January 2016 Issue

Falconer

The Torrey Pines High School

Friday, January 15, 2016

Vol. 41, Issue 4, 32 pages

www.tphsfalconer.com

PIPE DOWN!

BY LILY NILIPOUR

A TPHS water main broke for the 2nd time since 2012, shutting off all water on campus on Jan.11 All water at TPHS was shut off on Jan. 11 due to a broken water pipe in front of the E building, according to Principal David Jaffe.

A leak releasing one gallon a minute was identified on Jan. 8 by Brevig Plumbing, but construction did not start until Jan. 11, Brevig Plumbing owner, Adrian Brevig, said.

“I came out at the end of last week and did a leak detection and an initial assessment where we could see the water bubbling up at the surface of the ground,” Brevig said. “We were able to locate [the line] fairly close to where the pipe actually was.”

According to Jaffe, portable toilets were ordered Monday morning while Brevig Plumbing workers and TPHS administration were at the leak. However, at 10:10 a.m. during excavation, the workers broke the valve of the pipe, which was three to four feet underground, causing water to flow freely down the hillside.

“What we had planned on doing originally was they would find the pipe, assess the issue, [receive] the Porta Potties in the morning … and then turn off the water,” Jaffe said. “But as soon as they hit the pipe and busted it, we had to turn the water off immediately.”

The portable toilets arrived at TPHS at 2:15 p.m. on Jan. 11, leaving students without bathroom or water access for four hours. Students could be escorted to the portable toilet at the B building construction site, Jaffe said.

Brevig Plumbing fixed the broken pipe and turned the water back on at around 5:00 p.m. the same day. Compared to a similar incident at TPHS in 2012, the situation was much more under control, according to Jaffe.

“Prior to me being principal, [there was a] huge leak that was 20 or 30 feet into the ground, and the water was off for four days,” Jaffe said. “The [Porta Potties] didn’t come until the end of the day either, but they had no bathrooms for anybody, and this school was bigger at the time.”

Justin Kon (12) took lunch break as an opportunity to drive Lisha Wu (11) and some of his friends to the McDonald’s at the Del Mar Highlands shopping center to use the bathrooms there. Although the water shortage was “inconvenient,” Wu said that the TPHS staff “did their best to bring water and portable bathrooms” to everyone.

According to Jaffe, students had more concerns than complaints, including issues with sanitation around the portable toilets. Kon said that administration did a good job of communicating and keeping students updated.

“I know it’s difficult to get Porta Potties here quickly, but the fact that we were able to get them in a pretty timely manner was nice,” Kon said. “I think they could have had more water availability locations to get water bottles, [but] other than that I think it was handled smoothly and professionally.”

Jaffe said the TPHS students handled everything well, and that it was “the best case scenario of a bad situation.”

PHOTO BY AVERY SPICKER/FALCONER

opinion

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

A6 POWDERPUFF FOOTBALL A24

The Falconer takes a look at the top candidates for the 2016 presidential nominations and a few of their most noteworthy political policies.

sports

Teams of senior and junior girls, coached and cheered on by varsity football players, faced off at the annual Powderpuff football game.

A BIRD’S EYE VIEW opinion feature entertainment sports backpage focus

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California’s

january 15, 2016

$

New Laws

*Information provided by the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times

infographic by amanda chen

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Korean classes proposed at TPHS

by Amanda Chen FOCUS EDITOR

A Change.org petition to the SDUHSD to establish a Korean language class at TPHS was posted by Sung Kim and Dr. Jun Joo Hwang on Dec. 27.

The petition identifies Korean as a “critical language to our national security” and emphasizes Korea’s growing economy, IT industry and cultural popularity.

“There will be lots of opportunities for the younger generation [in the future] if they know [Korean] language and culture,” Hwang said.

The petition discusses the specific importance of Korean in Southern California, as the region is a “gateway to Korea for trade and cultural exchange” and is home to approximately 700,000 Koreans, many of whom speak primarily Korean. It also cites reasons a Korean class would be beneficial to TPHS, including that it could “attract highly motivated

students from neighboring cities” and “bring forth greater diversity ... to create an enriching learning atmosphere.”

The number of Korean language learners has increased by 140 percent in recent years, according to the petition. Hwang, founder and president of House of Korea in Balboa Park, a non-profit organization aimed at educating the public about Korean culture, said that there is a great interest in Korean culture in San Diego.

“Whenever we have an event like the Ethnic Food Fair or December Nights ... [people ask] where [to] eat Korean food or learn Korean,” Hwang said.

Kim, President of Korean Language Teachers Association in the USA and Program Director of the International Korean Educators Network, has previously worked to establish Korean classes in the Los Angeles Unified School District and approached Hwang in October 2015 about establishing classes in San Diego. Because of Hwang’s role as a leader in the San Diego

Korean community, she was able to connect Kim to Grace Lee (11), president of the Butterfly Effect, a TPHS club whose members frequently volunteer at House of Korea.

“I provided them basic knowledge about our school, like what kind of language courses were taken, language class demographics ... from a student’s point of view,” Lee said. “I was basically the bridge between the petition writers and ... TPHS.” The Butterfly Effect’s adviser, English teacher Roxzana Sudo, met with Principal David Jaffe about establishing a Korean class on campus.

“If Korean is a language that we are going to offer, it would have to go through the school district approval process,” Jaffe said. “We’d run it as a site pilot at this school ... then bring it to the lead department chairs of each of the content areas [for the district], and they have to approve it. It has to go through a parent-advisory committee and be approved by the associate

superintendent of instruction.”

The petition cites the current existence of Spanish, French, Chinese and Japanese language classes at TPHS, as well as successful programs in Los Angeles and other San Diego schools as evidence that Korean classes could be “successfully launched.”

However, Jaffe is unsure if the class will be offered in future years because of logistical difficulties.

“The challenge with Korean [classes] ... is that they have to be [taught by] teachers that are credentialed in the subject area,” Jaffe said. “You have a small population of people going for the credential, because it’s not widely known that you can do it, and it takes time to build a number of teachers that are interested.”

Even with experienced teachers, according to Jaffe, enough students have to show interest in taking the class. But Lee does not believe that finding students will be difficult, as many students have shown interest.

“Koreans occupy a significant

part of the campus,” Lee said.

“The school should provide a way to accommodate these needs. I personally know people who are very interested in learning, and all they can do is watch [Korean] dramas and listen to K-Pop.” But Korean student Michael Lee (12) does not see the new language classes as necessary.

“Korean is kind of a useless language in a practical sense,” Michael Lee said. “Chinese is useful if you want to ... go into business. Japan has ties to the U.S., and we’re right next to Mexico. But what’s the point of Korean?”

Lee also said that Korean classes may shelter international Korean students and discourage them from learning English.

According to Grace Lee, the idea of introducing a Korean class had been circulating on campus for years, but the petition “takes steps further and establishes some [real] points.”

When the Falconer went to press, the petition had 53 supporters.

he made an announcement at 3:17 p.m. “to whomever was on campus” of the tornado warning, asking them to remain indoors until 3:30 p.m.

“It wasn’t official for us because everyone was gone at that particular point, but I told everybody to stay,” Jaffe said. “If they chose to leave, that would have been their own [decision] … because school was out.”

Sreeganesh Manoharan (12), who was in the media center at the time of the announcement, remained at school until 4:10 p.m. waiting for the storm to subside even though the tornado warning was canceled at 3:20 p.m.

“The wind could probably blow a small person over, and

the rain would sting if it hit you,” Manoharan said. “It was a nice change for San Diego.”

Other areas of San Diego faced more concrete consequences from the weather. According to San Diego Gas and Electric, a sinkhole the size of a car opened up in La Jolla Shores on Jan. 6; it exposed a gas line, which is currently intact, but the hole itself has yet to be repaired.

San Diego Police Department Chief Shelley Zimmerman said that the San Diego Police call centers received 1,300 more calls than usual, 500 were stormrelated. From Jan. 4-9, 67 water rescues were performed in various areas of the county, including Mission Valley and Sorrento

Valley. Sage Glass (10) witnessed flooding on Sorrento Valley Road.

“On Tuesday [Jan. 5] it started flooding a lot … and all the cars had to switch in to go over left,” Glass said. “So the left lane cars were in the emergency lane while the right lane cars were in the left lane. Buses would drive through [the water] and it would go up to the wheels.”

She also experienced a weather-related power outage while in Sorrento Valley.

For TPHS, the heavy rain prevented repairs to the leaking pipe that caused the recent water line malfunction. Other concerns included the potential obstruction of construction, Jaffe said.

Assistant Principal and

School Safety Committee head Garry Thornton said he does not anticipate “any fears” on campus grounds. Leaky roofs or large pools of water will be handled by the maintenance and custodial teams. Off campus, traffic might be an issue.

“One of the days, the signal lights were out [due to the weather], but that’s not in our control other than communicating with the city and the police department,” Thornton said.

This year’s El Niño rivals the record-breaking 1997 season, which had a value of 2.3; the intensity of the El Niño season is measured by the Oceanic Niño Index, with a value of 0.5 or greater signifying El Niño.

El Niño storm hits San Diego area

by Anna Lee EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Heavy rainfall during the week of Jan. 4 caused several flooding incidents around San Diego and an unofficial lockdown at TPHS on Jan. 6.

A tornado warning was issued from 2:56 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. for several areas, including Torrey Pines and Carmel Valley, particularly along Del Mar Heights Road. SDUHSD director of communications Linda Zintz said all SDUHSD schools were under shelter-in-place orders for a brief period during the warning.

Principal David Jaffe said

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january 15, 2016

Sierra Campisano Plaque created in honor of scores 2,000th point former teacher Scott Chodorow

by Sumin Hwang STAFF WRITER Sierra Campisano (12) scored her 2,000th point on Dec. 28 at El Capitan High School, making her the first ever TPHS basketball player to score over 2,000 points during his or her high school career.

“I actually had no idea [I had scored 2,000 points]; I found out after the game,” Campisano said. “I grew up watching these amazing players … and the fact that I have broken their records is surreal.”

Basketball has been a “huge part” of Campisano’s high school experience.

“Basketball has given me so many connections inside and outside of school,” Campisano said. “There’s nothing I love more than playing basketball.”

Campisano said her accomplishment can be attributed to the fact that she has “worked extra” with her trainer and her coaches this season.

“I work with [my trainer] all the time, and he’s the one who taught me all my moves,” Campisano said. “My high school coaches also do a great job teaching me how to get open [during plays].”

Campisano also credits her team with helping her reach the milestone.

“My team helps so much by challenging me in practice and

giving me the ball in games,” Campisano said. “They are the reason we win games — we all work together.”

According to Sierra’s father and TPHS math teacher Gino Campisano, her 2,000th point has “given the team more confidence.”

“It instills confidence in the team and reinforces that even if they’re learning, they have a scorer on the team that they can depend on,” Gino said.

Sierra’s family has also had a strong influence on Campisano’s basketball career.

“My mom is a huge part [of my basketball career],” Sierra said.

“She taught me how to shoot a jump shot.”

Sierra has been nominated to be a Ronald McDonald AllAmerican Athlete.

“I was nominated, but the team [roster] hasn’t come out yet,” Sierra said. “They pick the best players in the nation, who play a game against each other in March. There is a selection committee that picks the teams, and it’s a huge honor to be nominated.”

According to Sierra, her next goal is to win league and reach CIFs with the TPHS team.

“We’re practicing as hard as we can,” Sierra said. “Our passion to win and our willingness to go the distance is what is going to take us there.”

Sierra is committed to attend and play basketball for the University of Oregon next year.

by Lily Nilipour SPORTS EDITOR A plaque created in honor of former ASB adviser and cheer coach Scott Chodorow was revealed on Dec. 16 in the B building, with a memorial and reception held throughout the day in the ASB room.

The plaque was revealed after short speeches by Principal David Jaffe and Assistant Principal Garry Thornton. Food and refreshments were available in the ASB room, as well as a book for anyone to sign in and write “little notes” for Chodorow, former Cheer liaison Melissa Jacobi said.

According to former Cheer liaison Kristen Walton, the memorial was a “simple, lowkey” event for students, faculty and anyone who knew Chodorow and wanted to pay their respects.

Cheerleader Amanda Stewart (12) said the atmosphere was sentimental, and that all the students who knew Chodorow were thankful for the plaque.

“It was very hard for everyone who knew Coach to heal,” Stewart said. “We want Coach’s legacy to live on.”

Discussion about the plaque began after reconstruction started on the B Building, according to Jacobi.

“Because his room and he were such a big part of a lot of

students’ lives, [we thought there should be] some sort of tribute in that hall,” Jacobi said.

Cheerleader Olivia Fuller (12) said all the students were very receptive to the memorial.

“All of us were not fans of the remodel because that was [Chodorow’s] hallway,” Fuller said. “So this plaque is a way to keep his presence there and to continue to have him around.”

Walton, Thornton, Scott’s wife Suzy Chodorow and former cheer parent Maryanne Owcharuk worked together with San Dieguito Trophy to create and fund the plaque.

“We were able to set up a GoFundMe account to provide the funds necessary to pay for the plaque,” Walton said. “We

also received direct donations from former and current cheer and ASB parents and family members of Coach C. The entire cost was covered through donations.”

According to Stewart, the plaque is the “perfect representation” of Scott and the best way to recognize his accomplishments.

“He was such a huge part of Torrey Pines,” Jacobi said. “He was such a friend, and I was fortunate enough to call him a friend, and I know a lot of students feel the same way.”

According to Walton, the plaque will keep Scott’s memory alive at TPHS and is just another way to “say ‘Thank you,’ for all the great things he did.”

PHOTO BY LAUREN ZHANG/FALCONER

IN REMEMBRANCE: A plaque honoring former teacher Scott Chodorow was revealed in the ASB hallway on Dec. 16.

PRO

By Lily Nilipour SPORTS EDITOR

Daily fantasy “shark” Saahil Sud spends eight hours or more each day on his computer, running analytical programs and entering hundreds of NFL and MLB fantasy sports games.

He risks around $140,000 daily and wins 70 percent of the time. But Sud miraculously made over $1 million in the third week of the 2015 NFL season just because of a risky yet rewarding choice: to put Green Bay Packers receiver Randall Cobb in all of his lineups. Cobb afterward completed seven catches and scored three touchdowns in the game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Sports betting is illegal in most of the United States because it is considered gambling. Yet, under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which prohibits all other forms of business which profit through gambling, fantasy sports are exempt on the assumption that they are won through skill and not chance.

Although there is no doubt that daily fantasy involves some degree of expertise, it is no different from any other form of sports betting; it is still a form of gambling and therefore should be illegal.

On daily fantasy sites like FanDuel and DraftKings, participants choose various players for their teams, and, depending on how those players perform in real games, either reap the rewards or suffer the losses.

But there is no way to know how

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OPINION

Although daily fantasy is not classified as gambling in the United States, many argue that it should be, based on its high-risk, low-reward structure. well these players will do. Sud, who is the top-ranked daily fantasy sports player in the world, made his money from the single performance of a single player. Despite all of his research and analysis, Sud trusted his instincts and made a huge risk on putting all his money on Cobb.

He was lucky. Others weren’t. One wrong decision can cost players up to thousands of dollars. According to the Sports Business Journal, when players paid a $49 entry fee, 80 percent lost an average of $25. Five percent lost an average of $1,100 when they paid $3,600 in entry fees.

Clearly, 85 percent of daily fantasy players are not just making random choices; some would even consider themselves experts about the sports, teams and players on which they are betting. But that so-called skill has nothing to do with winning on daily fantasy sites — it all depends on putting in lots of money and hoping for the best. And the definition of gambling is risking something of value on a random outcome.

The UIGEA bans gambling businesses from making profits from online bettors, yet FanDuel and DraftKings both make millions from unsuspecting players who are fooled into thinking that it is easy to win big.

Because they are exempt from these regulations, daily fantasy sports are conducive to the dangers of gambling that are innately present.

The idea that daily fantasy is skillbased is simply an excuse for the continuation of an otherwise obvious violation of the law. It is clear that they are in fact gambling sites. There are the few like Sud who bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars from daily fantasy sports, but they are exactly that: few. When playing against millions of others online, the chances of making a significant profit are miniscule — perhaps only rivaled by the chances of winning the jackpot in a slot machine.

In a question asked to registered voters in New York ...

Should daily fantasy sports sites be considered gambling and be banned?*

66%

34%

YES

NO

said

said

*Poll conducted by Siena College

Fantasy sports, especially daily fantasy sports, have made millions in revenue by allowing sports fans to personalize teams and compete in virtual competitions. But it is not mere chance that allows participants to win competitions and move up in rank; it is in-depth knowledge of statistics on individual players that helps contestants succeed.

As opposed to the fantasy matches played concurrently with real-life games through the entire season in traditional fantasy sports, daily fantasy games are conducted over a week or even a single day, making them more appealing in their convenience and the regularity of rewards.

While daily fantasy has, on some occasions, been viewed as a form of Internet gambling, fantasy sports games have been defined as games of skill, and not games of chance, by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. The UIGEA, which regulates financial institutions that serve as links between internet casinos and gamblers, has provided a detailed list of what is or is not considered internet gambling. The act has stated that because “all prizes and awards are established prior to games” and “all winning outcomes reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the participants,” daily fantasy sports are not unlawful in any way.

Fantasy sports are played with strategy — to win games, players require not only knowledge of the strengths of individual players on their teams, but also information about coaching styles, home and away statistics, and weather patterns to successfully predict the outcomes of games.

It has been proven by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association that the players who have spent the most time obtaining details and closely tracking records win the most games. There

CON

By Maya Kota

BACKPAGE & COPY EDITOR

is no absolute assurance that every daily fantasy player will invest the time necessary to make educated calls, but, according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association’s survey of players’ time spent reviewing statistics for games, approximately 80 percent of daily fantasy players reported to have spent more than 15 hours a week gathering information and were therefore deemed, by the FSTA, educated enough to earn equal to or more money than they paid for the entry fee of the game. The players who reported to spending extensive hours on daily fantasy were found to have won far more highlevel competitions than those who spent less time preparing.

Additionally, players are required to pay entry fees for all competitions they enter their teams in, and entry fees become more costly as amounts of prize money increase. Evidently, players would not pay entry fees for high-stakes competitions if they did not think they were well-prepared and therefore had a chance of winning.

It should be emphasized that being a regular player of daily fantasy comes at no small cost; the average annual spending per fantasy player, according to the FSTA, is $465. In spending that much money on virtual games, there is no sane reason that a player would depend on his or her luck to gain a profit, if not to simply break even.

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Rubio’s: Fresh Republican Grill

january 15, 2016

Trumping the Competition

Refugee Crisis: Rubio supports U.S. acceptance of Syrian women, children and religious leaders and sorts refugees by religion.

China: Rubio says China must respect free markets and free trade.

Immigration: Trump supports deporting all undocumented immigrants and wants to build a wall separating the United States from Mexico.

Gun Control: Trump says every state should allow citizens to carry concealed weapons.

Doctor Do-Little

Cruz-in’ for a bruisin’

Gun Control: Carson says that guns are necessary for citizens to defend themselves against tyrannical governments.

Immigration: Carson believes that the undocumented contribute to the economy and opposes deportation.

Refugee Crisis: Cruz wants to subject all refugees to a “religious test” to determine if they are Christian; only then will they be allowed into the United States.

Immigration: Cruz opposes moves to allow the undocumented to remain in the nation.

Bernin’ Up

Chillary Clinton

Climate Change: Sanders wants to force Republicans to acknowledge man-made climate change.

Immigration: Sanders supports free college tuition, increase in federal minimum wage, and pay equity between men and women.

National Security: Clinton makes defeating the Islamic State group and “standing up to” Russian President Vladimir Putin top priorities.

Immigration: Clinton supports a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Christie Creme

Refugee Crisis: Christie believes that the United States should not admit any Syrian refugees, not even children.

Russia and Putin: Christie wants to push Putin out of the Middle East and would not be afraid to engage in war with Russia.

Episode III: Revenge of the Bushes

Foreign Policy: Bush wants to re-establish the United States in its “special role as world leader.”

Economy: Bush supports a simplified individual tax code and cutting the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%.

Getting Paul-itical

Immigration: Paul supports granting temporary visas to undocumented immigrants, but not a pathway to citizenship.

Foreign Policy: Paul opposes a “proxy war” with Russia, but supports establishing permanent military bases overseas.

ART BY CAROLYN CHU/FALCON ARTIST

Falconer

The Torrey Pines High School

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

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Advertisements do not necessarily represent the newspaper’s viewpoint. The Falconer, an open forum, welcomes signed letters on pertinent issues from the TPHS community, which may be submitted to room 102, via email at falconer.ads@gmail.com or to Mia Smith’s mailbox in the administration building. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

Editor-in-Chief Assistant Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Public Relations Copy Editors News Editor Opinion Editor Feature Editor Focus Editors Entertainment Editors Sports Editor Backpage Editor Photo Editor Adviser

Anna Lee Sarah Kim Sarah Chan Avery Spicker Maya Kota Austin Zhang Tasia Mochernak Maya Rao Grace Bruton Amanda Chen Alice Qu Caroline Rutten Irene Yu Lily Nilipour Maya Kota Avery Spicker Mia Boardman Smith

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COMMENTARY: ISLAMOPHOBIA IN THE U.S.

By Sarah Chan

MANAGING EDITOR

Recently, while browsing Facebook, I came across a news clip with the headline: “Woman Throws Coffee, Umbrella at Muslim Men Praying in Park.” I clicked on it. As the headline suggested, the story was pretty straightforward: Park police were recommending misdemeanor battery charges against Denise Slader, who was allegedly caught on video making anti-Islamic slurs, then throwing coffee and an umbrella at a group of Muslim men praying in a Castro Valley, Calif. park. Ironically, Slader was a California Department of Corrections employee.

Islamophobia is growing at an alarming rate. Every day seems to prompt a new viral video or news article, from Donald Trump urging a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” to people publicly attacking Muslims — sometimes verbally, sometimes physically, sometimes both.

The fundamental cause of Islamophobia is our misunderstanding of each other.

It is our inability to open our minds and hearts to see the perspective of someone else, falling back on snap judgments, assumptions and

prejudices. If we really took the time to learn about Islam, we would know that terrorists call themselves Muslim, but their extremist views and interpretation of the Quran widely misrepresent the Muslim people. And now, because many non-Muslims are prejudiced by this misrepresentation, Muslims do not feel safe or accepted in their communities. The United States was built upon the desire to escape religious persecution, and yet, we now relentlessly persecute on the basis of religion.

To be honest, the video of Slader should not have surprised me in the way it did. I am aware of the growing anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States. But what shocked me most about the video was the raw nature of it — a clear-cut example of how hateful some Americans can be toward Muslims, lashing out, unprovoked, merely because of religious affiliation. I won’t go so far as to say our Carmel Valley bubble is completely devoid of prejudice, but the video was a stark reminder of how strongly different parts of the country feel toward Muslims, compared to our neighborhood. I was astonished.

I was disgusted. I was angry.

Consider the experience of engineer Samer Shalaby, who was holding a public meeting about a proposed expansion of an existing mosque when some attendees began shouting anti-Muslim slurs and epithets. A video of the event shows one man bellowing “Nobody wants your evil cult in this town!” and “Every Muslim is a terrorist, period.

Shut your mouth.” What’s worse is that most of the townspeople in the

room began clapping and cheering.

How do we have the capacity to be so hostile, so ignorant? Some Americans simply cannot believe Muslims are human beings, or that American Muslims are American, or that it is never acceptable to judge someone by the actions of people to whom they are completely unassociated. A woman from Dearborn, Mich. posted a tweet last Nov. that read, “Dearborn, MI has the highest Muslim population in the United States. Let’s f--- that place up and send a message to ISIS. We’re coming.” Does this not sound similar to the terrorist rhetoric of which Americans are so terrified?

It is time to realize that if too many Americans give in to this fear and apprehension, the Islamophobic hate, prejudice and violence will continue to rise. It is time to realize that our country, one that has made great strides to expand equality, will instead start to move backward to greater intolerance and discrimination.

Since Sept. 11, many airports have adopted the slogan, “If you see something, say something”; if you see something suspicious, say something

to law enforcement. This slogan could be a powerful tool to stop terrorism, but its definition can be expanded beyond national security.

If you see bias, bigotry or bullying, say something. If you see prejudice or discrimination, say something. If you see innocent individuals being stripped of their inalienable rights to liberty, the pursuit of happiness and freedom of religion, say

something. The voices of peace, those against Islamophobia, are being drowned out by voices of hate not because the peaceful and tolerant are outnumbered, but because the prejudiced are shouting while the rest remain silent.

It is not acceptable to demonize an entire group of people for the actions of a few. I cannot wait for the day when the United States can look back at how wrongly Muslims were treated and wonder how people ever justified their prejudices and actions. We are better than this.

ART BY SIMON KIM/FALCON ARTIST

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE GRACE BRUTON The Falconer feature editor takes a break from design to write her first article about her passion for photography and how it defines her.

I am a photographer. Photography is the passion that defines me, and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without it.

Being a photographer is an identity; it is the first word I would use to describe myself. I can’t picture a life today without photography in it — it has dictated who my friends are, how I spend most of my time, and even how I decorate my room.

I joined the staff of the Falconer my sophomore year as a photographer, then became a designer, and finally an editor. The one thing I have never been is a writer — so please excuse me if this article is a bit rough.

Many movies and young adult novels feature teenagers having existential crises because of their lack of direction in life. I’ve observed these scenarios repeating themselves and roll my eyes every time. And though I have always been critical of cliches, I’ve ironically found myself with a lifestyle where, in hindsight, I had no passions or goals that defined me until I discovered photography.

Photography has given me a direction in life and a way to spend free time; as my sister recently said, “It’s so hard to get you presents because all you’re interested in is Netflix and photography.”

I am completely consumed by photography, and, in all honesty, I am so completely OK with that.

All aspects of my life now seem to revolve around photography and my personal connection to it. My Facebook profile picture has been a 2-year-old me holding a camera for over a year. For my birthday last year, I received a camera sweatshirt from my sister, a camera necklace from my mom, and camera earrings from my best friend.

The moment I signed up for an interview to join the Falconer was the moment that I sealed my fate. I loved taking photos for food reviews and the news section, and I accepted that I was not the artsy Instagram photographer that many of my peers were. Instead, I was the factual and hard-hitting photojournalist. I especially enjoy sports photography because of the heightened excitement that observing the field or court through the lens gives me; the moment when I know I got the perfect shot is even better.

Although I have been confident in my ability to take newspaper-worthy photos since sophomore year, I only stopped doubting myself as an actual artist this year. Since joining AP Studio Art, I have been producing pieces that I want to hang on my walls.

I still don’t post on Instagram at least once a week just to display simple aesthetic or snapshots of my life, but I’m okay with that. I don’t want to share iPhone photos of San Diego sunsets or gourmet meals with friends on social media because I’m happier to only share

PHOTO BY ALLY JENSEN/FALCONER

the truly great moments, the once-in-a-lifetime moments. For now, I keep my photography to myself and anyone else who might happen to pick up the newspaper, because I don’t produce this art for recognition — I take photos because it is what I enjoy doing and because it has given me a family of Falconerds.

Over the past couple of years, as I have evolved as a photographer, I have grown as a person. As I have gained confidence in my photography, I have gained confidence in myself — so much confidence, in fact, that I am able to write my first article about photography and what it means to me.

All people need concrete definitions of themselves, whether it be a hobby or a future career. Otherwise, how do you answer when a stranger asks you to tell them about yourself?

What do you tell your distant relatives your most

passionate interest is? What is the concrete detail that explains who you are?

To me, photography has been a journey, will always be a passion, and could be a potential career. Now that I have finally made it to the top of the metaphorical high school heap, it’s time to take stock of what I want to take away from the past four years and carry on with me. I have learned that photography, whether artistic or journalistic, is something that truly makes me happy. Photography and happiness are definitely two things that I would like to be abundant in my future.

While writing an actual article has been another experience to check off my list of “Things the Falconer has made me do,” I think I’ll stick with photography. After all, you know what they say: A picture is worth a thousand words.

A12 the falconer

opinion

january 15, 2016

Affirmative Action is inherently discriminatory OPINION EDITOR

College application season has ended, leaving seniors with three or four months to relax, marathon Netflix shows and worry before decisions come out. And when those letters do arrive, and when students flood College Confidential to report their outcomes, there will be tears and cries of joy and varying degrees of outrage. Rejected students wonder angrily how someone with a lower GPA, lower test scores, fewer extracurricular activities and awards got accepted over them. Much of the time, the answer lies in the personal information section: race.

People hesitate to talk about affirmative action because it has to do with race, and race has become such a hotly contested topic in the United States that one wrong word can mar someone’s reputation — forever. But the hesitation certainly does not help those outraged students, who feel betrayed that their dream schools picked someone less qualified than them.

In 1961, former President John F. Kennedy issued an executive order to introduce the concept of

affirmative action by mandating that all organizations that received federal funds must ensure that all practices are free of racial bias.

Through a series of executive orders across presidencies and a succession of Supreme Court cases, the principle of affirmative action has been continuously upheld, most notably with regard to college admission decisions.

A 2005 study about affirmative action by two Princeton University sociologists found that when admissions officers look at SAT scores, they automatically subtracted 50 points from any Asian applicant.

They added 185 points to scores of Hispanic applicants, and 230 to the scores of African-American applicants. In a 2009 study, Princeton sociologists examined data from college admissions decisions in 1997 and calculated that, on a 1600 scale, Asians needed to achieve a 1550 SAT score to have the same chances of getting into a university as whites with a 1410 score and African-Americans with a 1100 score.

Additionally, they found that African-American students had a substantially better chance to get into many competitive schools — 58.4 percent higher for Brown University, 67 percent higher for Harvard University and a whopping 98.7 percent better chance of getting into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

By examining

medical school acceptance rates from 2013-15, the discriminatory nature of affirmative action becomes even more evident. Asians who have a MCAT score from 24-26 and a GPA between 3.20 and 3.39 have only a 6.5 percent chance of getting in; African-American students in the same range have a 58.7 percent chance.

Do every one of those AfricanAmerican applicants have better statistics or extracurricular activities than white or Asian applicants?

Some probably do, but most do not.

In a country that strives to alleviate racial tensions, affirmative action certainly seems to exacerbate them.

Eighty-seven percent of the TPHS

student body is made up of whites and Asians, the two groups hard-hit by discrimination due to affirmative action, so it is not out of place to hear discussions about people lying about their race on college applications or finding a way to avoid filling out the section for race. Friends analyze how “white” or “Asian” certain names sound, and whether it could be possible to fool an admissions officer into thinking people were really Hispanic or African-American.

Proponents of affirmative action argue that it is necessary to make reparations for slavery and segregation, as well as other forms of discrimination. But while it may have functioned in that regard during the ‘60s and ‘70s, in 2016, it just

garners a lot of ill will from white and Asian students toward other minority students. Instead of making the country less racist, affirmative action just heightens racial resentment among college-bound students in the United States.

Diversity is certainly important on college campuses, but blatant discrimination based on race is a terrible idea. Affirmative action ensures racism instead of combating it, defeating its original purpose and intention. The discrimination it allows by reducing the admission chances of qualified Asian and white candidates, as well as reinforcing the idea that minority students are incapable of acceptance at elite universities without preferential treatment create harmful, inescapable racial stereotypes that undermine the very people the action attempts to help.

ART BY AMY YU/FALCON ARTIST

By Maya Rao

Newest changes to the SAT are unnecessary

By Anvitha Soordelu STAFF WRITER

Starting in March 2016, the new 1600-point SAT will replace the current 2400-point SAT. When it comes to the redesigned version of the SAT, many questions come up.

Will the new SAT be easier? Perhaps.

Will more students succeed with the SAT now that it is better aligned with school curriculums? Hopefully. Is it necessary? Not really.

Plans for redesigning the SAT started after trends showed that more students took the ACT over the SAT in 2012. After students in 2013 followed the same trend, College Board (the company that runs the SAT) president David Coleman announced that the SAT would change. The ACT is known to be more related to high school curriculums than the SAT, and also includes an optional writing portion for an additional cost. The new SAT, too, plans to align with school curriculums and provide an optional writing portion. While these changes to the SAT seem practical, what is the point of giving high school students the option to choose between two tests that are basically the same?

The new SAT format also implies that writing skills aren’t as important as math or reading comprehension skills. By making the essay portion optional, College Board has not only reduced the number of points that students can achieve on the test,

but also allows students to assume that the ability to write isn’t quite as important as being able to do math or read. Although the ACT also has an optional writing portion, the test has always been like that. If the SAT is changed to be like the ACT, then neither test will have a mandatory writing portion, which implies that writing isn’t a significant skill.

In addition, though high school allows students the opportunity to more thoroughly explore subjects previously introduced in lower grades, high school students love to minimize their work as much as they possibly can. An optional writing portion might as well equate no writing at all, even with some colleges requiring it. And unfortunately for test-takers, registering for the new SAT with the optional writing portion will cost more than simply registering for the test. The redesigned SAT with the optional essay costs $54.50, and the new SAT without the writing portion only costs $43. If knowing that part of a stressful test is not required doesn’t make a high schooler think about avoiding it, maybe the price difference will. College Board does offer financial assistance if such is a serious concern for a student, but the concept of having to pay a little more for a test that the student isn’t actually required to take will reduce the chances of this extra portion being taken.

The creation of a whole new test, redesigned to align with school curriculums rather than general reasoning skills, means that students can no longer rely on the advice they receive from previous test takers, and practice tests from older siblings aren’t much help anymore. Drastic changes create anxiety in competitive high-schoolers. So where do helpless students turn? To expensive SAT coaching classes.

Despite the free SAT preparation materials available online on websites like Khan Academy, coaching classes provide immediate, usually human, feedback and advice that online tests can’t give. Old practice books will, of course, be rendered obsolete, and new ones will likely be fairly unhelpful — accurately creating practice tests requires a significant amount of data that won’t be available until multiple rounds of testing have been completed.

And since the test is entirely redesigned, those who can afford coaching classes, the more helpful version of SAT prep, will probably still take them.

Although the new SAT may strive to give students of all backgrounds an equal chance in achieving a high score, expensive coaching classes will always be in demand, and those who can afford them will usually have an advantage, no matter how small, over those who can’t.

Guessing won’t result in a loss of points, and every student probably sighs in relief because of that. No more frustrated cramming for

vocabulary words that students may never see again in their lives.

Unfortunately, the implications that come with an optional writing portion may cause more harm than good.

And while the new SAT has definitely made some changes that will make students’ lives easier — like no longer docking points for incorrect answers — preparing for a completely redesigned test is a headache that is unnecessary.

ART BY MICHELLE HAO/FALCON ARTIST

FEATURE

A13

Emma Gunnarsson (12) has already bought her one-way ticket to Sweden for next summer. Although Gunnarsson has lived in San Diego for most of her life, she plans to return to Sweden to study in college to receive a singularly Swedish schooling. Gunnarsson attended kindergarten in Sweden, where she remembers “doing the usual kindergarten things like learning how to share and play with other kids.” But, through connections with friends and family, she has had almost a first-person view into the daily lives of Swedish students.

According to Gunnarsson, though Swedish high school education may appear to be “laidback,” it rivals American education in efficacy.

“The difference [between American and Swedish education] seems to be that we work much harder here in the U.S. than in Sweden to get very similar results,” Gunnarsson said.

“Sweden has a much more efficient way of

Although the classes that Loic Dupret (12) took in Belgium prioritized math and English, as U.S. schools do, the school life students experienced was vastly different.

“The school environment was very strict compared to TP …

Students are put into [the same] classes, so we would share every class,” Dupret said. “My school had a very strict dress code and there were no clubs, sports teams and assemblies.”

According to Dupret, tests were especially stressful and contributed greatly to final grades.

“I could easily have three or more tests in one day, and they were considered successes if I had at least a 50 percent,” Dupret said. “Tests determined about half of our grade, while the other half was determined by finals in December and in June.”

Despite the difficulty of school, teachers were not available to guide students.

“The relationship between teachers and students was very different, and teachers only [helped] students if they had time,” Dupret said. “Tutors do not exist in Belgium. However, there is a governmental service where students can receive [help].”

Furthermore, Dupret said students “had a lot more homework, more than I have at TP” every day, but assignments were “relatively easy” and consisted of mostly projects.

Even though Dupret “doesn’t regret [moving to America],” he believes that the quality of education is higher in Belgium.

“Belgium students only graduate if they have good grades, at least a 60 percent, in all the classes that I talked about earlier, like math and science, and if the [student’s performance] improves each year,” Dupret said.

Dupret participates in activities at TPHS, like PALS, and said school in the United States has introduced him to “a new, social aspect” to education.

Although he’s left behind a quality education system, Dupret looks back on school in Belgium, without sports and clubs, and is thankful for even the small things about American schools — like how tests may only be 20 percent of an overall grade.

by Sumin Hwang

teaching, and students have more control over the amount of time they spend on their studies while still getting the maximum [amount of] information.”

Unlike American students, Swedish students, upon entering high school, are able to bypass general education classes and choose a specific area of study like “natur linjen,” a pathway focused on subjects like biology, chemistry, and math more than history or language, the one Gunnarsson would have chosen to follow in Sweden.

In addition, Gunnarsson said the average Swedish high schooler has only about half an hour to two hours of homework daily, compared to five to seven hours of work for TPHS students. But simpler assignments are not a result of easy classes.

“Classes are still difficult in Sweden, but it seems like they work more efficiently, leaving [students] with less homework at the end of

the day and an education just as good as the one we have here,” Gunnarsson said.

Also, tutors are not prevalent, since students form close connections with their teachers — all teachers go by their first names, creating a much more personal relationship.

To Gunnarsson, the efficient style and the cost of education in Sweden are very appealing. As a Swedish citizen, Gunnarsson can attend university for a very low cost — tuition is free, and textbooks, housing and other general amenities are very cheap.

Since Gunnarsson has taken and passed the required proficiency tests for Swedish and other subjects, she will board the plane to Sweden this summer to travel and work before attending university. She can look forward not only to a different style of education, but also “learning in a different language” — “that in itself is another added challenge.”

by Tasia Mochernak

ART BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

For many TPHS students, the seven-hour school day may feel like a drag, but for Hee Joo Kang (12) and other students who have gone to school in Korea, spending such a short time on studies is a huge relief.

According to Kang, teachers “try their best to prepare [students] for tests, but it [is] never enough,” so students must sacrifice afterschool time that otherwise would be spent on extracurricular activities and entertainment to study, often hiring private tutors or attending tutoring academies just to achieve satisfactory grades.

“Students are under a lot of pressure and [begin] to study not for themselves, but due to force,” Kang said.

In addition to school hours that may push students to “study until 10 p.m. at school,” according to Kang, teachers are less supportive than those in America.

“The students are expected to show respect to the teachers, so it is often very difficult to approach the teacher about personal issues or struggles,” Kang said. “They are unfortunately not very close [to the students] and the teachers I had were not always friendly.”

As a senior, Kang has also noticed differences in pursuits like applying to college.

“Korean students can only apply to three or four colleges, while in the U.S., you can apply to as many colleges as you want,” Kang said. “Also, students here have many chances to take the SAT or the ACT, but in Korea, there is only one chance and in order to take the test again, students have to take a gap year.”

Unsurprisingly, Kang found the harsh school environment unwelcoming. She doesn’t have interest in returning to Korea.

“I know I have more opportunities in terms of college and medical school in America, and I definitely think I am getting a better education,” Kang said.

As the school bell rings at 7:35 a.m., signifying the start of the school day, Kang remembers the stress of attending school in Korea and gladly walks to her first class.

by Sumin Hwang

A14 the falconer

feature

january 15, 2016

Amid the gunshots and spent shells, Falconer copy editor Austin Zhang considers his opinion on gun purchase and ownership.

As an active Student Congress debater and a wargaming hobbyist, weapons and combat are not uncommon conversation topics between my friends and me. Firearms, in particular, are fascinating pieces of technology to me. Despite this fascination, in recent years I have become somewhat horrified with the frightening regularity with which incidents of gun violence appear in the media. Yet, for all of the assault weapons debates I have participated in and for all of the discussions on the role that rifling systems played in WWI and the Civil War and for all of the news reports on shootings I had seen or heard, I had never actually used a firearm — until last week.

It was one of the rainiest Tuesdays I had ever experienced in San Diego when a fellow Falconer writer and I stepped into the aptly named Gun Range San Diego. Here, as I was assured by their website, I would be able to try out state-of-the-art equipment while being supervised by highly-trained professionals. And as I browsed the lobby, which had a variety of rifles and shotguns displayed on racks and smaller handguns in glass cases, I noticed that the atmosphere of the store seemed surprisingly routine. While I was more than a little tense to be standing in a roomful of guns and to hear the sound of gunshots through the wall separating the store section of the building from the shooting range, the other customers simply carried on with their business, nonchalantly purchasing boxes of ammunition and renting weapons to try out on the range. Collecting myself, I went to the counter to rent my weapon for the day: an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, as only shotguns and rifles could be rented by those under 21. I was somewhat shocked by the ease with which I was granted permission to use the rifle. There was no training course, though the range did offer classes. There was no assessment of my emotional or mental stability, and there was no inquiry of any sort into my background. Instead, I simply presented my ID as well as a responsibility waiver I had signed, read off the list of rules governing the range, and then was handed the weapon, ammunition I had purchased and a target to shoot at.

The first thing that really struck me was the weight of the rifle. It may be one thing to recognize the AR15 as being a design owned by Colt Manufacturing Company, and that the same general design behind it also went into the M-4 carbine and M-16 rifles, which are mainstays in the U.S. modern armed forces. It was an entirely different thing to be holding the rifle, feeling its cool metal and knowing that a potentially lethal piece of technology had just been entrusted to me, in the same easy way that the rental goggles and noise-canceling earmuffs were.

Firing the rifle went about as I expected. I learned swiftly that no matter how loud one thinks a gunshot may be, it is even louder when firing the weapon yourself. But after becoming accustomed to holding the rifle straight, learning to sight down the iron sights and adjusting my aim with each series of shots, I achieved some semblance of basic accuracy, and found that the rifle was easy to load, prepare and fire. What I was not expecting was the strange sense of mortality and vulnerability I felt as I stepped into the range. All of the range staff members wore handguns in hip holsters, presumably as a security measure.

But as I stood behind the firing lanes, loading the rounds into the plastic magazine, and saw to my left several men firing off heavy revolvers and 9mm pistols, I realized that by even being in the same room as these people I was trusting them quite a bit. Any of these people could have, if he or she had chosen to, pivoted 180 degrees and begun an impromptu shooting spree, and somehow the fact that there were

armed supervisors did not reassure me any more than the fact that I myself was holding a gun — which was not at all. It reminded me of the time I first stepped behind the wheel of a car as I was learning to drive, realizing that I was entrusting my safety in hope that everyone around me would obey the same arbitrary laws and rules that I promised to obey, and that no one would decide to throw those rules to the wind and potentially end a life, either mine or someone else’s.

Having now shot a gun, I have come away with a few conclusions. Firstly, I enjoyed the experience.

The thundering report of a round being fired, the satisfying kickback the stock of the gun threw into my shoulder, the gradual improvement of my accuracy — all of these were aspects of an overall very satisfying experience. I would even go so far as to say that I would be more than open to returning to the range, to try a different gun or simply to have another go. But what was really reinforced in my mind was the idea that being interested in something, even enjoying the act of studying or learning more about it, does not mean one necessarily thinks that thing is good, or wishes it to be in one’s life.

It was [strange] to be holding the rifle ... knowing that a potentially lethal piece of technology had just been entrusted to me [the way the goggles and earmuffs were].

Austin Zhang COPY EDITOR

As I said earlier, being a wargaming hobbyist means that warfare is something I take interest in, but that does not mean that I think war is a good thing, or that I hope for war to come to me and my homeland.

I found the same held very true for guns. Despite my interest in guns and the role they play in history and in society, and though I understand why many in this nation choose to own guns — be it for protection, collection, family history, sport or merely the exercise of freedom — I still found myself believing that guns, especially semi-automatic, high-caliber rifles like the one I fired, should be more strictly regulated in this nation. I had fun firing rounds out of the AR-15, but there was a part of me that wished that it had not been quite so easy for me to jump in and start rattling off. Part of me wished that I knew that the men who were beside me, who seemed like very kind and ordinary folks enjoying their hobby as I enjoyed mine — one man even came by to offer some tips — had to at least at some point have passed some sort of test or certification before they were given something that could end my life as fast as I put a series of holes through the chest area of my target. To go back briefly to the automobile analogy, the trepidation I felt when first behind the wheel was assuaged in part because I knew that my fellow drivers were licensed or at least carried permits, which meant that they passed tests on driving regulations.

So, as President Barack Obama continues to urge politicians to make background checks, at least, universally required in all places of commerce where guns can be purchased, I support Obama’s urgent appeal, as I did even before I came to know the real heft of a rifle, which grip I preferred or the firing stance that came most naturally to me. Because gun ownership comes with a great deal of responsibility, because merely handling a gun comes with a great deal of responsibility, fitness for that responsibility should be demonstrated and required by law before the firearm is given.

*Information provided by MSNBC, BBC News, GunLaws.com, Deseret News, and SmartGunLaws.org

tphsfalconer.com

feature

the falconer

A15

INFOGRAPHIC BY GRACE BRUTON AND SUMIN HWANG/FALCONER

A16 the falconer

LET’S IT DOWN In which we explore the issues surrounding events and debates in the news.

Abortion Rights In the United States, the body of a woman has become a moral and political battlefield — especially when it concerns the deeply contested issue of abortion rights.

In the 1800s and early 1900s, abortion was illegal in all states, with limited exceptions in some for rape, incest or danger to the mother’s health. Despite its illegality, abortions frequently occurred, administered by licensed physicians and floating, “secret” clinics in major cities.

The pro-abortion rights movement began to pick up speed when Gerri Santoro died in 1964 from a failed illegal abortion procedure and became a symbol of the movement. Women’s health groups pushed for the legalization of abortion throughout the ‘60s, even instructing their workers on how to perform abortions.

In 1970, Hawaii became the first state to decriminalize abortion in any circumstance; New York, Alaska, Washington and Washington, D.C. followed suit. Thirteen other states allowed abortion in exceptional circumstances; 30 states still ruled abortions completely illegal.

But in 1973, the Supreme Court heard the case Roe v. Wade, and with a 7-2 ruling, declared that no state could restrict women’s access to abortions until the third trimester of pregnancy, when the fetus was thought to become viable, or likely to survive outside the mother’s womb.

Even after the decision, federal and state governments have chipped away at abortion rights, most notably in 1992 Supreme Court case Planned Parenthood v. Casey. It upheld the “central holding” in Roe v. Wade, but it changed from the trimester system to the date of fetal viability, whenever it may occur; states could now override a woman’s autonomy.

Since 1995, politicians in the House of Representatives and the Senate had tried to ban the procedure of intact dilation and extraction, colloquially known as a partialbirth abortion, which is used primarily for late-stage abortions. Although bills banning this procedure passed both houses of Congress in the ‘90s by large margins, they were ultimately vetoed by former President Bill Clinton because they included no exceptions for mothers’ health; Congress members said this stipulation would be impossible to include and enforce because the 1973 Supreme Court case Doe v. Bolton defined health as emotional and psychological as well as physical, thereby justifying any motive for abortion, in the reasoning of opponents.

In 2003, President George W. Bush signed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which outlawed the partial-birth abortion procedure. In 2007, the Supreme Court upheld the act in Gonzales v. Carhart, the only time the Supreme Court has upheld a ban on any type of abortion procedure.

States have attempted to ban abortions by amending their constitutions, though none have done so. In 2015, Kansas banned a common second-trimester abortion procedure called dilation and evacuation, and as of 2015, 24 states require a counseling and delay period before going through with an abortion; six states require in-person counseling.

Although the nation has taken steps reversing abortion rights since the Roe v. Wade ruling, a majority of Americans now identify themselves as pro-choice, according to a 2015 Gallup poll.

by Maya Rao

feature

one in 2,616

january 15, 2016

David Heller (12) channels his ADHD into various hobbies, like yo-yoing, while still finding time to take college courses.

When David Heller (12) is not in class at TPHS, he can be often found at Palomar or Mira Costa College learning German or practicing yo-yo tricks outside his English 100 class.

Despite never having taken an AP class or test in his high school career, half of which he spent at Canyon Crest Academy, Heller has already amassed 16 college credits solely from taking off-campus classes at local junior colleges. David’s two brothers, Steven Heller (12), his fraternal twin, and George Heller (12), his adopted brother, have taken many off-campus classes as well. “[Sending] three teenagers in the same grade to college is expensive,” Heller said. “We’re doing everything we can to cut costs.”

This more flexible academic schedule allows Heller to balance his time in the classroom with Boy Scouts and his hobbies, including trading cars and yo-yoing, which Heller picked up from a fellow Boy Scout in April 2015. “[When I first saw someone do it], I thought yo-yoing was super cool,” Heller said. “I knew one day I wanted to do competition. It finally dawned on me how to [get the yo-yo to come back to me] and gave me motivation to just keep learning. Now I’m at a point where I’m using $150 yo-yos and doing tricks that look really insane.”

While Heller still regards himself as a yo-yo novice, he enjoys yo-yoing because it gives him an “outlet” for the “skittishness” that comes with ADHD and keeps his brothers from finding him too “annoying.”

In fact, Heller partially attributes most of his interests and hobbies to his ADHD. “I go through every day with 57 TVs playing in my head,” Heller said. “Even with medication I’m still looking at 10 different things at once. If I’m in a room talking to someone, I’m looking at them, and I’m also looking at the food in the corner ... thinking about why I’m not yo-yoing, thinking about everything at once ... It’s something you get with a brain that won’t stop thinking.”

As a strong advocate for mental health, Heller has written many college essays on ADHD and recognizes that, at times, there are upsides to living with ADHD. “When I’m out with friends or just chilling, it can be really fun because I end up getting these random creative outbursts like, ‘Today I’ll do calligraphy,’ which I’ve gotten on Reddit’s [front page for] and gotten over 300,000 notes on Tumblr for,” Heller said.

But that’s not all that sets Heller apart from the average teenager.

For Heller, adulthood essentially commenced at age seven, when his father had a hemorrhagic stroke. A second stroke two years later left his father partially paralyzed. So while other kids spent their afternoons at sports practice, Heller and his brothers spent their time at home, taking care of their father and grandparents.

“I feed my grandpa and have to blend up his food now ... [I am doing] those sort of tasks that most teenagers don’t end up doing,” Heller said.

Having these responsibilities, Heller said, has made him very independent. Chores as simple as grocery shopping to tasks as complex as filing taxes have become regular parts of his life.

“I’m being an adult without really being an adult,” Heller said. “I’ve learned a lot like that … Most kids that do Boy Scouts have a dad to go with them on camping trips. We didn’t have that.”

Forced to share adult responsibilities at an early age, Heller said that his relationships with his brothers are like relationships between “coworkers” in addition to the brotherly bonds. Still, they have maintained a closeness throughout their lives.

“We’ve all been a team since we were young,” Heller said. “If one of us was getting bullied, we would step up for each other. We would always try to look out for each other.”

Heller, the self-proclaimed “independent” and “artsy, random yo-yo kid” will attend Baylor University this fall -- alongside his two brothers -and will major in business, while his brothers will each study other areas.

Heller will most likely have a yo-yo in hand, pursuing whatever new hobby happens to attract his attention.

by Amanda Chen

PHOTO BY TRAVIS FELTHAUS/FALCONER

ENTERTAINMENT

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North County has always been home to a vibrant music scene that has spawned acts that have gone on to fame and fortune.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PAPER DAYS

PHOTO COURTESY OF AURÉ

Auré hARDCORE rOCK + pOP pUNK

PAPER DAYS CALIFORNIA DREAM ROCK

At 12:25 p.m. on a Sunday, guitarist Jordan Dinerman (10) lugs his equipment to the front door of a house and rings the doorbell a few times before being greeted by drummer Jensen Cameron (12). With hair still wet from a shower and still groggy from a nap, Cameron opens up the garage and the other members of Auré file in, only a few minutes late for their scheduled noon practice.

A casual familiarity and friendship has been a part of the band ever since Dinerman and Cameron met two years ago.

“I was just walking through the [TPHS] quad, and Jensen was wearing a Sleeping With Sirens t-shirt,” Dinerman said. “I commented on it, and [he said], ‘Well, I play drums, if you want to start something.’”

With a shared interest in punk rock and hardcore music, the two eventually teamed up with bassist John Bae (11), guitarist Alex Alvarez and vocalist Rebecca Gurney to form Auré. According to Dinerman, they try to mix hardcore rock with pop punk to create a new sound.

Their hard work seems to have paid off: Auré is booked for its first show on Jan. 29 at local music venue SOMA. Because of the upcoming show, Dinerman said their main focus is running through the setlist — the other side of Auré really comes out after practice.

“Sometimes, we’ll mess around,” Dinerman said. “I get on drums, Jensen will be vocals and John, who’s right-handed, will [use my lefthanded guitar].”

After the SOMA performance, the band members plan to keep playing shows and “try to get a following,” and start touring. But the real thrill to Dinerman, who only had the opportunity to start a band when he moved to the U.S. from Panama in 2014, is the idea of playing music with friends.

“When you’re in a garage and you’ve got all the amps turned up really loud, you get a little rush.” Dinerman said.

Guitarist and vocalist Niko Sitaras and his band Paper Days went “booking crazy” in 2015, at one time playing shows nearly every other day. They released their singles “Kind Guidance” in December and “Creature” in March, and completed their EP, Fun for Family & Friends.

“We’ve opened up for Mac Demarco [and] played at the Sun God Music Festival,” Sitaras said. “We even played 15 shows a month at one point.”

But Paper Days has more humble beginnings. Sitaras met drummer Jordan Graham in 2013 at Carlsbad High School, where they discovered common interests over a band reference on Graham’s binder.

“We decided that we were going to do Battle of the Bands,” Graham said. “We booked our first show a month after, and we had to write eight songs in a month.”

By 2014, Paper Days was fully formed, and now includes guitarist Nate Blake and bassist Xander Sitaras. In their “jam room” at Niko’s house, they have written five currently-released songs, available on iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and elsewhere.

“Sometimes Niko will play a riff and then we’ll start playing off of that,” Graham said. “We’ll go through ideas and throw them away, and just start something new until we’re satisfied.”

According to Niko, when it comes to the writing process, the band members are “extreme perfectionists” and “argue a lot, but in the best of ways.” They aren’t afraid to drop songs or ideas completely if they feel like they don’t work.

Paper Days plays with “California dreamy beach rock” influences, but Niko and Graham find it difficult to place a label on their genre. Mostly, they describe themselves with the name of their EP: Fun for Family and Friends. “[We want our music to] make other people feel the way we do because we’re all so passionate,” Graham said. “We want to make people feel good and feel happy.”

Yet, it is not just playing shows and making a name for themselves that motivates the musicians of Paper Days. As Niko said, it is the sheer love of music, the “tingle up your spine, the way you lose yourself.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BLUES AND GREYS

PHOTO BY ERIC CUNNINGHAM/FALCONER

The Blues AND Greys Dark Pop IMPERIAL Alternative Rock Vocalist Lindsey Waldon draws lyrical inspiration from reading — she likes to name her songs after books. According to keyboard player Isabel Huynh, a Canyon Crest Academy graduate, The Blues and Greys also writes dark pop songs about relationships, love and friends.

Based in Santa Barbara, The Blues and Greys have performed locally throughout the years, as well as with bands like Of Monsters and Men, Banks and Walk the Moon. And though Huynh is relatively new to the band, having joined only a few months ago, she already feels at home.

“Since I got to know the band, I noticed that they’ve all known each other for a really long time,” Huynh said. “It really helps with making music with each other.

We all work together really well.”

Along with Huynh and Waldon, guitarist Zach Wallace, bassist Michael Million and drummer Joey McDurmott come together every week to practice and compose.

Before Huynh joined the Blues and Greys, the band’s music had more of a guitar emphasis, but they recently took out two guitarists and are changing their musical direction.

“At every show, as the keyboard player, I can mix it up a little bit,” Huynh said.

“We’re actually starting to [have] a more keyboard sound [in our music].”

On Jan. 23, they will play with Family Band and Xylo at Santa Barbara venue Velvet Jones. In 2015, the Blues and Greys played around 20 shows, but are planning to cut down for 2016, according to Huynh.

“We aren’t playing as much as we did last year just because we want to start releasing more music, rather than having a stage presence,” Huynh said.

To Huynh, playing shows for an audience and being a creative part of the Blues and the Greys is a fun, rewarding project for her to do while in school.

When drummer Harry Holcomb (12) took up with his band membersto-be, he hardly knew any of them. Now, two years later, the musicians of Imperial are writing their own music, playing shows and even looking to branch off from their instructor and become more independent.

Imperial was brought together by the Rockademy, a company that provides music lessons and helps musicians find band members suited for each other. Holcomb, singer Gus Patrick (11), bassist Melanie Epstein (11) and guitarist Spencer Boat (11) mostly play alternative rock. Although they haven’t created much original music, they are planning to do so soon. “[At practice], we warm up with a song, then brainstorm what we want to do,” Holcomb said. “We’re going to start writing more originals.”

Being with Imperial over the years, Holcomb has seen the band improve in more aspects than just cooperation and cohesion.

“I’ve just improved from practicing with [the band],” Holcomb said.

“Now I know how to better pick up what they’re playing, and I know what kind of music to play with them. We feed off each other and help each other get a sense for what is right.”

To Holcomb, who had another band before joining Imperial, being with a group is simply to make music and “have a good time.”

“My drum teacher used an analogy: If you’re a soccer player, playing by yourself is not as fun as playing with a team,” Holcomb said. “A band is like a team — you get to practice and play shows, which are like games.”

As Imperial continues performing gigs at local venues and writing songs, Holcomb said it will only bring them ever closer as a group and make them even better musicians.

STORIES WRITTEN BY LILY NILIPOUR

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entertainment

I was first exposed to Korean food when I was around 7 years old. I didn’t try any, but I watched it being made on episodes of a Korean television series called “Dae Jang Geum” — the English translation of which is “Jewel in the Palace.” The historical drama told the true story of an apprentice cook in the royal kitchen who went on to become the first female royal court physician. While I didn’t understand much of the drama, my mouth watered when scenes with Korean dishes came on. And so, I was especially excited to review Dae Jang Keum, a Korean restaurant with the same name as the television series.

But when we went in for lunch, the festive holiday wreaths and advertisements with famous Korean celebrities hanging on the walls did not do much to remind me of the television series. A waitress led my party to a booth and immediately set down tea cups and a kettle of hot barley tea on the table. While we were waiting, I heard Korean pop and Adele’s songs playing in the background. The restaurant smelled like barbecue, which

comprises half of their according to my Korean Jang Keum’s barbecue slightly more expensive restaurants’.

menu, but friend, Dae dishes are than other

Although it may come as a surprise, Korean food is much more than just barbecue. As much as I enjoy consuming inordinate amounts of marinated meat, I was eager to try another side of the cuisine.

I headed over to Chon Ju Jip, a small Korean restaurant on Convoy Street, on a rainy Tuesday evening.

Although it was relatively late and the weather was dismal, the plaza was still jam-packed with cars.

As I entered the restaurant, servers greeted me warmly, and it immediately felt like I was walking into somebody’s home — the place is small, cozy and intimate.

After I was seated, the servers brought barley tea to the table, which, much to the amusement of my Korean friends, I initially mistook for “strange yellow rice water” because of its strong rice aftertaste.

I first sampled the various complimentary dishes that seem characteristic of all Korean restaurants. There were around eight or nine small plates that contained kimchi, anchovies, pickled vegetables, tofu, potatoes in syrup and apples slices in a mayonnaise-like sauce,

among others things, all of which I enjoyed quite a bit.

The small dishes disappeared within minutes. The very instant that the servers heard chopsticks hit the plate, signaling the end of a meal, they rushed to replenish the dishes — in the same the way my own mother continually puts more food than I can eat on my plate at the dinner table.

My order, the Dolsot Bibimpap ($8.99), was the first to arrive. It was a neatly arranged mixture of spinach, squash, shrimp, bean sprouts, cucumbers, squid, baby octopus, scallops and small mussels on top of rice and steaming in a hot stone pot.

There’s a good amount of spicy red pepper paste in it, so when I mixed up all the contents in my bowl, everything turned red. For my first bite of bibimbap, which was really hot, both temperaturewise and in spiciness, the flavors and textures

Surprisingly, within five minutes, the rest of the food arrived. First was the appetizer, the Gomandu ($7): hot, savory and crispy pan-fried pork dumplings that I enjoyed.

Next, my main entree, the Dolsot Bibimbap ($10), arrived on a large, steaming hot plate. Lettuce, bean sprouts, carrots, mushrooms and

of the rice and cucumbers went really well together. At one point in the meal, I picked up a baby octopus with my chopsticks, remarked on how cute it was, and proceeded to eat it without mercy. Although I enjoy spicy foods, my tolerance for them wasn’t as high as I thought — I teared up and became a sniffling mess. The meal came with a hot white soup with chopped green onion on top. It was somewhat bland, but it also helped refresh my tastebuds.

My friend’s order of Bulgogi over glass noodles ($7.99) was served with purple rice in a small stone pot. The glass noodles were tasty, though I had trouble picking them up with my mediocre chopstick skills. I recommend getting this dish if you don’t want something spicy.

Meals in Korea automatically come with sides, which were delivered to our table last. We arranged the nine different sides in the middle of our table: roasted green laver with sesame, spinach, broccoli, bean sprouts, radish kimchi, cabbage kimchi, cucumber with shrimp, pickled radish with onions and

beef covered a pillow of white rice. A steamed egg with seaweed garnish, which I found difficult to maneuver with chopsticks alone, topped off the entire dish. I had expected the bibimbap to come in a stone bowl, rather than on a plate, as I have been told it usually does, to more effectively preserve heat. It took a while for me to finish eating, so the vegetables and meat quickly got cold while the rice adjacent to the plate burned, hardened and became unpalatable. Overall, the dish was rather dry and the vegetableto-meat ratio was too high for my liking; luckily the barley tea was tasty and plentiful.

I also tried some of the Bulgogi ($10), marinated beef with rice, which

january 15, 2016

PHOTOS BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

jalapeños, and some kind of root that I now know is called gosari in Korean.

The cold temperature of the chilled sides served well to cool down my mouth during the meal.

By the time I was full, I still had half my bowl left, and around 70 percent of the sides were left uneaten.

Even if my appetite may be smaller than the average person, the portions served were indeed filling.

The authentic Korean food at Dae Jang Keum is well worth the reasonable prices. The restaurant is truly a jewel in Convoy, and I will definitely be back to try their barbecue.

by Alice Qu

unlike my own dish, was sweet, tender and evenly heated.

I left the restaurant feeling extremely full and somewhat satisfied after finishing off the last of the small dishes. Our attentive servers cheerfully and collectively wished us a good night.

PHOTOS BY AVERY SPICKER/FALCONER

While my food that night was far from perfect, Chon Ju Jip’s atmosphere and stellar service helped make up for what they lacked. It’s a pleasant restaurant, though not outstanding.

I have a greater appreciation and understanding of Korean food now, but I think that, in the future, I’ll just stick to the barbecue.

by Amanda Chen

tphsfalconer.com

entertainment

the falconer

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“MUSTANG” has unbreakable spirit Five high-spirited sisters battle against Turkey’s regressive cult of purity, forcibly-arranged marriages, and the oppression and imprisonment of women by the patriarchy in the emotional movie “Mustang.”

“Mustang” is a roller-coaster of a movie, soaring to the top with brief moments of lightheartedness and plummeting to the bottom, along with viewers’ hearts, at the dark plight of the characters.

The movie is set in Turkey and revolves around five sisters, modern Turkish girls bubbling with vivacity: Sonay (İlayda Akdoğan), Selma (Tuğba Sunguroğlu), Ece (Elit İşcan), Nur (Doğa Doğuşlu) and the youngest, Lale (Güneş Şensoy).

It opens with the girls walking home along the beach after school lets out for the summer.

They stop and dive into the water, playing games in the ocean — along with some boys. But when the sisters’ grandmother (Nihal Koldaş) finds out about the incident from a conservative neighbor, the sisters’ imprisonment begins. Uncle Erol (Ayberk Pekcan) comes to the house to serve as the sisters’ sinister moral policeman. Gates are locked, phones are confiscated, virginity tests are administered.

But the sisters’ real crime is not inappropriate conduct with boys; it is being independent, spirited girls in a patriarchal society. That independence is dangerous to the very culture in which they live, and the men in “Mustang” will do anything to kill the girls’ spirits.

First, the house is turned into a “wife factory,” where the sisters learn “useful” skills like cooking and cleaning. Then the sisters are forced into shapeless, “modest” clothing instead of the shorts and dresses they are accustomed to wearing. And after the girls are caught sneaking out, bars appear over the windows. Their house becomes a figurative and literal jail.

The imprisonment of the girls, the arranged marriages, the puritanical obsession with preserving the sisters’ virginity is something I have seen far too often, particularly in India. My whole family is from India, a country where conservative ideas about sexuality and marriage rule; women — girls — suffer the same plight as the five sisters in “Mustang.” Although the movie is set in Turkey, it tells the story of so many women around the world.

And indeed, the troop of young actresses does a remarkably good job of accurately portraying their characters. These actresses, who likely have not experienced the kind of profound sorrow and hardship that define the five sisters, convey, with a brief frown, a flash of the eyes and the ghost of a smile, millions of roiling emotions. It is rare to find one actress, let alone five young ones, who are capable of flitting between anger and fear and happiness.

Because even amid the harshness of their lives, there is a soft beauty in the film — Sonay’s young, not-so-innocent love, Ece’s wild personality and the tight bond the sisters share. And throughout “Mustang,” there is one bright spark that lights up the movie: Lale.

Lale is fearless, cunning, outspoken. In the first few scenes of the movie, she sets a chair on fire and verbally assaults a woman. These characteristics run so contrary to her age that Lale’s unrelenting confidence seems a little implausible; juxtaposed against the other more conformist sisters, however, we cannot help but admire her. Lale never once accepts fate as something she cannot change. Şensoy shows little sadness, which is a little unbelievable when Lale’s life is mainly recurring tragedies, but Şensoy does — masterfully — show us, in those brief moments of happiness, an unabashed, childlike joy.

As the sisters are married off one by one, some unhappily forced into a union, some allowed a modicum of choice, Lale never loses her hope; she lets nothing quash her spirit.

While the movie is originally in Turkish, watching it with English subtitles still conveys a universal theme: unbreakable spirit. Even though the girls are imprisoned, barred from attending school, married off against their will to older men they hardly know, the girls never lose their spirits, and therefore never allow any person to truly cow them.

“Mustang,” though it is a heart-wrenching social commentary on rural Turkish life, is also a story about girls who are powerful in their own ways. It exposes the cult of purity evident in many countries around the world and explores the dynamics of families and marriages. And though the movie brought me to the brink of tears many times, its hopeful, bittersweet endnote left me with a smile as big as Lale’s.

by Maya Rao PHOTOS COURTESY OF COHEN MEDIA GROUP

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january 15, 2016

IN MEMORIAM

david bowie 1947 – 2016 David Bowie is widely known not only for being a multi-faceted and talented musician and creative force, but also for bending gender boundaries and truly embodying glam rock. From his rise to fame with “Space Oddity” in 1969 to his death from liver cancer on Jan. 10, Bowie sold an estimated 140 million albums. On Jan. 17, 1996, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. With profound lyrics and a unique vocal style, Bowie revolutionized music by encouraging and inspiring fellow musicians and others to push artistic boundaries and challenge stereotypes. Bowie’s image continues to inspire individualism and tolerance today.

- Caroline Rutten and Irene Yu Falconer Entertainment Editors PHOTO COURTESY OF ESQUIRE MAGAZINE

A band known for annoyingly long song titles and interjectory punctuation, Panic! At the Disco has covered genres from baroque pop to classic rock, but has never had a signature sound – until Death of a Bachelor. The pop rock band’s fifth studio album is entirely written and recorded by lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Brendon Urie.

In an interview with Upset Magazine, Urie described the album as “Sinatra-esque with a beat that sounds like Beyonce’s ‘Drunk in Love,’” and I wholeheartedly agree. It starts with “Victorious,” an upbeat anthem that encompasses Urie’s seize-the-day attitude. The accompanying music video shows Urie accomplishing small feats like conquering the urge to call his ex-girlfriend and helping an old lady cross the street. He celebrates each with champagne and oversized checks, all to the catchy chanting of “tonight we are victorious, champagne pouring over us.”

“Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time” continues the rushed feeling of excessive partying, but this time with “champagne, cocaine [and] gasoline.” Equally as radio-friendly as “Victorious,” the only difference is that while “Victorious” sounds purely like something of Urie’s creation, “Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time” makes me rack my brain trying to figure out where I’ve heard it before. Maybe it’s the sampling from new wave band The B-52’s “Rock Lobster” or the first verse, which has a rhythm that reminds me of Ed Sheeran’s “Don’t,” but the only part of the song that sounds like Panic! At the Disco’s usual sound is the bridge, when Urie jokingly sings “I’m not as think as you drunk I am.”

The departure of percussionist Spencer Smith in April 2015 has allowed Urie to bring a more personal meaning to the album, which is heavily reflected in the third track, “Hallelujah.” Sounding like an amped up version of a Sam Smith song, “Hallelujah” refers directly to infidelity, but also displays Urie’s gratitude for the band’s fans. Through this song, Urie has proven that he doesn’t write sins or tragedies – but resonating lyrics that are personal and relatable.

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Unfortunately, “L.A. Devotee” doesn’t follow the same impressive trend. There’s nothing specifically wrong with it, but for me, it sounds like a combination of a song from a teen movie soundtrack and any alternative rock song ever written.

“Emperor’s New Clothes” is by far my least favorite track; it reminds me too much of Halloween, and the music video doesn’t help.

Picking up where the “This Is Gospel” music

video leaves off, the video depicts Urie running through the light then falling into hell. There, he transforms into a demon and is accompanied by singing skulls.

At this point, I thought the album was on a steady decline – but then I heard the title track, “Death of a Bachelor,” which is heavily reminiscent of smoky piano lounges and Frank Sinatra. Showcasing Urie’s vocal ability and the diversity of the band’s sound, “Death of a Bachelor” is about, well, the death of Urie as a bachelor and his 2013 marriage to wife Sarah Orzechowski. The instrumental breaks sound modern while the overall melody and production sound classic, all together creating a fluid track that ultimately advances the band’s sound.

While some of the tracks on Death of a Bachelor are borderline repetitive, the band’s pop-tinged alternative rock sound is cemented throughout the album with memorable melodies and polished rhythms. So, if you’ve already preordered the album, don’t Panic! – I think it’s their best one yet.

by Irene Yu

PHOTO COURTESY OF FUELED BY RAMEN

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january 15, 2016

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SPORTS

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Falcons lance Bishop’s Knights

by Lily Nilipour SPORTS EDITOR

Boys soccer (11-2-0) crushed The Bishop’s School (3-4-0) 5-0 on Jan. 11 at TPHS, with a strong early offense and stable defense throughout.

The Falcons began with the ball, but the two teams split possession fairly evenly for the first few minutes of the game. Only three minutes in, a Bishop’s free kick hit the top post of the goal and nearly went in, missing a chance to score an early lead. According to TPHS head coach Andy Hargreaves, if the Knights had scored then, it would have been a “different game.” The goal would have “changed the dynamic,” forward Youngho Yun (12) said.

“If we were put on the defensive that early, it [would’ve been] an uphill climb from the start,” Yun said.

“That was something that we were lucky not to Paul Bartlett ������� have gone through.”

After more backand-forth between the Falcons and Knights, as well as a run by center midfielder Greg Matus (12) down the center of the field, left midfielder Simon Dinkin (12) scored the first goal within six minutes of the game.

Bishop’s was unable to recuperate afterward, constantly making offensive attempts but being pushed out of bounds

by Falcon defenders. Although they were rewarded with a free kick dangerously close to the goal, the Knights failed to capitalize on the opportunity.

A consecutive free kick for the Falcons gave way to a long run by Dinkin down the side of the field. An own goal was scored by a Bishop’s player, giving TPHS a lead of 2-0 at 10 minutes. According to forward Reagan Sherlock (11), the goals allowed

the players to feel “comfortable” early in the game and “settle in.”

Still, the Falcons pressed relentlessly against the Knights, not allowing them any chance to advance offensively. With the help of an impeccable passing formation, Sherlock scored the third goal of the night only two minutes after the last.

“Simon Dinkin played me a good ball in the box, and I just took my first touch past the defender and looked up and saw where the goal was,” Sherlock said. “Then I just hit the ball for placement, and it went in off the far post.”

Throughout the next part of the half, both teams alternated possession of the ball quickly, with Bishop’s often nearing the TPHS endline, but losing the ball to superior defense before a goal could be scored. Both teams, Bishop’s especially, had opportunities to score, but could not follow through due to lack of control of the ball.

At 25 minutes, another series of exceptional passing by the Falcons led to a fourth goal by Matus.

The rest of the half carried on indecisively, ending with a 4-0 lead for the Falcons. “[An early lead] definitely helped our momentum,” Yun said. “It affected the other team because it allowed us to control the game early on, and that really helped us in the second half.”

Bishop’s began with the ball in the second half, but neither team could successfully break through the others’ defense. Goalie Paul Bartlett (10) made three saves early in the half.

“I just wanted to keep a clean sheet,” Bartlett said. “I wasn’t under constant fire, and it allowed me to relax a little bit more so that when the time came, I was able to make the right play.”

Forward Tyler Weinrich (10) scored the fifth goal 29 minutes into the second half

We’re going to be working on playing at the highest level we can every time. If we do, no one can really stop us.

after a period of close goal openings for both sides. Throughout the rest of the game, Bishop’s was not able to take advantage of their offensive positions, losing control of the ball and even receiving a yellow card with three minutes left in the game. The Falcons shut down the Knights, bringing the score to a final 5-0.

According to Sherlock, both teams were evenly matched, but Bishop’s lacked some key elements that cost them the game.

“What made the difference in the game was our early goals and [that] they were poor defensively,” Sherlock said. “What allowed us to keep them to no goals was a great defensive shape — the defense played an amazing game.”

Hargreaves said the Falcons have more to work on, including ball movement, but they were strong and “wanted to win.”

“We’re going to be working on playing at the highest level we can every time,” Bartlett said. “If we do, no one can really stop us.”

The Falcons played La Costa Canyon High School at TPHS on Jan. 13 after the Falconer went to press, and will play at San Dieguito Academy today at 5 p.m.

PHOTOS BY ANTON SCHUH/FALCONER

GET AHEAD[ER]: Simon Dinkin (11) fights with a Bishop’s player to head the ball (TOP).

Michael Stewart (10) watches his free kick as both teams scramble for possession of the ball (CENTER). Greg Matus (9) dribbles the ball toward the goal, looking for a fellow Falcon to pass to (ABOVE).

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january 15, 2016

Boys basketball outlasts Mission Hills

by Sumin Hwang STAFF WRITER

Boys basketball (12-3) defeated Mission Hills High School (5-10) 60-52 on Jan. 10 at TPHS. The Falcons felt confident about their chances against Mission Hills and “just needed to be aggressive and do what [they do best],” head coach John Olive said.

TPHS started with the ball, and guard Hayden Helfrich (11) scored the first twopointer of the game. Throughout the first quarter, both Mission Hills and TPHS made multiple baskets; the quarter ended 16-13 in favor of Mission Hills.

“After a 10-day lay off we came out a little rusty,” Falcon center Jake Gilliam (11) said. “I think we needed to play harder and be sharper from the opening tip.”

During the second quarter, there was a momentum shift due to repeated fouls by the Huskies, giving the Falcons possession of the ball and additional scores from free throws. There was also constant back-andforth scoring during the quarter. After one more foul by Mission Hills in the last minutes of the quarter, the first half ended close, with Mission Hills still in the lead, 28-27.

The Falcons started out strong in the third quarter as guard Dylan Bona (12) made two consecutive baskets to pull them into the lead at 31-30.

“Individually I think I played pretty well, scoring 9 baskets in five minutes during the third quarter,” Bona said. “I owe that to my team because they find me when I’m open.”

Near the end of the quarter, Mission Hills fouled twice more, which resulted in four more points for TPHS. By the end of the quarter, the Falcons were holding onto the lead at 43-40.

“Helfrich hit big shots and that kept the momentum in our favor, during the third quarter especially,” Bona said. “Coming out of halftime we came out fast, and that’s what set us up for the rest of the game.”

In the final quarter, TPHS held a steady lead ahead of Mission Hills with multiple layups from Gilliam and two pointers from Helfrich and Ethan Esposito (11). After a tight last few minutes, with baskets made by both teams, the game ended with a final score of 60-52 in favor of the Falcons.

“I was surprised how close it was and I have to give Mission Hills credit on how hard they played,” Gilliam said. “But I’m excited for the rest of the season, and excited to keep getting better with the team.”

PHOTO BY ALDERIK VAN DER HEYDE/FALCONER

HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST [JUMP] SHOT: Hayden Helfrich (12) dribbles the ball into the three-point line to bypass a Huskies defender. The Falcons came out on top, winning 60-52 after a tense game with numerous fouls by Mission Hills.

According to Helfrich, the Falcons played well, but “could improve on many aspects of the game.”

“We can improve our ball handling and shooting,” Helfrich said. “There were a lot of momentum shifts, but it just comes down

to execution and having poise in situations like that.”

The Falcons beat Sweetwater High School 79-45 on Jan. 9, and will play La Costa Canyon High School today at 7 p.m. at LCC.

Seniors dominate at annual Powderpuff game

by Anvitha Soordelu STAFF WRITER

One of two senior Powderpuff teams won on Jan. 11, beating the other senior team in the final game, 6-0.

“In the last game, we really focused on our defense and they couldn’t score on us,” winning team member Savvy Simo (12) said. “We practiced a lot of … special trick plays [which] gave us an advantage.”

The games were organized by the senior class council and TPHS finance director Patricia Hargraves, according to ASB adviser Dawn Durkot. Two teams of junior girls and two teams of senior girls were assembled from all who signed up in the student store. Each team was matched up against the other three squads, and the championship game ended up being a match-up between the senior teams.

“We had three practices within the past week, and during that time we worked on plays and strategies,” camo team member Dani Jackel (12) said.

Despite only practicing a few times, the players enjoyed competing with each other.

“I think we did really well as a team,” camo team member Nicole Morris (12) said. “We won a few more games than we thought we would.”

According to Durkot, the games were “pretty intense,” especially the last game between the two senior teams. Jackel said the energy on the field was “very positive.”

“We were all super pumped up to play, and we really played well as a team,” Simo said. “Everyone contributed to the win.”

For some seniors, the Powderpuff games were about more than just winning.

“This is like our last hurrah,” Morris said. “It was so much fun to play with all [of] these girls [that] we grew up with for four years.”

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

POWDERPUFF GIRLS: Ines Ramirez (11) runs down the field past defenders from the camo senior team to eventually score a touchdown for the juniors. Junior coach Scotty Gange reacted wildly on the sideline to Ramirez’s scoring drive.

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ONE FAN TEAM Fantasy sports have evolved significantly since the early days of manual drafts, hand scoring and hardcore research.

Thirty years ago, Madeline Javalet and her fantasy league cohorts scoured an NFL handbook for stats and injury reports to draft players, then painstakingly calculated weekly scores by hand. Nowadays, technology has revolutionized fantasy sports, but Javalet’s Solana Beach Fantasy Football League still kicks it old school, using a physical draftboard to score and play.

“People think fantasy’s new — for me, it’s been going on for 30 years,” Javelet said. “People that are just starting, they don’t have to do research.

It used to be we had to look in the preseason. This was pre-computers. You could say it’s like how different [it would be] if you were an accountant and you had to keep track of everything ... and you don’t even know if you’re making a mistake when it comes time to do taxes, as opposed to: I’m on a computer and I just pressed a button and my taxes are done.”

To play fantasy sports, participants each draft a team of players: a quarterback, a kicker, a defensive player, two runningbacks, two to three receivers, depending upon the league, and a flexible player, according to Javalet. Scores, calculated through phone apps or websites, are based on players’ real-life performances during weekly NFL games.

Playing fantasy sports was much more complicated back in the day, Javalet said, but her Solana Beach league has resolutely continued its tradition. Make no mistake though, Javalet is in three other leagues that play through online resources.

“Phones have changed it,” Javalet said. “We’ll be playing golf ... and all the guys will be checking their fantasy football team or checking DraftKings.”

DraftKings, established in 2012, is a daily fantasy provider that allows users to enter in daily or weekly games. Unlike traditional fantasy football, users pay for each game and select a different team of players each time; if their team performs better than the other competitors’ teams, they win money.

In a recent lawsuit by New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman, DraftKings and rival site Jakob Travis FanDuel were accused of offering illegal gambling ������� services. For a brief period, the companies were shut down, and, on Dec. 31, Schneiderman filed a new complaint seeking the return of all the money made in New York by the two companies. The issue is under review by the appeals court.

Pam Kalinoski, a 5-year fantasy football participant, tried DraftKings for a week.

“I found it fascinating in the sense that you felt there was a potential for you to win a lot of money,” Kalinoski said. “It seemed almost too good to be true, in a way.”

And it really may be too good to be true; a survey by gaming sector researcher Eilers Research, found that 70 percent of players had broken even or lost their money on their total games in 2015. Kalinoski didn’t find much success or fulfillment in her brief stint with daily fantasy, either.

“There was a lot more pressure [from] … the potential to win from your investment or your choices,” Kalinoski said. “The hardest part with any of these things is you’re trying to navigate something to win. And so, it reflects back on your choices. For me it was one more added piece to invest all of this time and energy into, and then at the same time there was a greater disappointment with that [if you didn’t win].”

For Jakob Travis (11), daily fantasy is not particularly appealing.

Fantasy football is just “fun” and an “easy way to keep up with what’s going on in the NFL.”

“You’re more responsible for setting your lineup and you have more incentive to watch the games,” Travis said. “It’s just more fun when you play with friends, win or lose … It’s a great way to socialize and enjoy football.”

Travis and his friends do place bets on their fantasy league teams, but it’s nothing serious. After all, fantasy football is “just a game.”

“I just play because my friends invited me to their league,” Travis said.

“For a lot of people I know, the only reason they watch football is because of their fantasy team because they want to have a good team for next year.”

Javalet has witnessed that kind of intensity in her years of playing fantasy football, too. The RedZone, a special game-day-only subscription TV channel operated by the NFL Network, is used by particularly devoted fantasy players, Javalet said.

“Every time a team is about to score, which means they’re within the 20-yard-line or closer, it flashes immediately to that,” Javalet said.

“Sometimes if they have a lot of games, because games are either 10 in the morning or 1 in the afternoon, all of a sudden it’ll be split-screen because there are two teams that are in the RedZone and people will be going, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m in a bunch of leagues.’ It’s addicting. I’ve seen the RedZone when there are four screens. It’s not even watching a game at that point.”

Even before the RedZone was created in 2009, Javalet noted the effect of fantasy football on watching football games.

“It totally detracts from football,” Javalet said.

“The average NFL player probably plays three years, and they’re getting seriously injured. People are watching [for] fantasy football and they’re just dehumanizing it. They’re going ‘Oh no, Adrian Peterson [is out]’ — the guy just tore his ACL or something, and they’re not even feeling bad about it because it’s all about fantasy. I don’t like that part of it.”

Travis is aware of the problem but not particularly concerned about it.

“It’s more just like a video game,” Travis said. ”You have a player and if he gets injured, you replace him and you’re done with him. If he’s doing well, you like him; if he’s doing terrible, you drop him. But you aren’t really doing that to their face. If you had a face-to-face relationship with someone … then that would be horrible.

But I think because it’s just a game, it’s got to be true to the game. It’s just a whole bunch of numbers that add up into a whole bunch of different scores.”

Fantasy football has spawned profound interest and “expertise” in all things NFL since its inception. Javalet can “tell you the quarterback of every team in the NFL, at least their starting running back, maybe their backup.”

And though fantasy sports may no longer require the intense research of the old days, three-year player Marcus Gay (11) said fantasy definitely requires “a lot of skills.”

“The most important thing is how well you draft … It’s just about which player to pick, and you have to have a really good sense of your player’s opponents and how well they’ve been playing recently, so you know how to play and who not to play,” Gay said.

Perhaps technology has diluted the skill required to win in fantasy sports, and maybe the rise of daily fantasy sites has also sullied the purity of the old school game, but drafting players manually and calculating scores on paper or tapping on phones and betting online both demonstrate the staying power of fantasy football — an American cultural phenomenon that’s here to stay.

It’s more just like a video game. You have a player and if he gets injured, you replace him ... it’s just a whole bunch of numbers that add up into a whole bunch of different scores.

by Anna Lee and Austin Zhang

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hayley shumway powderpuff football jan. 11, 8:02:35 p.m.

camera: canon eos 5d mark iii lens: canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM iso: 1600 exp: 1/400 seconds f/stop: f/2.8 by grace bruton

january 15, 2016

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FALCON TRIES

HIP-HOP DANCE

by Maya Rao

OPINION EDITOR

Opinion editor and notoriously bad dancer Maya Rao (12) takes a step out of her comfort zone to join a beginner’s hip-hop dance class.

I stood outside the doors of the Culture Shock Dance Center at 5:00 p.m. on a Tuesday evening, paralyzed with terror.

I am not even close to what you would call a natural dancer — I am awkward, clumsy and generally graceless in everything I do, which usually leads me to hide in the corner of the room during any school dance until my friends force me onto the dance floor under threats of bodily harm. Obviously, because the universe hates me, the evil news editor Tasia Mochernak suggested I do hip-hop, which led to clamors of approval from the Falconer staff and left me standing outside Culture Shock.

With much trepidation, I had signed up for Hip-Hop Level 1, Culture Shock’s beginner class, but was now actually too scared to enter. It took the gradual freezing of every one of my limbs from the cold outside to get me to walk through the doors.

I sat on a bench mashing my fingers together until my photographer, feature editor Grace Bruton, walked in. In an irritatingly nonplussed tone, she remarked that all the people who worked at Culture Shock looked super cool.

I wanted to scream: YES GRACE, of course they do! They’re hip-hop dancers!

It’s, like, their job to be cool! But instead I rubbed the tops of my — borrowed, because I don’t actually have any that fit — Converse sneakers. Of course, she was right; everyone there looked impossibly, intimidatingly cool.

Class time eventually rolled around, and as I walked into the studio, only one thought darted through my mind: I really hate Tasia Mochernak.

We started out with some pretty basic stretches, accompanied by deafening music and resounding claps from the instructor, Richie, whenever we had to switch stretches. I instantly felt relief wash over me. I could handle stretches. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as I had thought.

After a brusque welcome, Richie introduced us to our first move of the night, which involved jutting our chins out and pulling our heads back, which is basically my signature dance move, so I had that down. I was feeling really good.

Then Richie instructed us to hulk over “like a polar bear” and kind of shrug our shoulders like we “just got punched.”

I ended up looking less like a polar bear that got punched and more like a exhausted second-year med student with an unfortunate caffeine-induced twitch.

Our next moves involved a series of squats, which I got only because I’m in weight training, and various combinations of the “step-and-touch,” where we had to take a step with one foot, then the other, ensuring that both feet touched at the end — pretty easy, I have to say.

Then we had the walk, which involved us walking three steps to our right, snapping our fingers, pivoting and walking three steps to our left, snapping our fingers again, and pivoting to the front. This one I got, mainly because I am a teenage human female who has been walking most of her life. The only challenge I had was the height of each step, which Richie said had to be as tall as a certain ledge in the studio.

But frankly, because I am short, I looked like a baby T-Rex learning to walk while lifting my feet so high.

Next came one of the most challenging

moves of the night: I had to do some sort of shoulder thing, move my torso in a clockwise semicircle, then go into polarbear/exhausted-med-student mode to take four steps in front of me, then repeating the whole thing, except with a counterclockwise turn and backwards steps. I tripped over my feet more than once, and never quite grasped the fluidity of the move.

Then we did some cool ninja arm moves — seriously, that’s an accurate description —which I mastered because of my former taekwondo training, and after that, we had our final move.

At this point, I was completely wiped out. Sweat was running down my back, and I was really glad that I had worn a headband, or the tendrils of hair that escaped my ponytail would have attacked me like they were Julius Caesar and my face was Gaul. Needless to say, I was relieved that there were only five minutes of class left, and was hoping for an easy move. I was wrong.

The last move Richie taught us was a complicated crossing of feet and lifting off the ground that I could halfway manage when he was teaching it at an ant’s pace.

With the music, it was impossible. I stood wide-eyed, rooted to the floor like a deer in the headlights for the remainder of class.

Although my hip-hop experience may have ended on a sour note, I experienced very few actual difficulties, which was pleasantly surprising. I had expected the class to be more intense, a Bollywoodmeets-Nicki Minaj kind of deal, but it was surprisingly simple for a beginner like me to grasp. Instead of feeling utterly humiliated, I felt pretty proud of myself for doing something at which I was sure

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I was going to fail — and then not fail. I can’t say I’m glad this is what the Falconer staff picked for me, but I can say that I hate Tasia a little less, Even though I won’t be taking a hip-hop class any time soon, it gave me a lot of confidence. And who knows? Maybe at the next school dance, it won’t take as much coaxing to get me to bust a move. I’ve got plenty in my arsenal.

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STEP [AND TOUCH] IT UP: Maya Rao (12) learns the “step and touch,” as well as other basic hip-hop dance moves.

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Carmel Valley ∙ Del Mar ∙ Rancho Santa Fe ∙ Solana Beach ∙ Encinitas

when finals hit you in the face Finals week at TPHS always prompts a load of Instagram posts from students wishing they were doing anything but studying. Let’s take a look at this past year’s highlights!

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Jamaican’ me hate school

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TPHS_Falcons TPHS_Falcons Hope we don’t have to take finals next week — my water broke! #sh*ttysituation TPHS_Falcons Students, please like this!

CCA_Ravens lol we can do more APs AND we have running water.

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212 likes livelaughluv_xoxoxoxo riding my gondola away from finals! #swimswim #water #boat #wheninvenice #straightCs heywhatsup_hell0 ur grades drowning liek u in the water haha

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25,475 likes ire-allyhateyou miss each and every one of my friends from the summer! take me back! finals suck :( #friends #lovethem #jamaica # View all 10 comments chai_tea_yoga why am i blurred out

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11 likes tphschick_1738 when ur struggling to get through finals and then u fall and ur like help i’ve fallen and i can’t get up #repost #4thelikes #ground #fall View all 22 comments troy_bolton @tphschick_1738 r u ok?????

BY MAYA KOTA

THIS PAGE IS ENTIRELY FICTIONAL.

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Drones are no longer figments of the imagination, but tangible tools that are readily accessible. For chief operating officer Miles Arnold (12) and his business partner and chief executive officer Brandon Trentalange (’15), a drone was the start of a company: Altitude Aerial Media, which uses drones to photograph and take videos of real estate properties.

“Standard marketing and advertising techniques [are] old and bland,” Arnold said. “Having pictures and videos from above is unique, innovative and visually appealing.”

Altitude Aerial Media works with real estate agents to capture images of commercial properties like offices and warehouses, as well as residential properties.

The idea stemmed from Future Enterprisers, a business club that Arnold and Trentalange started at TPHS last year. Once Trentalange proposed an idea for a company with his drone and asked Arnold to be his business partner, the company took off.

Altitude Aerial Media has been in operation since February 2015, and the company has grown substantially since then.

“We used to go to Starbucks every day [and] work on our website [and] business plan,” Arnold said. “Now, we have long-term clients and clients that are calling weekly.”

Business depends on the real estate market, but they conduct an average of one to two shoots a week, which gives them plenty of time to produce their best work.

Commercial and residential shoots vary in the amount of time needed for completion. Commercial properties are usually much quicker to capture than residential properties because “real estate agents usually just want aerial photos … which [the company’s] pilots … can go

and do within an hour,” Arnold said.

Residential properties that Altitude Aerial Media photographs are luxury homes, usually in La Jolla, Encinitas, Rancho Santa Fe or Del Mar. For these shoots, a cinematographer is hired so that the final video can be created using professional video equipment and can be presented in HD quality.

The company’s commercial shoots start at $500, while residential shoots range from about $600 to $700, according to Arnold.

Altitude Aerial Media was accepted into Catapult, a business incubator for high-schoolers which provides mentors, funding and legal help for startup companies.

Arnold and Trentalange aim to expand Altitude Aerial Media, make a bigger name for their company and possibly start reaching out to investors.

Arnold also plans on using some of his money to open a broker account when he turns 18 to learn more about stocks and online trading, something he has always been interested in. Yet for Arnold, the biggest reward from Altitude Aerial Media is not the money — it’s the skills he has gained from the experience.

“I’m dealing with [high-network] clients, and … I’m able to sit down and have meetings with them,” Arnold said. “I’ve gained some networking skills and … my presenting skills have increased a lot.”

Trentalange, who is currently studying at Loyola University, is working on increasing clientele in Chicago, while Arnold manages in San Diego.

Altitude Aerial Media is planning to expand and continue to innovate in the future, something Arnold is very excited about.

by Anvitha Soordelu

Most people remember playing with or accidentally stepping on Lego pieces as children — usually not selling them. In elementary school, Andrew Wang (12) flipped Legos and sold them on eBay, making a total of around $2,000.

“I re-advertised them and sold them for much more than I paid,” Wang said. “I also got free stuff from Legoland [California] and sold them on eBay. For example, I’d get posters for free and sell them for $30 each.”

Wang’s entrepreneurship continued into high school. In May 2015, he launched Kappa Kapps, a business that sells artisan keycaps to customize mechanical keyboards.

“When I became fascinated with mechanical keyboards, one of the first things I noticed was that artisan keycaps were usually sold in limited batches,” Wang said. “I thought we could just mass produce them using 3D printing and have an unlimited supply.”

Wang and his business partner, Minnesotaresident Andrew Yang, split the responsibilities.

“At first [my business partner] handled the website and accounting, but now he also handles 90 percent of the shipping and is responsible for his own projects,” Wang said. “My job is design, manufacturing and organizing the big picture stuff.”

Wang works with several people across the United States, a designer in Croatia and a manufacturer in Germany. He believes that one of the most important aspects of a successful PHOTO BY ERIC CUNNINGHAM/FALCONER

Instead of paying $400 for a surfboard, Jonathan Foster (11) figured he could shape one himself and get it glossed for less. Over the course of the last three to four years, Foster continued to shape boards, and what started off as a way to save money transformed into Soulful Boards — a business that sells various kinds of handmade boards, from surfboards to skateboards.

“I got started with little body surfing handplanes,” Foster said. “That got me into woodworking, and I started working with my hands more.”

As family and friends became interested in buying his handmade boards, Foster expanded his small business by networking with various businesses. He now sells to different retailers up and down the California coast, including stores like Surf Ride, Hansens and Surfy Surfy.

“The first [store] I went into, I actually just walked in and asked to speak with their sales representative, and I went from there,” Foster said. “At this point I have a bunch of [business] connections, so it works out perfectly.”

Although Foster runs his business himself, he occasionally gets help shaping boards from his friends. They often work together either at his home workshop or a shaping bay he uses in Cardiff.

According to Foster, running a business alone as a high school student is difficult, especially because “when you screw up, it’s all on yourself.”

PHOTO BY ALLY JENSEN/FALCONER

“There’s no one to blame, it’s: ‘Alright, I’ve messed that up,’” Foster said. “Managing your funds is hard, especially when your friends ask you for [products]. It’s hard to be like, ‘No, I can’t do that. I’ll lose a lot of money off of it.’”

Although there are many difficulties in trying to manage his own business at such a young age, Foster claims it has been worth it to gain the invaluable experience. “[Starting a business] develops a lot of communicative skills that are really useful. It helps talking in a lot of different settings that people in high school aren’t really used to,” Foster said. “I suggest doing it; it’s been great for me.”

In the future, Foster plans to expand his business beyond just handmade boards.

“In the surf business, there’s actually not that much money in boards and skateboards,” Foster said. “It’s all in the clothing with surf companies, so I’ve been trying to branch out. I’m finding manufacturers that have locally sourced materials, so I might be getting into clothes more and more, but right now I’m sticking with boards.”

Through the experience gained from starting his own business and managing it successfully while in high school, Foster knows he is capable of combining his passion for surf with the expansion of Soulful Boards.

by Sarah Kim

business is collaboration.

“When I first started this, I tried to do everything on my own,” Wang said. “But there are a lot of limitations to that, and it becomes frustrating. If you want to do something, experiment on your own first, but you need to realize that you need to hire other people to help you.”

Still, working with people from around the globe can have its downsides.

“The most frustrating part is dealing with delays,” Wang said. “The project with Germany started in April, and we only received the keyboard sets a week before Christmas.”

Every month, Wang makes “a few thousand dollars,” but all of the profits made from Kappa Kapps are donated to various charities, such as Extra Life, which raises money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, and Doctors Without Borders. Wang chose to donate to Extra Life after it was popularized by Twitch, a live streaming website that also helped Wang and his partner come up with the company’s name.

“I wanted to go for something with alliteration, and on Twitch, there’s an emote called ‘kappa,’ which people love to spam in the chat, so we thought that it fit,” Wang said.

After Wang graduates, Kappa Kapps will be left in the hands of his business partner, but Wang plans to continue exploring entrepreneurial activities in college.

by Irene Yu

PHOTO BY LAUREN ZHANG/FALCONER

Nick Nasland (10) stands behind a table at a local lacrosse tournament, shoes in the mud, watching people pass by. Occasionally, players will stop by the stand, ask Nasland what he is selling, and make a purchase.

Beach Front Lax, the company started by Nasland on Jan. 21, 2013, mainly sells mesh — which lacrosse players use to catch balls — as well as apparel, lacrosse sticks, stringing supplies and accessories. According to Nasland, all the mesh is made by hand to be shipped out.

“I [had] heard of people making their own lacrosse mesh, so I just started [making it] for myself,” Nasland said.

“And a friend asked if he could get one, so … it just went from there.”

In setting up his business, Nasland received little outside help; he funded manufacturing and operations on his own, and individually created all of his mesh product, which are waterresistant, scented, hand-dyed and hand-waxed. “[It was difficult] getting started and getting the amount of supplies that I needed,” Nasland said. “I had to invest

a good amount of money to start it, and I didn’t know if it was going to work out or not, so there was a pretty big risk.”

But the risk was one worth taking.

According to Nasland, Beach Front Lax now sells online, at multiple lacrosse stores and at lacrosse tournaments around the nation.

“During lacrosse season it’s definitely a lot more popular, and I’ll ship out multiple packages every day,” Nasland said. “It’s gotten bigger over the years, and I had [products] in … nine different lacrosse stores at one point across the U.S.” Nasland plans to continue operating the company throughout high school, but he is unsure if he will run it while in college. And though Nasland said the experience gained from running a company will help him in the future, he has not yet decided to pursue a career in business.

But despite any uncertainties, Nasland knows one thing: the satisfaction of seeing lacrosse players who he’s never met use what he has created is a feeling unrivaled.

by Lily Nilipour PHOTO BY LAUREN ZHANG/FALCONER

*in 2007

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infographic by amanda chen and sumin hwang

*all statistics for United States population

*Information from Bureau of Labor Statistics, Packaged Trends, Child Trends Data Bank