Italians or the Spanish with the Germans,” Tahir said. “We understand that these countries and these people have their own identities, but when it comes to the Middle East, it’s always the same.” When possible, Tahir tries to work with writers and producers to create characters with a “level of complexity” by eliminating “allusions to race or religion,” as he did with the producers of “Iron Man,” in which he played the leader of an Islamic terrorist organization. But despite his experiences, Tahir said the treatment and portrayal of Muslims in the American film industry is “getting better.” He attributes this change to the increasing influence of social media, greater exposure to other cultures and the added economic incentive of accurate portrayal throughout the country. “It’s harder to depict [people] in a stereotypical way because you’re taking away international box office [revenue], which is more important now than the domestic box office,” Tahir said. “If people get offended by your content, they’re not going to go see your movie.” Yet, even though Tahir believes that accurate representation of Muslims in the media is both increasing and improving, he recognizes that there is still work to be done in other areas of society to diminish the common stigma that surrounds people of the Middle East. He cites more instances in which he was humiliated because of his religion while in public than at work. “Is it changing at a pace that I like? No,” Tahir said. “But, I think there is a shift where you see more and more characters on TV and such that are not just stereotypical bad guys from the [Middle East].” Tahir remembers seeing people spit on the ground when they saw him walking with his Caucasian ex-wife; Sadaatkhah shares a similar experience. “Sometimes, when I go to the grocery store and a manager sees me, he’ll start to follow me just to make sure I don’t take anything.’” Saadatkhah said. “People see me and they say, ‘He’s from the Middle East, he’s going to blow us all up, he’s going to kill us with his AKs.’” Sadaatkhah attributes many of the negative stereotypes surrounding Muslim and Arab people to the actions of Islamic extremists, whom he does not consider true Muslims. “I have many friends and family members who have had firsthand encounters with the Taliban and other terrorist organizations,” Saadatkhah said. “It’s really disturbing, what they do. Most Muslim people hate them.”

Living with a stigma Even at an early age, Saadatkhah grew accustomed to the racist remarks and constant bullying by his Denver elementary school peers. He recalls getting into ﬁghts often with other kids as a child, physically and emotionally wounded by each successive incident. “[Other people] assume that, ‘He’s from the Middle East, so he must be bad.’ Saadatkhah said. “What they don’t get is that I’m also IranianAmerican. They don’t see that; they just see the Iranian part.” For many Muslim students like Saadatkhah, this sort of discrimination has become an everyday reality. On Feb. 10, news of the murders of three Muslim college students in their Chapel Hill, N.C. apartment went viral. While non-Muslim allies condemned the attack from within the safety and comfort of their homes, Muslims everywhere feared even more for their safety.

“To me, this has been the biggest event that has shaken a lot of Muslims,” Davary said. “You have three students, young, beautiful people who are not only students but are doing service for their communities and then this guy … puts the gun behind their heads, shoots them. When you hear something like that, you could think, ‘I might be the next victim because I’m visibly Muslim.’” Incidents like the Chapel Hill shooting are relatively uncommon in comparison to the “subtle racism” that Muslims experience more frequently, whether at school, in the workplace or on the streets. According the American Psychological Association, subtle racism occurs when the perpetrator subconsciously acts in a racist manner. For example, environmental microaggressions such as media misrepresentation cause a trickle-down effect in which some viewers may come to believe that making fun of Muslims is socially acceptable, a phenomenon which is especially observed in school settings. Kadri remembers such incidents with particular clarity. In fourth grade, Kadri’s substitute teacher called “all Muslims terrorists” and subsequently turned her classmates against her. When Kadri’s best friend told her mother that Kadri was Muslim, her friend’s mother overtly disapproved of the friendship. Last year, she distinctly remembers being called a “camel jockey” by a peer. While Saadatkhah, like Kadri, has been targeted for being Muslim at TPHS, he still believes that he is treated better now than he was when he lived in Denver, and that for the most part, TPHS students “watch what

When we talk about people from Europe, we don’t group the French with the Italians or the Spanish with the Germans ... But when it comes to the Middle East, it’s always the same. Faran Tahir ��

they say” or will stop joking around if he tells them to stop. Several years ago, when Principal David Jaffe was the director of curriculum for SDUHSD, he received a complaint claiming that the 7th grade world history textbook “glanced over some harsher parts of the Islamic religion and culture.” Jaffe believes that occurrences such as this one serve as a constant reminder of how Islamophobia continues to pervade the educational system as well as society as a whole. When TPHS students act in a racist manner, Jaffe and his administration ﬁrst try to take an educational approach before prescribing punishment, because he believes that these actions “generally stem out of being ignorant.” While they all believe that discrimination of Muslims is inevitable to some extent, Saadatkhah, Kadri and Jaffe all feel that the treatment of Muslims at TPHS and around the world is gradually improving. “Time heals all wounds. For some people, it takes longer. For others, it takes less [time],” Saadatkhah said.

“I am not ashamed” In a world that tends to group those of the same faith together, Tahir stresses the importance of acknowledging the fact that all Muslims have unique stories and that their identities are not necessarily dependent on what they believe in. Yet, there was one thing that TPHS Muslims have in common: at no point in their lives have any of them ever been ashamed of being Muslim.

PHOTO COURTESY OF INAM PHOTOGRAPHY

Only 27 percent of Americans have a “favorable view” of Muslims according to a 2014 poll by the Arab American Institute.

“Sometimes, we ignore

[the

insults], but other times, it gets so deep that we

say something back to them.”

- Arman Saadatkhah (10)

“You wear [a hijab] knowing you

can

control how you

look and you control what you show to other people. You care more about showing how your

actions reveal

what your true personality is like.” - Ayan Haque (10) PHOTOS BY AVERY SPICKER/FALCONER

A12 the falconer

feature

A Chip Off the Old Block

Cat Canedy (12) never attended sleepovers or summer camps. She was permitted to go to school, come home, do homework and go to bed — only to rise the next morning and follow the same routine. Like most kids, before middle school, Canedy lived under the rules set by her father, which left her unable to pursue her passions or express herself, in her estimation. During her middle school years and at the start of high school, Canedy participated in as many extracurriculars as possible — like dance, theater and track — “to get away from [her] father.” “Since those were school activities or activities that would help me in the future, I was allowed to do those, but [I was always] being driven to the activity and being driven home, [with] nothing before or after,” Canedy said. The American Psychological Association classifies parenting styles into three general groups — authoritarian, authoritative and permissive. Authoritarian parents expect obedience and adherence to the strict rules they set, authoritative parents set rules but are responsive and open to discussion, and permissive parents yield to their children’s wills. “My dad was very authoritarian; he had this thing where he had to control you or [else] he felt like he was going to lose you, so that was his parenting style,” Canedy said. Counselor Jayme Cambra said that most high school students

come into conflict with their parents because they want to be more independent, while their parents still want to take care of them. “I don’t think there is one specific parenting style that is more problematic,” Cambra said. “I think [something more important] than the parenting style is the long-standing relationship a student has with his or her parents. Trust is important in developing a strong relationship between an adult and child. There is a unique balance that parents have to have when supporting their children as well as holding their child accountable for his or her actions.” Canedy said since she has lived with her mother only she has had more freedom and been able to say things she would not have been able to say if her father were living with her. Canedy’s mother says her goal was always to raise strong, independent children, and she has done that. “I do more things now because he was very: ‘You have to stay home and do this’ — so with him out of my life, I was able to [have more] control,” Cat Canedy said. “My mom was, to a certain extent, controlled by him, too, but once he was gone, my mom became a very free-willed person as well.” According to Cat, her mother’s “do it yourself, learn it yourself” parenting style contributed to her independent nature. “I traveled a lot by myself through high school,” Canedy said. “My mom was very supportive of just me doing my own thing.”

I don’t think there is one specific parenting style that is more problematic. I think [something more important] than the parenting style is the longstanding relationship a student has with his or her parents. Trust is important in developing a strong relationship between an adult and child. Jayme Cambra COUNSELOR

april 30, 2015

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Yuhong Ning, Stephanie Hu’s (11) mother, also has a very open, hands-off parenting style. “We are very open and give [our children] freedom,” Ning said. “We let them make their own decisions, make their own mistakes, learn from their mistakes and grow, and provide guidance and help when they really need it. We do set strict rules for safety purposes.” Some of those strict rules include practicing new routes with her parents before driving alone and not answering the door or home phone when Hu and her sister are home alone. “Parenting is hard and kids are complex,” said Biology teacher MaryAnn Rall, mother of two children. “We just try to show our kids that we love them every day, and we try to teach them that life is bigger than ourselves.” According to the APA, there is a tendency for children with authoritarian parents to have low self-esteem, children with authoritative parents to have good social skills, and children with permissive parents to be immature. Those associations are only correlations and do not necessarily imply causation. While parents do have roles in influencing children, many parts of a child’s personality are shaped by predisposition to a certain personality or interaction with peers. “Parenting styles play a role in developing a child’s behavior, among many other things such as a child’s innate personality [and] life circumstances,” Cambra said. While Rall also agrees that many other factors influence the development of children, she believes that “parents are a big part of development.” “I think that staying involved with our kids’ lives at every stage can help them feel secure and loved, which can translate into a healthy teen and adult,” Rall said. According to Hu, who describes her parents as having an authoritative parenting style, her personality and lifestyle have been influenced by her parents. “Most of the time my parents are very lenient and understanding, and they try to be optimistic, so I feel like that’s definitely rubbed off on me,” Hu said. “They always emphasize safety, health, and happiness as the most important things in life, so I guess I’m also pretty conscious of my sleep patterns and eating habits.” In addition to having habits ingrained from her parents’ direct teachings, Hu takes the initiative to advance her studies. Because

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her parents are “successful,” but rarely pressure or push either her or her sister to do anything, Hu said she feels obligated to do the “best [she] can to try to live up to their legacy.” “My parents’ attitude of ‘do what you like’ and ‘find your own passion’ is really one of the main influences that I think has gotten me to where I am now,” Hu said. “Especially over the course of high school, I felt like I’ve finally begun to appreciate their laidback attitude toward pushing my sister and me to do what they think we should do to be successful, and so I have developed a decently self-driven, self-motivated nature.” According to Hu, her parents not only encourage her to explore her own interests, but also “pull [her] back so that [she] does not overload [herself] with too many things.” Hu approves of her parents’ parenting style and intends, for the most part, to follow their example in the future. “Sometimes they get a bit too cautious and then limit some of the activities I can do, which would be one thing that I would change,” Hu said. “For example, my parents have always thought gymnastics was too dangerous, since there is a high risk of injury, and even though I wanted to do it for many years when I was younger, I never got the chance.” Since Hu’s parents understand her and her sister’s mindsets, she and her sister try to understand their parents’ logic in return. However, Cambra said that it is hard for students to understand a parent’s position until they are parents themselves, a claim reflected in Canedy’s initial struggle with understanding her mom’s parenting style. “As a younger person I was kind of upset about [having to be independent], like having to get a job, make my own money and all that,” Canedy said. “But for [the end of] high school and on, learning to live on your own is a great experience to have.” Canedy can now attend overnight camps. Whenever there is a break, she is allowed to book her own airplane flight and travel by herself. Although Canedy was raised with different parenting styles than Hu, each became her own person and took away valuable knowledge from her experiences with her parents.

By Sarah Kim and Alice Qu

As a younger person, I was kind of upset about [having to be independent], like having to get a job, make my own money and all that. But for [the end of] high school and on, learning to live on your own is a great experience to have. Cat Canedy (12) student

art by grace bruton, sarah chan and sarah kim/falconer

tphsfalconer.com

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april 30, 2015

PEER ASSISTANT LISTENERS

Friday night comes along, and your friends are texting you with different plans. Everyone decides on one thing: the “party of the year.” However, you don’t want to go because there will be drugs and alcohol. But your friends are going, and they really want you to go with them, so what do you do? This is peer pressure. Almost all students experience it at some point in high school, and it’s how you handle it that matters. What else is there to do but say “yes” to your friends? You’ve probably been told to “talk to an adult” many times before. But not everyone wants to because that might involve exposing a friend. If your friends are forcing you to do things you aren’t comfortable with, you should ask yourself: Do my friends really have my best interests at heart? Your friends should not only support your decisions but also encourage you to make your own. Luckily for students at TPHS, everyone can have this kind of friend in the form of a PAL. Many PALs have experienced peer pressure themselves and can give ﬁrsthand advice on how to deal with it. “When I was in eighth grade, I was offered drugs by another student I knew,” a PAL said. “I was caught off guard and didn’t know what to say. I was confused and scared. He kept trying to convince me that he wouldn’t give me anything dangerous since he was my friend. For a second I thought I should trust him and just take the drugs to avoid looking uncool. However, I came to my senses and told him no. I know how hard it is to say no, especially if the person pressuring you is your friend.” If you are ever faced with peer pressure, pick up a PAL request form at the counseling or administration building, or stop by room 48 or 49 during lunch on any 2-4-6 day and talk to a PAL there. Most importantly, remember that no one is alone in facing these situations, and that support is just a short walk away.

Connor Pruett (12) would definitely fit in on a California postcard. Having “grown up in the water,” Pruett is a die-hard surfer who has never been afraid to paddle out at new coastlines. “My mom rode Shamu and was always in the water — when we weren’t at home, we were at the beach,” Pruett said. “I love the ocean more than anything.” A set of gills is not the only asset Pruett’s mother has given him. Closely aligning his upbringing with Christianity, she has always taught him to put others before himself — a lesson he internalized and called upon during a recent mission trip to Nicaragua over spring break. With 10 of his friends and a fresh supply of water filters in tow, Pruett embarked on a “Surf and Serve” trip with Beautiful Feet, a nonprofit organization that “exists to fight physical and spiritual poverty worldwide,” according to its website. Pruett said that their work targeted rural villages and communities right outside of Managua, the nation’s capital. “True happiness comes from the happiness you give to others,” Pruett said. “It’s what I love doing. I want to work for a non-profit; it’s like my dream job.” At only 18, Pruett is not far from realizing that dream. On his trip, he landed a paid photographic and cinematographic internship with Beautiful Feet — something he is “super stoked” about, especially because the company will cover Pruett’s costs of traveling with its group. “I’ve been taking pictures since I got a camera five or six years ago, and then I got hooked,” Pruett said. “Our Video Film teacher [Derek Brunkhorst] and [Principal David] Jaffe told us that basically one film, one photo, can change the world. It’s crazy to think that, but it stuck with me.” To Pruett, the most affecting part of photography is the ability to capture emotion, which is exactly what he did on his most recent trip. Alongside a few friends and a

translator, Pruett met and interviewed a 105-year-old man with 26 children and an incredible story. Pruett was able to connect with the man and learned that he helped build the Panama canal. Pruett shot the man’s portrait, which ended up being Pruett’s favorite picture out of all the ones he has ever taken. “I could not believe the way he looks at you in it and the way it is centered,” Pruett said. “His entire family didn’t have clean water, so we brought a water ﬁlter for [them] … It felt so amazing; I wish everybody could feel that way.” Barreling past language barriers and generation gaps, Pruett saw the beauty in making genuine connections with people of all backgrounds. He said that he has learned the importance of strong friendships, calling them “the best investment [he has] ever made in [his] life.” “We met this kid named Jimmy who had an alcoholic father,” Pruett said. “He’s only 15, and [his father] hasn’t been in his life at all. We were in this little shack, four of us, with my buddy translating, and [Jimmy] told us that Christ was the only reason he got through these things. I told him about how I didn’t have a dad growing up and how I also had challenges to deal with; it was crazy how the similarities were. Then he gave me a hug and called me his brother, in Spanish. That was the coolest thing on the entire trip.” Pruett said that the experience encouraged everyone to step outside of their linguistic comfort zones, and that it taught him to think bilingually. “It was a learning experience — a great experience — because we got to see different cultures’ body language, the way they interacted with one another, how they spoke, their tones of voice … it was very different, but you could still see the connection that you could make with another speaking a different language, even with a translator,” Pruett said. “Especially with a good translator, with a person who cares about what you’re doing. It was a really nice thing to have, someone who spoke [our words] with that passion.” Luckily for Pruett, a return trip is already booked. This summer, he will embark on a nine-month mission trip, dividing his time equally between Nicaragua, Central Africa and the Philippines. With potential plans to attend ﬁlm school when he returns, Pruett — and his camera — are ready to part from San Diego’s sunny beaches for new landscapes to explore. by Katie Mulkowsky

PHOTO BY ROBBIE JOHNSON/FALCONER

Every month an anonymous PAL pens this column to offer help to all Falcons.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CONNOR PRUETT

“Game of Thrones” has, to put it lightly, a complicated relationship with women — both with the women on the show and with the women who watch the show. HBO’s 42-time-Emmy-nominated ratings juggernaut has garnered critical and popular acclaim, but not without its fair share of controversy. From its casual treatment of rape to its gratuitous male gaze-driven nudity, a misogynistic undercurrent ran inflexibly throughout the past four seasons of “Game of Thrones.” Often, exposition, motive and backstory will be established casually by a male character while a prostitute is completely naked in the foreground, a technique lovingly dubbed “sexposition” by critics. But what most troubled me as a female viewer was the show’s senseless violence towards female characters that did not seem to serve any specific narrative purpose other than cheap shock value. Perhaps this is why I was so surprised when its season five premiere revealed “Game of Thrones” to be the most feminist show on TV right now. Before I launch into specifics, I should clarify what I mean when I say a “feminist show.” From the outset, George R. R. Martin, the author of the “Game of Thrones” book series, has claimed that the “Game of Thrones” fantasy universe is based on European medieval tradition — which is to say that the gender conventions portrayed on the show are derived from a real time in history when women were massively mistreated and subjugated. To create a fictional universe in which sexism is rampant is not, in itself, un-feminist. It is simply true to life. Nor do fictional women have to be completely empowered, politically correct and morally pure free agents to be considered feminist characters. Author Gillian Flynn calls this the “you-go-girl” mentality, in which women are written as unrealistically wonderful ideals that are ultimately just as shallow as the sexist archetypes. The backlash against morally gray, selfish female characters like Mindy Lahiri of “The Mindy Project” and Hannah Horvath of “Girls” is often rooted in the misguided assumption that a well-written female character has to be inherently likeable. Both “Girls” and “The Mindy Project” are created and written by women; this does not free them from feminist criticism, but they certainly do not run the risk of alienating the female segment of their audience often. However, the male-run cable prestige dramas that define the television zeitgeist — of which “Game of Thrones” is one — are murkier in their sexual politics. All too often in critically-acclaimed dramas like “Mad Men” or “Breaking Bad,” women are used as props, prizes or fuel for male character development. But the female characters of those shows can also be extraordinarily wellwritten; Peggy Olsen of “Mad Men” has the most rewarding character arc of any of her fellow cast mates, and Skylar White of “Breaking Bad” is the moral crux of a show that dealt in progressively darker shades of morality. The key to these characters is not that they are perfect women, but that they are richly, fascinatingly imperfect. This is not only feminist — it also good screenwriting. They deal with horrendous sexism in their respective fictional universes, but they do so in believable and complex ways; note that “believable and complex” does not necessarily mean sympathetic. Feminist show runners have a moral as well as a literary imperative to portray female characters with as broad a spectrum of human emotion as their male counterparts. For prestige cable dramas, which are often set in violent, patriarchal universes, this means showing women coping with their difficult circumstances in a variety of complicated ways — just as real women have done since virtually the dawn of civilization. Which brings us back to “Game of Thrones,” season five. From the beginning, this show has been about the pursuit of power — and the losses, both moral and physical, that come along with it. That show runners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss took five seasons to finally fulfill the feminist angle of this premise is as frustrating as it is satisfying. The season premiere opens with a flashback in which a young Cersei Lannister hears a prophecy of her

future: she will be queen but will eventually be deposed by a younger, more beautiful woman. To say that Cersei is a divisive character among the “Game of Thrones” viewership would be an understatement; Cersei is many things, but lovable is not one of them. The scheming, manipulative and ultimately tragic queen regent has been particularly cruel to other women since the first season. The prophecy not only adds heartbreaking scope to Cersei’s cruelty but also serves as a fascinating exploration of internalized misogyny. What better summation of the toxic, primeval sense of competition between older and younger women vying for societal acceptance, and what better a stage to dissect it on than a medieval one, in which a woman’s only currency is her beauty, the only measure of her personhood her looks. The reality is that power-hungry Cersei’s quest for the throne is directly proportional to, and inextricably linked with, her lack of agency as a woman within the patriarchal Westeros. The same can be said of all the women of “Game of Thrones” throughout the series’ run —but only now is the fascinating narrative potential of this struggle for liberation being fully explored. It is no coincidence that the prophecy that opened the episode — and thus charts the entire season’s trajectory — predicts the ascension of a woman to the Iron Throne. The battle for the crown in Westeros has always been fought and won by those who seek power and freedom most desperately; logically, women should be at the forefront of the fray. The women of the show — specifically Cersei, Margaery, Sansa and Daenerys —have all been robbed of their autonomy at some point in the series, and are finally emerging as the key players in a battle they have discreetly always been fighting. The season premiere finds Daenerys fighting to hold her control over Meereen, as a rebel group forms in the power vacuum Daenerys created by upending the class structure of the city. It is obvious to any observant viewer that Meereen is a temporary stopgap on Daenerys’ way to King’s Landing — in other words, Daenerys is a career politician, bidding her time and building her political acumen. For a show so preoccupied with the art and war of internal politics, “Game of Thrones” rarely explores the effects of the ruling class’s machinations on the ruled. Daenerys’ time in Meereen is an exception, as she struggles with the consequences of her idealism on the people of Meereen. It is perhaps the most indepth and ambitious study of law the show has ever attempted, and it is done with a headstrong young woman at the center of the narrative. Similarly, the season premiere establishes that Sansa has now seized control of her own destiny, unsatisfied with being marginalized in the politics of men. Sansa’s character evolution, from a frightened, naïve young woman to a jaded political player, echoes Daenerys’s arc before her and perhaps even Cersei’s. The show’s implicit subtext is now spilling over into the explicit; in order to survive in Westeros, women must use whatever they can — wit, in the case of Cersei; sexuality, in the case of Margaery; dragons, in the case of Daenerys. While the men of the show harness brute force to physically wrest power from others — often taking and losing lives in the process — the women of “Game of Thrones” are subtler in their craft. They are playing the long game. They are waging war through words—whispered rumors, fiery rhetoric and complex political maneuvers. They are often cruel and unsympathetic, and when an act of violence is committed against them, the repercussions are felt brutally and inescapably throughout the narrative. They are clawing their way through the sexist chaos of Westeros much in the same way that women do in the real world. And they are, if the season premiere is any indication, the only major contenders for the throne. Nothing is more evident of this than the conversation between Tyrion Lannister and Varys in the season premiere. Varys tells Tyrion that what Westeros truly needs is a powerful but responsible ruler, who respects the needs of the common people. “Good luck finding him,” Tyrion scoffs. Varys answers, “Who said anything about him?” by Charu Sinha

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I always imagined that my first experience with French food would be in a quaint Parisian café a short distance from the Eiffel Tower, the lingering smell of almond croissants and French roast in the air. Unfortunately, I have never had the opportunity to travel to France, but I suppose that Au Revoir French Bistro is a close second. After we were seated, the restaurant slowly started to fill with a steady evening flow of couples, scattered along the large windowpanes and brick walls. The distinctively French decor perfectly aligned with my image of a café, creating an especially authentic French dining experience. To start off the meal, the waiter, a charismatic young man with a thick French accent, pulled up a chair and joined our table to take our order; I had never been approached so personally by any server before. The staff constantly checked in with us and made it its mission to make sure our glasses were never empty. Off the prix-fixe, three-course dinner menu ($25), I ordered French onion soup, poulet roti façon grandmère (roasted chicken served on a bed of sautéed gnocchi and covered in truffle sauce), and the poire belle hélène (a martini glass filled with vanilla ice cream and lined with slices of wine-soaked poached pears drizzled with chocolate). For an appetizer, our table shared the tartine tapenade ($11), French flatbread covered with an olive spread mixed with honey and thyme, topped with a generous amount of fresh goat cheese; it was a Goldilocks dichotomy of both

photos by avery spicker/falconer

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april 30, 2015

sweet and savory. The French onion soup was more onion than it was soup, but was still definitely better than the generic ones sold at any run-of-the-mill café. The presentation of our entrée stood out for its detail and beauty. The arrangement of food was an extremely aesthetically pleasing combination of vibrant reds, yellows and greens, and smelled almost as good as it looked. The poulet roti façon grand-mère arrived first, and when I cut into the meat, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was stuffed with goat cheese. The dish was a bit too salty for me, but nonetheless, I finished it quickly. I also sampled some of my friend’s lavender fries ($4), which I tasted too much of lavender for my liking — in the future, I think I’ll stick with Freedom Fries. The best part of the meal was the dessert, the poire belle hélène ($7); the pears tasted faintly of wine and complemented the vanilla ice cream very well. When the bill arrived, I heaved a sigh of relief; not only had we enjoyed a wonderful, authentic French dinner, but at the end of the night, our wallets were fuller than we had expected. I will definitely revisit the bistro in the future, but for now, au revoir! By Amanda Chen

photos by grace bruton/falconer

French food conjures the image of expensive, candlelit dinners, but when I walked into The French Gourmet, I wondered if I was in the right place. For a restaurant that looks like a start-up Italian deli and smells faintly like the seafood aisle in an Asian supermarket, $21 per entree was initially more than I was willing to spend. Thankfully, an entree plus an appetizer and dessert was priced at $27.95, making me feel much more at ease. After we had all eaten too much bread and gotten used to the faint smell of fish, our escargot, which was recommended by the waiter, arrived. The escargot was covered in a rich garlic herb butter sauce, but I was more concerned about putting something I usually avoid on the sidewalk into my mouth. I tentatively took the first bite and put a whole escargot into my mouth at once. The texture of the escargot was similar to a clam, and didn’t taste much worse either, especially with the sauce. Next came the steak, which was covered in traditional French Béarnaise sauce and served with potatoes au gratin and green beans on the side. The steak was average — well-cooked and just tender enough — but what was really unique was the sauce. The Béarnaise sauce tasted tangy, similar to salad dressing or hollandaise sauce, but the combination of the sauce with the steak created the perfect savory meal. Comprised of thin slices of potato layered with a cheese sauce and with a thin crust, the potatoes au gratin seemed to check off every requirement

of a perfect comfort food. The flavorful cooked green beans on the side balanced out the richness of the entree without being too bland or boring. The waiter joked with us while we waited for our next entree, the vegetable ratatouille, to arrive. The mouthwatering taste of the food was beginning to distract me from the decor and unfortunate selection of old pop music. Even though all the vegetables tasted slightly like spicy tomatoes, the plain taste of the quinoa balanced out the ratatouille. At this point, I didn’t care if the wallpaper was the most uncomfortable shade of yellow I’d ever seen — the exceptional flavors of the food made it clear why the restaurant was still full on a Wednesday night. After we finished the entrees, our waiter, who periodically checked in on us and made jokes throughout the meal, came to us with a dish of desserts. I was tempted to ask for all of them, but we finally settled on the two most traditional French desserts — crème brulée and Napoleon cake. The hard caramel top layer of the crème brulée balanced out its rich vanilla custard filling, but the dessert lacked any unique flavor. Even though the stiff cake layers of the Napoleon cake were practically impossible to split, the interchanging layers of custard and pastry were cohesive and aesthetically pleasing, and the chocolate sauce drizzled onto the plate added more flavor. While the unpleasant smell drifting around the restaurant is extremely unappealing, the excellent selection of food at The French Gourmet is worth a return trip — and I will keep going back until I’ve tried every dessert on the menu. by Irene Yu

arts & entertainment

tphsfalconer.com

Passion Pit has one of the most unique sounds in the alternative music genre: a hybrid of high pitches and quirky, yet sophisticated, melodies. Having fallen in love with both Manners and Gossamer, I was hoping that the band would not go downhill like many artists do after their ﬁrst few releases. Given the garbage that MGMT recorded in its third, self-titled album earlier this year, I was afraid that Passion Pit would do the same, and that the three-year wait for Kindred would result in disappointment. Thankfully, Passion Pit just released one of its strongest albums yet. I appreciate albums that stay true to their band’s original style, which made me love Kindred right away. The album is consistent with Passion Pit’s characteristic qualities, but still surprises and engages the listener with cleaner, less frantic melodies. Its alternative-indie base is made sharper with an added twist of pop, and a slightly toned-down version of the band’s trademark, super-squeaky tone. The masterful balance of Passion Pit’s original sound with its new additions illustrates the versatility of the group. Main member Michael Angelakos also demonstrates the skill and talent of his underappreciated voice — a trait not highlighted in previous albums — by transitioning between his classic high-pitch notes and a calmer, lower tone throughout the album. According to an interview with Pitchfork, the album is also an expression of Angelakos’s emotional struggle with his bipolar disorder, which reached a climax in 2012 when a leg of the Gossamer tour was canceled due to his mental health. Passion Pit has always been a master at disguising deep, complex themes behind bubbly beats, and Angelakos’s glimpse into mental recovery makes the album all the more provocative.

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The opening track “Lifted Up (1985)” is a perfect representation of the album. Dedicated to his wife for supporting him through his mental health challenges, Angelakos sings that 1985, the year she was born, “was a good year.” The electro-pop track is beautifully and simply composed, complementing Angelakos’s dynamic voice. The repetitive high-pitch “hep, heps” and mellow verses build up to an explosive, high-energy chorus. The chorus’s simple rhyming lyrics — and the angelic nature of Angelakos’s high pitch — make it irresistibly catchy. The peppy beat and chorus are a prime example of Passion Pit’s balance between popular and original sound, which is apparent in other songs like “Whole Life Story” and “All I Want.” It was inevitable that “1985” would be added to my workout playlist. Still, the album is not just a dose of fast-paced electro-pop. The variety in Kindred is notable in my favorite song of the album, “Looks Like Rain.” Reminiscent of “Constant Conversations” from Gossamer, the piece is smooth, ﬂuid and calming without being boring. The mix of slow percussion, eerie electrochimes and Angelakos’s perfectly executed falsetto balances the album. Kindred has showcased the talent and greatness of Passion Pit. While I do not foresee any of these songs achieving the degree of popularity Passion Pit’s previous hit “Take a Walk” enjoyed — thanks to a Taco Bell commercial, nonetheless — the brilliance of their newest album is palpable. Shame on me for ever doubting the band. by Caroline Rutten PHOTO COURTESY OF COLUMBIA RECORDS

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Over 90,000 people flocked to see the large-scale art installations and the diverse music lineup in the arid desert that is Indio, Calif. for the first weekend of the 16th Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 10-12. Although the lineup did not have the depth of last year’s slate — Friday had a surprisingly weak list of performers — at least one of the seven stages always had something worth watching. Even though Friday had the least exciting performances, one act stood out among the rest with impressive stage production and riveting sound: Nero at the Outdoor Theatre. The electronic duo kept things lively with previews of songs on their soon-to-be-released album, while also rewarding true fans by mixing in some of their classics, like “Doomsday.” The live singing sprinkled around the set provided a fresher sound and an even more powerful presence than the giant stage production already supplied. During the downtime between sets, there were opportunities to visit the lesser-known, smaller stages: the Yuma tent and the Do Lab stage. Saturday started off with a bang, or better yet, with the smooth, melodic tunes of Chet Faker, who donned a white long-sleeve Oxford shirt and beanie at the action-packed Outdoor Theatre. Tyler, the Creator and Flosstradamus each brought extremely different crowds to the same stage. Tyler showed off his colorful and outspoken personality by ranting against the VIP section as well as Coachella’s strict credential rules, which prevented a member of his entourage from filming the show. Flosstradamus, who singlehandedly overloaded the Mojave Tent the year before, once again brought the house down in front of a

april 30, 2015

much larger crowd. The duo called the performance its best ever, a statement with which the crowd would deﬁnitely agree. Axwell and Ingrosso followed Flosstradamus and provided long buildups with huge futuristic rock house drops, contrasting with their Swedish House Maﬁa performances and dominating a different sound. Sunday was overloaded with talent like Florence + The Machine, David Guetta, Gesaffelstein, ODEZA, Drake, and Kygo. All the performances overlapped, which made decisions nearly impossible and forced people to choose between running around and standing in the back or gambling and committing to two acts. I chose to watch Florence + The Machine at the Coachella stage; the band had a lot of energy and played all their top songs. I stayed for Drake as well, who I was most looking forward to at the entire festival, but he came up short of my expectations. Even with Madonna’s quirky appearance, Drake’s energy was low, and the rap songs that played over the speakers before his performance — which started 30 minutes late — drew more cheers than the songs he sang only a verse or two of. Drake should have talked less and played more hits with more energy. Hindsight is 20/20, so it’s easy to say that it would have been better to see David Guetta, who brought out the Black Eyed Peas, or Gesaffelstein, whose performance at Coachella was one of his last live appearances, but Coachella can never disappoint. Even though the 2015 performances lacked the “wow” factor that Flume, Carnage, Cage the Elephant, and Flosstradamus brought last year, the music was impressive, the art was weird and the memories made will always live on. by Fernando Stepensky

$375 general admission price

Florence + the Machine

Drake

Tame Alesso Impala

Hozier

minutes until tickets were sold out

124

Jack White

highest temperature recorded

The Weeknd

*Information provided by the Los Angeles Times website

restaurants open onsite

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEKEND

AC/DC Alt-J

2 20

90,000 people attended each weekend

191 acts performed overall

INFOGRAPHIC BY SARAH CHAN AND IRENE YU/FALCONER

tphsfalconer.com

arts & entertainment

El Anatsui is an artist who courts paradox. Seen for the first time, his works seem unbelievable, consisting of thousands of flattened bottle caps and pieces of aluminum stitched into tapestries. The immediate effect is overwhelming. But beyond the pieces’ beauty, beyond their craftsmanship, beyond their being works of art, there is more — in the brand names of the liquor, not soda, stamped into the metal; in the way the sculptures combine the 2-D and the 3-D; in the way the pieces are amorphous and easily altered at the artist or curator’s discretion. There is more to El Anatsui’s sculptures than his medium and his process, though it may seem counterintuitive to think so. But “Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui,” now on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego until June 28, is well aware of this “more,” and explores it in great detail. The exhibition includes 26 works in various mediums from as early as 1984 to as recent as 2011, but even given this large span of time, the quality rarely flags. One thing is clear in El Anatsui’s artistic practice over these years: it never rests. He is constantly re-thinking and re-imagining, whether it be with the choice to use reclaimed wood and aluminum in his sculptures, or with the insights and ideas that go into his works.

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In “Gli (Wall),” Anatsui plays with the notion that walls are both looming barriers and religious, political and social constructs. The five-part piece hanging from the museum’s rafters is made from strips of aluminum bent into circles and strung together with copper ties. Yet the piece itself is light and seems to float; in one area, it trails onto the concrete floor and bunches up as if it were fabric. The piece is transparent because it is made from rings; however, looking through it is not nearly as satisfying as noticing the other portions of the piece that hang at various angles and give off sheens of reflective red and gold. More veil than wall, it seems. Setting the tone for the show, “Gli (Wall)” suggests to viewers on the most basic level that things aren’t always what they seem. Bottle caps and metal scraps aren’t always garbage to be thrown away; things that seem “ugly” may in fact be gorgeous when put together as a whole. But maybe there’s more. Walls divide and separate, and perhaps hinder the ocular view — only imagination remains. In that sense Anatsui says the walls are, as in the case of “Gli,” transparent, not opaque. Perhaps even as time passes, walls reveal what’s behind them by questioning what’s being blocked, and why. It’s unclear if El Anatsui’s aluminum works are tapestry, sculpture, or both — and that’s what’s so fascinating about them. By refusing a genre or style, the works push boundaries: with sheer size, “Gravity and Grace” blends color and measures roughly 14.5 by 33 feet, and has a presence all on its own. There is nothing geometric, nothing jagged about the changes in color in El Anatsui’s pieces; in fact, in “Garden Wall,” the red jumps, almost flickers between areas of gold and black, in a way that doesn’t seem possible with stitched-together bottle caps. With “Ink Splash,” bits of blue aluminum puddle onto the floor, a continuous, smooth transition from “art on the wall” to art in real life: the piece coyly sneaks out of its frame, so to speak. Perhaps the strongest piece in the show, “Black Block” simply delivers. It is not the largest in the exhibition, nor is it the most obvious. It stands out because it is heavy without trying; it hums quietly. Coming up to the piece, you can make out the brand name that has been stamped in gold into the aluminum. “Liquor Headmaster.” Ominous, foreboding — as if the liquor has some inescapable grasp over its drinker. Anatsui has said that he is referencing liquor’s key role in the slave trade, and “Black Block” is dark in that sense, attracting and repulsing you at the same time. There is a meditative quality in looking, in becoming lost in the folds, undulations and ridges of the black. To create “Black Block” and his other metal works, Anatsui enlisted the help of assistants; together, they started by joining pieces of aluminum into sheets that were eventually assembled into the final result. The process is repetitive, laborious, but Anatsui says it helps him slow down and think longer about his pieces; he likens it to “the effect of a ‘mantra on the mind.’” This doesn’t explain how the pieces achieve their 3-D element, however. Stitched together, they’re essentially flat quilts, and can be transported in wooden crates. The curves and indents are all created on-site; by pinching up certain sections of the piece and nailing into the drywall between the gaps, the shapes stay in that determined configuration. This also means the pieces look different in every installation, and it’s what the artist intends. “If art and life are the same, life is not still, it’s always changing. I want to work with forms that are capable of being changed,” Anatsui said in a lecture at MCASD on March 7. It’s easy to think that El Anatsui is just an artist who works in metal, but it’d be a shame to miss his works in other mediums. Good thing the exhibit doesn’t leave much out. A series of works in wood, some carved and scorched, others sourced from the house posts of deserted homes, give off an eerie effect. “Waste Paper Bags” is made from discarded metal newspaper printing plates. Snippets of old stories, advertisements and obituaries can be found in the wrinkles of the plates, which are heat-treated, annealed and then crumpled. Overall, the entire show just feels big, in a way that floors the viewer. After all, commonplace media would not have the same presence if it were small. It seems unlikely burnt wood and discarded metal could ever be “beautiful,” but El Anatsui makes it work. A contradiction that makes sense. Gravity — and grace.

the falconer

PHOTOS BY ERIC CUNNINGHAM/FALCONER

1. Gravity and Grace, 2010 2. Black Block, 2010 3. Gli (Wall), 2010 4. Drifting Continents (detail), 2009 5. Ink Splash, 2010

Baseball splits doubleheader at Poway

By Fernando Stepensky

By Maya Rao COPY EDITOR Baseball (13-7-1) lost to the Poway High School Titans (11-9) 5-6 in the second game of a doubleheader on April 25, after scoring four runs in the seventh inning to nearly tie the game. The Falcons won the series, though, beating Poway 2-0 on April 21 and 3-0 in the first game on April 25. Pitcher Chase Cameron (12), the “star performer” of the day, according to Falcon head coach Kirk McCaskill, threw a complete game shutout in the first game, but the Titans edged out TPHS in the following game. The Falcons started the first inning strong, with a run by designated hitter Cole Klemke (12), which came after he walked and stole second, then scored on James Rutledge’s (11) single. “[The run] put us on the board early,” Klemke said. “I thought ... ‘we can get it rolling from here.’” But in the Titans first at bat, things started to go south for the Falcons. Poway scored three runs in the first inning. The second inning passed quickly and uneventfully, but the third inning saw PHS pull ahead dramatically with a line drive to center field that allowed runners on second and third to score and boosted the score to 5-1. Center fielder Sandy Plashkes (12) made some impressive plays to thwart Titan attempts to get on base in the fourth and sixth innings, including catching a scorching shot to the warning track by Poway’s Tyler Nevin and later running and sliding to secure another out in mid-center field. “[Nevin is] their best hitter ... so I was expecting something over my head, and when I saw [the ball] I just got back as far as I could,” Plashkes said. “I lost it for a second, then turned and kept running to get to the fence so I could get deep and make the catch.” The fifth inning provided a few missed opportunities to score for TPHS after leaving runners stranded; Poway, on the other hand, scored on a home run by Kevin Bristow, bringing the score to 6-1. “[The Titans] strung a couple hits together, got their tempo going ... and their bats started to wake up,” Klemke said. “We just lost focus there.” The sixth inning ended in no score for either team. Then the seventh and final inning began. “We’re always like, ‘the seventh inning, this is our last shot,’” Plashkes said. “‘This is the last inning to do something’ — we were

PHOTOS BY AVERY SPICKER/FALCONER

SLAM: Designated hitter Cole Klemke (12) slides safely in to second base (TOP). Catcher CJ Stubbs (1) finishes his swing after hitting the ball toward left field (ABOVE). all intense.” That intensity paid off. With a succession of hits that had both the Falcons in the dugout and fans in the stands on their feet, TPHS scored four runs. First baseman Matt Mullen (12) got on base on a line shot over the second baseman’s head and pinch hitter Ryan Bramlett (11) reached first on a ground ball to the shortstop that took a bad hop. The Titans pitcher caught, then dropped, second baseman Logan Tomlinson’s (12) shot up the middle, but was able to get Mullen out at third, leaving Tomlinson on first and Bramlett on second. Then catcher CJ Stubbs (12) hit a line drive to the fence and Bramlett scored the Falcons’ first run since the first inning. Immediately following Bramlett’s run, Klemke had a hit to center field, scoring Tomlinson, and advancing Stubbs to third; Stubbs scored on a wild pitch a minute later. Plashkes was walked, then third baseman Jake Singer (12) hit a line drive that dropped in center field to score Klemke. Rutledge flied out to right to end the game, 5-6. “We just never gave up until the last out,”

Klemke said. “Last year ... we would have just called it and been like ‘Oh, well, we’re down ﬁve runs, it’s going to be hard to come back’ but this year, no amount of runs [the opposing team is] up by is too many for us to come back from.” Poway head coach Bob Parry agreed that the Falcons played well. “[TPHS] hit the ball ... really well,” Parry said. “They almost came back and got us.” Klemke said the Falcons “are a better team overall” and attributed the comeback to the team “never [giving] up.” “Our goal is to win two out of three in conference play with every school, and so far, we’re two for two [in] doing that,” McCaskill said. “If we keep [our winning streak alive], I think we’ll be in good position by the end of the year.” Plaskhes thinks the Falcons will play hard, make it to the playoffs and win the league championship. The Falcons will play their next game at Mt. Carmel High School on April 30 at 3:30.

“We’d like to offer you the position of Sports Editor next year” is a phrase I’ve heard twice while I’ve been on staff, and recently I was the one saying it to Lily Nilipour (10). It was the Friday before spring break and I was pleased with the decision of the staff’s seniors to offer Lily the position. Practically a no-brainer, I thought. I smiled as I offered her the position, and she happily accepted. But when she left the room, it hit me: “That’s it, I’m no longer the Sports Editor of the Falconer.” I had this weird feeling in my heart and a couple silent moments passed before I fully returned to reality. When I was offered the position two years ago, I was shocked, happy, confused and ready to prove the naysayers wrong. I remember the June issue — my first issue as the official Sports Editor — when I accidentally put the same game coverage on two separate pages and didn’t even realize it until the Saturday before our Tuesday deadline. This meant that I had an entire half of a page with nothing on it. My heart sank as I ran to Savannah Kelly, who had been sports editor before me. I took her to the room behind the computer lab and frantically asked for help. I was sure that Savannah would take the opportunity to say that she knew I couldn’t handle the section on my own. Instead, she came up with a solution and reassured me that I was going to be fine. After several learning opportunities throughout the first few issues, I began to receive compliments from the Editorin-Chief and our adviser, Mia Boardman Smith. But what I look back on most fondly is my interview with then-head football coach Scott Ashby as he was retiring. Ashby had been hard on me when I covered the team as a staff writer, but in that interview, he cried. At the end I asked if he had anything he wanted to add to the story and he talked about his love for the team and his players. Then he stood up, hugged me and said, “Thanks, buddy.” I walked out of that interview confident that I could ask meaningful questions, write and edit, but most importantly that I could improve. Starting with being graciously accepted to write for this paper, to getting sports editor twice, to handing off my position to Lily, I have so many memories. Some are stressful, a couple are tearful and some include yelling, but most of all I remember the satisfaction of seeing my name printed next to Sports Editor and realizing the hard work it took to get to that point. I felt like I had earned the title. It’s with a heavy heart that I pass on to Lily the section that has been my baby, and I’m not sure how to end other than to say, “Thank you.”

sports

tphsfalconer.com

the falconer

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Skateboarding team first in SDSL By Lily Nilipour STAFF WRITER The TPHS skateboarding team won second place in the second San Diego Skateboarding League contest on April 19 at Mission Valley Skate Park. Alex Willms (11) won first in the street event, Travis Rivera (9) won first in the bowl event and Justin Rivera (12) won second in the bowl event, ranking the team No. 1 in the league. The team won the first SDSL contest on March 22. Travis Rivera placed first and third in the street and bowl events, respectively, while Cole Cavanaugh (12) won second in the street event and Justin Rivera won second in the bowl event. According to head coach and former professional skateboarder Neal Mims, three SDSL competitions are held at skate parks throughout San Diego before the tournament finals. Only seven skaters from each school can compete, five for the street events and two for the bowl events. “[The league] adds up all the points from each contest at the end for the finals, and then they decide who [wins],” Mims said. “So say [the team] gets second place or third place a couple times, it’s still building points.” Individual awards from competitions can also help the team get into first place by adding points to the team’s overall point total, Mims said. According to Cavanaugh, in contests, each skateboarder gets two 45-second runs to do tricks in front of a panel of judges. The top 10 move on to the finals and are judged based on creativity, difficulty of tricks, style and balance. Outside of competitions, the team members practice together with Mims once a week, usually at the Encinitas YMCA

Skate Park, to work on tricks and contest runs, according to Mims. “It’s so inconsistent, no matter how good you get and how long you’ve been skating — the caliber of tricks being done now and the technicality of skating, there’s no way to perfect [them],” Mims said. Cavanaugh and Willms think that the team members have to work on their consistency while skating. “Getting certain tricks or the tricks that you’re good at down, and being able to do them every try [is important] so that you don’t fall in your line,” Cavanaugh said. “That hurts your score a lot.” TPHS has won first in both the SDSL and the National Scholastic Skateboarding League for the past two years, according to Tiffany Rivera, whose two sons, Travis and Justin, are on the team. “[In the first] year, when they formed their team … they won their league … and then went on to the finals,” Tiffany Rivera said. “They competed against Orange County high schools, and they won overall. [TPHS] has been dominating for the last two years, and are now well on their way [to winning again].” Canyon Crest Academy, La Costa Canyon High School, Point Loma High School, Sage Creek High School and San Dieguito Academy all compete in the SDSL high school division with TPHS. The top teams in the league go on to compete in the NSSL later in the season. “It’s pretty difficult to [win] because a bunch of schools in Orange County also compete against us,” Willms said. “It’s hard to beat them, too, because there [are] much better skateboarders out there.” Skateboarding is not yet recognized as a CIF sport, and while the team does not have specific plans to apply for CIF status, members hope to generate more interest among TPHS students.

But two members of the team — Justin and Travis — have taken their passion for skateboarding beyond California and into Shanghai, and at the time the Falconer went to press, attended the Kia World Extreme Games, where Mims is a judge. Justin said that it was an “honor” to be invited to the games, which are held from

April 30 to May 3. The TPHS team will compete in the third SDSL contest on May 9 at the Encinitas YMCA Skate Park. Top skaters in the SDSL will move on to the ﬁnals against the Orange County Skateboarding League on May 22 at Etnies Skate Park in Lake Forest.

PHOTO COURTESY OF TIFFANY RIVERA

ON BOARD: Ben Singer (10), Travis Rivera (9), Coach Neal Mims, Alex Willms (11), Cole Cavanaugh (12) and Justin Rivera (12) start a day of practice at the Encinitas YMCA Skate Park (ABOVE). Justin Rivera grinds at the top of a bowl and drops back in (BELOW).

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Summer Boot Camp is our most intensive class, designed to help students who wish to make significant improvements over the summer. This 8-week program meets 5 days a week and offers daily instruction in SAT Critical Reading, Writing, and Math. Boot Camp is designed to maintain student interest and engagement, and many students find new friends and mentors that last beyond the class.

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A22 the falconer

sports

f/stop

kendall mayo varsity pole vault april 23, 3:44:57 p.m. camera: nikon d90 lens: nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 iso: 100 exp: 1/1000 seconds f/stop: f/4.5 by robbie johnson

april 30, 2015

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sports

the falconer

A23

FALCON TRIES: ROLLER DERBY BY ANNA LEE Opinion editor Anna Lee (11) stumbles upon roller derby and experiences the pain of constantly tripping and falling over her skates.

Upon being assigned this article, I researched roller derby, since I had absolutely zero idea of what it was. What I found was video of many women on roller skates, shoving and grappling. In reality, the basic concept of roller derby isn’t too complicated: each team has a jammer, whose goal is to skate laps around the track, passing the opposing team in order to get points while that opposing team tries to obstruct her. Still, from the cursory Internet search I had done, I had no idea what to expect other than significant physical activity. And as someone who gets winded walking up the ramp from the student parking lot, I was a bit apprehensive when I scheduled a lesson with the San Diego Derby Dolls. Once I reached the warehouse where my lesson would take place, my unease was gradually replaced by wonder. the warehouse is a vast space with two tracks,graffiti on the walls and a low ceiling that makes the room seem even more expansive than it is. It’s hidden in an unobtrusive building in an equally nondescript part of downtown, difficult enough to find that locating it makes you feel privy to a particularly exceptional secret. I felt like I was walking into “Fight Club” — I was not, thank goodness, but there were some similarities. Roller derby is pretty badass, and, according to Loni Lethal, my instructor for the day, it can be about having a place to belong. “It’s something different, something to set [you] apart … It’s like a whole other life,” Loni said. We started out on the flat track and skated a few laps, which involved comparatively minimal flailing. “Bend your knees” was the first advice Loni gave me, and it became the refrain throughout the lesson to which I was apparently incapable of adhering. What is so difficult about bending one’s knees? Literally nothing. Apparently, though, it’s something that people usually struggle with when they first start skating, so I’ll give myself a little break there. I will not, however, make excuses for the fact that I repeatedly lost my balance while merely standing. I blame that fully on the fact that one of my legs may or may not be slightly longer than the other. Clearly, biology is at fault here. Next, I made some halting attempts at stops: knee-slide, snow plow, and T-stop. The knee-slide involves just sinking down onto one knee and sliding, so it wasn’t a terrible disaster. For a snow plow, you push your

heels outward and your toes inward, while for a T-stop you bring one foot behind and perpendicular to the other, dragging it to stop. I have a vivid memory of stumbling over myself and falling while attempting the T-stop — though looking on the bright side, I did succeed in stopping. With my entire body. I was impressed to discover that the Derby Dolls have one of few banked tracks in the world and had the mildly painful privilege of getting to trip over myself at varying angles and elevations. Before I began my stuttering attempts even to stand properly on the track, Loni demonstrated an effortlessly graceful lap that left me gaping. I’m not joking. I gaped. Roller derby girls move with such complete mastery that the whole roller skating thing seems to be a non-issue. When I got on the track, which was already enough of a challenge, I immediately stumbled off again. I ended up having to walk on my tiptoes, using the very convenient toe-stops on the skates, just to reach and hold on to the railing at the top. “I used to do ballet,” I said when Loni, in an obviously ploy to ﬁnd something positive to say about my technique, commented that I was good at tiptoeing. You know, the non-skating part. She mentioned that one of the Derby Dolls’ best jammers is a dancer — she’s capable of skirting the very edge of the banked track and performing incredible feats of balance. Not the case for me, but at least I’m awesome at walking on my tiptoes. I never did quite get the hang of skating on the banked track. My feet had a habit of skirting in directions that were decidedly not forward, so I did a lot of scrambling for the railing in desperate attempts to stay upright. Other than my numerous failed attempts to skate laps on the slope, Loni demonstrated a maneuver called a “whip,” used to help the jammer pick up speed. I skated toward her, grasped her forearm and she whipped me forward with what had to be a lot of upper arm strength. It was thrilling. I fell, of course, three out of four times, but the rush of speed was well worth it. Plus, I got great at learning to cushion my fall. So, I’m not really ready for the big leagues yet. If you should have the inclination, it’s extremely easy to topple me over on skates. In fact, you don’t even need to take the extra effort in pushing me — I’ll fall just as well on my own, really.

PHOTOS BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

LEE-SLIDE: Lee is mildly successful in stopping with her roller skates instead of face-planting onto the ground.

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The Falconer proudly presents its transition issue. This month’s paper represents the changing of the guard — from this year’s editors to next year’s editors, from old staffers to new staffers, and from no readers to no readers.

A MESSAGE FROM THE TPHS ADMINISTRATION Advanced Placement testing is upon us, dear students. We must remind you that the AP system is vital to this school’s existence, so our very livelihoods are at stake here. Score those fives. Defend our honor. No pressure, or anything.

Are you having a teenage existential meltdown?

As the promise of summer draws closer, it can become increasingly difﬁcult to try your hardest in class, or life in general. Take this quiz, add up your score and check the results below to ﬁnd out if you are suffering from a case of Early Onset Midlife Crisis. 1. How often are you here at school, in class?

-Every day, including weekends. I will die clutching a Scantron and a Number 2 pencil. (+1) -As often as it takes to keep my grades up. (+2) -Deﬁne “class.” What is life but one big classroom? What does it mean to “be here” anyway? (+3)

2. In a few words, how would you summarize your high school experience?

-Alright, I guess, mostly it’s been good. (+2) -Books — all of them. All of the books in the world. I have read all of the books and I am ready to be the youngest Surgeon General in U.S. history. (+1) -So many regrets. Never again. (+3)

3. What do you do to relax and unwind?

-Watch TV on an actual television, or watch TV on my laptop, or watch TV on my smartphone. (+2) -Enjoy a light snack of ﬂaxseed rice cakes before going out for a quick 5-mile jog. (+1) -Just screaming. (+3)

4. What are your plans for the future?

-I will be the President of the United States of America. (+1) -Who needs plans? I live in the here and now, my friend. Also, do you have like $500 I could borrow? Promise I’ll pay you back in real money and not seashells like last time. (+3) -Probably college, and then I’ll ﬁgure something out, hopefully. (+2)

5. How do you prepare for tests?

-Irrelevant. Nothing will prepare us for Judgement Day. (+3) -Usually I pretend to study for 5 hours and actually study for about 20 minutes. (+2) -In order to prepare for the test, I become the test. I am the test. Thus, failure is impossible. (+1)

6. In fact, how do you feel about taking this test?

-Kind of wondering when it’s going to be over, honestly. (+2) -This is the sixth multiple choice test I have taken today. I feel numb, but unstoppable. (+1) -I zoned out the second I read “take this quiz” up there. (+3)

6-8 points

Nope. No. It’s physically impossible to be this motivated. You’re either lying to yourself, or in need of serious help. Either way, what are you doing, reading for fun? Get outta here, you smug piece of s---.

9-13 points

Ah, the sweet spot. Congratulations, you’re part of a rare breed of well-adjusted teenagers. But check back in a year after those six AP classes and you may ﬁnd yourself on a different end of the spectrum.

14-18 points

This is probably the highest score you’ve gotten on a test in a while, isn’t it? The right thing to do would be to tell you to get your act together, but it’s most likely too late. Keep doing you, you beautiful disaster.

You ain’t really f--- with me way back then, but how ‘bout now? -Hillary Clinton On Running for Office