Falconer April Issue 2022 (updated)

Vol. 47, Issue 7, 24 pages

Friday, April 29, 2022

TPHSmusicdept. plagued by repeated vandalism

A District Divided

Naomi Ciel Schneider STAFF WRITER

PHOTO BY ANNA OPALSKY/FALCONER

PUSHING FOR A RESIGNATION: Members of the Asian American community call for Ward’s resignation at an April 20 board meeting. To counter Ward’s claim that Asian students in SDUHSD perform well because their families are rich, parents shared personal struggles as

Supt. Ward will sue SDUHSD after being placed on leave for remarks about Asians Amy Ge

ASSISTANT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

SDUHSD Superintendent Dr. Cheryl James-Ward will file a lawsuit against SDUHSD after being placed on administrative leave on April 20 following her statements attributing Asian students’ academic success to their wealthy families who come from China.

The leave decision was made in a 3-1 vote on April 20 that was supported by SDUHSD president Maureen “Mo” Muir, vice president Michael Allman and clerk Julie Bronstein and opposed by Trustee Katrina Young. SDUHSD Associate Superintendent for Business Services Tina Douglas was named Interim Superintendent by the Board of Trustees on April 23.

Ward said in an interview with NBC San Diego that the real reason she was placed on leave is because she is being retaliated against for filing a complaint on March 10 against board vice president Michael Allman.

“I’m not going to take this sitting down,” Ward said. “I’ve been publicly lynched.”

During a district Board Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Training Program on April 11, Allman asked Ward, “Do we know why Asian students do so well in school?”

They were discussing district data that indicated groups of Asian students in the district receive fewer D and F grades than other racial groups. Ward replied that part of the reason is due to the wealthy families that have moved into SDUHSD from

China.

“We have an influx of Asians from China, and the people who are able to make that journey are wealthy. You cannot come to America and buy a house for $2 million unless you have money,” Ward said.

Ward then agreed in part with Muir, who said Asian students are successful because they live in multigenerational households where students are strongly supported by extended family.

“The whole family comes, parents, grandparents, they are there to support kids at home, whereas in some of our Latinx communities, they don’t have that type of money.

Parents are working two jobs, they’re working sun up to sundown,” Ward said.

Students in the music department have been hit by three incidents of vandalism since August 2021, with a violin and a viola scratched and a flute broken and left in a toilet.

The most recent incident, the broken flute, involved both vandalism and theft.

Custodians found the flute in the B building boys’ restroom, urinated on with its keys ripped out on March 16, according to a number of students familiar with the matter.

The music department was notified a day later, and a picture of the flute in the toilet surfaced.

“We did find a photo that was circulating during the day,” music teacher Amy Gelb said. “So it happened sometime Wednesday morning and someone had taken a picture around 11:30 a.m. on that Wednesday during fourth period [but] apparently nobody said anything.”

The first two incidents, involving a violin and viola, occurred late in first semester.

While no one is sure as to the motive behind the recent flute incident, student musicians suspect the scratched violin and viola were victims of a TikTok challenge.

“We thought it might have something to do with the ‘devious licks’ vandalism challenges … in order to post it on social media and get attention,” violinist and victim of vandalism Sarah Wu (12) said.

TPHS administrators are aware of the incidents and have made attempts to find the people responsible for the damage, without success.

“Unless we can see clearly on a camera, which is, again, more rare than people think … it’s almost impossible to say this person did it. We would have to speculate and that gets really dicey,” Principal Rob Coppo said. “We’re working on it right now, but again, it’s reactive.”

Some preventative measures do exist in the form of lockers in the music building, as well as locked storage rooms for larger instruments;. However, some students have taken to carrying their instruments with them around school.

Some music students borrow instruments from TPHS, however, the majority of students’ families, like Wu’s, pay out of pocket for their instruments in order to participate in the music program. In cases of vandalism, students are responsible for paying to repurchase or repair the instruments. “[Personal items are] damaged at school [but] we’re not responsible technically,” Continued on A3

A2 the falconer

WARD ON LEAVE continued from A1

A clip of Ward’s comments in a twominute video was posted on Youtube by unidentified user “Julie” and sparked immediate outrage from the community.

TPHS Asian American Student Union President Julia Liu (11) expressed her frustration with Ward’s assumptions about Asian American student success.

“It’s not money, it’s culture,” Liu (11) said. “My parents were immigrants and came to America looking for better education and jobs. They taught me to be hardworking, and it’s what I grew up with.”

The Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER) published an action alert on April 12, urging community members to “Stand Up to Superintendent Cheryl James-Ward’s Inflammatory Bigotry Against Chinese Americans and Merit,” calling her statements “deeply offensive, grossly inaccurate and intentionally divisive, which ill-fits her leadership role in a major school district.”

CFER is a non-profit organization “dedicated to defending and advancing the cause of equal rights” and is opposed to affirmative action and school ethnic diversity programs.

In Ward’s response to Allman’s question, she added that “In my community, in Carmel Valley … we had a large influx of Chinese families moving in, sight unseen, into our homes, into the community, and that requires money.”

Taiwanese American and Korean American TPHS student Megan Peng (12) took issue with the way Ward immediately focused on Chinese Americans rather than Asian Americans in general.

“Asian Americans are perceived as this one homogeneous group that is all educated, wealthy and upper-middleclass,” Peng (12) said. “By generalizing people into those groups, we further this idea that we’re all the same and that’s really harmful because there’s a ton of diversity among Asian Americans.”

To Peng (12), Ward’s wording that Chinese families are moving into “our homes” also perpetuates the idea of Yellow Peril, the historically rooted perception of Asian people as an existential threat to the Western world. “[Her words] are painting [Asian Americans] as the perpetual foreigner,” Peng (12) said. “No matter how long we live here, we’re always seen as outsiders infiltrating.”

Chinese American and Vietnamese American student Darren Chan (12) also discussed the perpetuation of the model minority myth, a cultural expectation that pits people of color against one another and creates a hierarchy in which Asian people are often represented at the top. “[Ward’s] statement perpetuates the model minority myth because it generalizes all Asian students as being academically successful,” Chan (12) said. “It ignores the diversity of ethnicities and of academic achievement among them.”

Ward, who is Afro-Latina, called a virtual emergency community meeting immediately following the backlash at 6:00 p.m. on April 12. The SDUHSD Town Hall scheduled for April 14 was

news canceled.

Ward issued a written apology the night of April 13 in which she claimed that her words were “taken out of context” in the video clip and that she “grew up in a diverse community with best friends that were from all walks of life.” She also extended an invitation to a newly scheduled SDUHSD Town Hall Meeting moderated by SDSU Professor and Director of the Chinese Cultural Center Lilly Cheng on April 14.

Ward’s apology was widely illreceived by the community.

“The first [apology] [Dr. Ward] sent didn’t seem like she cared about our concerns,” Peng (12) said. “She seemed really defensive and seemed like she was more worried about her own image than the harm she caused to the community.”

CFER then released a second action alert urging community members to directly communicate with board members.

Following Ward’s apology, a Chinese American parent who asked not to be identified drafted a letter with several Chinese American community members that outlined their grievances regarding Ward’s statements. The letter was read at the SDUHSD Town Hall meeting on April 14 and asked Ward to “issue a clear public apology to address the above concerns to the Asian American community by Friday evening.” “[We wanted] to help Dr. Ward to understand the key points in the situation and support her to make effective next steps to eliminate the ill effects of her video and first statement,” the unidentified parent said.

Ward apologized during the Town Hall, admitting that she “held an implicit bias [she] wasn’t even aware of.” She issued a second written apology on April 15 where she admitted and repeated in an email to the Falconer that she is “deeply sorry for causing pain to our community, and for diminishing our Asian students’ hard work and their families’ commitment to their education.”

TPHS Principal Rob Coppo said he believes Ward’s apology was genuine and that she should be given a second chance. “[Ward] admitted the mistake and that’s really all we can hope for all of us,” Coppo said. “Make a mistake, acknowledge it and apologize.”

SDUHSD board members further discussed Ward’s controversy in a board meeting on April 20. Within two overflowing rooms, many Asian American community members shared deeply personal stories of their struggles immigrating to and surviving in America and called for Ward’s resignation.

Among them was Dandan Pan, founder of Haddee Education, a local education startup.

“I’ve worked with many hardworking parents whose sole priority is their kids’ education. They save every single penny to bring educational resources to their students,” Pan said to Ward. “Please resign for the safety of our community as many of us are hurt and will be hurt again if you continue to lead this school district.”

A few speakers defended Ward, including her former mentees and coworkers, who spoke of Ward’s genuine character and commitment to

april 29, 2022

DR. WARD speaks at a Black Student Union meeting in November of 2021. She has recently come under fire for her comments on Asian students and their academic performance. representing minority groups.

After three hours of public comment, the board held a closed session that ended after midnight and culminated in the decision to put Ward on administrative leave.

“I listened to every one of you … your words and your stories, they touched my heart,” Muir said. “I hope as a board we move forward and address this in a positive and meaningful way.”

Bronstein and Allman both said they strongly condemned James-Ward’s words.

“Her words show a built-in bias that is unbecoming a leader of an educational institution like ours,” Allman said. “I condemn her words in the strongest possible language and I do not believe this is what our district stands for.”

TPHS ASB Board Representative Payton Parker (12) said that many lessons can be learned from the information presented at the board meeting.

“We got the input from the community last night, so moving forward … we should take responsibility, be accountable and learn from the responses of not just the Asian American community, but from all minority groups,” Parker (12) said.

Four plans of action to heal the community were outlined in Ward’s second apology letter and discussed at the April 15 board meeting. They included continuing staff equity and inclusion training, holding “Telling Our Stories” Town Hall meetings, continuing planning the Ethnic Studies course and having annual community days.

In response to whether the actions outlined will be effective, Chinese American TPHS parent Jonathan Chan first highlighted the rest of the board’s response to Ward’s initial comments.

“Also troubling was the absence of an immediate rebuttal by every single person at the board meeting,” Chan said. “Any other board member who was sitting there and didn’t object … in a sense, they’re complicit in this thinking.”

To Jonathan Chan, this calls for better diversity training for not just Ward, but also the rest of the board members.

“I think what was outlined [in Ward’s second apology] is a good first step, but that’s only as effective as who’s going to be there,” Chan said.

“What we need is the whole board there to listen to all these stories. That’s when it’s going to change people’s implicit bias that they don’t even know they have.”

CFER President Frank Xu opposes the district’s overall approach to DEI training.

“We shouldn’t assign people into groups based on race. We are all just Americans,” Xu said. “If Ward truly believed we’re all Americans, she wouldn’t have made those comments in the first place.”

Still, Coppo said SDUHSD’s DEI program will remain.

“We’re not planning to change the program. DEI training is messy by design. It has to be because we’re talking about difficult problems,” Coppo said. “The program is designed to reveal bias, and it did. It was eyeopening for everyone.”

Despite the difficult events that took place over the course of the last two weeks, Darren Chan said one positive result is that it encouraged more Asian American participation in the school community.

“A lot of parents said, ‘I wouldn’t be coming to a board meeting, but I felt that I needed to due to the circumstances.’

This is a good stepping stone for more Asian parents to become involved in district affairs,” Chan said.

Similarly, Jonathan Chan believes the Asian American community should be more present and vocal in district affairs.

“We should be at board meetings, show up at principals’ coffees, be involved in the classroom as much as possible and speak up at board meetings,” Chan said. “That would show that we want to be vocal and we want to be heard.”

news

tphsfalconer.com

the falconer A3

VANDALISM continued from A1

Coppo said. “We do try to be sensitive to the reality and work with the family.”

In the case of the flute, Lauren Suh (9), a friend of the flutist and a member of band, began a GoFundMe. “She was really hurt by it and instruments are not cheap. I just wanted to help her out as a friend and also a fellow musician. So I started a GoFundMe page,” Suh said. “We made more than enough to raise for the instrument which is great, but we’re still hoping to find the person [who vandalized the instrument].”

To prevent this in the future, music students have suggested more cameras be added in the music building.

“We don’t have any cameras around this multimillion-dollar room still, even though this has been happening all year, we still don’t have any security cameras,” Suh said.

Students in the music department,

PHOTO BY JESSICA YU/FALCONER

A PERSONAL CONNECTION: Sarah Wu plays her violion that has since been repaired following a vandalism incident that resulted in multiple scratches across the top plate. The culprit has not been found.

like all musicians, form deep connections with their instruments and felt a collective blow after each of the incidents. “[My violin] used to be my brother’s.

It got passed on to me after he went to college. So I’ve had it for around four years now,” Wu said. “It was just kind of shocking at first. I remember that day I started crying. It’s just

really heartbreaking because you form a connection with your instrument.

So to see someone go to the extent of destroying it, I think it’s just really heartbreaking.”

Wu discovered her instrument, the violin, in the music room and severely scratched on November 4 and was devastated by the damage. She had it repaired but did not replace the whole top of the wood. “”I got one of the simpler repairs where they just scraped [the scratched portion of] the wood off and then they repainted it … It’s still a little noticeable, but it’s not that noticeable anymore,” Wu said.

Gelb said a cloud of shock and sadness pervaded students in the music department and her after each of the vandalism incidents. The camaraderie among her musicians is strong.

“My classes are like a family. So what happens to one of them kind of happens to all of them,” Gelb said.

Menstrual products vending machine installed Lola Newlander

STAFF WRITER

A vending machine that dispenses free menstrual products was unveiled in the Learning Commons on Wednesday morning, April 20.

The vending machine was created by Dotstash, a San Diego based company.

On campus, Dotstash has partnered with the TPHS Period Poverty Project and implemented their Period Positive Program intended to provide accessible, organic period products while destigmatizing menstruation cycle for all individuals who experience it.

“Ever since I was 11, I’ve dealt with I don’t know how many times where I’ve been in public spaces, whether it be in class or at work, and have been without a tampon or pad when I needed it … Sometimes it’s not just about being unprepared or not knowing when your period is coming,” Dotstash founder,

Mona Powell said.

Being the first of its kind made by Dotstash, the vending machine is currently in a trial period while in the Learning Commons.

“Right now, we’re watching how the students are interacting with it and how well the physical unit actually works,” Powell said. Once we’ve worked out all the kinks and have heard feedback from the students, we eventually hope to have a machine that works similarly to the regular vending machines [on campus].”

Dotstash has been involved with TPHS and SDUHSD since November 2021, when a father of two female TPHS students sponsored a pilot program with Powell in hopes of improving the experience with period products on campus.

“That was the really cool thing about [TPHS], that the students and student

organizations were super engaged,” Powell said. “[TPHS] has an amazing foundation board and a really great administration that was supportive of something like this.”

Although the primary goal of Dotstash’s Period Positive Program is to increase accessibility of period products, addressing the stigma around periods was just as important to Powell and the students involved with the program on campus.

“I just want people to appreciate the importance of menstrual products and decrease the stigma around it in an open environment,” Julia Kaplan (10) said, one of the students involved with the Period Positive Program on campus.

Dotstash and the TPHS students involved hope to eventually expand the program to the entire district.

“I hope the program will expand past the schools that are participating

at TPHS

now,” Tatum Loseke (10) said. “I think this project has the power to inspire people to make a change within our community.”

PHOTO BY JESSICA YU/FALCONER

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Mona Powell, founder of Dotsdash, participates in a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new menstrual products vending machine alongside members of Period Poverty Project.

DOUBLE TAKE TAKE DOUBLE

Ladies consignment boutique DESIGNER CLOTHING

SHOES

ACCESSORIES

@DoubleTakeSB

731 S. Hwy 101, Solana Beach, CA 92075

858-794-5451 Open 1 PM-6PM EVERYDAY!

@DoubleTakeSolanaBeach

A4 the falconer

news

april 29, 2022

Ayana Johnson to become TPHS’ first HBCU attendee Jerry Wu

COPY EDITOR

Having founded the first Black Student Union (BSU) at TPHS and fueled her tenacious desire to compete in volleyball at the highest level, Ayana Johnson (11) is adding to her accomplishments by becoming the first TPHS graduate to attend a Historically Black College and University (HBCU).

Johnson has accepted a Division I volleyball scholarship to South Carolina State University and plans to major in criminal justice.

HBCUs have recieved increased attention and applications since 2020.

Johnson hopes that her decision will encourage Black students at TPHS to consider applying as well. “[Attending an HBCU] is going to bring tons of awareness and inspire people of color that there are opportunities for us,” Johnson said.

“HBCUs are going to give them that place and that experience, which is what many kids at TPHS want.”

Johnson has long pledged to promote equality and inclusivity in her community. Growing up in San Diego, with only a six percent Black population makeup, she found it difficult being one of the few Black students at school.

“You just feel like the spotlight is all on you, and you stick out, which is something that I was worried about,” Johnson said.

In her freshman year at TPHS, she

founded the BSU club to offer Black students on campus a tight-knit community to connect and encourage cultural diversity through education about Black culture.

“I wanted a safe space for Black people to be around, and we all can relate to each other,” Johnson said.

“I wanted to create a huge platform for the school to be aware and diverse and understand where we as Black students are coming from.”

Together, Johnson and members of the BSU have worked to build awareness and representation of the African American community and other minority groups. They have created and displayed posters of famous Black historical figures in the B building, coordinated with other schools in the district to start their BSUs and held community gatherings to promote their causes.

Her work in the BSU has inspired and struck many, especially the club adviser Michael Montgomery. “[Ayana] is strong-minded, determined, outgoing and kind. Ayana has become more mature and cerebral,” Montgomery said. “You could tell she is a leader and a doer.”

Johnson sees her commitment to an HBCU as a testament to her mission of building inclusivity and bringing a voice to minorities.

Meanwhile, Johnson’s self-described determined, hardworking and humble

“When I first walked on campus, seeing people around me that were Black and having that family ... it was amazing, and I felt that love and culture.”

Ayana Johnson

BSU PRESIDENT AND SC STATE VOLLEYBALL COMMIT

PHOTO COURTESY OF AYANA JOHNSON

JACK OF ALL TRADES: Ayana Johnson, the president of TPHS BSU and a member of the TPHS varsity volleyball team, has commited to South Carolina State University to play D1 volleyball.

character has allowed her volleyball career to reach new heights.

At the age of eight, Johnson fell in love with the sport for the team spirit and competition. She plays for the Wave Volleyball Club and is part of the varsity team at TPHS. While exploring universities where she could play Division I volleyball, a lifelong dream, she was contacted

by coach Dawn Barnes from SCState.

Johnson knew where her home for the four years after high school would be.

“When I first walked on campus, seeing people around me that were Black and having that family … it was amazing, and I felt that love and culture,” Johnson said.

Johnson cannot wait for the next chapter in her life to unfold.

Melisse Mossy resigns as SDUHSD board member Martin Lee

STAFF WRITER

Melisse Mossy resigned as the Area Three trustee on April 12 after receiving backlash from community members for voting for a controversial trustee area district map and mask mandates.

Holding herself to a high standard, Mossy felt she was disappointing not only herself, but the community, which made it difficult for her to serve as a board member.

“I expect a lot of myself and if I can’t give that level, I don’t think it’s fair.

I always said,’I’m prepared to make a positive impact.’ And if I don’t think I’m making a positive impact, I’m just disappointing myself and those around me,” Mossy said.

Many were surprised by her sudden announcement, including Principal Rob Coppo.

“I got an email Tuesday night with an email that the superintendent had sent out, I had no idea it was coming, and I don’t know any more about it,” Coppo said.

Though Coppo was caught off guard by the resignation, he understands that school board trustee positions bring with them potential for controversy and discord.

“I think that’s one of the challenges that any board member faces. Anytime they make critical decisions that affect 13,000 students, you are going to please some people and not please others…”

Coppo said.

Not only that, upholding the duties of a trustee was no longer sustainable for Mossy when the pandemic hit the

PHOTO FROM MELISSE MOSSY

STEPPING DOWN: Melisse Mossy resigned from her SDUHSD board position after serving for over three years. She hopes to see more “grace and love” within the district in the future.

district. What used to be a position that called for a few meetings a month suddenly became a full time job.

“I never took being a trustee casually at all but … dedicating everything at that level for that extended amount of time when it didn’t really seem that there was a break, it was hard. It was really hard,” Mossy said. “You have to look at personal cost. I think it’s something that’s a really big issue …

I feel like it’s elitist because not many people can give 40 to 50 hours a week and make minimum wage and live off of it knowing we get $400 a month before taxes, and I don’t know if that covers my gas.”

Mossy was a substitute teacher in the SDUHSD when she decided to run as a trustee after reading an article

calling for candidates for the school board.

“We were reading an article saying that they were looking for paper candidates for the school board and one of my daughters said, ‘Mom, that’s you. You love education, you should apply’ ... and so to set a good example for my daughters and to give back to our community, I ran for school board and surprise, surprise I got elected ...”

Mossy said.

After starting her career in 1992 as a multi-subject credentialed teacher in two other districts, Mossy started substituting in the SDUHSD in 2016.

Mossy believed that her perspective as an educator, parent and community member made her a valuable asset as a board member.

“... [B]ecause I had kids in the district, in school and I had subbed in the district and then a teacher, that gave me a vantage point of not only an educator, but also a parent and a community member. Then also I feel like it’s really important to me and my life to make a positive difference and try to bring people together. And I tend to try to bring a lot of enthusiasm to whatever I do and I was hoping that would be something that would be valuable,” Mossy said.

In November of 2018, Mossy was elected to the SDUHSD school board as the trustee of district Area Three, which covers Cardiff and Solana Beach.

Melisse worked as a board member until April 12 when she announced her resignation.

Mossy leaves the board with many unfulfilled goals such as reducing class sizes, builing swimming pools for high schools, making policies to ensure student summits happen annually and more. Mossy also hopes that the community will be kinder to each other and focus on the kids more. “[We need] more grace and love for each other, more respect and just more fun. We need to get out of the weeds to get back to the kids and support our staff,” Mossy said.

Mossy is grateful for her time as a trustee and wishes the best for the community.

“Thank you for putting in the hard work that makes us the number one district. Never forget that we’re proud of our students despite what community issues come up,” Mossy said.

tphsfalconer.com

news

the falconer A5

Chinese program faces uncertain future as class size declines Caroline Hunt

STAFF WRITER

Chinese classes at TPHS face an uncertain future in next year’s course selection as administration decides whether to offer an AP Chinese class in the 2022-23 school year or to collapse the program altogether.

Having been a part of TPHS academics for the past 10 years, Chinese classes have seen continuous drops in student enrollment, especially since Chinese courses became available at CCA. “There wasn’t a huge interest for Chinese 1 and 2, and students were taking it off-campus and then coming in for the higher end classes,” Principal Robert Coppo said. “So once they opened up Chinese at CCA, that attracted a bunch of students and our numbers went down.”

As the result of a three-year-long phase-out process, entry-level Chinese courses have collapsed at TPHS, bringing the program to its current state: one 23-student period of Chinese 3 and one 28-student period of AP Chinese. Chinese 3 was not listed as a course option in the course selection forms for next year’s classes.

“If we only offer AP, students only take one year and then they’re done and leave. And ninth graders cannot take AP so we only have a few students,” Chinese teacher Lu Qi said.

“So, in the long run, I don’t think that it’s sustainable.”

Outside of waning interest, an additional reason for the decreasing enrollment in TPHS Chinese courses is the high turnover rate of the teaching position.

“We’ve perpetually had to do this

part-time gig which is very difficult for some [teachers],” Coppo said. “Right now it’s only a 40 percent position.”

Qi, who currently teaches both Chinese periods, has only worked at TPHS for a year but voices her commitment to staying on staff and helping the Chinese program move forward.

A major concern for students, parents, teachers and administration alike surrounds the future course paths of incoming freshman and current Chinese 3 students. If the Chinese program at TPHS ends, these students may be forced to end their Chinese education, attend a different campus or take up outside courses.

“I personally know friends who are looking to take AP Chinese next year,” Rachel Yang (10) said. “If it isn’t offered at TP, these students will not only have to make big efforts to find AP Chinese classes outside of school … but also have to pay a lot of money for this opportunity.”

Another student group adversely affected by this possibility of course cancellation is the population of nonheritage students.

“This year in my Chinese 3 class, I have around 30 percent of the students whose families do not speak Chinese at home,” Qi said. “For them, it would be even harder to continue their learning.”

Students also voice the value of a diverse Chinese program like that found at TPHS. “It’s really fun to watch [students from other countries] learn my culture when most of the kids around them are also Chinese,” Aaron Zhao (10) said.

Despite community efforts to keep

PHOTO BY RASA NYCE/FALCONER

A COMMUNITY WITHIN A CLASS: TPHS Chinese teacher Lu Qi presents to her AP Chinese class. Because there are only two periods of Chinese, Qi works part time.

the program, low enrollment and difficulties in finding a long-term teacher could jeopardize the program’s sustainability in the future, according to Associate Superintendent Bryan Marcus.

However, other options for students wishing to take Chinese classes do exist. It is possible for aspiring Chinese students to go to CCA to take the class or take off-site classes with district funding, however, according to Coppo, these opportunities are rare. But offcampus classes, according to Yang,

would fail to yield the same unity that the TPHS Chinese program does.

“Chinese class is like a community where students feel comfortable making connections,” Qi said.

The administration plans to make a final decision by June 3 as to whether or not a Chinese program will remain in the coming year. However, even this resolution is subject to change over the summer. If Chinese courses stay on the TPHS campus, it is likely that the program would be limited to, at most, a couple of periods of AP Chinese.

County approves final district map despite lawsuit Caroline Hunt and Anna Opalsky STAFF WRITERS

member Dr. Gregg Robinson raised concerns about placing San Dieguito Academy with Solana Beach in Area 3, saying it would divide the Latino community around the Ocean Knolls Elementary School adjacent to SDA. Others were concerned about a part of Del Mar Heights being separated from the city of Del Mar and grouped with Carmel Valley in Area 4.

Despite some concerns, all of the speakers expressed that the County’s maps were an improvement from the district’s Map 8. “[Map C] seems to not be perfect, but it seems to be the one that meets most of the requirements,” board member Guadalupe González said.

In comparison, the district’s Map 8 did not evenly distribute schools and fractured Solana Beach between three areas. It also changed the election cycles and shifted board representation in multiple areas.

“We needed a fair and equitable retooling of the Cranberry Map,” one speaker said, thanking the County for its involvement. “We needed a board who would listen to the concerns of the communities and respond in a reasonable way to problem solve with the community’s input.”

Even with the adoption of this new

map, the lawsuit against Map 8 is pending “We remain committed to getting the judge to deem the map invalid,” attorney Cory Briggs said, who represents the plaintiffs in the suit. “Until the county’s decision is cleared, Map 8 is the fallback.”

Once map C is sent to the registrar of voters, it will be in place for SDUHSD’s November board elections.

PHOTO FROM SAN DIEGO BOARD OF EDUCATION

The San Diego County Committee on School District Organization adopted a final election area map, named Map C, for SDUHSD on April 25, following their takeover of the SDUHSD redistricting process earlier this month.

This involvement comes amid an ongoing lawsuit against the district’s previously selected Map 8, which faced backlash for violating the California Education Code and California Voting Rights Act by rearranging trustee areas and diluting minority voters.

With authority under the California Education Code, the county took over the SDUHSD redistricting process on April 4, marking its first takeover of a school redistricting process ever, according to the county’s media strategist Jennifer Rodriguez. This involvement was “appropriate given issues calling into question the timeliness and legality of the District’s action to adopt a redistricting map,” County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Paul Gothold wrote in a letter to SDUHSD Superintendent Dr. Cheryl James-Ward.

At the meeting on April 25, just five days before their April 30 deadline, the County Committee unanimously selected Map C, which was one of three maps

drawn by Washington D.C.-based demographer ARCBridge Consulting and Training.

The adoption of Map C came at the County’s third public hearing, where seven speakers commented on the three proposed maps that were previously presented at a hearing on April 13.

“I find all three maps acceptable,” one speaker said. “I think they’re such a vast improvement over [Map 8].”

All the proposed maps kept trustee areas similar to the district’s 2017 Cranberry Map and complied with the California Voting Rights Act by not diluting minority voters, according to the demographer. In addition, they also preserved election cycles and board representation.

The majority of speakers supported Map C for its even distribution of schools and continuity of Solana Beach borders. Specifically, the predominantly Latino neighborhood of La Colonia de Eden Gardens, which was one community divided under the district’s Map 8, remains intact. Meeting the requirement to balance the population under a 10 percent variance — the difference in population between the largest and smallest areas — Map C has a 0.3 percent population variance.

However, some speakers and board

MAP C, designed by ARCBridge Consulting and Training, received community and board support and was adopted by unanimous vote.

After videos of Lorde silencing and shushing her audience during her 2018 “Melodrama” tour resurfaced, many found confusion in the situation since fans paid for tickets and felt they deserved to sing, while others justified her actions in the name of creative expression.

Mirabel Hunt

ASSISTANT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Concerts are undoubtedly a unique societal experience: two hours of anywhere between 50 and 60,000 individuals joining together to nurture their shared passion. And at the middle of it all, is the object of that passion, one (or a band of) starlit performers. The shock of seeing one’s favorite musical artist may cause fans to go into a fit of starstruck madnessthis phenomenon heightened by the pandemic’s shortage of concerts.

While a hyped up audience is a key ingredient to a good concert, often the crowd’s excitement has come at the expense of general manners.

Recently, a video from pop star Lorde’s 2018 Melodrama tour shows her not so lightly shushing her audience during the chorus of her ballad, “Writer in the Dark.” The awkward acapella has drawn criticism from social media users for being rude to fans who paid hundreds of dollars to come dance and sing along to Lorde’s hit songs. Many cringed at this display of arrogance and immediately condemned it, making parody TikToks.

Maybe if the internet had adhered to Lorde’s wishes they would have understood the reasoning behind the “shushing.” In a video shared by a fan page last week, Lorde shared that she asked the crowd to settle down so she could sing “a capella and off the microphone.” She also acknowledged that it was a “dramatic ass move” but further explained that was how she,

at 19 years old, wanted that song to be heard; In all of its melodramatic glory. After all, the sophomore album, “Melodrama” displays ongoing themes of obsession with self and external validation. Thus, Lorde’s desire to express her longing and voice may come off a little extravagant. But that does not make it any less true to how she feels. Though concerts allow fans the opportunity to sing along with their favorite artists in real time, concerts are performances with a cast leading the way. The artistic choices of those expressing their own art is the singular performer’s prerogative.

While fans get to find common humanity in songs and albums, it is the performer’s right to deliver their expression how they see fit.

And at the end of the day, this whole argument boils down to proper concert behavior and crowd control.

Artist Claire Cotrill, known as Clairo, has been the subject of similar controversy as she has fallen victim to over enthusiastic fans, throwing items of affection directly at her and calling her “sexy” after performing her song about being sexualized, “Blouse”.

People have criticized her for being overdramatic when expressing her disappointment in such reception from her fans. Artists perform for a living: a little bit of heckling is one thing but experiencing such insensitivity when being vulnerable pushes the bill.

Billie Eilish has on numerous occasions asked fans to put their phones away to all be one in the moment with limited avail. If paying modern ticket prices is not enough, fans opt to bring gifts, often hurling them straight at the artist. Yes, paying fans deserve a good time. However, it should not come at the expense of the performer’s comfort. Sometimes when we put famous artists on a high stage, we forget that they are human and not just a breathing jukebox. So if Lorde wants a little bit of quiet so the emotion of her lyrics can be truly heard, so be it.

Dixie Wallerius

OPINION EDITOR

Concerts have always been a staple to society as they bring fans, from far and wide, together under one shared cause. The pure joy, surprise, and contentment experienced when seeing a favorite artist or band is indescribable, having many fans turning to their phones to capture that memory forever. While concert voice in the back of videos is very much a thing, that doesn’t stop fans from singing their favorite songs by their favorite artists.

After videos of the New Zealand singer Lorde shushing her audience during her 2018 “Melodrama” tour when singing “Writer in the Dark” resurfaced, the question of whether the audience or performer are more “in control” of the show was brought up.

The artists performing do not have the right to silence their fans or prohibit them from recording the show as their fans not only paid for the ticket but also helped to get the performer to where they are today-on the stage for thousands, making their living being an artist.

Nowadays, concert tickets for popular artists can range from a few hundred to a couple thousand. Olivia Rodrigo, the 19 year-old who once had minor fame from Disney shows to now one of the biggest pop-icons of our time, recently began her “Sour” tour with record high ticket prices.

On Seat Geek, pit tickets were as high as $1,719 and nose bleeds were

ART BY MIRABEL HUNT $795, highlighting the absurd cost of concert tickets for popular celebrities.

Considering all of Rodgrio’s shows are sold out, many are willing to, literally, pay the price to see their favorite artist perform live.

With the increased prices of shows, concert-goers have every right to record and even sing during the show, as they did buy the ticket, directly profiting the artist.

While some artists may not necessarily need the promotion, recorded performances posted on social media is free promotion, another benefit that the consumer is doing for the artists with the money paid. In 2015, Ticketfly conducted a poll that found that 40% percent of women and 24 percent of men in the age group of 18 to 34 used their phones to take photos during a concert. That same poll also found that 35 percent of women and 22 percent of men shared those photos to social media, further supporting the claim of free promotion for the artists.

Music is powerful-something that people dedicate their lives to, find a passion within, and also find comfort.

To record a favorite band that one has dreamt of seeing, save the memories to their camera roll and be able to look back at, is important for many.

While artists and bands like Alicia Keys, M. Ward, Mumford and Sons and others argue that no-phones or a song of silence creates an “intimate” feeling, it should not be done at the expense of the fans. After time and money has been spent, fans deserve to record and sing to their favorite songs.

Creative expression can be fulfilled on the albums or social media platforms, not during shows that may jeopardize the consumer’s experience.

Fans deserve more than to be prohibited from recording their favorite songs or even being “shushed”

by Lorde during her tour that fans paid for. After all, the fans are credited to getting the artist to where they are today.

tphsfalconer.com

opinion

the falconer

A7

TPHS arts lack representation and engagement

Regan Guirguis STAFF WRITER

The TPHS Arts Fest, which occurred on March 24 and 25, was, by many metrics, a major success for the Visual Performing Arts (VPA) department. The existence of the showcase highlighted the fact that the arts at TPHS aren’t featured as much as they should be. The turnout for the shows was considerable, but that may be because the festival only happens once a year.

Prior to the performance, there wasn’t much promotion for the festival other than the posters around the school and word of mouth.

There are channels of communication,

like SC time, morning announcements, Falcon Vision, and the Falconer that could be used for the promotion of VPA classes and activities, but they continue to be underutilized. Arts students and teachers put copious amounts of time and effort into everything that they do, and deserve more recognition for that..

TPHS is known for its competitive, rigorous, and successful sports programs. While TPHS sports are more than deserving of the positive recognition they get, it is important to also recognize the other school activities that make TPHS special. Being part of the arts departments is a big focal point for many students’ high school careers, just like sports are for others.

According to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), a national non-profit organization that helps support the arts in America, a study was conducted with the use of a federal database of over 25,000 middle and high school students that found that students with involvement in the arts performed better on achievement test as well as reporting less boredom in school.

The arts allow students to express themselves in a multitude of different ways, build lifelong connections with their peers, and find a passion for something that they might not have been familiar with before.

The Performing Arts Center (PAC) opened in the 2019-2020 school year, resulting in only a few VPA events being hosted in the PAC before the school shut down. That being said, some TPHS students aren’t even aware of its existence due to online school. When COVID hit, the majority of the VPA programs were undermined as there wasn’t much they could do with school being online. Now that school is fully back in person, it is important to make up for lost time by promoting the arts and encouraging student engagement.

It would be beneficial to have more opportunities in which students can showcase their talents to demonstrate how the TPHS arts can benefit the school.

Despite the lack of current representation of VPA at TPHS, there seems to be a bright future ahead. ASB has added a new position, Commissioner

of Arts, that will be taken on by Olivia Shi (11).

The position will highlight more of the VPA at TPHS, and ensure that ASB is an active participant of the arts.

S t u d e n t s deserve to be recognized for the dedication they put into their work, whether that be sports, VPA or academics.

Investing in the arts will allow TPHS to become a more inclusive campus and a more well rounded school, incorporating e v e r y o n e ’ s passions and pursuits.

ART BY CAROLINE HUNT

Ukraine crisis highlights double standards for refugees

Rami Kabakibi

STAFF WRITER

As news, images and stories of the horrors occurring in Ukraine started to reach the eyes and ears of those watching from a safe distance, a whirlwind of emotions and outrage swept much of the globe. On social media, millions decisively stated their whole-hearted support of Ukraine and its resistance to Russian aggression.

Many world leaders showed clear and severe condemnation of Vladimir Putin and have moved rapidly to impose strict sanctions on Russian oil, banks and military. The United Nations Security Council has held multiple emergency meetings regarding Ukraine, news from Ukraine occupies the front pages of news outlets in the U.S. and abroad and athletic organizations like the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) and FIFA have banned Russian teams from participating in their competitions. But while the world’s response to the Ukrainian crisis and its welcoming attitude toward Ukrainians fleeing the war is heartening, it also highlights many worrying double standards the West exhibits toward the plights of non-European countries and their people.

One major source of increasingly eurocentric and dehumanizing comments about non-European regions since the start of the war has been the media. On Feb. 25, Charlie D’ Agata, a senior foreign correspondent for CBS News who was reporting live from Kyiv stated that Ukraine “isn’t a place, with

all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan that has seen conflict raging for decades.

This is a relatively civilized, relatively European city where you wouldn’t expect that, or hope that it’s going to happen.” British journalist Daniel Hannan wrote in The Telegraph that “[Ukrainians] seem so like us. That is what makes it so shocking. Ukraine is a European country. Its people watch Netflix and have Instagram accounts …

War is no longer something visited upon impoverished and remote populations.”

Many similar comments have been made by government officials, journalists and presenters on news outlets across the globe. While these comments have sparked tremendous backlash online, their message cannot be clearer.

Due to years of Western media repeatedly trivializing conflict and war in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Nigeria, much of the world subconsciously possesses a sharp contrast between how they view crises and conflict in European-like versus non-European countries. European and Western-cultured countries are perceived to be the beacons of peace and progress, incapable of hosting large-scale war or conflict, while the other, seemingly destitute regions of the world have been portrayed as places where such strife naturally belongs.

This has made it so the daily struggles of people in non-European areas are shrugged off and labeled as “normal” and “expected,” while any conflict in a Western state such as Ukraine is regarded as completely out of place and appalling.

Another double standard can be found in Western countries’ treatment of Ukrainian refugees.

Since the start of Russia’s invasion, more than four million people have fled Ukraine into neighboring European countries, an influx of refugees the continent hasn’t experienced for several decades. Many of these countries have welcomed Ukrainian refugees with

ART BY Z ZABARSKY

open arms, such as Poland, which has taken in over 2.5 million Ukrainians as of April 6, according to United Nations data. On March 4, the European Union (EU) voted to grant Ukrainians immediate Temporary Protective Status (TPS), which allows them to live, work and have access to health care in EU countries for up to three years.

While the collective effort of Western countries to rapidly accommodate Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war is wholly necessary at this time, it is important to note that these same countries were and are acting with much more hesitance toward nonEuropean refugees seeking asylum.

In 2015, when the Syrian refugee crisis was reaching its peak, Czech Republic’s President Milos Zeman called the influx of refugees into Europe an “organized invasion.” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has stated that, with regard to Ukrainian refugees, “we’re letting everyone in,” but in 2015 dubbed the refugee crisis a “Muslim invasion” and supported the building of border walls to keep refugees out.

In October 2021, Poland declared a state of emergency when refugees from the Middle East tried to cross the Belarusian border into the EU, and in January began the construction of a metal wall to bar these refugees from entering.

Countries that violently shunned refugees from the Middle East and Africa in the past have heartily welcomed Ukrainians due in large part to the fact that they possess Western culture, look like Europeans and are therefore perceived to be safer and benign. Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov made this racist double standard clear in a comment made to journalists, where he stated that “these people [Ukrainian refugees] are Europeans.

These people are intelligent. They are educated people. This is not the refugee wave we have been used to, people we were not sure about their identity, people with unclear pasts, who could even have been terrorists.”

The violence and aggression that Russia has shown toward Ukraine is utterly unjustified and iniquitous. The media’s coverage of the war is vital to show the world the atrocities occurring in Ukraine, and the accommodation of Ukrainian refugees is a moral obligation for the world at this moment.

That being said, it is also the obligation of governments, journalists and the rest of society not to portray or treat one group of people as more civilized, benign or valuable than another merely due to the region of the world they come from or the culture they possess. Every person has a story to tell, a battle to fight and a voice to be heard.

opinion

A8 the falconer

april 29, 2022

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE

» JENNY HAN

Jenny Han explains how she used paper stars to reach to new communities and expand her horizions through connections.

Ever since I was young, I have been making paper stars. Despite my little fingers being unable to pinch adequate corners, I can remember setting up the base pentagons, putting them into piles for my mom to complete.

Now, I make paper stars almost every day, preparing for birthdays, having something to do during movies or most importantly, creating mementos. Japanese legend says that “for every lucky star that is made, a falling star is saved.” So for me, stars represent my time and memories in a specific community, one of these groups being the TPHS Falconer.

As a freshman, I knew that I was somewhat of a strong writer, having won a Scholastic Gold Medal that took me to New York. Except, due to the unspoken toxic culture of my stereotypically academic Chinese household, I believed

it to be mere coincidence and of little value, especially since writing was something I could never realistically pursue. This ultimately led me to take classes that did not exactly excite me but were on a path I felt an expectation to join my friends on.

While I do not regret enrolling in computer science and accelerated mathematics courses, I do wish I had found Falconer sooner.

It was in junior year that I joined the TPHS Falconer, where I met people who were for once, encouraging of my dreams. I did not have to hear jokes about how I was going to grow up to be homeless or that I was the only one of my friends chasing a dream that would never happen.

It was also in Falconer that I learned so much more about mental health, specifically students who went

PHOTO BY JESSICA YU to therapy and talked about trauma.

Having met wonderful people like Srishti Thapar and Mirabel Hunt, who are daily inspirations and reminders to keep going, I am a much more confident and happy person who cares a little bit less about what people think every day.

They among other peers have truly opened my eyes.

I have also been very encouraged

by Mia Smith, who has shown me that there is nothing to fear about talking and opening up to your teachers. For me, Asian American culture means keeping your head down and powering through the rough times, but Mia has shown me differently. Through the people and interactions in Falconer, I’ve learned that teachers are really just like parents taking care of each class period like family.

After experiencing a really

challenging period in my life, I have found truly amazing support and care from my teachers, specifically Angela Willden and Jack Milner, both of whom have shown me the humanity teachers possess. I know that they genuinely care about who I am and where I am at, regardless of my academic performance.

I still have friends that proclaim how they do not read the Falconer, nor care about it. Of course, this still bothers me, but I am on the slow road to looking past what everyone else thinks about and prioritizing my dreams.

As decisions regarding my college major and which campus groups I should join quickly approaches, I hope to find places like Falconer and teachers like those at TPHS that encourage me to pursue my dreams. There I can make stars, chase them, and become one myself all at once.

GUEST EDITORIAL

» CHASE ERLBECK PHOTO COURTESY OF CHASE ERLBECK As a society, we find it nearly impossible to discuss death. We find it uncomfortable, and sometimes even terrifying. Death is something that no one wants to think about, but when it comes, it comes as a shock. It was something I thought I would ever have to experience, nothing I even thought to question. No one thinks about it, until the day comes.

That day was February 4, 2014.

My dad was working out in our make-shift garage gym when he had a “widowmaker,” one of those heart attacks that come with little to no warning and kill you almost immediately. My older sister, 16 at the time, went into the garage to say good night to him and found him lying on the ground. Her screaming sent me and the rest of my family running into the garage to see what had warranted

her blood curdling shrill. Death is not peaceful looking. It is purple, cold, and very terrifying; it is especially shocking when it happened to a fifty-four year old man.

Two days prior to his passing we spent Superbowl Sunday at the Wynn Las Vegas to celebrate his birthday and watch the big game. As he ordered two platters of fried buffalo style chicken wings, he cheekily looked at my mom and said “do not say a word, it’s my birthday and Super Bowl Sunday so I don’t want to hear about how bad wings are for me.”

My mom has always advocated for a healthier diet that consists of balanced nutrients, not one that contains fried chicken. My dad was always stubborn to give up red meat, dairy, and all the other foods that contributed to high cholesterol levels. Health did not ever

Chase Erlbeck, a junior at TPHS, explains how his father’s unexpected death helped him to find and grow his passion in health and wellness.

cross my mind at the age of ten, but after my dad’s passing I became more aware of my health and wellness, and I discovered my passion.

In eighth grade, my mom and I started doing cooking classes every weekend, practicing making healthy, plant-based meals. We spent hours learning how to prepare new kinds of dishes from Thai food to Italian food.

My mom and I discovered that this was a passion that brought us closer together, so we started making our own recipes at home.

For years my mom and I created recipes and family specialties that eventually made it to our three-ringed binder that we utilized as a cookbook.

From there, we decided to start publishing our recipes online together.

Today, my mom and I share blog posts including new recipes, our experiences,

and anything and everything healthoriented. We were able to create a platform where people can see our recipes online and get inspired by our kitchen creations.

While death is uncomfortable, terrifying, and life-altering, good things can still come from it.

My dad’s loss allowed me to find my passion in health and wellness and that passion brings me closer to others around me.

Growth is a long process, and it is difficult to experience. Growth takes patience. Growth takes ambition.

Growth takes facing incredible adversity. But most importantly, growth takes the individual. It takes surmounting obstacles and learning how to deal with the difficulties, even the ones that are seemingly impossible to overcome.

opinion

tphsfalconer.com

STAFF EDITORIAL

the falconer

A9

Superintendent Ward’s comments perpetuate harmful stereotypes

“We have an influx of Asians from China, and the people who are able to make that journey are wealthy. You cannot come to America and buy a house for $2 million unless you have money,” Superintendent Cheryl James-Ward said in a SDUHSD training session about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

About 12 percent of San Dieguito’s Asian students are socioeconomically disadvantaged, compared to 19 percent of San Dieguito students overall, according to state data.

James-Ward was responding to Board Trustee Michael Allman’s question: “Do we know why Asian students do so well in school?”

An unidentified YouTube channel clipped her response, sparking outrage in the community.

Many thought the way the question was phrased itself holds some racist intent, and could’ve been easily avoided by Ward. While the question was provactive, Ward’s comment was completely unnecessary and showed her implicit bias in a public manner.

James-Ward is a typically wellspoken woman, but when other board member Maureen Muir asked her for clarification, James-Ward doubled down on her stance, affirming her previous statement, so she must genuinely believe her statement.

The term “model minority” has often been used to refer to a minority group perceived as particularly successful, and has often been applied to Asian Americans, a group James-Ward believes to have economic and familial advantage in contrast to other minority

groups. Dangerously, this belief ignores nuances and the diversity within the Asian American community, as many Asian families expressed with discontent. This model minority myth is known to drive a wedge between different minority groups, and JamesWard, Afro-Latina woman, perpetuates this stereotype with her harmful statements.

James-Ward’s comments also mentioned Asian students have an entire family to support them, as opposed to “Latinx communities [where] parents are working two jobs…sunup to sundown.” With a superintendent that believes all Asian students succeed because of advantages, the effect could be drastic on the community, especially SDUHSD, where Asian students make up 17 percent of the enrollment.

James-Ward is a highly educated person, a tenured professor at San Diego State University in the Department of Educational Leadership, yet her comment showed a disassociation with the reality of her community. For a superintendent that is known for her promotion of diversity and inclusion, she showed bias and enforced harmful stereotypes. Educated people are not knowledgeable about every subject and should not speak on subjects they make surface level assumptions about.

Because Ward is a public figure with influence, she must be conscious about the ramifications of her comments before voicing them. People in power are able to act on their bias, and speaking on behalf of other people can lead to poorly executed policy.

ART BY MIRABEL HUNT Additionally, many parents do not trust school board leadership, and for the superintendent to behave unprofessionally further worsened trust.

Furthermore, in her first apology, she was defensive and dismissive of the actual issue. She was trying to recover her reputation and make excuses for what she said and deflect, showing insensitivity toward how offensive her comment could be.

An issue in our culture is that we expect apologies to be issued instantly, such as her first apology. But that’s not the purpose of an apology. Apologies should only be made once you really reflect on what you’ve done.

However, the town hall meeting

What do you think of Dr. Ward’s comments directed towards the Asian American community of the district?

allowed a lot of parents to tell their stories and widen her perspective.

Spreading awareness of the situation publicly is a step in the right direction, and it would be hypocritical to persecute someone based on their implicit bias because everyone has one.

Her comment also raises the question of what is discussed and what choices are made during closed session and training discussions that are related.

Community and board members should participate in future meetings mentioned in James-Ward’s second apology email. Through telling our stories and implementing diversity and inclusion training, we can prevent the same mistake.

-The Falconer Staff

Student Voices Her comment was pretty offensive to many Asian Americans because many came here not well off and for a better future.”

-Will Kwon (11)

The statements were broad generalizations that were hurtful and more accountability should’ve been taken in the apology.”

-Tamara Andrijanic (12) Editor-in-Chief: Assistant Editor-in-Chief:

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.

3710 Del Mar Heights Road San Diego, CA 92130 PHONE: (858) 755-0125 x2245 FAX: (858) 523-0794 E-MAIL: falconer.ads@gmail.com WEBSITE: www.tphsfalconer.com

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 represent endorsements. The Falconer, an open forum, welcomes signed letters or guest editorials 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.

Jasmine Criqui Mirabel Hunt, Srishti Thapar, & Amy Ge

Copy Editor:

Jerry Wu

News Editor:

Jacob Zhang

Opinion Editor:

Dixie Wallerius

Feature Editors:

Jenny Han & Helene Gao

Entertainment Editor:

Viyang Hao & Kelsie Park

Sports Editors: Backpage Editor Adviser:

Nolan Ezzet & David Zhang Piper Levy Mia Boardman Smith

Staff Writers: Adriana Hazlett Anna Opalsky Caroline Hunt Cole Frost Lola Newlander Maddy Miller Matan Morris Martin Lee Michele Kim Natalia Mochernak Rami Kabakibi Kathryn Reese Naomi Ciel Schneider Regan Guirguis Photographers: Jessica Yu Emily Suh Rasa Nyce

A10 the falconer

advertisement

april 29, 2022

w

d

48.2%

Office of Undergraduate Admissions University of California

w

d tliste ai

w

18.2% tliste ai

w

ed tlist ai

w

15.5% tliste ai

Applied: 79.1% Accepted: 10%

UC Irvine

Applied: 61.8% Accepted: 7.3%

UC Santa Cruz Applied: 50.9% Accepted: 23.6%

UC Los Angeles Applied: 84.5% Accepted: 10%

UC Davis

Applied: 62.7% Accepted: 21.8%

d

10.9% ed tlist ai

8.2% d tliste ai

2.7% tliste ai

UC San Diego

d

16.4%

Sincerely,

University of California

ed tlist ai

30.9%

w

Thank you for applying to all the wonderful UCs. For the Fall of 2022, we received more than 200,000 applicants.

We have reviewed your application and while we are not able to offer you admission at this time, we are offering you a place on the waitlist. We hope you will see the fact that you have made it this far in our highly selective process as an indication of the strength of your accomplishments. Your application demonstrated great promise and if you continue to have an interest in joining our Class of 2026, we hope you will opt in.

Opting to join the waitlist does not guarantee you will receive an offer of admission. However, we will make decisions on additional offers of admission from our waitlist by the end of June. For all the UCs except UC Merced you have to opt in in order to be on the waitlist. Most UCs do not encourage sending additional materials to their admission offices since it will have no effect on your decision.

For UC Berkeley, it is a linear process where the first student on the waitlist will be offered admission. If the student does not accept the acceptance offer, it then moves down to the next person on the waitlist. According to College Kickstart, in the Class of 2025, 1,651 of the 5,043 (33%) students on the waitlist were admitted.

Students waitlisted at UC Davis must submit a letter stating why they want to be a UC Davis Aggie in 200 words or less.

For UC Irvine, you must submit a Statement of Intent to Participate (SIP). 2,664 of the 11,081 (24%) students on the waitlist were admitted.

At UC Los Angeles students can get off the waitlist and be offered admission depending on the size of each department. 1,779 of the 9,254 (19%) students on the waitlist were admitted.

At UC Riverside, students who get off of the waitlist will be notified via email and must reply within 24 hours. 3,828 of the 5,638 (68%) students on the waitlist were admitted.

6,103 of the 6,342 (96%) students on the UC Santa Barbara waitlist were admitted.

For UC Santa Cruz, once students receive a final decision and do not receive an offer of admission, students can submit an appeal form.

Other conditions do not permit students to submit an appeal form.

According to collegekickstart.com,in the class of 2025, 8,870 of the 10,370 (86%) students on the waitlist were admitted.

UC San Diego students who were first on the waitlist but then offered admission will be notified via email.

UC Merced’s waitlist works differently from other UC campuses’ waitlist. If you are waitlisted at UC Merced, you have automatically been opted-in to the waitlist. If space becomes available, waitlisted students will receive an email and will only have 18 hours to respond.

If students miss this 18-hour deadline and still would like to attend UC Merced, students must then add themselves once again to the waitlist.

If you do not hear anything back from any of the UCs or were denied admission, we wish you the best in your higher education journey.

w

Dear Class of 2026,

w

by David Zhang and Viyang Hao

w

a

Let’s Break it DOwn

tliste ai

UC Santa Barbara Applied: 81.8% Accepted: 28.2%

UC Berkeley

Applied: 79.1% Accepted: 11.8%

UC Riverside

Applied: 29.1% Accepted: 21.8%

d

0.9%

UC Merced

Applied: 11.8% Accepted: 11.8%

Applied and accepted statistics show the percentage from the surveyed TPHS seniors

Statistics collected from an informal survey of TPHS seniors

A12 the falconer

feature After completing his first year on TPHS ASB, Will Schreckengaust (9) will take on the responsibilities of sophomore class vice president.

Schreckengaust is a member of the freshman basketball and football teams, as well as JV lacrosse. Before the election, Schreckengaust served on his middle school student government and currently holds a leadership position at his church. Schreckengaust now plans to continue on this path of public service.

“I wanted to run for my role in ASB because I wanted to improve school spirit and create more events for my class,” Schreckengaust said.

Since one of the major duties of sophomore class vice president is helping create events, according to Schreckengaust, he is currently working on coming up with event ideas and is looking forward to collaborating with class president John Prior.

“I want to create more days and events for our class so that we get to know each other more and so we can create a more bonded community,” he said.

Generally, Schreckengaust also hopes to foster a positive, kind environment among his classmates and ASB as a whole.

“Just treat your neighbor like you would yourself,” he said. “Be kind to everybody.”

m e e t i n g by Adriana Hazlett and Anna Opalsky

Hoping to emulate the inclusivity of her political idol U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and legal idol former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Mia Mosebrook (10) wants to unite the TPHS junior class as class vice president.

“I feel like a lot of class activities only cater to … some cliques at school, so I want to bring in everyone and get more opinions,” Mosebrook said.

In addition to encouraging student feedback on ASB, Mosebrook sees Prom as a way to connect the junior class. Specifically, she wants to hold the dance at an intimate venue where attendees can experience the event altogether.

“I’m looking for everyone to be involved instead of there being a lot of space where people go off and do their own thing,” she said. “It’s more fun when everyone’s in one area dancing.”

Mosebrook currently serves as assistant commissioner of philanthropy.

Planning Prom attracted her to the junior class vice president position. “[Prom] is a huge part of a high school experience,” she said. “I want everyone to want to go and have a good time.”

Whether by increasing prom attendance or valuing student opinions in ASB, Mosebrook wants to leave TPHS more connected.

“I just love inclusivity; that’s what I strive for,” Mosebrook said.

As ASB vice president, Dyl Friedland (11) looks forward to hearing student voices. Currently junior class vice president, Friedland will lead Student Senate next year, where he will conduct monthly meetings and bring discussion issues to his ASB peers.

“We try to get every 5th period class in the meeting so that [Student Senate] represents a broad view of kids,” Friedland said. “It’s a great way to hear what kids have to say, so I can create change right away.”

Outside of Student Senate, Friedland’s outgoing nature also enables him to connect with his peers.

“I’m very social, I can go out and talk to a random person,” he said.

One challenge Friedland expects will be discussed next year in Student Senate is socialization skills that suffered due to distance learning and how to welcome new students to campus.

“There’s two sets of freshmen,” he said, referring to underclassmen who spent their first years of high school online. “If we get the younger classes to feel included, it’ll help the younger classes come to feel welcome.”

As ASB vice president, Friedland hopes to emulate a mindful leader, a skill that his father, a leadership coach, instilled in him.

“He taught how to hear everyone’s voices and reach a complete agreement,” Friedland said.

Joining Beau Rowan, Andy Livingston (11) has been voted senior class vice president. A member of ASB for three years, Livingston is the current commissioner of athletics, as well as captain of the TPHS varsity football team. To him, the class vice president position is centered around suporting his ASB counterparts.

“The role of [senior class] vice president is just keeping people all together in ASB,” Livingston said. “We’re there as supporting roles for ASB. So a lot of the time, we’re just helping with as much as we possibly can.”

One way in which Livingston will assist is by generating ideas for senior activities, especially to make their last yer th best ever for the class of 2023.

“A lot of other schools do senior parking spots, where you paint your spot and it’s designated for you for the year,” Livingston said. “So I was going to try to implement that for our senior class, maybe this summer so that we can get it going before school starts.”

Ultimately, Livingston hopes to be a positive influence on TPHS and those around him.

“There’s so many people around that are just super happy people, and everyone’s stoked to see them, they always bring people together and have a lot of fun,” Livingston said. “I want to be someone that has that energy.”

april 29, 2022

10 Will Schreckengaust

11 Mia Mosebrook

12 Dyl Friedland

12 Andy Livingston

feature

tphsfalconer.com

10 John Prior

the falconer

Once the president of his middle school ASB, John Prior (9) has now been elected sophomore class president, a role that he wants to use to promote involvement in school activities and spirit among his classmates.

“I think [participation] is an important thing because a lot of times, since it’s such a big school, people feel like they’re not involved,” Prior said.

“So making sure that everyone feels like a part of it is a major thing.”

Because there are not any current ASB leadership positions for freshmen, Prior feels that his grade does not have as many events and as much spirit as it could. However, now that he is the sophomore class president, he plans to remedy that.

“Now, we can create more events and more exposure, and then people can be more involved in the school, and our class can have some fun class events,” Prior said.

To accomplish these goals and adeptly fill his leadership position, Prior draws great inspiration and support from his mom.

“My mom is a big district attorney in San Diego, so she’s always been someone that I look up to for leadership and public speaking and all of that because she’s just so damn good at it,” Prior said. “She just pushes me to do my best.”

Next year, Prior aspires to lead his class following his mom’s influence.

Josh Rott

After transferring to TPHS this year, Josh Rott (10) knew he wanted to encourage the school spirit present at football games and ASB events.

“I love school spirit, so I wanted a job that portrays that,” Rott said.

To Rott, spirit is a way to connect TPHS. “School spirit brings students together and shows other schools that we are TP; we know who we are,” he said.

Next year will be Rott’s first year in ASB. Entering that environment, he hopes to see more unity in the class.

“In the ASB room, I feel like it’s separated by grades, so I want to bring all the grades together to collaborate,” Rott said.

As junior class president, Rott will oversee much of the planning of Prom and other junior class events.

One event he wants to add is a class fair where instead of walking through the event with familiar students, each attendee will be randomly paired with another student.

“There’s a lot of kids who are shy, so my goal is to get those kids involved,” Rott said.

The fair, Rott hopes, will give students an opportunity to connect with classmates that they would not otherwise talk to.

“I hope to see a really connected class,” he said.

Grace Flanagan

Just as she left middle school as ASB president, Grace Flanagan (11) will leave TPHS in the same position. Though she will oversee a larger campus as a senior than she did in eighth grade, Flanagan still views being ASB president as a way to “build spirit among the student body.” “[In middle school], we emphasized kindness and inclusion, working to ensure each student felt like a part of school spirit, which I want to carry through in my leadership here,” Flanagan said.

A member of ASB for three years, Flanagan currently serves as junior class president. Next year, she plans to bring new events to campus, like a World Fair and an Earth Day celebration. “[I want] to make sure that there’s not only events surrounding sports but that we tackle some bigger issues,” Flanagan said.

Through this diversification of activities, she hopes to increase participation in ASB events.

“The role [of ASB] is to plan events that are super fun, but it also has a deeper purpose to make sure that students can get involved from all parts of the student body,” Flanagan said.

Flanagan hopes to leave TPHS a more inclusive campus.

“I’ll be happy knowing that people are able to voice their opinions and be on a campus where they feel comfortable,” Flanagan said.

11 12 12 Beau Rowan

Senior class president is a long-term role; not only will Beau Rowan (11) plan the events for his class starting in the fall, but the responsibility for planning reunions once they graduate falls to him too.

“The majority of [my position] is a lot of fundraising for the class,” he said. “We have to do one class event per month to get everyone included.”

Rowan will blend traditional activities with original ones.

“Next year, we’re going to stick to classic events like Powder Puff and the Seniored Out,” Rowan said. “But we also have some new things that we haven’t released yet, so we’re definitely mixing it up.”

Currently head quartermaster, Rowan has always considered being senior class president.

“The position opened up once Grace and Dyl decided to run for [president and vice president of] ASB,” Rowan said. “And then they both pulled me aside and were like, ‘We think you should run [for senior class president] because you could be a good representation of the grade.”

Now that he has the position, Rowan looks forward to fostering unity and excitement.

“My goal is just to be as inclusive and fun as possible, and the [class] event once a month is a lot of opportunity to get everyone in the grade included,” Rowan said.

A13

t h e t e a m

PHOTOS BY JESSICA YU/FALCONER

feature

A14 the falconer

april 29, 2022

https://secret-google-recruitment.com

1 in 3 0 0 0

Patrick Unick

GO

You’re speaking our language.

Up for a challenge?

I want to play

No thanks

At his desk, Patrick Unick (12) plays a secret computer game hosted by Google. If he wins, his prize will be life-changing.

At his feet is a Squier electric guitar, to his right, a Santa Cruz biking helmet, and suspended above his head, a Rusty’s surfboard. Seated at his desk, Patrick Unick (12) plays a computer game. The objective is simple; infiltrate Commander Lambda’s space station and take down the evil dictator from inside. If successful, he has a shot at an interview with Google.

This semi-secret recruiting game is Google Foobar – a program Unick knew nothing about until a month ago. The Foobar software compiles a list of potential job candidates based on relevant coding-related Google searches. Once a candidate’s searches prove their coding expertise, an invitation is sent, and the game begins.

“It actually started in my AP Computer Science class,” he said. “I was looking up Java array documentation, and my Google page just folded back and everything went dark.”

Fearing an obscure virus had infected his computer, he moved to close the tab.

But something caught his eye.

A short, cryptic, message appeared in the black void: “You’re speaking our language. Up for a challenge?”

Beneath the prompt were two boxes: one orange, “No thanks,” and one green, “I’m in.”

“I felt a mix of fear and excitement,” Unick said. “I was skeptical but I didn’t want to let an opportunity like this get away.”

He moved his cursor to the green box, and in the click of a button, he was hooked.

Like a scene out of “Ready Player One,” he was given a plotline: Commander Lambda – the Darth Vader of the Foobar universe – recently gained control of the LAMBCHOP doomsday device, capable of planetary destruction. Like a hero in his own story, compelled by inherent moral virtue, he must infiltrate her evil organization and climb the ranks of her inner circle.

Like any good story, however, our hero’s road to glory is far from easy. As he progresses through the game, Unick faces a series of obstacles, each of which he must overcome through coding. The challenges gauge his algorithmic skills, testing his coding abilities in an array of settings and circumstances.

The assessment consists of five increasingly difficult levels, each with its own time restriction. As of now, he’s completed two out of the five and is halfway through the third. Answers are accepted in either the Java or Python coding language. Unick happens to be fluent in both – and ten others.

“After the fifth level, my information gets sent to a recruiter,” he said. “I guess

the hope is that they’ll see something [promising] in my code and send me an interview invitation.”

But even if Unick never hears from the Google recruiter, his coding dreams are far from over.

Unick has been coding since his junior year, and apart from a handful of Codecademy Python cheat sheets, he is entirely self-taught.

“When I’m coding, I have control. I can fiddle with things, see what works and what doesn’t,” he said. “I think that’s what first interested me.”

As he became more accustomed to the languages and nuances of coding, Unick began experimenting with video game code, specifically Minecraft terrain generation.

“I wanted to see if I could make it better, or at least make it different,” he said, seated in front of two monitors and a laptop.

After dabbling with procedural generation for a few weeks, he used his understanding of Minecraft to design a modification for the game Shapez.io.

“I loved the game. I wanted to see if I could make it my own way.”

Unick didn’t stop at just game design. In the months that followed, he rewrote the entire FastNoise Lite Library, an open-source noise generation collection, in Java – a project that required more than 3,000 lines of code.

Now, he has his eyes set on his biggest passion project yet: Discord. But this time, he’s not alone.

Unick and a team of coders hope to rework the Discord chat bot, giving the technologically-limited software an artificial intelligence. Today, users must manually put commands into the chat bar, requiring a deep

time. This new alternative would give the robot Siri-like features, allowing it to hear and respond to verbal questions. Unick’s reasoning for this change, albeit ironic coming from a coder, was quite straightforward: “Typing in a command is just boring and annoying,” he said.

He hopes to sell the AI as a subscription-based service, starting an AI-centered software company from the income the sale generates.

Next year, he will further his coding expertise at Creighton University, double majoring in financial technology and computer science.

And although Unick’s driving passion is coding and programming, he truly is a jack of all trades: a surfer and mountain-biker and skilled musician.

For Unick, quarantine was a chance to expand his interests to include the electric guitar. Starting off with basic chords, he spent hours refining his talents, learning a couple of songs along the way.

“Guitar always interested me,” Unick said. “Once COVID hit, I realized I had the time to get started.

I’m glad I did.”

He also taught himself to surf.

“The beaches were empty during the pandemic. It was so peaceful,” he said.

Today, you might catch him out on his board at 15th Street, before returning to his desk to continue his quest against Commander Lambda. Whether shredding the waves, or a guitar solo; when Google calls, Unick will be there to answer.

by Cole Frost

understanding of code and wasting user

PHOTO BY COLE FROST/FALCONER

tphsfalconer.com

advertisement

the falconer

A15

A16 the falconer

entertainment

ARTS FEST

TPHS hosts its first Arts Fest, showcasing student works in the visual, performing and literary arts programs

T h e afternoon light poured into the PAC lobby as I made my way through the crowd, notebook in hand. Rows of tall white panels showcased a vibrant array of student creativity. Suspended from the ceiling, curtains of colorful origami cranes separated paintings from pottery. From the hundreds of stills lining the panels, to a lone origami bonsai tree, self-expression was on full display.

As I perused the aisles of artwork, my eye was drawn to a piece

by Amy Ge (12), titled “I Am (?).” A riot of pastel eyes, lips and noses populate the canvas to form a series of disfigured faces. Ripped pieces of masking tape cover the eyes of certain faces, revealing the portrait’s unsettling, but impactful message. The piece speaks to the various personal insecurities and self-doubt that so many of us face.

As I ventured deeper into the labyrinth of student art, I couldn’t help but notice a prominent motif: eyes. From newspaper cutouts, and 3D renderings, to colored pencil designs and water-color portraits, pupils of all shapes and sizes populated the plaster displays, seeming to watch my every move. The walls – quite literally – had eyes.

With most of the 2020-21 school year taking place through Google Meets, the 2022 arts festival was not just a showcase, but a celebration – an opportunity for high school artists to finally share their creativity on a public platform.

The 7:00 p.m. variety show made this clear.

Jazz Band’s impeccable performance of “It Had Better Be Tonight,” with Audrey Le (11) on vocals, set the tone for the remainder of the almostflawless show. Next, TP-based band, Black Sweater, serenaded the audience with what could have been the theme song to a 2000’s teen coming-of-age movie: their new single, “Crimson Red Carpet.”

Velena Valdez (11) delivered an emotional, yet exciting performance of “Feerie,” on the harp, portraying intense highs and haunting lows without speaking a single word.

Through these performances, I was amazed at the individuality and creative expression of each piece, including the dance team. Each of the team’s five performances told a different story, using varying themes and soundtracks.

Video and film were also represented. A clear crowd favorite, Jack Schuller’s (12) “Da Lorian,” blended jokes and pop culture with hilarious originality.

As the night came to a close, I left feeling awed at the richness of talent displayed. From musical prodigies to Picasso’s in the making, the TP student body is overflowing with talent. Although the Art Festival served as a beautiful representation of that talent, our celebration of TP creativity should not be limited to a yearly festival. Creativity is abundant across campus, and it doesn’t take much to find it. The next time a classmate mentions a piece they’re working on, ask about it. Maybe you’ll find beauty in it, just like I did.

by Cole Frost

april 29, 2022

entertainment

tphsfalconer.com

the falconer

family. vlogging.

EXPLOITATION.

by Jenny Han and Srishti Thapar 13.2M Subscribers

Why does this keep happening to Zealand’s skin...

Zealand’s 1st Birthday Party Did Not Go As Planned...

Caught Posie Doing This To Her Baby Brother on Hidden Camera

ELLE GOES ON HER FIRST DATE!!! GUESS WITH WHO

MY WATER BROKE ON MY HUSBAND **MUST WATCH

YouTube is more than a hub for trending music videos and popular Let’s Play videos. Soon after the birth of the site in 2005, a new occupation was created: Monetized YouTubers, defined in 2022 as those with at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in a 12-month span, cover a variety of topics from live gaming to lifestyle content.

However, every social media-based job has its flaws, YouTube, for one, being home to one of the most problematic career choices, family vlogging. The growth of YouTube took hold of the family unit and created a convenient cesspool of economic potential and exploitation.

Vlogging (video-blogging) is officially defined as the act of filming, sometimes daily, life activities and posting these edited videos – primarily – on YouTube. Family vlogging often involves filming your life (and children) while conveniently leaving out times of poor mental health, family fights and monotonous, but routine and necessary parts of existence.

Vlogging is already an occupation of potential privacy invasion and danger, being that the job is to monetize your life. But, the issue does not lie entirely with the act of filming every day.

Roping non-consenting children into vlogging raises a more pressing issue as viewers observe what seems to be a more acceptable form of child exploitation.

While these children are forced to sacrifice their lives to perform for the public, their parents and managers reap the fruits of their labor from ad revenue, sponsorships and fame. In 2017, New York Magazine found that the top family vloggers raked in millions of dollars in a single week.

Despite the picture-perfect facade demonstrated by family vloggers, many were struck with accusations of neglect and abuse.

Famous vlogging families, like the 18.9 million-subbed “ACE Family” with children Elle, Alaïa and Steele and 13.1 million-subbed “The Labrant Fam” with kids Everleigh, Posie and Zealand, often post videos revolving around their kids’ private lives like “EVERLEIGHS MORNING ROUTINE! (Too cute!)” and “ELLE CALLS FROM SCHOOL CRYING… **SAD DAY**.” They also use clickbait titles to draw viewers in posting videos like, “Giving baby Posie her first bath! This didn’t go well...” and “Caught Posie Doing This To Her Baby Brother on Hidden Camera…”

Cole and Savannah, mom and dad of “The Labrant Fam,” went so far as to create a romantic narrative between their eldest daughter, Everleigh (now nine-years-old) and Caspian, the son of another family vlogging channel. Both sets of parents made several videos about Everleigh and Caspian’s “dates,” “secret crushes” and “dances” with thumbnails of the then preschoolers hugging and holding hands. More disturbingly, a video on YouTube with 9.1 million views titled “Updated Everleigh and Caspian (Ceverleigh)”

features a compilation of “cute moments” backed by a romantic Ed Sheeran song of the two children. Clearly, while filming and posting may start off well-meaning, exploitation can become unintentional.

Retired family vlogger, Shaylee, with 100,000 subscribers, rejects the concept of daily vlogging – especially when children are used as the biggest bait.

In a 2021 video, “I Was a Family Vlogger for 4 Years & It Was TOXIC | Here’s Why,” Shaylee details how her mental health deteriorated behind the scenes, in addition, to inadvertently using her children for content.

“It’s not healthy that your first response is to pick up a camera and film when they get hurt or film when something goes wrong,” Shaylee said about parent vloggers.

But, what led her to put an end to daily vlogging was finding videos of her babies in diapers innocently eating food with their shirts off on “predatory playlists.” She felt immense guilt for not realizing that her children were being exposed to this dark side of the internet.

Additionally, when a brand is created around a family, there is no easy way of determining whether things done within a family are genuine.

From date nights to getting pregnant, discerning if these moments were impacted by the camera becomes almost impossible to both viewers and the parties involved. The priority shifts from living life to getting “views,” even if that means sacrificing the livelihoods of their kids.

Another example of (hopefully unintended) exploitation is Myka Stauffer, a family vlogger and mother of (now) four biological children, who made a 13-part video series about her and her husband’s process of adopting a special needs toddler from China despite warnings from doctors that he would need immense physical and mental health support - maybe more than the Stauffers could provide. Myka said in a YouTube video that those warnings “kind of went in one ear and out the other.” She continued to say that her child “is not returnable” Around two years later in May 2020, after gaining thousands of subscribers for this seemingly heart-warming adoption, Stauffer and her husband made a video explaining that they had to “re-home” their former son due to difficulties raising him. The issue does not lie entirely with re-homing adopted children, as this can sometimes happen due to unforeseen life challenges, but the fact that the Stauffers ignored doctors’ comments, waited for two years and conveniently made lots of money before giving him up speaks to the problematic influence of filming your life as an occupation. The Stauffers have since deleted their family channel, and Myka Stauffer has been off of social media since.

So when livelihoods and economic sufficiency depend upon filming content, there’s no easy hiatus, worse even, for the children whose livelihoods are lost in the limelight.

PHOTO CREDITS: PNGIMAGE “FAMILIA SORRINDO PNG 3,” LABRANT FAMILY, ACE FAMILY

A17

A18 the falconer

entertainment

april 29, 2022

m o d e r n

“I went swimming through the bay and got harpooned right through the back.”

These words, mixed together with sounds of whistling and clapping, spilled out onto the street through the open doors of Tapshack Kombucha, a brewery in downtown San Diego.

Tucked in between skyscrapers and apartment buildings, the brewery housed an art show event held by Rambler Magazine on March 20, 2022.

Inside, poets, artists and musicians gathered to watch Nico Demers spit his poetry.

“They poached me for my holy guts. They sold my limbs and bit straight for my meaty heart.

They skinned me clean and found nothing but little words and scraps of love hanging on my insides,” Demers continued. “I was killed and sold by this world for nearly nothing.”

The crowd hollered in response.

Demers, a student at San Diego State University, is an up-and-coming poet in the local art scene and the author of his newly released poetry book, “Guts,” which has sold more than 200 copies. Besides sharing his poetry at backyard concerts and local shows, he spreads his work on TikTok under the pen name “Bucknife,” having q u i c k l y amassed 18,800

A look at how people take poetry into their own hands in the digital age

by Kathryn Reese

followers in just two months of posting. For Demers, publishing his work has been lifechanging. “[My life] has absolutely transformed because I decided I’m not going to be afraid anymore and I’m just going to say it,” Demers said. “I’m just going to say what I have to say, and if nobody likes it, I don’t care. I’m just going to do it.”

Before his popularity on TikTok, Demers was just another student at Point Loma High School.

His love of poetry began in his senior year when his Writer’s Workshop teacher Darren Samokaski introduced him to the art of spoken word. Demers has been fascinated with the genre ever since.

“I started going to jazz clubs and listening to poets spit purity every night,” he said. “I’d become absolutely obsessed with this image of a writer and the idea that you can outlet anything in your life, any beauty, any struggle, anything through writing.”

This idea was important in Demers’s own life, especially after he quit wrestling.

“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I quit wrestling because that was my whole life; it was everything,” he said. “I didn’t know how to express the pains that I went through.”

So Demers used poetry as his outlet.

“They say that writers aren’t born, writers are made.

Y o u start going to these horrible things as an athlete or you start going through these hard

trials and tribulations of life, and when that happens, for some reason this artist in yourself, that everybody has, I believe, gets compressed; it gets distorted,” Demers said. “When you lose yourself in something, and you go through something really hard then there’s this feeling that you need to outburst and use an outlet to do something.”

Demers is not the only teen who uses poetry as an outlet; Jade Vodraska, a sophomore at CCA, posts her own poetry on her Instagram account @poemsbyjacqueline.

“For me, [poetry] is a very important part of my life. If I’m feeling super sad or stressed or angry, I can always channel that into a work of writing that not only helps me understand my own feelings, but also work through them,” Vodraska said. “I feel like it’s so beneficial for my mental health. It’s something that is so selfserving.”

Vodraska started the account as a way to share her work with friends. “[It’s] just an easy and comfortable way to share when I want to share. It’s helpful because I can put it out there, and I’m not forcing anyone to read it,” Vodraska said. “But those people who do want to read it, can.”

One person who loves reading her work is Sophie Keller (10), a close friend of Vodraska’s.

Keller appreciates the account because it helps her to connect with Vodraska.

“I feel like I can really understand how she’s feeling and what she’s going through without feeling invasive by asking her. She’s written it down and I can read it without making her feel like she has to tell me anything,” Keller said. “[Poetry is] an intimate part of yourself that you most of the time haven’t shown the world, and that’s what she’s doing. So I think it’s really lovely. I’m really proud of her.”

While Vodraska likes the way she currently shares her work, she would love to publish poetry professionally.

“Right now I’m enjoying sharing on social media. I think it’s easy and very accessible. But I think I would like to write books of poetry. To see myself in bookstores, that would be so cool,” Vodraska said.

For every poet, sharing work looks different. For Gwynnie Kermorris (10), who recited her poem “Janus” at the TPHS Art Festival in March, public performance is where she feels most comfortable. Kermorris said that her acting experience in the TPHS theater photos by rasa nyce/falconer

entertainment

tphsfalconer.com

I don’t know, I’m too young to know And too old to know But what I do know, though Is that there’s no do-overs No going slow

janus

by Gwynnie Kermorris

and i think that the main idea (i do hope that i’ve made it clear) is really quite short and quite simple. i hate you. i wish you were here.

the falconer

i hung up my soul on the telephone wire And dried it out.

Is this what death looks like?

by Nico Demers

Untitled

by Jade Vodraska program helped her confidence onstage at her first poetry reading.

“I was a little bit nervous that I would forget [my poem at the show] because I had to memorize it. But I am an actor, so I feel very at home on the stage,” Kermorris said. “It’s a nice feeling to just be up there.”

Whether onstage or online, poetry has become more accessible. Keller, having been introduced to poetry from Vodraska’s account, now reads works on TikTok, which she said she enjoys more than the poetry she reads in school that she “isn’t the biggest fan of.” Holding that the poems she finds on social media are more personal, Keller is glad to have such easy access to them.

“I think the accessibility part [of social media] is very important because I personally wouldn’t usually go out and buy a poetry book,” Keller said.

“I think [social media] is very good at spreading things like poems and things that some people wouldn’t usually indulge in.”

Demers also strives for this accessibility; the main reason for his work is to get people into poetry. “[To] make my generation love poetry again is my biggest goal. Because it’s impossible. We’re a ‘swipe generation,’ we have zero attention span.

But I want to hook them with literature, I want to fish them with literature,” Demers said. “I just want to shove literature down their throat and really make them understand that it doesn’t have to be ‘roses are red, violets are blue,’ it can be really intriguing, and it’s not what you always think it is.”

While social media helps to show readers that new side of poetry, the digitalization of the genre can also help poets in their writing. Vodraska said that reading poetry on Pinterest allowed her to learn about her own work.

“I definitely feel like a big part of the way that I’ve grown as a writer has been influenced by social media,” Vodraska said. “I like the connectedness of it, because you can learn a lot more without putting so much time in.”

Kermorris feels the same, saying that technology has “transformed” poetry.

“In this day and age, people have a wider variety of resources that they can choose and take inspiration from. So the internet has definitely helped poetry evolve to what it is today. It is so

[To] make my generation love poetry again is my biggest goal ... I want to hook them with literature, I want to fish them with literature.

Nico Demers POET

much more accessible,” Kermorris said.

Not only are poets of the modern age reimagining where they find inspiration, but also how they write their work. Demers said that he takes all of the traditional methods of writing poetry and “throws it in the garbage.”

“I think if you write actually true to yourself, and not for the thought of making the words look nice, that’s the way that it should be and that’s the way that poetry should be redefined,” Demers said. “I don’t think poetry should ever rhyme, I don’t think poetry should ever be stanzaed.”

Vodraska said that it’s poetry’s subjectivity that makes it so appealing to writers.

“Poetry is just more freeing than basic writing because you can do whatever you want with it,” Vodraska said. “There’s nothing in poetry about fulfilling a word count or doing however many pages. It has a lot less boundaries than writing does.”

Demers agrees, calling poetry very “approachable.” Because everyone has paper and a pen, anyone can write it, he said.

“You don’t have to be some trained artist or some gifted, special mind to do it,” Demers said.

“It’s something that’s very universal.”

Demers said people should do it however they see fit.

“It sounds very cliched, but [writing poetry] is really pouring yourself onto a page fluidly and nakedly and in a raw form,” he said. “Poetry is naked and poetry is raw and poetry is gay and poetry is straight and trans. It’s whatever you want to make it. Poetry is the embodiment of a human.”

As poets redefine poetic form, they hope the current generation can reform its ideas about it too. Speaking of the common dismissal of poetry by her peers, Kermorris said teens should “at least try to appreciate it.”

“I know it’s not for everyone, but I’m sure there is a little bit of poetry for everyone. So the groaning whenever the poetry unit is announced, it just seems to demean poetry and it makes it seem like a weaker writing style, which it is not,” Kermorris said. “It’s very complex, and people just push it aside.”

Keller now realizes that complexity and encourages others to give reading poetry a try.

“If you asked me to read a poem two years ago I would have been like, ‘no.’ But definitely go out of your comfort zone,” Keller said. “If you haven’t read poetry, definitely try it. Look up some poetry, buy a poetry book, whatever floats your boat.”

And for those who have written their own poetry and want to share it like Demers, Vodraska and Kermorris have in their own ways, Demers said to “just put it out there.”

“Swing a bat to vulnerability. Take off your mask of pride,” Demers said. “Get as naked as you possibly can in front of everybody and just try your best to put it out there.”

In taking a time-tested practice of using poetry as an outlet to express themselves yet reimagining it in their own individual ways, these young writers have revolutionized what poetry means to them. The accessibility that social media brings to poetry has captured teen readers in new ways, keeping the art form that Vodraska, Demers and Kermorris love so much alive another day.

p o e t r y

A19

Matan Morris

STAFF WRITER

Softball narrowly takes down RBV PHOTOS BY JESSICA YU/FALCONER

Jasmine Criqui

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

TPHS varsity softball (30) beat the Rancho Buena Vista High School Longhorns (1-2) on Apr. 20 by a score of 4-3.

The Falcons started on the field with Georgia Bilsky (10) taking her place on the mound. Bilsky, who pitched for JV as a freshman, helped TPHS hold RBV to no score in the first inning.

At the bottom of the first inning, Kyra Chan (12) batted first, followed

by Bilsky. They both got singles, so first and second were occupied when Emma Fitzgerald (12) stepped up to the plate. Fitzgerald connected for a single, pushing Bilsky to second on a fielder’s choice. Chan slid into third behind the throw for the out.

Despite the Falcons’ efforts, the first inning ended in a scoreless tie.

Falcon Kelly Whelihan (9) stepped up to bat at the bottom of the second inning and walked. She stole second on a ball to the next hitter, Alison Blakeman (12).

Blakeman sent the next pitch hurtling into the outfield after it bounced at the edge of the dirt, for a double, and sent Whelihan home, giving TPHS a 2-0 lead going into the third inning.

The score held until the top of the fourth inning, when an RBV bunt scored their runner from third and got the Longhorns on the board. Before RBV got a chance to build momentum, Whelihan snagged two fly balls to right field to end the the inning.

The bottom of the fourth started with Whelihan and

Blakeman each hitting singles.

Next, Kathryn Klekotka (11) singled, moving Whelihan to third but Blakeman was forced out at second. A great hit from Ava Fagin (10) and an error

by RBV sent Whelihan and Kletotka home, bringing the Falcons’ lead to 4-1.

The Falcons kept up the momentum until the fifth inning, when the Longhorns managed to score two runs when a costly miscommunication caused a throw from third base to skid past Blakeman at first.

However, Whelihan closed out the top of the inning on a high note by catching two consecutive fly balls, giving onlookers a strange sense of déjà vu.

Starting the bottom of the fifth inning, Chan hit a line drive past first base into right field that looked like it could be a triple, but she was tagged out by the RBV third baseman in a close call.

The inning ended with a 4-3 score, which stayed that way for the rest of the game.

The transitions between the following innings were quick, as fielding and pitching for both teams held strong.

The game ended after six and a half innings due to TPHS’ 4-3 lead.

“Our game went pretty well overall because we won, but I feel like we definitely have a lot of things to work on defensively,” Chan said.

“We should start more sharp and have more energy.”

The Coastal North County Softball League has five schools that each play each other twice. The Falcons will play RBV again on May 6.

“It’s tight every single

PHOTO FROM CORMAC CADDEN

GEORGIA BALISKI IS ABOUT TO DELIVER A PITCH TO A RANCHO BUENA VISTA BATTER. TPHS (3-0) BEAT RBV (1-2) 4-3.

game [with RBV],” Blakeman said.

Last year, the Falcons, the Longhorns and the Carlsbad High School Lancers all ended the season with 8-2 records, but the Falcons won the league based on run differentials. During that season, the Falcons’ two losses were both to the Longhorns.

“We always have kind of an issue defensively against RBV, and we kind of get in our heads about it every time someone makes a mistake,” Fitzgerald said.

Coach Jon Moore said his team has worked a lot on outfield cuts, relay throws and bunt defense.

“Today we had three fielding errors and a couple of mental errors and we missed a sign, things we don’t normally do,” Moore said. “And we still won, so it’s a sign of a good team that we overcame that.”

In addition, Whelihan was named TPHS Player of the Game by MaxPreps.

The Falcons’ next home game is Apr. 29 at 3:35 p.m. against Carlsbad.

KATHRYN KLEKOTKA LAYS DOWN A PERFECT BUNT AGAINST RBV.

Since 1936, the NFL draft has become one of the most discussed and debated events of the sports world, and this year is no different. Last year’s talented early-round draft class performed exceedingly well in its rookie NFL. This included none other than Bengals star receiver Ja’Marr Chase, Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, Steelers running back Najee Harris and many more.

However, unfortunately for vid NFL fans who enjoy experiencing the excitement of watching young stars, this year’s crop of draftees appears not to show the same promise.

On top of there not being a clear number one overall selection this year, the first round graded players don’t seem to have the same pizzazz as last year’s group. Even the offensive lineman seem to be a downgrade going from Rashawn Slater and Creed Humphrey in 2021 to Charles Cross and Evan Neal in 2022. While there is no shortage of potential starters coming out of the early rounds, few if any seem to be future faces of the league at this point.

In terms of the premier pass rushers, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Aidan Hutchinson both show potential but also have limitations in terms of either athleticism or fundamental technique. Hutchinson has demonstrated that, if healthy, he can be a solid player in the league for years to come. But typically, a projected first overall pick is expected to become the face of a franchise. Thibodeaux, on the other hand, exudes supreme talent and athleticism when rushing the passer, but doesn’t match the consistency and sound fundamentals of an expected top pick.

The wide receiver position is the only exception in a draft that is otherwise fairly pedestrian.

Alabama’s Jameson Williams, Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson, and USC’s Drake London are just a few of the many flashy and productive receivers entering the league.

Aside from the wide receivers in this draft, there aren’t many players that jump off the wall in terms of superstar potential.

With that being said, many football fans will rush to the couch this weekend to get in front of a TV. They’ll stay glued throughout the weekend while they watch the roller coaster that this draft is shaping up to be. With all the uncertainty about who will be drafted by whom this year, it’s evident that this will truly be a much-examined draft. But unfortunately, it’s more than likely that in a few years, we’ll revisit the 2021 and 2022 NFL drafts and laugh at how different they are in terms of talent and accolades.

tphsfalconer.com

sports

the falconer

A21

DAY IN the Life After earning a high ranking in the Interscholastic SoCal Cycling League, the TPHS mountain biking team persevered through the past two years of COVID-19 race cancellations to become champions. The team last won a Division II title in their league in 2019.

The team was first created in 2018 by TPHS graduates Nico Johnson (‘19) and McKenzie Steiner (‘19) and advised by social science teacher Jeff Owen. The team has come a long way since its debut.

Grayson Wyandt (10) proved this when he earned second place in a recent race on April 16.

“We’ve been training a lot harder trying to go for state titles,” Wyandt said. “Recently we’ve gotten a lot of podiums in our races. Personally, I’ve gotten first and second place this year so far.”

The team participates in the National Interscholastic Cycling Association along with other high school teams like Canyon Crest Academy. TPHS and CCA participated as one team in the league until they split up in 2019, but they still enjoy riding together on their own time. The former joint team was called Canyon Pines.

“We ride together and we just score differently in national races.

Altogether there’s about 30 people, but in Torrey Pines there’s about eight to ten,” Thomas Steiner (12), McKenzie’s brother said.

The TPHS team utilizes its time with the CCA team as well as their own practices to prepare for races and other competitions.

“Our official rides are Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, but Sunday is less of a practice and more of a fun ride,” Thomas said. “We try to emphasize fun riding. You don’t have to race; it’s for a league but it’s just more about going out in the canyon. We ride in Penasquitos Canyon, which is just a canyon near Torrey Pines and CCA.” The team practices by riding the trails for about two hours, two to three times a week.

Mountain biking has become far more popular in recent years, credited largely to a rise in high school interest, as well as an increase in mass-produced mountain biking equipment.

At TPHS, however, the mountain biking team seems to be in the shadows of more popular spectator sports.

“It’s underrecognized … there are some really awesome athletes,” coach Derek Steiner said. “We have a lot of really talented kids. Also, it’s all parents that have to do the coaching, so that’s probably another reason why it’s underrecognized.”

As of December 2020, mountain biking was classified as a fast-growing school sport despite the pandemic, largely because it is a non-contact, outdoor sport. It has continued to gain popularity ever since.

“Riding is a very complicated sport when it comes to teamwork,” Thomas said. “It’s very easy to go off and try to do it from an individual aspect.”

Variables cyclists need to consider when riding include the outside conditions, as the atmosphere and surroundings can heavily influence performance.

“We move together and drift when it gets windy, so you take turns pushing into the wind,” Thomas said. “When you’re actually racing, you can start working with people that you’re just meeting out on the field and have impromptu teamwork.”

Although it can be an individual sport, teamwork plays a large part in mountain biking.

“It would be a very hard sport mentally if you had to do everything alone. During the race, they do quite a bit of drafting, trading off,” Coach and dad Derek Steiner said.

Aside from weather conditions, certain tricks and jumps can be difficult to overcome when riding.

“It’s kind of an extreme sport. We’re hooking ourselves off cliffs out there. It’s super exhilarating,” Wyandt said. “The rush of adrenaline that you get when you’re shredding down trails is like no other sport.”

Coach Steiner also recognizes the distinctness of the sport.

“It’s speed. What other high school sport can you go 40 miles an hour and catch air like that? It’s super exciting and fun,” Steiner said.

Indeed, the sport continues to grow nationwide. Hopefully, with its impressive achievements and enthusiastic riders, news of the TPHS mountain biking team will grow too.

by Michele Kim and Madison Miller

Mountain biking team PHOTO COURTESY OF GRAYSON WYANDT

A22 the falconer

sports

april 29, 2022

Turf fields pose potential benefits and concerns Jacob Zhang and Regan Guirguis

NEWS EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER

The opponent had the ball. Darin Devoe (11) pursued, instincts kicking in.

A lunge for the tackle. A crash to the ground. A slide, face against the turf.

Adrenaline rushed through his body.

Left behind was a pool of blood and a streak of burnt skin, branded into his right cheek and nose.

The threat was stopped. Devoe had succeeded. His mind switched to the next play, unaware of the pain that was to come.

“In the beginning, it was just numbness. I had so much adrenaline,” Devoe said. “After it felt like … a burning feeling that stayed on my face.”

Devoe, who plays both rugby and football at TPHS, sustained his injury during a rugby match on Ed Burke Field’s artificial turf, a playing surface that is easier to maintain and offers more consistency than traditional grass fields but often puts athletes at a higher risk of injury.

Devoe was the victim of “turf burn,” which is common for most athletes who play on turf fields, but nonetheless extremely painful. They happen through friction when skin rubs against the small, black rubber pellets sprinkled throughout the artificial grass. After playing at Ed Burke Field for his entire high school career, this was the worst burn yet.

Turf fields can be a more attractive option in water-conscious areas, such as

California, where they often have less costly upkeep than grass. However, the blazing California sun can increase the risks of playing on turf, as the rubber pellets are a perfect heat sponge.

“When it gets so hot, it can increase the likelihood that a kid cramps and gets dehydrated,”TPHS football coach Robby Collins said.

To Collins, nothing is better than a well-manicured grass field, but turf is usually the smartest financial decision.

As far as player health, however, studies show mixed results.

Many athletes at TPHS, like Colin Brogan (11), who plays on the rugby team, have seen or experienced turf injuries firsthand. Brogan estimates that a fifth of his team has suffered from small ankle injuries this year alone.

“I know a ton of people who roll their ankles on turf fields because they’re too flat,” Brogan said. “They don’t have the plushness of real grass.”

Sprained and tweaked ankles have been proven to be more prevalent on turf fields, according to physical therapist Zach Ullman.

“There has been an increase in ankle injuries on turf,” Ullman said. “But those have been shown to be less severe than the grass ones.”

On the football team, injuries to the knee, such as torn ACLs, dominate, according to Collins.

“It’s mostly knee injuries,” Collins said. “I would say the injuries are most prevalent on the artificial surfaces.”

But according to Ullman, injuries

such as those to the knee and head can, like ankle injuries, be less dangerous on turf fields.

“I looked at five different studies …

And basically what they show is that the new advances in turf versus grass actually decrease head injury,” Ullman said. “There’s been less catastrophic knee injuries on turf versus natural grass.”

Upkeep can also be a factor. Though TPHS does a good job maintaining its turf field, according to Collins, many schools have outdated or mismanaged turf.

“I’m not going to say names and schools, but there are other schools in the county that have needed [turf fields] to be replaced for decades, and they still have those fields and we go play games away,” Collins said. “These fields are not safe to play on.”

For athletes like Devoe, the itch for competition will always bring them back to the field, grass or turf.

Two weeks after his injury, covered in scars, Devoe stepped onto the field.

His cleats dug into the turf beneath him. He got in position, ready for the next play.

PHOTO BY NOLAN EZZET/FALCONER

WNBA is progressing but needs more improvement Viyang Hao

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

During its debut, the Women’s National Basketball Assocation (WNBA) struggled to garner media attention. The primary reason was the lack of respect given toward women in sports. But over time, the WNBA has built its credibility.

In recent years, the future for the WNBA beams brighter and brighter.

Viewership for the 2022 WNBA draft was at an all-time high, averaging 463,000 viewers. For the WNBA, viewership has not been this high since 2004. And more and more well-known companies have partnered with the WNBA, like Google and Dick’s Sporting Goods WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert recently announced that the league will receive a $75 million capital infusion from investors.

With this dramatic increase in its budget, the WNBA hopes to better establish itself as a “bold, progressive entertainment and media property.”

Part of Engelbert’s plans include better marketing its league’s players.

Which presents a win-win situation for both racial minorities and the LGBTQIA+ community due its practices of diversity and inclusion.

In 2021, the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports (TIDES) gave the WNBA an “A” grade. It’s the sports league’s 17th consecutive year for earning such a high letter grade.

TIDES noted that the WNBA practiced both excellent racial and

gender hiring practices. Compared to their counterpart, the National Basketball Association (NBA) received an “A” in racial hiring practices but a “B” in gender hiring practices.

LGBTQIA+ representation is fairly prominent as well. For its 2021 WNBA Playoffs, at least 24 players were publicly part of the queer community.

Promoting their queer POC players not only achieves the WNBA’s goal of becoming more inclusive, it also sends a strong message to those minority communities that they are being represented in the media. It can also establish itself as a different entity entirely from the NBA. Financially, there is a large pay gap between players from the WNBA and NBA. As of 2022, an NBA player’s salary ranges from $60,000 to $228,000. For an NBA player’s salary ranges from $925,000 to $43 million.

This salary discrepancy is oftentimes discouraging to WNBA players. And the problem only worsens as WNBA coaches are paid much higher than their players. The issue is not prevalent in the NBA. Instead, players are paid much more than their coaches.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Las Vegas Aces’ head coach Becky Hammon’s salary was over $1 million.

This quadruples the highest WNBA player’s salary.

WNBA player Elizabeth Cambage expressed her disappointment after hearing the news. In a tweet, Cambage said “Y’all think imma spend another season upgrading my seat on a flight to

get to games out of my own pocket.”

The salary discrepancy leads to the common practice of WNBA players also playing for European teams, sometimes during their off season or at the same time. Currently, almost half of WNBA players also compete overseas. WNBA player Brittney Griner is a prime example.

Griner, and many other WNBA players, earn more than $1 million by simply playing for Russia. Griner, specifically, has been doing this since 2014. Although present WNBA contracts focus on a player’s salary, it is still miniscule compared to a $1 million salary. The salary question has been tragically complicated by Griner’s arrest and detainment in Russia on

drug charges. It has made WNBA players very apprehenive about playing for Russian or Chinese teams.

In a 2020 collective bargaining agreement, the WNBA concluded that players can earn on average $130,000 by 2027. Top WNBA players can earn around $500,00 from a combination of bonuses, marketing agreements and salary.

Engelbert has stated that the WNBA has no current plans of addressing the salary problem despite players’ discontent.

The WNBA has nearly everything they need in order to be successful.

Yet, they are not properly utilizing the resources they have.

advertisement

tphsfalconer.com

the falconer A23

SMALL CLASSES - BIG OPTIONS Rolling Admissions All core classes are aligned with Torrey Pines High School.

Take one class or enroll full-time.

• Group classes and one-on-one in most academic subjects.

• 23 AP classes, live online, evenings and weekends starting late September.

• Flexible schedules for competitive athletes.

• F-1 visa program for international students.

• Come in person or join us virtually!

High Bluff Academy 5531 Cancha de Golf Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92091 858 509-9101 www.highbluffacademy.com

K-12 TUTORING & TEST PREP ONLINE & IN CENTER

AVERAGE INCREASES

229 POINT INCREASE on SAT score**

5.4 POINT INCREASE on ACT score**

$71,149 PER STUDENT in scholarship offers**

858-866-9599 DEL MAR - 2652 Del Mar Heights Road, Del Mar, California 92014

READING. WRITING. MATH. STUDY SKILLS. SUBJECT TUTORING.

Tablet: Design Digital Art Design for: posters prints stickers

OPERATES YEAR-ROUND OCEAN VIEWS

•

Disclaimers: topic restrictions simple designs prices to be determined

Contact info: email: jcogs678@gmail.com instagram: @hwph8847

FRESH LOCAL PRODUCE

Saturdays 1 -4 pm Rain or shine Del Mar Civic Center 1050 Camino del Mar FREE Parking in Garage CERTIFIED AND NON-PROFIT

@delmar_farmersmarket

ARTISANS FOOD COURT • LIVE MUSIC • ARTS & CRAFTS

backpage

A24 the falconer

April 29, 2022

TPHS PRESENTS....

Mystery Prom THEME

LOCATiON We thought it would enhance the mystery if we didn’t tell you the location until 2 hours before.

Instead, we will allow rumors to circulate about whether it’s downtown in a hotel, at the zoo, or in an dimly-lit alleyway somewhere. Good luck with the last minute limo order!

We heard about your complaints about previous themes, so we threw out the Hunger Games theme and Virtual Prom, even though those were our top choices. We settled on Mystery Prom, not because we are unprepared, but to give senioritis-plagued seniors one more thing to stress about.

DATE

FUN EVENTS Make sure you dress for the theme, in other words, you might find yourself horribly unprepared for the many, many fun events we have planned (trust me, we totally have fun things planned and many things reserved).

For the very inexpensive price of $80, this pensive mystery experience could be yours! NO REFUNDS.

Although for the past 6 months we said the prom would be on May 14th, we decided very last minute to postpone that a week and make it May 21st (the same date as every other school in the district).

So sorry to Lax and rugby players with games, and those with significant others at different schools. Hopefully you’re a sophomore so you can go next year!

You’re welcome, for the most confusing night of your lives.

Follow Falconer on Instagram! @tphsfalconer

Haddee Education, a global all-in-one high quality service platform for K-12 students and parents

Your student's essays will be personally reviewed and edited by Ms. Pont, Haddee's experienced college counselor, high-school English teacher. There will be online group sessions as well as 1on1 editing offline.

Want to have a stress-free application season? Bootcamp students will get the applications done in August Take a look at our google reviews for testimonials of our high-quality services!

If you're interested, enroll now at https://haddee.com!