March 2016 Issue

Falconer

The Torrey Pines High School

Friday, March 25, 2016

Vol. 41, Issue 6, 32 pages

www.tphsfalconer.com

PRANK GONE WRONG

BY ANNA LEE AND TASIA MOCHERNAK The senior prank — covering the school in toilet paper — turned to vandalism when property damage amounting to thousands of dollars was done.

TPHS seniors covered the school in toilet paper and caused at least $18,000 of property damage, which under California law qualifies as felony vandalism, in a senior prank the night of Feb. 17, according to Principal David Jaffe.

“If you’re estimating [the total cost], it’s not just damage, it’s time,” Jaffe said. “So you have to pay the custodial staff [for cleaning up] and all that. I have no idea what [the total] would come to, but to give you some perspective, when we had the [fourhour]lockdown last year, the person who locked us down had to pay a $3,800 bill.”

According to Assistant Principal Michael Santos, “pretty much all” of the district groundskeepers and maintenance staff were called to TPHS to clean up the mess before school started. Additionally, half of the gate under the bridge near the administration building was ripped down, so the remaining portion of it had to be removed for safety.

Two concrete trash cans were also broken, and some trees were damaged.

The prank was planned through the TPHS Class of 2016 Facebook group, though most of the senior class did not participate. According to Alex Doran*, who TPed the school, over 100 people were present for the prank, though some were not TPHS students.

“One guy brought [toilet paper] in a huge truck, and then we all paid for it and ran around and threw it everywhere,” Doran said.

Although the prank initially only involved covering the school in toilet paper, “it kind of got out of hand once people were inside [the school],” according to Doran. People flipped tables and rolled trash cans down the student parking lot ramp, and “a lot of people” were under the influence.

“I drove … I wasn’t [under the influence],” Doran said. “It was fun while we were doing it, but after, we realized that it got out of control and it probably wasn’t worth it.”

According to Jaffe, there is an on-going police investigation into the vandalism.

TPHS administration is mainly concerned with finding the students who damaged the gate, as that “elevated” the prank to vandalism, rather than those who participated in covering the school with toilet paper.

A number of seniors expressed anger or disappointment with the prank on the Class of 2016 Facebook page. Christopher Butler (12) said the prank was “pretty juvenile.”

Butler said that the people who participated in the vandalism should have to pay for the damages and potentially be given a felony charge on record “if the state wants to.”

Key Club treasurer Rebecca Yeap (12) organized a campus cleanup event in conjunction with National Honor Society to help remove the remaining toilet paper from trees.

“The damage is done; we might as well do something about it,” Yeap said. “It’s just embarrassing that something like this would happen.”

Jaffe said that, compared to past senior pranks like “when they parked their cars on all the embankments,” this year’s prank was “low-level.”

“When I look at ‘Cardinal Chaos’ and the various groups on campus, they’re very creative in how they present themselves,” Jaffe said. “But when I see a low-level prank like this, I think ‘Really, that’s all you got? That’s your level of creativity?’”

Santos said that the prank was not particularly funny, and that it was disappointing to see.

“This is supposed to be your home; you wouldn’t want to trash your home,” Santos said.

The San Diego Police Department did not respond to requests for comment. *Name changed to protect identity

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

opinion

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE

A9 DAY IN THE LIFE

The Falconer Opinion Editor reflects on her Indian heritage, American life and the struggle to bridge the gap between the two worlds.

sports

A25 After playing field hockey and football professionally, JJ Javelet (‘03) now hopes to compete with the U.S. rugby team at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

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

A7 A13 A18 A22 A28 B1

A2 the falconer

news

march 25, 2016

SDUHSD middle school and New course offerings exhibited at high school teachers resign “Taste of Torrey Pines” Elective Fair

by Amanda Chen & Maya Kota FOCUS EDITOR & BACKPAGE/COPY EDITOR

Carmel Valley Middle School English teacher Marc Sandknop resigned on March 4 and Canyon Crest Academy social science teacher and lacrosse coach Miles Brown resigned after being arrested for “attempted solicitation of marijuana from a minor and for contributing to the delinquency of a minor,” according to 10News, on Feb. 25.

According to CVMS principal Cara Dolnik, Sandknop went on leave on Feb. 19 and has now been replaced by a long-term substitute teacher.

The reasons behind his resignation will remain u n d i s c l o s e d , James Lee* (8) as all district ���� ������� p e r s o n n e l matters are confidential, according to Torrie Norton, Associate Superintendent of Human Resources for SDUHSD. Following Sandknop’s departure, many rumors surfaced at CVMS and the surrounding community.

“I feel that the campus became too excited about it and spread too many false and exaggerated rumors about his dismissal that were not based on any solid evidence,” CVMS student Samuel Xiong (8) said.

All of the rumors being spread were false, according to Dolnik.

“Based on what my friends told me, apparently Sandknop went out of the room during [the beginning of] fourth period and told the class he would be gone for two to three minutes, but he never came back,” CVMS student James Lee* (8) said.

“He was great teacher, and I loved his teaching style. He was always

very fun, and [his resignation] was totally unexpected.”

TPHS student Alice Singer* (11), one of Sandknop’s former students, was “taken aback” by his dismissal. “[Sandknop] had different life lessons and a different approach to teaching than usual teachers do, which was interesting to listen to as an eighth grader,” Singer said.

“He had an unorthodox approach to everything, including test taking.”

Brown’s resignation also came as a surprise to CCA student Laura Abrishamkar (10), who first heard about his arrest on the news.

“I knew he was not the kind of man who would do that,” Abrishamkar said.

“That’s why I was not surprised to find out he was exonerated, and his blood tests all [tested] negative [for drugs].”

According to 10News, Brown was bailed out of county jail.

According to Abrishamkar, the arrest of Brown “really shook [CCA], especially the students.”

“It was very sad for me to see my teacher being accused of these things, when I knew they were not true,” Abrishamkar said. “His students do miss him because they all know that he was a great teacher.”

There is no evidence that Abrishamkar’s observations are accurate or not.

Sandknop was hired as an English teacher and tennis coach at LCC in 1994 but was relocated to CVMS in 2010.

CCA principal Karl Mueller and the Northwestern Division of San Diego Police Department both could not be reached for comment. *Name changed to protect identity

[Sandknop] was a great teacher ... He was always very fun, and [his resignation] was totally unexpected.

by Irene Yu

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR The Taste of Torrey Pines Elective Fair was held on March 10, during break and lunch in the quad outside the E building to showcase new and existing course offerings to current TPHS students.

“We decided to have an elective fair because [students] don’t always know what [courses are] available,” counselor Monica Taylor said.

“It’s a chance [for students] to see teachers and students who have been in a certain class and see firsthand what it’s like to take that class.”

Modelled after elective fairs presented by TPHS at Carmel Valley Middle School and Earl Warren Middle School, the Taste of Torrey Pines Elective Fair’s main goal was to promote the new classes that would be offered at TPHS, according to Taylor.

“Teachers were able to connect ... and explain their

courses,” Taylor said.

Students also worked with teachers to present course offerings. Mehdi Sajeti (11), a current marketing student, represented Accounting. “[Having an elective fair] is much better than just handing out the papers or seeing a list of classes,” Sajeti said. “This way, [students] can actually feel the physical environment of [the class], and it can have more of an influence.”

Other new courses like Business Pathways, Auto and Wood Fabrication, Teaching, T.V. Broadcast, Sociology, and Mindfulness also participated in the elective fair by handing out flyers or having students represent and promote the class. According to Ellena Whitfield (11), who represented the Mindfulness class, handing out flyers helped garner more interest from students passing by during the fair.

“Our flyers list the benefits [of the class],” Whitfield said.

“We had a good amount of people come up to our table, and people seemed interested.”

Principal David Jaffe also believes that the elective fair was an effective way to raise awareness about new and existing classes.

“It started with us going to the different middle schools, and when we [held the elective fair] for TPHS students, it was useful,” Jaffe said. “How we represent [the electives] is something to think about, whether we have teachers or students leading the presentations.”

Taylor said that the elective fair had a strong turnout and would be beneficial next year. “[Hosting the elective fair for the first time] was a learning process, and having more planning time would help make it stronger,” Taylor said.

“Going forward, I could see [the elective fair] still happening even if we don’t have a huge amount of new courses because it’s a good exposure.”

According to Jaffe, TPHS hopes to make the elective fair an annual event, and will work to include all TPHS electives in the future.

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

S[ELECTIVE] TASTE: A student discusses the new Teaching and Learning class, formerly Child Development, at the Elective Fair. Teachers of electives tried to interest students in their classes.

TPHS community remembers Pranav Nookala (10)

by Anvitha Soordelu STAFF WRITER

Sophomore Pranav Nookala died unexpectedly in his sleep on Feb. 19 with no prior diagnosis of a health condition. His mother, Srividya Nookala, recalled helping Pranav prepare for a math test and eating dinner with him the night before.

“He was perfectly normal the night when he slept, but the next day he didn’t get up,” Srividya said. “Everything was normal and I went to wake him up the next day, but he [had already died by that time].”

According to Srividya, Pranav “used to have involuntary leg movements,” but neurologists were never able to diagnose the ailment.

A public announcement was not made, but the students in Pranav’s classes were notified.

The counselors were also available for grief counseling.

Pranav’s funeral, which was performed according to Hindu rituals, was held on Feb. 24 at the Greenwood Memorial Park in Imperial Beach. Among the

400 guests were Pranav’s friends, family, and teachers, including his ninth grade English teacher Marie Black, Assistant Principal Michael Santos and Principal David Jaffe. “[It was wonderful] to see how big of a community he grew up in and the support that this family had in dealing with this,” Jaffe said. “It was an awful [situation], but it was a beautiful service.”

With a picture of a lion on the cover, the funeral program represented Pranav’s love for nature and animals.

“Our favorite outing had always been walking on different nature trails around San Diego,” Srividya said. “Last summer we went to Oregon, where there are many national forests, which he enjoyed a lot.”

Whether it was travelling to places like Oregon, Phoenix or Sedona or watching the National Geographic channel on television, Pranav’s love for nature was apparent to his friends and family, as was his cheerful personality. “[Pranav would go] out of his way to talk to people [and] put smiles on their faces,” Sophia LeRose (10) said. “He always had a smile on his face.”

According to Spanish teacher Leonor Youngblood, Pranav’s smile did not fade during class, and other students “really got along well with him.”

“His kindness was without any regard to anything in particular,” Youngblood said. “He was just kind and very honest. He taught with his behavior to give instead of take. He was a giving child.”

Pranav also volunteered at the Torrey Hills Book Exchange for four years, exemplifying his giving attitude, and was a student who “learned for the sake of learning” and “put his soul [into] everything he did,” according to Youngblood.

“His projects and presentations were unique, [and] I couldn’t shut him up,” Youngblood said.

“He kept talking, and everybody wanted to listen … he was that kind of kid.”

During his freshman year, Pranav came to class for a presentation dressed as the Indian philosopher Adi Shankara, proudly representing his Indian background.

“I will remember him most for his warmth, his open, joyful attitude and his kindness,” Black said. “He was so genuine and

present in class that he elevated the atmosphere.”

Pranav’s friend Rohith Kodukula (10) remembers him for never being “afraid to show exactly what he was feeling” or “[saying] what was on his mind.”

“He was always himself,” Kodukula said. “He taught people to not be uptight; he was always joking around.”

According to friend Aditya Guru (10), Pranav also taught people to “enjoy the moment and

love everyone.”

“He was a person that had so much to give, and when he was taken from us, we had a big void left in our lives,” Youngblood said.

Youngblood had her class write goodbye letters to Pranav after she broke the news to them.

“He was the nicest boy on earth, [and he was] always happy,” Srividya said. “To be content, to be happy, to have a positive attitude — that is exactly what he taught everyone.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF NAGESH NOOKALA

IN REMEMBRANCE: Pranav Nookala (10) was not diagnosed with a disease and his death came as a shock to many.

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A3

Austrian students hosted by TPHS families

by Lily Nilipour SPORTS EDITOR

Forty-three Austrian students and three Austrian teachers from HTL Mistelbach, a technical school in Mistelbach, Austria, were hosted by TPHS families from March 2-16.

The visitors lived with their host families and shadowed their host siblings through their daily classes and routines, participating in classwork and after-school extracurricular activities. They also visited Universal Studios and Los Angeles with their own classmates and chaperones on March 8 and 10, respectively.

Over the weekends, the hosts took their guests to experience various aspects of San Diego life.

Soha Shahidi (11) and her family went to Seaport Village and the Safari Park with Austrian student Magdalena Stelzer, who also really “enjoyed visiting Universal Studios and LA.” Austrian student Philip Sampl, hosted by Alex Aguilar (12), said his favorite part of the trip was going to the beach and seeing the Pacific Ocean.

“I showed him the beach, where he’s never gone to, [and took him to] In-N-Out, which he’s never had,” Aguilar said. “Also, [because] I’m Mexican, he got to experience the Mexican culture, the Mexican food, all that.”

ASB teacher Dawn Durkot proposed the program to ASB in

early January and, after hearing interest from the students, officially signed up at the end of January. There was no cost involved for TPHS to host the Austrian visitors, but ASB spent the months before their arrival promoting the program by “passing out flyers, going to different classes and putting up posters,” Durkot said. She was notified about the opportunity to host Austrian students in late 2015 by Loyola Marymount University professor Sabine Huemer, who is originally from Austria and has been organizing this event with other high schools for 15 years.

“A teacher friend of mine from Vienna contacted me and said, ‘I would love to come [to California] with my students and just really explore the American lifestyle and what an American school is like,’” Huemer said. “Then, he founded a non-profit organization because, after he came with his students a couple of times, some other [Austrian] schools became interested, too.”

According to Huemer, Carlsbad High School has hosted Austrian students almost every year since the program began, and San Dieguito Academy has done so for the past six or seven years.

Huemer has been branching out to more schools so that both Austrians and Americans can learn about different cultures.

“Austria and the United States, we have so many things in common,” Huemer said. “But the

school system works differently in Austria, and the lifestyle may be slightly different.”

Austrian student Philipp Fuhrmann said that at his school, students stay in one classroom the whole day, and the teachers rotate each period. “[At TPHS], it was very free,” Fuhrmann said. “Here, I see so many different faces every day, even if I go outside to the other classes.”

Katherine Lauerman (12), who hosted Fuhrmann, said that she

has been able to look at the area she lives in and her daily habits in a new light through the eyes of her guest.

“I’ve learned that the American culture is very pervasive in other parts of the world, which I don’t think I like very much,” Lauerman said. “I wish that we could accept more of other people’s cultures, like Austria.”

Huemer said that everyone “really enjoyed the experience,” and she “hopes to see [Austrian students] back next year.”

“For the guest, it’s really a very unique insight into being a part of an American family for two weeks, [and] it’s not like taking a vacation or a tour,” Huemer said.

“They can really exchange ideas and stories about their lives and become friends for a lifetime.”

According to Durkot, there has been positive feedback from TPHS students. A survey will be sent out to the host families to gauge interest in hosting Austrian students again in the 2016-2017 school year.

PHOTO USED BY PERMISSION OF SABINE HUEMER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE FALCONS: Forty-three Austrian students and three teachers from HTL Mistelbach visited TPHS from March 2-16 and were hosted by TPHS families.

INFOGRAPHIC BY AMANDA CHEN/FALCONER

A4 the falconer

news

march 25, 2016

Anti-Defamation League delegates hold No Hate Week

by Sumin Hwang STAFF WRITER

The Anti-Defamation League TPHS delegates Sophia Bond (11), Cole Chodorow (11) and Sabrina Habchi (11) held No Hate Week from March 7-11 to “educate [TPHS students] on the ideals of equality and no hate,” according to Bond.

Principal David Jaffe introduced the ADL to TPHS students and staff so that the school could offer activities through the ADL to create a “no place for hate” school, according to Jaffe.

“I worked with the ADL for the first time when I was the executive curriculum director for the [SDUHSD],” Jaffe said.

“There was a particular issue at [TPHS this year], and I can’t describe the incident exactly, but that brought us back together and we got to talking about providing programs for the school to really celebrate our differences.”

Bond, Chodorow and Habchi were nominated anonymously

by TPHS staff members to be delegates and coordinate the week’s events with leaders of the San Diego branch of the ADL. The event was “mostly studentrun,” and all the supplies were provided by ASB and volunteers, according to Chodorow.

Habchi said the goal of the week was to eliminate “stereotypes that go around at TPHS” and “to mute those stereotypes and biases.”

“I think that there are a lot of harmful stereotypes going around, even though TPHS is one of the more accepting schools,” Habchi said. “I still think stereotypes exist, like when people say offensive remarks

thinking they’re funny, but I think it’s important to educate the students about what remarks can be offensive and what is appropriate to say versus what can hurt others.”

The week focused on acceptance of world cultures, deconstructing microaggressions, and “people who have experienced hate and their journey with coping and self-acceptance,” according to Bond.

For the first event of the week, English and psychology teachers showed their classes short videos portraying microaggressions, which are insults, slights, putdowns and indignities, that teens face regularly. Students were asked to write on notecards microaggressions that they had used or experienced; the cards were put on a poster and displayed in the media center.

“I think the cards and the videos got us to think about microaggressions and how they actually play into our lives,” Jocelyn Tzeng (10) said.

Although Tzeng said it is important to think about everyday microaggressions, she is unsure if the poster in the media center had a lasting impact.

“I think the videos made a difference, but I don’t know if the cards did much because no one actually went up to the wall and read each one,” Tzeng said. “I didn’t even realize that it was a wall with microaggressions on it.

I just thought it was a nice wall.”

Another “No Hate Week” event, an assembly featuring speakers from PFLAG, an organization that promotes inclusion and acceptance of LGBTQ people, was held on March 9. According to Bond, the speakers discussed “the hardships they’ve faced dealing with their sexuality,”

and the presentation was meant to “change the way people treat others with different sexualities.”

Amy Jeon (11) said it was “touching to hear about [the speakers’] stories,” and she “appreciated their talking to [TPHS students],” but the other activities, like the videos on microaggressions, were more applicable to the student body.

The week ended with a culture fair, in which “different culturerelated clubs showcased their heritages,” Chodorow said.

“Events like the culture fair highlight the diversity and divergence of Torrey Pines,” Jewish Club president Michael Weiser (11) said. “They give us a chance to view each other as individual and uniform simultaneously. I’m part of

Jewish Club and we wanted to show others what our culture is like.”

TPHS Culture Club president Nish Chatlani (11) also said that the culture fair “helped people gain more knowledge of this school’s diverse population.”

“I decided to take part in the ‘Culture Fair’ because I noticed that there were many clubs signed up for the fair, but they were all for separate races or religions …

There wasn’t a club that unified all of the groups,” Chatlani said.

“I enjoyed meeting all of the new people who came by the culture club booth and spreading positive information.”

Habchi said she hopes that by the end of the year, TPHS will qualify to be an official “no place for hate” school.

“The ADL will only brand a school as a ‘no place for hate’ if it has held three different ‘no hate’ events, so we’re doing this week that will fulfill one of our requirements,” Habchi said. “By the end of the year, a certain number of students need to sign a pledge as a part of the contract that TPHS has with the ADL.” According to Jaffe, the school plans to hold anti-bias training programs with the staff, administration, and students to fufill the rest of the requirements so TPHS can become a “no place for hate.”

No Hate Week will likely continue in future school years, and Jaffe said he intends to have administrators “meet and discuss how to expand and how to improve the event.”

photo used by permission of sabrina habchi

CAN’T SEE THE HATERS: Students examine a poster compiled of microaggressions people wrote down on cards for a No Hate Week event. The week was held March 7-11 by Anti-Defamation League delegates.

chew on this!

TPHS food services conducted a survey to find out students’ dietary preferences and ideas for new meals.

91% agree that the food is nutritious and promotes student wellness.

90% agree that the staff is friendly and provides good service.

65% would describe the cafeteria as convenient and satisfying.

42% would choose to change the food to be tastier.

new changes changes to current items california rolls with sticky rice instead of brown rice sandwich turkey changed to premium quality Butterball smoked turkey breast

returning old items Smuckers Uncrustable sandwiches *Information provided by the TPHS Nutrition Services

Top of the Bagel regular-sized bagels and cream cheese

experimenting with new

school-made lunch menu items

frito taco casserole mac and cheese muffins

increased

serving sizes

looking into new

pick up stix products

infographic by sarah kim/falconer

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A5

Savannah Rennie (’15) supported in seeking new liver

by Lily Nilipour & Caroline Rutten

SPORTS EDITOR & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Savannah Rennie (‘15), TPHS alumna and volleyball player at University of California, Berkeley, was diagnosed with congenital hepatic fibrosis with portal hypertension, a rare form of genetic liver disease in which the bile ducts become backed up and infected.

According to Rennie, she was diagnosed in September 2015 via phone call from her doctor during a volleyball practice, four months after she initially experienced flulike symptoms and was tested for illness.

Savannah’s mother Renee Rennie said that the “disease usually presents itself at birth or when [one becomes] much older … It is rare for a healthy 19-year old.”

Rennie must receive a liver transplant to cure the disease, since “bacteria that are deceptive to antibiotics attack the liver, so [the disease] cannot go away [otherwise],” according to Savannah.

“Getting [the liver transplant] done quickly is key because my disease cannot be controlled,” Savannah said.

Due to the urgent nature of congenital hepatic fibrosis and the need for a liver transplant, Savannah and Renee temporarily moved to Indianapolis, Ind. in February 2016.

“In California, the wait for a liver is two to three years,” Savannah said. “[In Indiana], they do many more transplants, and the process is a lot quicker here. The fast pace is necessary

in my situation.”

According to Savannah, she is currently sixth on the transplant list, so she could receive a liver very soon.

“The way they do it is by a point system, and I have a really high number for my blood type,” Savannah said. “The points are based on severity of the issue, medical history, the fact that my disease cannot be controlled, my age and my high likelihood of a healthy life afterward.”

On Feb. 20, within a week of moving to Indianapolis, Renee created a GoFundMe page in order to raise money for Savannah’s medical bills and living expenses in Indiana.

“Getting [the liver transplant] done quickly is key because my disease cannot be controlled.”

Savannah Rennie (’15) ���� �������

“I had to take a leave of absence from my job, which would mean I would have no income, and my husband travels for work,” Renee said. “I knew there were going to be expenses that we wouldn’t have the extra money for. She is going to have lifelong medications, and insurance will help, but there are deductibles that need to be taken care of now.”

The GoFundMe page had raised $88,485 from 759 donations by friends, family and community members at the time the Falconer

went to press. The campaign goal is $100,000.

“The page went viral, basically, with our friends and family,” Rennie said. “I never expected it to take off this much.”

According to teacher and family friend Matt Chess, Savannah graduated early her senior year of high school to pursue a “cool opportunity at Cal” in volleyball.

“She’s a gamer, she’s a fighter, she’s really tough, and she’s young and strong,” Chess said. “[After her liver transplant], it’s expected that she can return to essentially the same quality of life she had before.”

Varsity volleyball coach Brennan Dean, who has been keeping in touch with Savannah over the phone, said that Savannah is an “unbelievable player” and, while she was a student at TPHS, was “one of the reasons that Torrey Pines has been so successful.” “[Savannah is] one of the most competitive kids on the court and one of the nicest kids off the court,” Dean said. “She’s just got a huge heart and a lot of passion for life and the game of volleyball.”

Close friend Skye Chandler (‘15) was at a “loss for words” when she was told about Savannah’s illness, and has kept in close contact despite both of their busy schedules. Chandler attends the University of Arizona.

“Savannah is the strongest girl I know,” Chandler said. “She stays strong for friends, family and supporters, but I don’t think people realize how much she is really going through.”

Renee posts daily updates on the GoFundMe page to keep friends and family apprised of the latest developments. Regardless of the pain of illness and

treatment, Savannah has stayed positive with the support she is receiving, according to Renee.

“Every night, we turn the phone ringers on as loud as possible so that if we get a call about the liver, we can both hear it,” Renee said. “It is mentally taxing, and physically, too. She is holding up so beautifully and is so strong — I am in awe of her strength.”

For Savannah, getting a liver transplant is just a temporary

setback that she said she will undoubtedly overcome.

“I am so thankful for my family, friends, community, teammates and coaches,” Savannah said.

“Without them, I wouldn’t be able to get through this. I want to give back to them when I can. I want to play with the Cal gold and blue on my shoulders, and I just can’t wait for that day.”

To reach the GoFundMe page, go to www.gofundme.com/ savstrongliver.

PHOTO USED BY PERMISSION OF SAVANNAH RENNIE

#SAVSTRONG: TPHS alumnus Savannah Rennie (’15) was recently diagnosed with a rare form of genetic liver disease.

CDE will not release student information

by Irene Yu

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Federal Judge Kimberley Mueller ruled on March 1 that the California Department of Education does not have to release student information from the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System database.

Students were notified via email by the SDUHSD on Feb. 17 about the Morgan Hill Concerned Parent Association and the Concerned Parent Association’s lawsuit against the CDE alleging “widespread, systemic noncompliance in accordance with special education laws,” as well as failure to “monitor, investigate and correct such non-compliance in accordance with the law.”

“The CDE is responsible for ensuring that there is compliance with state and federal law for special education,” Vice President of the California Concerned Parents Association Christine English said. “For the court case, we’re saying that the CDE should follow the law with integrity and transparency. The CDE does not ensure that students with disabilities get the services they deserve by law.”

According to English, the CPA could utilize the data collected from the CDE to “look at different

queries, such as how many students are identified as ones who need special education or students with behavioral goals” and to determine whether the CDE is complying with federal laws regarding special education.

The CDE denies all allegations made in the suit.

“In terms of this issue, we don’t see any need to disclose any information,” CDE Information Officer Peter Tira said. “We’re very protective of the privacy of our students and families, and we’ll continue to protect information in any other situation. We don’t feel that [the CPA] needs the private data.”

Principal David Jaffe also said that student information should not be released.

“For lawsuits or whatever may happen, whether it is students at this school that are not involved in this case or just students at TPHS, their information should not be released,” Jaffe said.

Like Jaffe, Will Nute (11) believes that if an organization were to request information, it should be data that is specific to its goal.

“We give schools our information trusting that they’ll keep it secure,” Nute said. “But if they give the information away, that’s a breach of trust. If there was another request just asking for information relevant to special education then sure, I

think they should approve it, but as long as the request has all the information the schools have on us I don’t think it’s a reasonable request to make for all the schools in California.”

Because the CPA only needs student data to enforce special education laws through the CDE, they use derivative data in the form of binary code, according to English.

“We receive electronic derivative data; we’re not requesting copies of student’s records,” English said. “We’re not looking at individual students, but issues of noncompliance.

There’s an impression that we receive copies of paper records, and that’s not what we’re receiving. We receive quantity data because we have to run the large physical samplings to support our allegation, and that is that the CDE is not appropriately monitoring and enforcing the laws of the different school districts.”

Whether the data obtained by the CPA is physical or digitalized, Nute is mainly worried about his social security number being given away.

“My mom always tells me never to give my social security number to anyone, absolutely never, unless I’m 100 percent sure that they require it, like a university,” Nute said.

However, English said the

CPA does not want or need social security numbers, and “encourages all parents and students to remove their social security numbers from their school records.”

The first email, which outlined

“We give schools our information trusting that they’ll keep it secure, but if they give the information away, that’s a breach of trust.”

Will Nute (11) �������

the lawsuit between the CDE and CPA, also included instructions on how to file an “Objection to Disclosure of Student Information and Records.”

“If the objection form was more streamlined, it would have been a lot easier to opt out,” Salman Sadakkadulla (11) said. “I was personally too lazy to fill out the objection form, but I’m sure other people did. It was a good chance for people to raise their voices.”

The “voluminous” number of objection forms helped Mueller make her decision, according to information officer, Tira.

“We publicized the [objection forms], and all the school districts were notified,” Tira said. “It was a court order, and it’s our job to help spread the word, but it’s gotten a lot of media attention.”

Even though CDE notification of students and families in California about possible data collection was court-ordered, the CPA considered the emails part of a “fear-based campaign.”

“What [the CDE] did was release a statement instead of releasing available information,” English said. “They gave out a lot of misinformation. When you create a fear campaign, you have people responding to fear rather than information. They did not provide neutral information, only scare-based information. It’s sad that they didn’t trust parents enough to make their own informed decisions for their kids.”

According to Tira, the CDE was “simply following the court order, which was to post and publicize the disclosure notice and the objection form to make families aware of the issue,” and that the CPA’s accusation of the CDE creating a “fear campaign” were “ridiculous.”

While the CPA will continue its attempts to attain information to ensure the CDE’s compliance with federal laws regarding special education, the CDE will continue to “fight the potential release of data,” Tira said.

A6 the falconer

news

march 25, 2016

Pinwheels made for Healing Classrooms Challenge

by Austin Zhang COPY EDITOR

From Feb. 18 to March 16, TPHS students made paper pinwheels for the Healing Classrooms Challenge held by the Students Rebuild Organization, raising just under $3,000.

According to art teacher Emily Moran, who supervised the activity, the paper pinwheels made by students were matched by the Bezos Foundation at a rate of $2.50 per pinwheel, and the money raised will go toward training teachers to engage with children affected by conflict in Iraq and Lebanon. A selection of pinwheels will also be sent as gifts to the children.

For the art department, this has been the third challenge done with Students Rebuild, the previous two being paper beads and bookmarks.

“I’ve worked [the challenge] into the curriculum,” Moran said. “I use it as an ongoing side project throughout the year until the spring, when the deadlines usually happen.”

Art students were permitted to

make pinwheels with extra time if they finished other projects early, according to Moran.

Since students provide their own materials for making the crafts, the number of items Moran receives for challenges every year depends on the ease of getting materials.

“In the past, we did paper beads; that was just scraps of paper that you can make the beads out of, [with] a little bit of glue,” Moran said. “The bookmark [project we did] was super easy, because it was just a strip of [illustrated] paper.”

Science teacher and adviser of the No Higher Calling Club, Michael Rall, also sent pinwheels in for the challenge, enlisting the participation of both his science students and NHC members.

“It’s the first time I’ve worked with Mrs. Moran on it,” Rall said.

“The club got behind [the project], so they all made [pinwheels], and then my T.A.’s wanted to do it, so they made them as well.”

According to Rall, the greater significance of the challenge is granting the students wider perspective.

“For me, it’s getting students to think outside of just this local

community,” Rall said. “Obviously this is an international thing, it’s broad-scope. Anytime that you can do something, even as simple as arts and crafts, while they’re doing it they’re thinking of someone else.”

Ava Hanna (10), a student in Moran’s Drawing and Design class, said that the project was a satisfying experience.

“I feel happy helping the people through just making a few simple pinwheels,” Hanna said.

According to Hanna, having a class project focusing on the challenge was very helpful in providing structure and dedicated time to doing charity work.

“I’ve wanted to do the charity, but never found the time, [so] Moran just assigning this to us in our spare time [is really appreciated],” Hanna said.

Rall said a project like the Healing Classrooms Challenge “gives [students] a moment to pause amid the stress and busyness of Torrey Pines High School, and just [realize the hardships others in the world face].”

NHC member Nathan Rim (11) said that the project was impactful for him, despite its

simplicity.

“It feels really nice … it only takes about 30 minutes to an hour to make a pinwheel, and [it’s nice to know] that it’s helping kids in third-world countries,” Rim said.

According to Moran, the TPHS Art Department will continue working with the Student Rebuild Organization to raise money for less privileged teachers and students.

PHOTO BY ANTON SCHUH/FALCONER

PINWHEEL OF FORTUNE: TPHS students made paper pinwheels for the Healing Classrooms Challenge, raising just under $3.000.

Administration requests on-time residency form submission

by Amanda Chen FOCUS EDITOR

The SDUHSD and TPHS administrators have increased efforts to get students to turn in their district residency verification forms by April 1.

As of February 2016, SDUHSD students will no longer be able to schedule classes for the 20162017 school year if they have not turned in the forms, a measure implemented for the first time this year.

According to Principal David Jaffe, the initial push to get students to turn in residency verification forms began last school year, when the district switched from being a basic aid district, a district solely funded by property taxes from the community, to a revenue limit district, which receives funding based on Average Daily Attendance.

“Residency verification is mandated by the state of California,” SDUHSD Director of Student Information Services

Patti Gaul said. “School districts allow students who live in their defined attendance area to attend school, and we collect apportionment for our ADA based on students who attend school.”

However, after around 170 TPHS students failed to verify their residency last summer, the district also dropped staffing by the equivalent of 3.4 teachers.

“Many of the 170 [students] actually showed up, so I had to go back in and reschedule the classes and hire teachers,” Jaffe said. “So [residency verification] is a way to monitor staffing as well.”

According to Gaul, the forms are also necessary for student safety.

“Sometimes people move and forget to tell the school, so we get returned mail and it’s by no malicious reason,” Gaul said. “We need to know where kids live if we have to get ahold of families. We need updated addresses, updated telephone numbers, updated emergency contacts every year. This process has helped our parents update all the information on a more regular basis.”

The forms require students and their families to provide their current address, contact information, emergency contact information and two forms of proof of residency, one of which must be a SDG&E electric bill.

The other proof of residency can be a current cable bill, property tax or income tax documents, a water bill, a waste management bill, a payroll stub or Social Services documents.

According to Gaul, legal residence does not mandate that students necessarily need to live with their parents, so long as they are living with a relative or a legal guardian.

Students, however, did not always have to fill out the residency forms.

“Our neighboring districts, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe, all of those districts have been [requiring students to turn in residency verification forms] for quite some time,” Gaul said. “So we asked around our neighboring district to find out what their annual process was, and about two and half to three years ago, we decided to modify

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our the method to go about the process of actually getting a hard copy residency verification. It’s worked out really well for us.”

Additionally, these forms are intended to prevent neighboring districts from losing money because the students living in their attendance area choose not to attend their schools. However, if students wish to attend a school in another district, they can apply to be released by their home district, according to Gaul.

“Some districts will [release them] or won’t,” Gaul said.

“If they’re released, they can bring that interdistrict transfer attendance permit into our office, and if there is space available, we can approve it.”

Preference for school enrollment is still given to students who live in the school’s attendance area, according to Gaul.

Jenny Williams* (12) believes that students should be allowed to attend any school they wish to, regardless of their home location.

Williams used to live in Del Mar but moved to La Jolla to live with her mother’s fiance.

“I feel like if you already lived in the area but moved for whatever reason ... they shouldn’t kick you out,” Williams said.

“You’ve already made friends, and you might have to lie and say that your address is something that it isn’t just to stay.”

Richard Li (10), who lives on the boundary of, but still within the TPHS attendance area, shares Williams’ sentiments.

“People should be able to go to school where they want because when you’re transferring from middle school to high school, there are only a select amount of high schools you can go to,” Li said.

“You want to go with your friends and in an environment you want, and the high school in the area [you live in] may not have that.”

According to Jaffe, at the time the Falconer went to press, about 430 students from all of the district schools had not turned in their residency verification forms, a significant improvement from the 1100 students that had not turned in the forms at this time last year. *Name changed to protect identity.

OPINION

PRO

By Austin Zhang COPY EDITOR

On Dec. 2, 2015, the Inland Regional Center of the health department of San Bernardino County was attacked by a former restaurant inspector from the department and his wife. The shooting claimed the lives of 14 employees. Although it has been three months since the massacre, the investigation into the histories of the perpetrators and their methods for carrying out the attacks continues. Recently, the FBI obtained a court order requiring Apple to create software that would allow the bureau to retrieve data from the iPhone of Syed Rizwan Farook, the male shooter in the San Bernardino attack. In response, Apple CEO Tim Cook issued a statement in which he detailed the company’s stance: compromising one phone would create both the precedent and a potential means to compromise all devices. As such, the company refused to create the necessary software. However, in the interest of national security, Apple should comply with the FBI’s request and create software to unlock the phone.

The important thing to understand about data collection from any government organization is the concept of absence of malice.

The government is, generally speaking, working from a standpoint of objectivity. Barring the occasional anomaly, most government investigations treat

A7

ART BY SIMON KIM/FALCON ARTIST COLOR BY CAROLYN CHU/FALCON ARTIST

Apple refuses to comply with a court order that requires it to unlock the phones of the San Bernardino shooters for the FBI, raising questions about digital privacy. individuals as mere data points, statistics in massive collections of information that only will be significant if they ever are believed to be threats to national security. In this case, officials believe that the data on the phone would help them to map out the locations to which perpetrators moved immediately after the shooting and also shed light on any people they may have contacted before the incident. This is all extremely pertinent information, and the FBI is justified in demanding access to them.

Furthermore, in a broader sense, the concept of privacy in the modern age is ultimately a principle. In the corporate world, data is frequently used to generate highly-targeted advertisements, and sometimes even transferred between companies. The way corporations use data is much more aggressive and invasive than anything the FBI ever would do with the data on the single phone of a now-deceased murderer.

The public has a contract with the government as well. At the very foundation of society is the concept of surrendering certain personal liberties for the public good. If we recognize that investigative bodies only act upon data with extreme discretion and only request access to data to benefit an active inquiry, then we must come to understand the obligation Apple has.

As in all conflicts between an idealistic adherence to principle and a realistic evaluation of practical advantages, there must be compromise. Additional oversight could be added to ensure that federal agencies do not abuse the ability to collect or demand information and access to private data. However, in the particular case of the San Bernardino shooter’s phone, the FBI must be able to pursue all possible leads and lines of evidence in order to best protect national interests.

In a question asked by Pew Research Center ...

Should Apple unlock the phones of the San Bernardino terrorists for the FBI?*

51%

38%

YES

NO

said

said

*11 percent of people didn’t know

In the latest dispute over citizen privacy versus national security, the FBI is pressuring Apple to engineer new software that would override the iPhone’s encryption feature and allow the FBI to unlock the phone of one of the alleged terrorists from the 2015 San Bernardino shooting. After weeks of making arguments, Apple has taken the case to Congress, though the hearing on Capitol Hill has produced no decision. It has, however, brought to light an excellent point: There is no clear-cut method to address digital privacy, and any decisions made regarding the current case could set dangerous precedents for future legislation and law enforcement demands.

A significant problem with creating a backdoor for the FBI or, as FBI Director James Comey said, taking away the “vicious guard dog” and allowing the FBI to “pick the lock” of an existing door is simple — it is a slippery slope. If Apple is legally obligated to give the FBI access to encrypted data, perhaps the company could also be forced to make software that permits the use of iPhones for government surveillance. After all, it is absurd to think the FBI will use this new backdoor for the sole purpose of accessing the San Bernadino shooter’s phone, no matter what Comey claims. So compelling Apple to comply with the FBI’s demands will, at the very least, pave the path for the government to further infringe upon individual privacy in the future.

Furthermore, the weakening of Apple’s defenses could have farreaching consequences for the technological security of millions.

The systems are built so securely in order to prevent criminals, hackers and terrorists from accessing customers’ information. Providing a backdoor entrance exclusively for the FBI does not mean it will stay exclusive. Hackers have shown that

CON

By Anna Lee

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

they are perfectly capable of breaking through government defenses; in 2015, the government suffered a number of cyber attacks, including one that resulted in the theft of 22 million Americans’ information. It’s alarming to think that, should Apple give the FBI access to such software, criminals and terrorists could get their hands on it, too. And really, that defeats the entire purpose of the FBI’s demands — a backdoor will only exacerbate security issues by potentially giving terrorists access to private information.

Foreign governments, too, are awaiting the outcome of the case.

If the FBI has access to special technology, they would be able to infiltrate the phones of non-U.S. citizens as well; they would be able to collect the information of any iPhone owner. It seems highly unlikely that other nations would accept this situation unless they, too, could possess the same software — in fact, according to The Verge, Chinese Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun is pressuring Apple with similar demands. And would that mean any individual with an iPhone must be wary not only of their own federal government, but foreign ones as well? Compelling Apple to create this technology will cause too many problems — problems without clear solutions. The FBI must understand the consequences of their demands before forcing Apple’s hand.

A8 the falconer

opinion

march 25, 2016

STAFF EDITORIAL: SPECIAL EDUCATION ACCOMMODATIONS best possible learning environment to the student. When a student is accepted into a college without the college’s knowledge of a learning disability, and the college cannot provide the same accommodations, the student will struggle with academic requirements.

Not revealing accommodations given to compensate for a learning disability gives an inaccurate picture of one’s abilities and may hinder his or her success in college and beyond.

Although it cannot be stated for certain whether a learning disability will help or harm a student’s admissions chances, to look at disabilities in a negative light is a naive way of thinking.

Colleges do not merely look at a student’s grades and test scores, the two items most affected by accommodations. Rather, they seek diversity; they seek students

who have experienced struggle, and overcome barriers in and out of school. Colleges want students who have proven themselves capable of going above and beyond, even with limitations.

A disability can be portrayed as a challenge met head on and overcome with the help of accommodations that merely allow a student to perform and achieve at his or her best, like everyone else.

ART BY CAROLYN CHU/FALCON ARTIST

not. In order to retain this protection, students with disabilities are not required to mark on their transcripts that they have a disability or have received accommodations of some kind. This prevents colleges from potentially discriminating against students with disabilities during the admissions process.

But the purpose of an application is to provide the most accurate representation of a student to his or her prospective colleges. If academic transcripts leave out that fact, then they are essentially providing colleges an incomplete picture of a student: a lie of omission, at worst. This is not only unfair to other students who are required to accurately portray themselves to colleges, but also to any students with learning disabilities.

It is counterintuitive for a transcript not to include information regarding a student’s accommodations or disabilities.

A student who gets extra time on essays, a note taker during lectures, preferential seating or an extra day to turn in a project throughout high school will most likely require or seek similar accommodations in college.

And if so, it is imperative for colleges to know so that they can provide the

the strip

by carolyn chu

During application season, colleges and universities require that students send in a mass of information: awards, essays, extracurricular activities, grades.

With the help of that information, the record is supposed to inform colleges about a student’s academic credentials and achievements.

Students with disabilities who have received accommodations are not required by law to include those accommodations on their transcripts under the reasoning that such accommodations simply level the playing field of academic achievement and should not play a role in the admissions decision.

It is true that accommodations are not meant to give students with disabilities an unfair advantage but are merely used to even the playing field. But it is fallacious to claim that accommodations have nothing to do with an academic record and that a learning disability ought not be represented on a student’s profile for colleges.

Under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, those with disabilities are not allowed to be treated differently or receive benefits than those without disabilities do

Falconer

The Torrey Pines High School

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

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The Falconer is the student newspaper of Torrey Pines High School. Its content, which is the responsibility of the Falconer staff, is not subject to administrative approval. Unsigned editorials represent the opinions of the staff, while opinion columns represent the writer’s perspective.

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

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 Art 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 Carolyn Chu Mia Boardman Smith

Staff Writers: Sumin Hwang Anvitha Soordelu Webmaster: Chris Lu Photographers: Grace Bruton Eric Cunningham Travis Felthaus Ally Jensen Anton Schuh Avery Spicker Alderik van der Heyde Lauren Zhang

Artists: Michelle Hao Simon Kim Jenny Li Jiyoung Moon Ellese Nguyen Russell Reed Amy Yu Amanda Yuan

opinion

tphsfalconer.com

the falconer

A9

Grammys must reward hip-hop artists FOCUS EDITOR

There’s no question that Taylor Swift is one of the most successful artists of our time. The 26-year-old singer has aggregate album sales and download numbers upwards of 100 million and has become a huge pop culture icon; she’s a major draw for all high-profile events and is constantly making headlines, whether it is for her seemingly neverending feud with rapper Kanye West, her relationship status or her various charitable contributions. And having amassed a total of 248 awards in her career thus far, it is clear that key industry players and critics generally believe her music is objectively good.

So, it may seem unsurprising to most that after opening at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, Swift returned home with three gilded gramophones in her arms, one of which included arguably the most prestigious award of the night, Album of the Year, for 1989. Whether or not Swift deserved to beat out rapper Kendrick Lamar’s critically acclaimed album To Pimp A

Butterfly for the award, however, is an entirely different matter.

In his third studio album, Compton native Lamar, who first emerged on the scene as an underground rapper, completely abandoned industry norms and expectations with an unabashed celebration of blackness and of Lamar’s own African roots, coupled with a searing condemnation of centuries of institutionalized racism and subjugation of the black population in the United States. To Pimp a Butterfly holds both cultural and musical significance; it draws attention to issues facing the black community, especially police brutality and the disproportionately high number of and length of sentences for African-Americans charged with nonviolent offenses, in a way that no artist has done before. The album also strategically incorporates jazz, funk and spoken word poetry, all of which result in a 79-minute masterpiece strongly illustrative of Lamar’s constant artistic evolution and lyrical genius. Despite not winning Best Album, he received four Grammys in other categories for the songs on this album.

1989, on the other hand, deals primarily with, like most of Swift’s songs, themes of relationships and romance; 1989 does place greater emphasis on the notion of empowerment than in past albums, however, and marks the completion of Swift’s transition from country

sweetheart to bona fide pop star.

This is by no means an attempt to discount the quality of Swift’s work and her efforts. Both Swift and Lamar are good artists. Both albums successfully accomplish the artists’ goals. The issue is, rather, that the music establishment has a particularly egregious track record when it comes to offering rap and hiphop, genres historically dominated by blacks, artists the same opportunity to receive recognition for their achievement.

In 2014, controversy erupted when white hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis beat out Lamar for Best Rap Album; Macklemore later acknowledged in a private text message to Lamar that the award deserved to go to good kid, m.A.A.d city, Lamar’s second studio album.

In 2015, there was similar backlash when Beck’s benign coffeehouse blend beat Beyonce’s eponymous feminist album.

In the entire history of the Grammys, only two rap or hip-hop artists have ever won Album of the Year: OutKast for Speakerboxxx/Love Below in 2004 and rapper Lauryn Hill for The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1999.

While the official criteria for Album of the Year are unknown, it seems that the Academy has an obvious preference for albums that are easy on the ears, sugary and sugarcoated creations about a classically perfect

United States, which essentially automatically excludes most hiphop and rap because the genres by nature tend to deal with more controversial topics. Swift sings about almost universal experiences in often painfully catchy songs; she represents a certain ideal and culture in this country: the American dream, the notion that with enough hard work and persistence, even a conventionally attractive white girl from Nashville can achieve international s t a rd o m , with just the right a m o u n t of selfproclaimed feminism thrown in there for good measure. On the other hand, Lamar’s angst-filled, expletivelaced verses probably do not translate as well with the average Grammy voting member — how many voters have experienced what Lamar has?

All this controversy has underscored the necessity of adding the criteria of overall impact and cultural significance to the current evaluation of technical merit that goes into determining the Album of the

Year and Grammy Awards on the whole. After all, music does not exist in a vacuum, independent of the society that consumes it; instead, it is reflective of and adaptive to those changing circumstances. To Pimp a Butterfly was more relevant than ever in 2015, a year marked by protests against police brutality and black oppression. Art should be a means rather than an end, and it is due time that we rightfully reward those who treat it as such.

ART BY ELLESE NGUYEN/FALCON ARTIST

By Amanda Chen

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE MAYA RAO

The Falconer Opinion Editor reflects on her Indian heritage, American life and the struggle to bridge the gap between the two worlds.

So, where are you from?

San Diego, I answer in a perfect California accent — the last syllable drawn out longer than it should.

I flash a smile and wait for the inevitable reaction: eyebrows up, eyes squinted, lips pursed — but only for a moment.

No, but really. Where are you really from?

Where’s your family from?

I chew my cheek to repress a sigh. Bangalore, India. It’s in the South. We don’t speak Hindu or Indian. Those aren’t even languages. We speak Kannada. No, not Canada or Canadian. Are you aware they speak English in Canada? And French. Not “Canadian.”

But the truth is, I don’t know where I’m from.

I am forever divided by a cavernous gap, a hyphen. I’m Indian-American.

I never noticed the color of my skin or the thickness of my hair or the way my eyelashes curled upward and tilted inward. I never felt out of place, like I didn’t belong. I never felt different from any one of my classmates. But people felt different for me.

You skin’s so caramel-y, that’s a gorgeous tone. Is your hair always so dark and thick?

I’d kill for hair like that. And oh my god, your eyelashes. They’re so long and curled; I wish I had eyelashes like those.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved those compliments, but they made me notice things about myself I took for granted for so long.

I looked like this, I used to think, they look like that. So what? Not anymore. Pointing out what was different about me, how ever wellintentioned the remarks were, made me realize that I didn’t have what my classmates had. That, in their eyes, I would never be truly American.

But to my Indian family, I can never be truly Indian either. My accent is too American, sometimes met with sharp gasps or exclamations, my Kannada is too embarrassingly broken, my lack of cultural awareness is too prevalent. In India, I feel like “the American girl,” someone to whom everything needs to be explained in painstaking detail.

I started to feel like I didn’t fit in anywhere. I cringed when my Indian parents pronounced a word wrong — it’s atmosphere, not atmosphere!

— sent me ethnic food for lunch, behaved in any way I deemed “too Indian.” And at the same time, I was shocked by my white classmates and teachers, their obliviousness and naivete, their freedoms and independence, their general sense of entitlement that allowed them to ask questions like “are you going to have an arranged marriage, or will your family let you choose your husband?” As if I could answer that. The question was always patronizing, like I was a backwards heathen and they were the selfless individuals who took up the white man’s burden to bring civilization to my culture, remnants of the British imperialism and colonialism that ruined India. And because my teachers and classmates were white, they felt like they owned this land — everyone else was a visitor. But they had forgotten that they, too, were visitors once.

This idea — that everyone is a visitor moving through life — really stuck with me. Nobody really owns anything, nobody really belongs anywhere except a place that they create for themselves. And that’s what I had to do — create my own place.

It took a lot of heartache and angst-filled

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

existential crises before I realized that even though I would never be fully Indian or fully American, I could carve out a place for myself on the hyphen between the two. Instead of feeling like I had to belong to one group or the other, I realized I could be in both.

I started becoming more involved in both communities. I joined the staff of the Falconer and wrote what are known on staff — affectionately, I hope — as “propaganda opinions,” opinion stories that extoll the virtues of the United States to point out what we as a nation can do better; I believe that the highest form of love, of patriotism, is pointing out flaws so that they can be fixed. If I didn’t care for the United States, or if I hated the country, why would I try to help it? I’ve also been involved with a local cultural and religious school that has introduced me to different kinds of philosophy and schools of thought. And I’ve tried to bring everything I’ve learned into my life, to live my life by the values that both India and the United States instill in me.

It hasn’t always been easy. I’ve been discriminated against by Indians and Americans alike. A vague look of disbelief sometimes passes over the faces of my relatives when I admit I can’t speak Kannada very well; shopkeepers raise prices at least 100 percent

when they hear my telling accent, so while I watch my mother bargain, I have to stay silent.

And I’ve had my fair share of run-ins with the TSA, who just recently rummaged through our luggage and searched my father because they thought our food was a bomb. Nosy neighbors open our mailbox — a federal crime, by the way — and stop by to offer “helpful” tips on renovations that we’re getting done. Oh, have you checked with the HOA? Is that turf up to standard? They talk to us slowly and carefully, or angrily and arrogantly, as if we are unwanted immigrants too slow to understand; it is they who cannot hold a candle to my parents.

But every time I feel like crying over the injustice in the world — the relatively mild injustice I face — I remind myself that there are countless people like me, children of immigrants who are floundering between two worlds that equally rebuff them.

I’d like to think that I can help those people, the divided, make them realize that they don’t have to exist in one world or the other, that the hyphen that separates their identities is a bridge and they can shuttle across as many times as they’d like. Only, sometimes, I’d tell them, stop in the middle and look out at the view. You have two worlds at your fingertips. It’s a beautiful sight.

A10 the falconer

opinion

march 25, 2016

Hillary Clinton is unfairly vilified by the media

Presidential elections are always hotbeds of hatred. Candidates call each other out, pull each other down, leak any story they can to make their opponents’ campaigns crash and burn to the ground. But this election cycle has been particularly nasty, not only because of the insults thrown about haphazardly by Republican candidate Donald Trump, but also because of the rhetoric used, by other candidates and by the media, to describe former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is running for president for the second time.

Clinton has been booed, hushed, shot down, ignored, branded a liar and a cheat and a criminal unworthy of the office of president. Her entire life is under a microscope, and no one — not her husband, her daughter, or her grandchild — is immune from the scrutiny. And no matter what she does or what she says, she cannot escape the media’s flames.

Clinton was secretary of state when the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya was attacked, killing four people — including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens.

And even though the attack was

a direct result of the failure of the U.S. State Department as a whole to protect the compound, Clinton was singled out for blame, by some media outlets and by Republicans, for the entire catastrophe. The security decisions were likely made by a security official, not Clinton, and probably didn’t reach Clinton in the first place. But the U.S. House Select Committee on Benghazi, which was supposed to investigate and analyze the failures of the State Department, still turned into a witch hunt — a hunt for any sort of evidence that would put Clinton’s head on a pike.

Clinton’s whole career — her whole life — has been plagued by scandals.

Benghazi. Emails. Monica Lewinsky.

Vince Foster. Whitewater. Should she have stood by her husband, former president Bill Clinton, or should she have left him? Does it really matter?

Either way, whatever choice she made, she would have ended up skewered. Even her own daughter wasn’t spared; Chelsea Clinton has been called everything from snobbish to ugly by commentators, depending on how the media feels about the Clintons on any particular day.

Perhaps the most common attacks Hillary has suffered have been the attacks on her character.

She’s too ambitious. Not any more so than any other presidential candidate — unambitious people simply do not run for president. She just oozes the desire to be president, she wants it too much. But don’t we want a president who actually wants to be president? Being in charge of a nation as powerful and influential as the United States is not a walk in

the park — people have to really want the job to take it on. She changes her mind to fit what voters want. OK, America, we like people who are strong-willed, who stick to their convictions even if those convictions sink them like an iron ball chained to the leg of a drowning person. But really? Isn’t it a good thing that Hillary wants to ensure what’s best for the nation instead of blindly pushing her own agenda?

It’s not like she has morphed into someone else — she still stands for many of the things for which she has always stood — she has just changed her mind. And while the United States may see that as a weakness of character, it’s really a strength. It takes no courage to say what you have always been saying; it takes true bravery to acknowledge that you were wrong before and have had the wisdom to change your mind.

Hillary is by far the most electable candidate running on either side.

She is

certainly not a Bible-thumping, uncompromising, irrational Ted Cruz, nor is she a bombastic, racist, arrogant Donald Trump. And the fact that Republicans on Fox News, a conservative media outlet, use kinder language to describe Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont), a selfproclaimed democratic socialist who blatantly panders to his base of lateteens, early-twenties voters with his laughably unrealistic fiscal plan that would make college

tuition free for everyone, and who stands for basically everything the Republican party hates — i.e., taxes, people taking away “hard-earned money,” taxes, etc. — should say something about Hillary’s unfair treatment by the press.

Hillary has suffered years of mudslinging for things that would only ruffle the feathers of a man’s political career. She is moderate, compromising, willing to look beyond herself to help the American people.

It is beyond time to stop the abuse, the vicious language, the vilification. It is time to be honorable.

It is time to be American.

ART BY JIYOUNG MOON/FALCON ARTIST

By Maya Rao OPINION EDITOR

White colonialism has no place in India

By Maya Kota COPY & BACKPAGE EDITOR

In deciding to refer to India’s financial capital as Bombay instead of Mumbai, Amol Rajan, BritishIndian editor of Great Britain’s Independent newspaper, sparked controversy among Indian citizens who viewed Rajan’s decision as an attack on Indian nationalism and as support for the country’s past British and Portuguese colonization. When Great Britain gained control of the city in the 17th century, its traditional name, Mumbai, was changed to the Portuguese, anglicized title of Bombay, which was maintained as the city’s official name until 1995.

In the 1990s, India was primarily Hindu and its political scene was marked by regional ideology due to the dominance of certain political parties. Consequently, Bombay’s name was changed back to the ancestral Mumbai. Rajan claims that because the name “Mumbai” is derived from the name of the Hindu goddess Mumbadevi, the title has a religious motif and is unfit as the name of a highly-commercial and financially-centered city.

But a fundamental flaw in the argument is that the traditional city of Mumbai, built by indigenous societies as a religious refuge, came before the enterprising, alpha city of Bombay.

And, as such, the religious nature of the name Mumbai is justified by

the city’s origins. And in response to accusations of his support for colonialism in India, Rajan argued that Indian citizens condemning him were “close-minded” and “antimodernist” in refusing to aid India in its progression into the modern age.

The values and advancements of a city are what defines its modernity, or lack thereof. But the name of a city in no way indicates the direction it is taking into the future and cannot possibly be used as an attack against its ideologies. In this way, Rajan’s counterattack on the supposed backward thinking of the Indian people has no substantial backing except that of his own preference for Westernization.

India is 79.8 percent Hindu and Mumbai is 73.4 percent Hindu, showing that a majority of the citizens in India would likely be unopposed to the Hindu-originated name of Mumbai. And even for nonHindu citizens, what purpose is there to argue over the traditional name of a now-modern city? Mumbai is extremely enterprising, and has become financially stable even with its traditional name. There really is no point in Rajan asserting that Indian citizens are “anti-modernist,” because if they really were, there is no way the city would have progressed as far as it has over the past 20 years.

Controversy over the Westernization of India has risen because of other instances of procolonization sentiment as well.

Facebook’s “Free Basics” program, which provides Internet access to basic services, like news, maternal health, travel, local jobs and local government information on the Facebook website in developing countries, was recently banned in India after the government ruled

that it discriminated against other websites and was therefore illegal. In response, Facebook board member Marc Andreessen tweeted that it would be “morally wrong” to deny the “world’s poorest free partial Internet connectivity.” He continued, stating that this was another “economically suicidal decision” and that because anti-colonialism has been “economically catastrophic for the Indian people for decades, why should they stop now?”

Facebook and Facebook’s employees do not stand in place of the government in developing countries.

The court ruled on the order of discrimination to other websites, and not because the country was refusing Internet services. Andreessen’s comments are both ignorant and narcissistic, because he believes that India’s anticolonial sentiment has gone too far. There really is no limit to how far a country should go to be able to fight for itself. India was under colonial rule from 1505 to 1961, and over those 400-some years, the Indian citizens and government ought to have felt anger over the injustices that accompany a country’s own government not being able to preside over its citizens.

According to Deck App Technologies founder Sumanth Raghavendra, India is open to and in need of Internet access, but it’s not as if the country does not have the resources and brainpower to create access. One thing lacking in India, as well as in other developing countries, is the widespread use of computers

and wireless access both in homes and in public areas. This causes the price of Internet use to increase, preventing many citizens from being able to use the Internet very often unless they are at work. Google, however, has provided its services across India, launching programs to expand free Internet access. Google does not limit users to just Google or other preferred parts of the Web. Evidently, not everyone around the world is trying to rule over developing countries with Western-developed resources, but this doesn’t mean that pro-colonial sentiment is going anywhere.

As with Andreessen, there are still some who believe that the Western hemisphere rules the world, when really, it’s the marketable items developed

in the Western world that provide benefit to people across the globe.

And while the companies who created those items may try to institute their programs in other countries, it is not their right to condemn another country for the decisions it makes. While colonialism was a dark part of India’s history, that does not mean that that part of its past is not open to discussion.

But it is, simply put, offensive, to insinuate that India, along with any other developing country, was better off under colonized rule. Colonization implies that a country cannot direct itself and that it takes the mind of an outsider to direct the happenings of a country. Colonization has brought the Indian government and Indian citizens independence and a drive to create and implement ideas by the people and for the people. Evidently, in response to pro-colonial sentiment from the Western world, India is not backing down without a fight.

ART BY MICHELLE HAO/FALCON ARTIST

opinion

tphsfalconer.com

the falconer A11

Peter Liang protests are inherently flawed

An unarmed black man is killed by a police officer. After months of highprofile court sessions and tensionfilled media coverage, the police officer, usually white, is declared not guilty. Whether “killed” means shot, choked, beaten or hung, this tale is all too ubiquitous.

Akai Gurley has a story similar to the Michael Browns, the Eric Garners and the Sandra Blands – except this time, the cop that shot him was not only Asian -- Chinese, to be precise -- but was also found guilty. On Nov. 20, 2014, Gurley was visiting his girlfriend when a bullet shot by former New York Police Department officer Peter Liang bounced off a wall and into Gurley’s chest, killing him within minutes. A year and a half later, on Feb. 11, Liang was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter and official misconduct.

Chinese communities expressed their reactions to Liang’s conviction at rallies across the United States, with some participants holding up signs that pronounced Liang a “scapegoat.” While it is important to address the fact that Liang’s conviction could be used to forge

a facade of police accountability while condoning future leniency on guilty white police officers, it is more important to understand that protesting his conviction will only perpetuate racialized violence and excuse police brutality.

Many of the participants at the rallies convey the wrong message — that Liang should not have been convicted — when the true protesting should be against the judicial system that allows guilty and mostly white police officers to literally get away with murder. The point is not that Liang should not be in jail — it is that more police officers guilty of the same sort of crime should be in jail with him.

It is easy to feel bad for Liang, who spent his childhood aspiring to become a police officer and will now spend 15 years of his adulthood in jail. But it does not matter that the stairwell was badly lit or that Liang was probably scared and nervous or even that he had limited police training before being assigned to patrol one of the most notoriously hazardous housing developments in New York — what matters is that his action directly resulted in another man’s death.

According to New York Daily News, on-duty NYPD officers have been directly responsible for 179 deaths over the past 15 years. Liang is the first officer to be convicted in a lineof-duty shooting in over a decade.

While his conviction could serve as a precedent in preventing uncharged police brutality, it brings up the question of why it was only Liang who was convicted out of all the NYPD

officers who have been responsible for taking an unarmed citizen’s life.

Protests against the Liang verdict are not only about a perceived scapegoat conviction — they are about Asians having a voice and a platform to speak up about race relations. It is devastatingly obvious that racial conflicts between blacks and whites today are far from being resolved, but racism is not only a black and white issue.

Chinese culture often places value on individual success and prosperity as an ultimate goal, not social justice and equality; it is rare that Asians outwardly rally, protest or even simply advocate for equality. The tradition has been to keep their heads down and blend in as well as possible.

Even though protesting Liang’s conviction is retrogressive in terms of racial equality, the rallies in Chinese-American communities have allowed them to truly advocate for change in society. It is uplifting to see the AsianAmerican population unifying, despite the questionable cause.

Liang’s actions have no doubt caused a tragedy, but his conviction has opened up dialogue for Asian Americans to discuss racial relations and tensions, whether

that be hosting rallies for Liang or playing a bigger role in social justice movements in the future.

Still,

disproportionate and gratuitous violence against blacks by the police needs to be acknowledged.

And the conviction of one officer is better than the conviction of none — perhaps Liang’s case could signify the beginning of more police accountability.

ART BY CAROLYN CHU/FALCON ARTIST

By Irene Yu ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Empty Supreme Court seat should be filled SPORTS EDITOR

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died on Feb. 13 after serving on the Court for nearly 30 years.

His conservative views and often controversial decisions characterized his tenure and impact on American law and the power of the judiciary.

But now, with an empty seat on the Supreme Court, two sides of the political scene have emerged with drastically conflicting views, and neither is willing to budge.

According to the Washington Post, all 11 Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and 47 out of 54 Senate Republicans have refused to consider anyone President Barack Obama nominates; even though Obama now has nominated Merrick Garland, chief justice of the D.C. Federal Appeals Court and a relatively moderate Democrat, Republicans show no signs of backing down.

Instead, they argue that Scalia’s spot must remain vacant until the next president is elected.

A new justice is absolutely necessary for the efficient, effective and fair operation of the judicial system; with only the current eight justices — four of whom lean toward the positions of the Republican Party and four of whom lean to those of the Democratic Party — cases could be evenly split and left to be decided by the lower court. Missing a ninth

member, the Supreme Court would be rendered useless for over a year, unable to reach a majority decision on the most controversial issues, stuck in deadlock.

Perhaps the reasons behind the Republicans’ supposed block of any nomination would be more valid if they were genuinely looking out for the best interests of the nation instead of blatantly pushing their own partisan agenda. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Grassley said that, in the last 80 years, Supreme Court nominees have not been chosen in a presidential election year, conveniently overlooking the cases of Justice William Brennan and Justice Anthony Kennedy. In fact, there were eight election-year nominations and confirmations in the 20th century alone. Grassley’s claim of “unprecedented” action would more aptly describe the situation if Obama failed to nominate a Supreme Court Justice; only once were there eight instead of nine justices for about as long as there would be if Scalia’s seat was to remain empty.

According to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the people should “have a voice” — in the form of the next election — in the replacement of Scalia in the Supreme C o u r t .

McConnell’s advocacy for representation is disingenuous and completely illogical, for the American people already

do “have a voice” in this Supreme Court nomination decision: They twice elected Obama as president.

And as with any other president, Obama’s term does not last three years — it lasts four.

In preventing the confirmation of a new justice, the senators in opposition are shirking their legal duty and only accomplishing one thing: further widening the gap between the two dominant political parties. Behind all the empty rhetoric about a newly-elected president better representing the wishes of the people, Republicans simply fear that Obama will place a liberal judge on the Supreme Court, locking him or her in for life and shifting the balance away from conservatism. They are so self-serving, partisan, and blinded by their disdain for Obama and the

Democratic Party, that they fail to see reality. Obama cannot nominate a diehard liberal; the nomination would not pass through the Senate. That’s why he nominated Garland, a more moderate judge who has historically made conservative decisions but also supports some progressive ideas. Compromise is essential, and communication is essential. Yet when Republicans refuse even to consider any possibilities, progress is stopped in its tracks. Productive activity halts, and petty arguments flare.

This conflict is really just one example of a dangerous trend increasingly apparent in American politics: prioritizing partisan politics over the

good of the nation. The inability and unwillingness of politicians with differing views to work together on even simple issues like this is frankly alarming. Nominating a Supreme Court Justice is not something that can be postponed or saved for later; it has to be done immediately.

A decision like this cannot be taken lightly; it takes thoughtful consideration and constructive debate, neither of which are anywhere to be seen.

According to a poll by Fox News, 64 percent of Americans think it is the responsibility of the Senate to hold confirmation hearings and vote on Garland now. Scalia always believed in listening to the will of the people, to let the people decide. But for the senators who are adamant in their position, their decision is not about what is best for the country or the people, but what is best for them.

ART BY ELLESE NGUYEN/FALCON ARTIST

By Lily Nilipour

A12 the falconer

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the

Four Corners

For many kids, Friday nights at TPHS mean bright stadium lights and themed clothing. Football players charge across the field, bleeding cardinal and sweating gold, amid deafening cheers from the crowd. And just 10 minutes east, students show their school spirit in a much different way. Standing ovations at student-run musicals, sitting in respectful silence during a film festival or participating in class competitions at pep rallies, the Canyon Crest Academy Ravens celebrate their school.

But is the difference in the way students show school spirit attributed to the students themselves, or the areas that schools seem to be centered around?

According to SDUHSD Associate Superintendent Michael Grove, San Dieguito Academy was originally San Dieguito High School, the first district high school, opened in 1936 and a football powerhouse. TPHS opened in 1974 to relieve crowding at SDA. La Costa Canyon High School was opened in 1996 to accommodate students in the northern end of the district, and SDHS became San Dieguito Academy, without a football team, so students had the option of going to a district high school not dominated by the football culture. CCA was established in 2004 to provide another high school for students in the southern part of SDUHSD. SDA and CCA were referred to as “academies” to indicate that they had no geographic boundaries for students and no football teams.

So two of the four district high schools were deliberately established for students who didn’t want a rah-rah football school. In addition, other cultural have developed at the schools over time.

“I really feel [that] culture has nothing to do with the bell schedule… [or] the design of a building,” CCA Principal Karl Mueller said. “Culture is the responsibility of the community [at the school] itself… [and] we find opportunities to celebrate the interests that make up our culture.”

SDA student Carolyn Knapp (10) said that varied cultures at district high schools are helpful because they “give students an opportunity to go to a school that fits them personally.” “[The different schools] allow students to be surrounded by peers with similar interests and passions,” Knapp said. “Our school has many specific elective classes and clubs in the fields of visual and performing arts, as well as natural and physical sciences that are unique to SDA, and if you’re interested in those, there’s a place for you to find them.”

LCC principal Bryan Marcus also said that the district has set up a distinct system that has “been successful in providing the best education and fit for the students.”

Additionally, CCA and SDA offer the four-by four schedule, in which students take four year-long classes in a single semester and start the second semester with a new set of four classes. The four-by-four has attracted many students because of the increased opportunities for some AP classes and electives; a lottery was instituted to handle high demand for the academies. On the other hand, TPHS and LCC use the more traditional six-class schedule with year-long classes. According to Dylan Ta (12), a CCA student who transferred there from TPHS, many people find the four-by-four intimidating or even daunting, but Ta didn’t find it as difficult to get used to as people said he would.

“I was kind of bored at TP with the schedule, and I also wanted to squeeze in my last 6 required classes [as soon as possible],” Ta said. “I enjoy the academics aspect a lot more [at CCA] and I was able to adjust somewhat easily to the four-by-four.”

While Ta said the four-by-four is beneficial, TPHS student Sara Shoushtari (11) disagrees. She said the TPHS schedule increases educational opportunities for students by giving them more time for teachers to interact with their students and teach them about important core subjects, especially for particularly difficult AP classes. Of course, SDUHSD high schools differ in more than just schedules.

According to TPHS student Zac Scornovacco (11), the emphasis on athletics garners more “passion and school spirit” from students.

“What truly made me decide to come to Torrey was when I saw the student section,” Scornovacco said. “The moment I saw how spirited students were, I knew that TPHS was the school for me.”

Although TPHS and LCC have extensive sports programs, Marcus said that LCC has been working to improve awareness of their artistic extracurriculars through the Remind app and text message notifications.

The large portion of the media center that is always piled high with sports bags indicates the vast number of TPHS students who participate in school sports, while many students at CCA and SDA prefer to spend their afternoons in art studios or on filming sets rather than on the courts, although both academies have sports teams as well.

One way that CCA students express their passion for the arts is through a special program called Conservatory, an after-school program in which professionals who work or worked in artistic fields gather at CCA to teach students in areas like music and humanities.

According to CCA Instrumental Conservatory student Jessica Chun,

La Costa Canyon HS

Canyon Crest Academy

Torrey Pines HS

San Dieguito Academy

of

SDUHSD

a junior, Conservatory is a laid-back environment where students can practice their crafts with their peers, “[forcing] them to leave their comfort zones.” Conservatory groups come together several times a year for events such as the Festival of the Arts, in which all students display what they have been working on throughout the year, which Chun said creates a sense of school pride and unity.

Alternatively, SDA students prefer to go to school amid the muralcovered buildings as they enjoy their own forms of art appreciation. A school favorite, according to Knapp, is Exhibition Days, when classes are limited to 20 minutes before students are free to explore booths run by students who proudly display self-produced projects from art to fresh jams.

Whether students make friends through trying out for a new sports team or by starting a conversation with a stand partner in orchestra, social lives play major roles in the lives of high schoolers, and students at each of the district’s four high schools seem to think that the social environments of the schools differ greatly as well.

According to TPHS principal David Jaffe, even though the arts programs of TPHS are not as developed as the sports programs, TPHS has provided “inclusion for all through arts and academic programs.”

“I think sports is an important part even though it’s not the whole culture, it gives us something to rally around and unite through,” Jaffe said. “I think all our programs add to the social environment and provide all our students somewhere to belong.”

Delilah Forrest, a junior, said SDA students are very non-judgmental, demonstrated by their tolerance for costumes and crazy getups.

“SDA students wear crazy outfits like pajamas and wigs to school every day and nobody questions it,” Forrest said. “No one really cares or

Culture is the responsibility of the community [at the school] itself… [and] we find opportunities to celebrate the interests that make up our culture.

Karl Mueller

CCA P�������� judges; it just makes the campus and school life more fun and accepting for everyone else.”

According to SDA principal Bjorn Paige, the “purposeful way that SDA was created” is what attracts students to SDA. “Student voice is a big deal here; we have a student forum every month, that’s run by students and that helps contribute to a culture that’s very student-centered,” Paige said. “The nice thing is you don’t have to wear a Pikachu costume, but you can and there’s an acceptance here that helps students feel comfortable in their own skins.”

Although CCA students still regularly come to school in pajamas according to CCA sophomore Christine Chen (10), she is most impressed by the CCA ethic of inclusion, demonstrated by the introduction of the district’s first gender-neutral bathroom in October 2015.

“I think that the gender-neutral bathroom opening has been one of the coolest things at CCA,” Chen said. “I think it shows that CCA has taken the lead in promoting gender inclusion, which is very exciting.”

According to Mueller, student experiences like Field Day, “We Are CCA” week, and events with guest speakers encourage students to think about “their roles as members [in CCA’s] shared community.”

CCA offers a variety of spirit days and weeks, like Girl Empowerment Day and No Hate Week, when students attend assemblies and discuss how to create change on campus.

While snapping for each other at poetry slams and having discussions about each other’s opinions are definitely a few ways to bond with peers, Scornovacco thinks that school spirit gatherings provide another way to make new friends outside one’s normal lunch group.

Pep rallies recently have enjoyed a resurgence at TPHS, with Freddie Falcon dancing at a basketball game while dance team performs. CCA pep rallies feature classes throwing paper at each other in friendly competition. Despite the differences, district students are proud of the schools they call home and their special identities, but all district students can head to a varsity soccer game after play practice and physics tutoring and then to Convoy, the Old Globe, or paintballing.

There’s a place for every student in the SDUHSD.

by Sumin Hwang and Anvitha Soordelu

It was the turn of the century, and “muckraking” journalists penned page after page of wrongs against the working class, unraveling the corruption of big business to advocate for the poor and oppressed.

Decades later, the people called for peace in the anti-war movement to protest U.S. involvement in Vietnam after witnessing the brutality splashed across their television screens. Now, citizens of the contemporary world spark change through other means — Facebook, Reddit, Twitter and other social media platforms.

“Every generation has a sort of medium … this generation’s medium is social media,” social media activist Frank Liao (11) said. “And as time progresses, social media will have a greater and greater part to play in terms of shaping public opinion.”

Liao participates in "facebanking,” a strategy to gain support for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. According to the Bernie Sanders for President subreddit, where facebanking has gained traction, campaigners use an online tool called Bernie Friend Finder to find all their Facebook friends who live in a state where a Democratic party primary or caucus is happening or about to happen. Then, they send their friends a message encouraging them to vote for Sanders — a far cry from traditional door-to-door canvassing. Liao said he works for the Sanders campaign in a volunteer capacity and he pursues activist opportunities that interest him; when social media is involved, it’s usually politics. He also frequently shares articles and posts on Facebook.

“Through my sharing of posts, I’ve annoyed a lot of people,” Liao said. “But I feel sometimes I’ve been able to make a difference in terms of reaching out to people, like, ‘Hey, you’ve changed your mind,’ or someone saying, ‘Hey I’ve never heard about this before, but I’ll be sure to look into it.’”

Similarly, Eli Rubenstein (12) uses Twitter as a platform for political activism. He’s gathered over 34,700 followers, and counting — the ability to reach thousands of people with the tap of a phone screen is uniquely of the moment. And, according to Rubenstein, he’s had politicians recognize him by name because of his Twitter presence.

"With politics, [social media] can change the narrative of a whole election," Rubenstein said.

"When you get enough people sending out an article or pushing a hashtag, the media is going to pick up on it, and that's where it gets big."

Rubenstein was a volunteer for Senator Marco Rubio's presidential campaign. His Twitter account gets around 1.1 million impressions -- that’s the number of times his content is displayed on a screen -- a month, which assisted his campaigning for Rubio; he could reach a large audience when putting out information to promote the candidate.

"When you're in a presidential campaign, [social media] can really help, especially when you're trying to get a message out," Rubenstein said.

"When you have a lot of different people sharing the same message, a lot of times the media will pick up on it and report it.”

According to Jaimie Vaillancourt ('07), a Social Media Content Editor for international advertising agency R/GA, social media can serve as a "megaphone" for activism-related efforts. "[Social media] is a way to connect with strangers across the globe, which is why I think social activism is really interesting," Vaillancourt said.

"You can write an article in a print publication, but it might not reach another country, [whereas]

social platforms are so global and can reach so many people. It's interesting to see why things trend and who's rallying around them."

Activist Sheyda Khonji (12), who’s interested mainly in civil rights issues, sees social media as a valuable instigator of important conversations.

“If I see things [in the news] that I feel like I want to have a discussion about, I’ll share those posts or even write a post myself — I just want to start discussions,” Khonji said. “Social media makes it really easy to start discussions on really important topics with a whole range of people.”

But Vaillancourt said the vast outreach of social media activism also has its downsides — for instance, misinformation can spread just as easily as the truth.

"Unlike an article, where you have paragraphs to really explain your point to get something across, you have to be really smart on social media ... because you're telling a story in such limited text," Vaillancourt said. "You want to spread a certain message, and you want to make sure certain people understand that message, because if you want people representing what you stand for, then make sure they're representing it in the right way."

Advocates for social media activism argue that increased awareness of a cause is a worthy end in and of itself. Meanwhile, critics argue that social media activism can present complex topics simplistically and perpetuate superficial efforts that have little tangible effect, known as "fadtivism," "slacktivism" or "hashtag activism."

"There is some superficial element to social media activism ... If you're a kid on Facebook who decides to change your profile picture [to the chosen icon of a social media campaign to show support], that's great, but how much of a difference is that actually making?" Rubenstein said. "But I do think there's power in numbers, so if everyone decides to show solidarity and start a trend, I wouldn't discount anybody's activism."

Hashtags have become a popular way to show solidarity, like #ICantBreathe, which trended after NYPD officers killed Eric Garner, and #JeSuisCharlie, popular after the Paris attacks at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. They seek to unite people around the world and, often, to show a united front against a perceived common enemy.

But in the case of activism versus slacktivism, campaign effectiveness is a complicated issue — what determines a successful campaign? Is it that people talk about an issue? Or that some tangible change is made in the world?

"There's some people who use social media to propagandize their beliefs, and sometimes incorrect information is spread, but it's still important for us to be able to share opinions," Khonji said. "I think it's good just to discuss everything and eventually be able to filter out what's wrong and what's right … Even if nothing tangible right now has been achieved, the awareness and grassroots movement can help to go somewhere.”

Although social media has become a new frontier for social and political activism, advocacy and grassroots movements have influenced history through media for centuries. Balladeers and bards sang their “news,” politicians used the radio and television waves, scandals were unveiled in newspapers, and protests erupted in the streets — and now, online platforms spread messages, and hashtags add exclamation points. Whether or not social media can spark lasting change depends on this generation of advocates and activists.

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

Democratic Socialism For many Americans, the mere mention of the word “socialism” conjures images of red flags and un-American activities. It is no surprise, then, that when Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders calls himself a democratic socialist, some Americans hear only the “socialism” part.

Because of this widespread selective understanding and insufficient proper research, Sanders and his policies are often dismissed as far too leftist for a U.S. president. However, before completely dismissing one of only two Democratic presidential candidates, it is necessary to examine the difference between pure and democratic socialism and why Sanders is a proponent of the latter.

Pure socialism advocates that workers or the community own and control the means of production and distribution, thereby sharing equally in the fruits of their labor.

Socialism originated out of a concern about problems associated with capitalism, like income disparity and no safety net for those in need. Democratic socialism does not seek to undermine a capitalist foundation but seeks a stronger, proponents would say more fair, system within capitalism.

Democratic socialism, or social democracy, as it is frequently called, does not allow the government to infringe on the economic, social and political rights of citizens, but creates a “social safety net” — provided by programs designed to offer stability despite potential changes in one’s economic status, sudden or unexpected financial hardships, or one’s generally reduced ability to fend for him- or herself.

The ideology has been prevalent throughout nearly all of U.S. history. In the early 20th century, democratic socialists led movements for women’s suffrage, child labor laws and consumer protection laws.

Much of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s extensive New Deal legislation was based on ideas first espoused by democratic socialists, who advocated for a minimum wage, the right to form unions, and public works programs to create jobs and reduce unemployment. As Sanders points out, the U.S. already has democratic socialist programs in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, unemployment insurance, disability insurance, the Affordable Care Act, and the Veterans Administration.

Proponents of social democracy posit that “there are some types of risks [inherent in populations] that are most effectively and efficiently dealt with by making them public, by creating a government program to deal with them,” according to Lane Kenworthy, professor of sociology and political science at the University of Arizona. Kenworthy describes social democracy as governmental insurance to cover Americans for which the cost is spread around, so the cost per person is low. The version Sanders promotes in his campaign is concerned primarily with income equality, universal health care and lowering the cost of higher education.

Sanders has taken inspiration from successful nations like Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Those countries all have greater socioeconomic equality, a high standard of living, free universities, free child care, paid vacation, universal health insurance and a much wider safety net. Democratic socialism aims to ensure that as a nation, we do not fall behind the rest of the word economically, politically or socially.

Sanders’ social democracy is predicated on ensuring that large corporations pay their fair share in taxes, increasing the minimum wage and reversing trade policies that outsource labor to other countries.

By Tasia Mochernak

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When Maya Kota (11) joined the Girl Scouts in first grade, she never could have imagined it would give her the opportunity to speak at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City 11 years later.

Kota, a Juliette Girl Scout and a member of Girl Scouts Global Arms of Advocacy, was selected as one of 16 national Girl Scout delegates to participate in the 2016 annual U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, in which international representatives gather for two weeks to evaluate the progress of gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate policies to promote gender equality and the advancement of women.

“The whole experience was really empowering,” Kota said. “It really broadened my perspective on issues I already kind of knew about ... but it helped me see things through a more globalized lense. Women are in some way or another oppressed, but the way they are oppressed, it really differs in terms of where people are located.”

According to the U.N. website, the theme of this year’s commission was “women’s empowerment and its link to sustainable development” — how sustainability, the endurance of infrastructure and preservation of natural resources in case of crisis, affects how women are treated and women’s influence on sustainable development.

Besides sightseeing in New York City and touring the U.N. Headquarters, Kota attended various presentations, conferences and workshops on topics like human trafficking, oppression and violence against women and also gave her own presentation on privilege and intersectionality as a member of a four-person panel.

“I talked about my personal experiences as an activist, the challenges I face as an activist and what it means to be talking about privilege from a place of privilege, so

march 25, 2016

Girl Scout and women’s rights activist Maya Kota (11) shares her experience as a participant and panelist at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York City. how to be inclusive in terms of different perspectives,” Kota said. “For me specifically, the challenges have been age discrimination and how I am a girl of color activist ... I also acknowledged I am fortunate enough to have a caring family, a challenging education and the chance to succeed, rather than being a victim of social constructs as are many other people.”

According to Kota, hearing about experiences of female oppression from the perspective of girls her age was one of the most empowering things of her overall experience.

“Through my panel, I met girls from Mozambique and Kenya, and they explained how some of them were nearly forced to marry men three times their age ... but they fought against that specific oppression not to have to be married,” Kota said. “I’m an activist, but I haven’t faced those specific challenges, so hearing it from girls who have personally been through those experiences and had to really take the steps to fight against the oppression they faced taught me a lot.”

This year’s CSW session marks the first time the U.N. charter’s resulting draft, a contract accepted by participating member states, will focus on the voices of young females instead of just adults.

“As girl delegates, we were really crucial to the whole process because we ourselves are going to try to follow through with the message,” Kota said. “We need to stop violence against both women and girls, so I think that it was encouraging to see those who the specific theme was directed toward collectively figuring out ways to fight oppression worldwide.”

Kota intends to continue working toward her Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can attain, and will stay with Girl Scouts and Global Arms of Advocacy until she graduates from TPHS.

by Sarah Chan

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MAYA KOTA

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ENTERTAINMENT

arah Koenig’s voice was recognizable from the moment she first spoke — warm, trustworthy and clear. Koenig and her co-producer, Julie Snyder, appeared on the Balboa Theater stage for their presentation “Binge-worthy Journalism” about their massively popular, record-breaking and awardwinning podcast “Serial.” I was expecting a formal introduction to the presentation, the who, what, when – the basics of the podcast, really. But after stepping on the stage, the two leading ladies began cracking jokes, making me and the rest of the crowd wish we could be flies on the wall during their dinner discussions.

Snyder’s earring even got caught on her microphone, and Koenig had to help her get it untangled. Strange way to start, right?

“Serial” season one reinvestigates the 1999 Baltimore murder of high school senior Hae Min Lee. Her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was convicted of the crime and has since been serving a life sentence in prison. But Syed has claimed he is innocent since the very beginning, and in weekly podcast episodes last year, Koenig described her investigation of the case against Syed. No biases. No preaching of Syed’s innocence or lack thereof.

She simply examined the case, pointing out flaws or inconsistencies in testimonies, alibis and facts to clarify the case and seek definitive answers. Within five days of its debut, “Serial” had 300,000 listeners; it was also the fastest podcast to reach 5 million downloads and streams in iTunes history.

I jumped at the chance to get tickets with my journalism adviser to see Koenig and Snyder’s presentation. The lecture given by the cocreators revisited specific parts of the case and as well as revealed their own personal stories about the investigation to give background on how they were able to create the podcast. The presentation not only reignited my obsession with the true-crime podcast, but gave me a new perspective on its journalistic significance.

I have been a student journalist for four years. I have practiced the rights and ethics that are intrinsic to my role as a journalist.

Additionally, as the Falconer Entertainment Editor, I have been immersed in pop-culture, in what garners people’s attention and, more interestingly, why certain cultural items become popular. The combined experience has been why I personally connect to “Serial” — Koenig thoroughly investigates the story while presenting it in a forum that is ultimately for entertainment.

As Snyder said, “Serial” is “ballsy.” From a journalistic perspective, what makes the podcast not only renowned but also highly respected is its balance of journalistic integrity and entertainment. Behind a captivating story investigated by a witty and smart host is carefully executed journalism; Koenig, in fact, sorted through a 2,000 page transcript of Syed’s trial. In a podcast format, the labor and analysis required in journalism — something the public may not be aware of — is brought to the forefront, more so than other journalistic works.

Adapting the perspective of a journalist is second nature to me in how I think and analyze, so hearing Koenig and Snyder describe their process wasn’t surprising, but it does tie in to what I have

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learned. Although I’m aware of the accuracy required in proper reporting, I can still easily forget about the nature of my work: I am exposing the real lives of real people. Koenig and Snyder made a point that the work they did on “Serial” season one — exposing and covering the crime on a weekly basis in an engaging way — is odd in itself. What we are listening to with the expectation of being entertained is the real case of a murdered high school senior whose body was crudely dumped in a park and a man in jail claiming his innocence. That’s not so entertaining, actually.

Part of the journalistic ethics I adhere to is to report the truth, whether it is good or bad. Such responsibility often masks the reality of my work, which is covering real human behavior and interactions.

An example that comes to mind is my reporting on the unexpected death of a classmate and friend of mine. The interviews I conducted and the hard details I had to ask for from his loved ones made me not only feel uncomfortable but overwhelmed me at times. But at the end of the day, I had a news story to write that would be important to readers. While I am aware of the sensitivity of some of the topics I cover, in the midst of a deadline and the nature of my work, a barrier is easily formed that separates me as a student journalist from the reality of the story I am reporting. Exposing truth does not and should not relate to my own emotions.

But as the co-creators put it, as long as they are “sticking to the truth” in their investigation, there is no harm in presenting it in an artful way. That artful way, though, is what makes “Serial” important. What makes Koenig’s reporting unique is that she is explicit about her doubts — you often hear her say “I know, weird, huh?” and “That’s a little confusing” among the frustrated and stuttered exclamations about the contradicting points in the case. Koenig is relatable — she shares the confusion her listeners feel. She acknowledges dead ends, doubts and confusion, and how they drive where her investigation will go next. But that is what makes her journalism great: It’s human, it’s less lofty. Instead of hiding behind the facts of her story, or sticking fully to the investigation, she shares her emotions. In this way, she tears down the barrier without sacrificing objectivity or credibility. It’s easy to forget that journalists have emotions and that what we write about sometimes evokes intense emotion. I cried after school while I was working on the story about David Gulko.

I am not saying that there needs to be a revolution in the way that journalists present their articles — there’s a beauty and vital importance in straight reporting. But “Serial,” while sticking to truth and the facts -- solid, classic reporting in every sense -- presented a new way of reporting in a more accessible fashion that invited engagement. Journalism doesn’t necessarily need to be black-andwhite reporting of the things we have ascertained and a passing acknowledgement of what we have yet to nail down. Journalism is the center of human discovery; it reports on humanity, reports reality and triggers emotions. “Serial,” with cliffhangers, confusion and 2,000-page documents, is some of the most real and honest journalism I have been exposed to.

While I am aware of the sensitivity of some of the topics I cover, in the midst of a deadline and the nature of my work, a barrier is easily formed that separates me as a student journalist from the reality of the story I am reporting.

entertainment

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photo by grace bruton/falconer

Up2You Cafe is one of the more popular spots in the Convoy district. It opens late and closes later, tailored to its target demographic: high school and college students. Despite limited parking, by night the store is incredibly packed and filled with chatter.

Luckily, my friends and I went right at opening hour and were greeted by peaceful silence, perfect for talking over desserts and tea. I could see why the store is so popular — the interior design, featuring comfy sofas and an urban brick wall, creates a hipster vibe ideal for lounging. Up2You also has board games and decks of cards available for customer use. As far as the sweets and drinks, my overall impression was that everything was packed with sugar. The iced black sugar milk tea ($3.55) with honey boba (50 cents) was definitely one of the sweetest milk teas I’ve ever tried, comparable to Tea Station’s milk tea, which is made with 100 percent sugar. The honey boba wasn’t special; it was no different from regular boba served at other tea stores.

The iced lychee green tea ($3.25) was the only thing that I didn’t find overly sweet. Among other green teas I’ve tried, it ranks pretty high. The only downside was that after eating all the sugary desserts, the tea tasted more like lightly flavored water in comparison.

Of the desserts I tried with my friends, the Napoleon ($5.95) was my favorite. The layers of thin crispy puff pastry and fluffy whipped cream paired perfectly with the slightly tart strawberry sauce. While the pastry was quite sweet, the tartness of the sauce helped refresh my palate as I worked on the dessert.

We also ordered a Honey Toast ($4.05), which is one of the cafe’s more popular menu items. You can add your choice of fruits ($1), cream sauce (75 cents), ice cream ($1.25) or topping (75 cents). Our honey toast came with condensed milk, vanilla ice cream and strawberries, but I would highly recommend the same combination with green tea ice cream instead to undercut the sweetness. The honey toast’s outer edges were crunchy, while the inside was fluffy and soft. The combination of condensed milk, ice cream and fruit created a heavenly taste. But with the huge portion, along with the overpowering sweetness, I wouldn’t try to eat a whole toast by myself.

Last, I ordered Tiramisu ($5.95); the bitter cocoa powder and coffee flavor were welcome changes from the other desserts’ sugary flavors. Unfortunately, the heavy mascarpone cream quickly lost any unique flavor it might have had. In a normal tiramisu, the ladyfingers usually offer a contrast in texture, but the bread in this tiramisu was overly soaked. So after the third spoonful, it became painful to eat.

Disappointing tiramisu aside, Up2You is a great place to chill with friends and enjoy some sweets. But while the drinks are more reasonable, the desserts do seem to be a little overpriced. Still, I left Up2You feeling satisfied with not only the food in my stomach, but also the ambiance of the store. Second location: 7510 Mesa College Dr.

by Sarah Kim

Extraordinary Desserts sounded like the perfect place to me — I love desserts, especially extraordinary ones. I’ve been to the Balboa Park location a few times, but nothing could have prepared me for the madness that is its Union Street location.

After opening the impossible heavy, impossibly large glass door that leads into the restaurant, I was greeted by rows upon rows of cakes behind glass screens, more ice cream flavors than I could count and mountains of fruit and color everywhere. It promised to be a wonderful experience.

Fifteen minutes later, my friends and I were seated at a large table and instructed to wait for a server to get to us. The minutes ticked by. Five. Ten. Fifteen.

Twenty minutes later, a waitress finally moseyed on over to us, jotted down our order and left.

Our drinks arrived another 20 minutes after we ordered. The Valrhona hot chocolate ($7.50) was rich and velvety, but the Noisette ($5.50), coffee with hazelnut syrup, tasted exactly like a standard Starbucks latte and came in a cup the size of a bowl.

When I managed to flag down a waitress to ask for an extra cup, she told me to ask my server for one. I seethed. I would have if I could find her.

And as if that weren’t bad enough, while I was angrily sipping my sub-standard latte, the group sitting next to us — the group that had arrived after us — got all their food and drinks before us.

It took us half an hour to finally get our pre-made desserts. The lemon bar ($4.95) — who pays $4.95 for a lemon bar? — bordered on too sour, while the tiny scoops of coconut sorbet and chocolate fudge brownie ice cream ($4.50 per scoop) were so sweet you could feel your teeth falling out.

But Extraordinary Desserts makes up for almost all its flaws in its cakes. Eating the Dame Chocolate ($11.95 per slice) was like biting into a wall of chocolate mousse, with a few chunks of cake thrown in like an afterthought — not that I’m complaining.

The Truffe Framboise ($9.95 per slice), raspberry tea-infused chocolate cake covered with fresh raspberries, was a perfect mixture of tart and sweet, even if the accompanying sauce was a little too bitter for my taste — but it was the Passion Fruit Ricotta ($9.50 per slice) that truly shined. The cake was meltin-your-mouth light and was perfectly offset by the unexpected fruitiness of the sauce and frosting. One bite transported me to childhood summers in India, licking mango juice off sticky hands.

All the cakes were so rich in flavor that each of us could hardly bear to take more than a few bites; I suppose if you’re getting two days’ worth of cake, the prices aren’t so morbidly expensive.

Regardless of the dessert quality, the cacophony inside the restaurant was awful and the service was horrendous. But if I’m ever in the mood for deafening noise, ridiculous hour-long waits and good dessert, I’ll be sure to stop by Extraordinary Desserts.

by Maya Rao

photo by ally jensen/falconer

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photo by avery spicker/falconer

I’m not exaggerating when I say I had no idea what to expect when I walked into iDessert in Little Italy.

The decision to sample their desserts was made about 20 minutes before arriving, and I had never even heard of iDessert, much less seen what sweets they offered. Before walking in, my friends and I glimpsed customers outside snapping photos of a bowl smoking around the edge with what we assumed was dry ice.

Our curiosity was piqued as we made our way into the brightly-painted building.

What first struck me when we entered iDessert were the large displays of rounded, multi-colored hemispheres on the walls. Slightly confused about exactly what the displays were, my two fellow staffers and I found the iPads in the corner of the café, where people were ordering their desserts.

I chose to customize my own dessert instead of having one of the premade combinations, and I navigated through the iPad instructions, picking from various flavors of merengue shell, gelato, cream, cake, sauce and crunch — aptly just named “Dessert.” The process was slightly confusing, since I didn’t even know what I was looking at.

I ended up picking a dessert composed of an Oreo crust, vanilla gelato, coffee cream, vanilla cake, caramel sauce, fresh strawberry and Butter Finger crunch, in a mysterious VegasBowl ($9.95). We also ordered a Soufflee Apple Crepe with caramelized apple ($8.45).

We received our orders surprisingly quickly, and the server taught us how to squeeze the sauce into the gelato and crack the shell open to reach the innards of the dessert. Yet everything else was overshadowed by the VegasBowl, steaming with dry ice. Forget about the food itself, the quality, the service — the visual effect was already spectacular enough.

After the smoke died away, we tackled the desserts with salivating mouths and high expectations. The customized Dessert and the crepe were both delicious, creamy and soft. The café even had complimentary water, which is always a personal necessity when I’m eating something sweet.

Unfortunately, the bliss was soon over. What we thought was more cake and gelato deeper in the VegasBowl was really just a plastic surface. For the price of nearly $10, the dessert was not very substantial; it left me wanting more.

Much of the hype for iDessert happens because it fits all the requirements for new trends: technological, theatrical, photogenic. Perhaps iDessert can be blamed for deception, but the desserts were amazing, and the dry ice display gave the food a mystical, exciting quality that really cannot be found anywhere else. And for that reason, iDessert is forgiven.

by Lily Nilipour

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march 25, 2016

With Kesha’s story and the stories of fellow alleged sexual assault victims garnering attention, social media campaigns and commentary have called on the entertainment industry to respond. The Falconer examines the industry’s role in the struggles of victims and what needs to be done to solve the problem.

For me, it all started with a picture of a woman in a white suit crying alongside her mother in a New York court. Amid all the tragic images I scroll through on Facebook on a daily basis, the picture seemed standard, almost trivial at first glance. Little did I know that the woman in the picture, Kesha, and her struggle represented so much more than the photo depicted on its surface.

Kesha’s story would soon go on to symbolize the problem that sexual assault in the entertainment industry poses for women every day, as well as a new period of freedom and liberation for victims.

In October 2014, Kesha filed a lawsuit accusing her producer, Luke Gottwald, more commonly known as Dr. Luke, of battery, sexual assault and sexual harassment. In the lawsuit, she alleged that Gottwald had sexually abused her; one night, she woke up naked in his house after he offered her “sober pills,” which turned out to be date rape drugs. In addition to the sexual assault claims, the lawsuit alleged Gottwald “expropriated her career” and denied her “any meaningful profit” from her musical releases. Soon after the lawsuit was filed, Gottwald retaliated with a lawsuit of his own against Kesha, claiming that, in her suit, she and her mother spread false statements about him in order to escape the record contract that she had signed with Gottwald’s Kemosabe Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. On Feb. 19, 2016, a New York Supreme Court Judge refused to grant an induction to Kesha that would allow her to record music without Gottwald while the lawsuits are being decided. After the news quickly spread via social media, the hashtag #freeKesha trended worldwide on Twitter, and singers like Lorde, Kelly Clarkson and Demi Lovato showed support through Twitter, while Taylor Swift helped pay for Kesha’s court expenses.

Claims of misogyny and sexual assault are not new to the entertainment industry, despite its constant denial and refusal to address the problem. Hate and threats against victims often clog social media outlets — the most well-known example of Hollywood’s rejection of victims is the story of Bill Cosby. The first allegations against Cosby were made in the 1960s. More awareness about sexual assault was raised in the following decades, but many victims did not come forward because “the first assumption was that women who accused famous men were after money or attention,” according to Noreen Malone and Amanda Demme in New York Magazine. Cosby was finally charged in December 2015, but the fact that it took 40 years for some in the public to believe the many accusations against Cosby highlights the reluctance to act on claims against popular entertainment figures both because they are powerful and because it is easier to fathom that Cosby is the warm-hearted, sweater-sporting man portrayed on television. Women fight daily for equality, the hashtags are endless, and recently, everyone seems to identify as a feminist, but how can the treatment of women improve when a hugely influential business, the entertainment industry, refuses to change the way it deals with one of the largest issues regarding

women? The fact that the media have shunned victims and continue to glorify the perpetrators reveals the root of the problem: the denial that the issue exists and the rejection of those who have the courage to speak up. The history of the entertainment industry limits the progress that Kesha can make by maintaining the standard of how it has treated women and victims of sexual assault. But as stories start to attract the attention of the same industry, it becomes much harder for them to ignore.

Kesha’s story has provided both celebrities and other victims an opportunity to speak up. Following Kesha’s lawsuit, other celebrities like Taylor Swift and Kelly Clarkson have gone public with their experiences with sexual assault. Lady Gaga, another famous victim, released, “Til it Happens to You,” a song that discusses the emotional pain that sexual assault on college campuses inflicts on victims, especially given many colleges’ refusal to adequately and appropriately investigate and punish perpetrators. Kesha also recently accepted the Visibility Award from the Human Rights Campaign for her bravery in her struggle for independence from an allegedly abusive manager and producer.

She delivered an emotional speech encouraging women to speak up and fight for the respect and equal treatment they deserve.

The time for listening to and acting on charges of sexual assault has come. The more entertainment figures talk about it and its impact on them, the harder it will be for news media to ignore.

The stories that have come to light after Kesha’s lawsuit and the support that she has received on social media are all catalysts for change that the industry desperately needs. Entertainment has immeasurable influence, especially on the younger generation, and it is time for the industry to create a higher standard for how women are treated, to set an example of acceptance and equal treatment. Hashtags and social media campaigns can only do so much for the empowerment of women; Hollywood must exhibit the same bravery that so many women have shown in sharing their stories by taking precautions to prevent such incidents and treating victims with more compassion. We have come to a point in the fight for equality when bandage solutions and empty promises of change will not suffice — the voices of Kesha and all those who came before and followed have finally been heard after being silenced for too long.

Now, when I see the picture of Kesha crying in court on my Facebook newsfeed, it evokes new emotion.

An image that used to mean virtually nothing to me now makes me simultaneously angry, sympathetic and hopeful. Kesha’s story, as tragic as it is, is the beginning of a transformation in entertainment. She has served as inspiration and a source of courage for others, revealing the disturbing history of sexual assault the entertainment industry has denied. The time for change has come and the voices of victims can no longer be hidden — as Kesha said during her Visibility Award acceptance speech: “As a generation, a unified voice fighting for equality, we have the power and we can force change.”

by Sumin Hwang

#FREEKEsHA PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

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PHOTO USED BY PERMISSION OF DANIELA SHERWIN

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In fiction, dystopian societies are typically characterized by totalitarian governments that place absurd limitations, at least by modern democratic standards, on people’s rights, like the right to free speech, individualism or freedom of movement. But what if the only limitation the government placed on its people was on the “privilege to pee”? The award-winning Broadway musical “Urinetown” provides a satirical take on the greed of modern-day corporations and depicts the zeal behind collective efforts to fight against the system responsible for the denial of basic needs. The TPHS rendition of the musical, directed by Marinee Payne, ran Feb 17-20, 22, 23, 25 and 26 in the TPHS Black Box theater.

The show opens with an introduction from Officer Lockstock (Ben Spitters, 12) and Little Sally (Ilana Mereminsky, 11), who explain to the audience that an acute water shortage in the town has resulted in drastic restrictions on water usage. The privately-owned Urine Good Company oversees public toilets and charges citizens an absurd amount, which many of them cannot afford, to use the facilities. The punishment for public urination is exile to the socalled “Urinetown,” from which no one returns. As a result, the people, and their bladders, are subject to extreme pressure to adhere to the UCG’s guidelines.

The leader of the civilian movement to overthrow the UCG is the young and outspoken Bobby Strong (Mitchell Mapes, 12). One fateful night, Strong meets Hope Cladwell (Kaitlyn O’Leary, 9), daughter of UCG CEO Caldwell B. Cladwell (Nithin Krishnamurthi, 12), and together they realize a common goal of being able to pee for free as they fall in love. The revolution begins.

The characters were animated and dynamic, and their lines and singing masterfully conveyed the playwright’s intentions. In serious scenes, the audience was dead silent — following a comedic remark, of which there were many, laughter abounded. Of course, this can be attributed to both good casting and good acting; the actors truly embodied their respective characters, whether it was the arrogant nonchalance of Caldwell or the innocence resonating from his daughter. Especially impressive were Spitters’, Mapes’ and O’Leary’s debut performances, which were

indistinguishable from those of the more experienced actors. O’Leary’s voice in particular stood out. There was a high level of technical skill evident in her singing, from her impressive vocal range to the emotion she was able to convey with each individual lyric.

Also notable was the score of the play: a group of student musicians performed live in the background of the set, accompanying a show of remarkable voices and musical numbers. But the instrumentals of the second act were noticeably less varied in style compared to the first; the songs had fewer solo parts and eventually seemed to repeat themselves. Fortunately, the quality of singing did not likewise diminish.

Throughout the course of the musical, Lockstock and Little Sally served as commentators. In a series of well-executed fourth wall breaches that both punctuated and interrupted scenes, they poked fun at archetypal character roles and play structures, which the musical on the whole does as well — one of the early songs is called “Too Much Exposition.” Lockstock and Little Sally actively acknowledged that the unfolding of events were predictable to a certain extent and that the meeting of and immediate attraction between Strong and Cladwell was clichéd, yet necessary for full thematic development. Now, the musical’s selfawareness is not an excuse for adhering to the same tropes that so many plays and shows rely on — except that “Urinetown” executed the irony so well. There were very few moments in Lockstock and Sally’s interludes that felt forced. Instead, their deconstruction of the play’s stereotypical elements and plotlines added another dimension to the original commentary on capitalist greed and selfishness.

The play’s conclusion, too, was effective in conveying the overarching critique; it deviated from a typical happy ending, a final twist on the trite resolutions evident in so many musicals. So whether someone was looking for a good laugh and a riveting story, or searching for a nuanced satire, “Urinetown” had something for everyone to appreciate.

by Amanda Chen

SPORTS

A22

Baseball falls to La Costa Canyon

hands at the top of the fifth.

The Falcons then took two strikeouts and an out after Ben McCaskill’s fly ball COPY EDITOR into the left foul zone was caught by a Mavericks outfielder. But the bottom of the Baseball (5-2) lost to La Costa Canyon fifth proved to be a turning point for the High School (6-1) 4-2 on March 22 after game. losing an early two-run lead.

After getting a strikeout and a single, the The Falcons opened strong in the first Mavericks hit a triple deep into left field. inning, after the Maverick pitcher walked This, combined with a ground ball from outfielder Sean Bingham (9) in the opening the next batter, allowed two LCC players play. Middle infielder Ryan Bramlett (12) to cross home plate, bringing the score to then hit a fly ball into right field, putting 2-2. The Mavericks capitalized quickly on him on first and Bingham on second, and their momentum, scoring another run on a a ground ball to center field by outfielder sacrifice fly.

James Rutledge (12) scored Bingham The top of the sixth opened with the and put Bramlett on third. Then, a hit by Falcons trailing the Mavericks 3-2. The outfielder Ben McCaskill (11) down the first two TPHS players at bat, first baseman left field foul line brought Bramlett home, Evan Trausch (12) and shortstop Jake bringing the score to 2-0.

Boone (11), both grounded out, and though The Falcons held the Mavericks a hit by second baseman Jakob Froehlich scoreless in the (12) landed him bottom of the first; on first base, pitcher Kyle Hurt the Falcons got (11) struck out two another out and of the five batters relinquished the bat the Mavericks sent to the Mavericks. to the plate.

“We had really “[Hurt] threw good hitting today a heck of a ball — we had nine hits game,” head coach and they [only] had Kirk McCaskill six hits,” pitcher said “I think our Andre Nordan (12) pitching has proven said. “It just didn’t to be really solid.” work out. The hits Andre Nordan (12) The second just didn’t fall in ������� inning passed our favor in the quickly; the Falcons end.” got a few runners on base, but were unable The Mavericks took an early strikeout to convert any into runs. The Mavericks, in the bottom of the sixth, but soon followed meanwhile, suffered three consecutive up with a double and several more ground strikeouts at the hands of Hurt. balls to bring another runner home. A The Falcons held on to their two-run centerfield fly ball scored another LCC lead throughout the third and fourth player, and the inning ended with a 4-2 innings — Hurt again struck out two of lead for the Mavericks. the three LCC players in the bottom of Despite starting the top of the seventh the third. A double play in the bottom of with a two-run deficit, the Falcons still kept the fourth, coupled with another strikeout their spirits up. After two early strikeouts,

by Hurt, brought the bat back into Falcon the LCC pitcher ended up issuing three

by Austin Zhang

We had really good hitting today — we had nine hits and they [only] had six hits. It just didn’t work out. The hits just didn’t fall in our favor in the end.

consecutive walks. With two outs, the bases were loaded, but the Falcons failed to capitalize on the opportunity, stranded all three runners, and the game ended 4-2.

LCC head coach Justin Machado praised the performance of the players on both teams, especially Hurt’s pitching. “[Hurt] threw an unbelievable game,” Machado said. “We just got a couple of clutch hits when we needed to — that’s the way the baseball rolls.”

Although the Falcons did a “great job of battling, really fought hard and didn’t give up,” Rutledge said that the Mavericks also put forth their best in the game.

“I just think [the Mavericks] were a solid team all around,” Rutledge said. “I wouldn’t say that we lost steam, I’d just say that LCC kept battling ... through adversity, had a good inning, put some hits together and came through.”

The Falcons played their next game at Silverado High School (3-3) on March 23 in the Lions tournament, after the Falconer went to press. The semifinals and finals for the tournament were on March 24.

PHOTOS BY ALDERIK VAN DER HEYDE/FALCONER

PITCH PERFECT: Ben McCaskill (25) crouches to catch the ball as an LCC runner dives for home plate (TOP). Kyle Hurt (28) throws the ball, holding the Falcons’ lead at 2-0 until the fifth inning (MIDDLE). Tino Capozolli (2) swings for the ball in the top of the fourth inning (ABOVE).

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Girls lacrosse soars over Canyon Crest Ravens

by Lily Nilipour SPORTS EDITOR

Girls lacrosse (6-1) beat Canyon Crest Academy (5-1) 8-5 on March 21 at CCA, tightly controlling both defensive and offensive fronts.

The Falcons began with possession, and midfielder Bailee Monjazeb (10) scored the first goal just a minute into the game.

CCA responded with consistent offensive drives, keeping the ball in possession despite compact defense from TPHS. A goal by the Ravens a few minutes later evened out the score at 1-1.

Unable to gain control of the ball, the Falcons fouled four or five times while defending against scoring attempts, allowing CCA to score twice more, gaining the lead of 3-1.

“We were throwing a lot of checks out and getting called for fouls,” head coach Kaitlin Doucette said. “When you get called for a foul, you get put four meters behind, so it’s an immediate fast break for the other team.”

The Falcons gained possession of the ball and drove up the field. Midfielder Taylor Scornavacco (11) scored the team’s second goal with 12 minutes remaining in the half.

Attacker Sammy Cirino (12) capitalized on another two scoring opportunities, putting the Falcons ahead at 4-3.

“We have a play where whoever has the ball basically takes one versus one,” Cirino said. “But CCA started catching on … [so instead] I popped out from down low [to receive] a pass from Emma Marks, [who slipped] it in right between the goalie’s right hip and pipe.”

Midfielder Marisa Kuberra (11) further increased the Falcons’ lead to 5-3 in the last five minutes of the half. Gaining momentum from the four consecutive goals, TPHS started winning more faceoffs and taking control of the ball.

NEWS EDITOR

Boys tennis (5-0) bested Westview High School (8-1) 12-6 on March 22 at home.

Although head coach John DeLille said he “always [has] some sort of trepiwdation when [the team] goes into the first round because you hear so much about every team,” the presence of all varsity starters in the lineup helped the team gain a solid victory.

“We’re at full strength,” DeLille said.

“And if we’re going to repeat as national champions, then we need to be able to handle this. There was some anxiety [playing Westview] for the first time, but there was anxiety going against Rancho Bernardo [High School], too, and we’ve been able to handle them two or three times.”

Six of the Falcons’ 12 sets were won by line one doubles team Sreeganesh Manoharan (12) and Matthew Sah (9) and line two doubles team Alex Rushin (12) and Michael Hao (9). Manoharan and Sah defeated Westview’s line one doubles 6-1, line two doubles 6-4 and line three doubles 6-1, with Manoharan’s high first serve percentage and numerous aces and Sah’s solid volleys leading them to victory.

In addition to two 6-0 victories over Westview’s line two and line three doubles, Rushin and Hao won the clincher 10th set of the match against line one doubles, coming back from 3-4 down with both teams holding serve until the Falcons broke the Wolverines at 5-5 to take the lead and win the set 7-5.

“In the clincher, we knew we weren’t playing well and still had opportunities, so we knew once we started capitalizing we could get the win,” Rushin said.

Line three doubles team Jiayong Li

Team Del Sol wins international tournament

by Sumin Hwang STAFF WRITER

PHOTO BY ANTON SCHUH/FALCONER

STICK IT TO ‘EM: Midfielder Taylor Scornavacco (22) finds the edge on a Raven defender, sliding into the 8-meter arc toward the goal. The Falcons persistently put pressure on the Ravens’ defensive front to open up scoring opportunities.

A dominating offensive front continued to put pressure on and force fouls from the Ravens. The half ended with a goal from attacker Emma Marks (10).

The Ravens brought the score to 6-4 just three minutes into the second half, but after two more minutes midfielder Kelli McKinnon (10) responded with a goal in a superb display of offense. A similarly aggressive attack by CCA was blocked by goalkeeper Alex Walling (9).

“I try to watch the balls and the angles, and the defense helps a lot,” Walling said.

“They push the girls to the side, give me a better angle and give the girl less of an eye to see the goal.”

Halfway into the second half after some back-and-forth possession, Monjazeb scored with an assist from Cirino, which was immediately countered by a CCA goal, bringing the score to 8-5. The remainder of the game passed without any more goals,

both teams making incomplete offensive drives until the last second.

Despite struggling with foul control, the Falcons had a persistent defensive front that allowed them to overcome the Ravens, Cirino said.

“CCA definitely has talent, but I think they struggle to share the ball, so we always knew who it was going to,” Cirino said. “The key in beating them was by far our ability to use every one of our players on the field.”

To Doucette, TPHS still has “a lot to work on” going into the rest of the season.

“We have to continue to keep improving our defense and knowing when to take some risks,” Doucette said. “We have to do a better job with our shooting, and receiving clears was an issue today [too].

But, it’s all about the process, day by day.”

The Falcons will play La Jolla High School (8-1) today at 7:00 p.m. at TPHS.

Boys tennis claws Westview Wolverines 12-6

by Tasia Mochernak

A23

(12) and Will Molenkamp (11) secured the seventh doubles win 6-1 against Westview’s line three doubles, though they lost 4-6 to both their first and second lines.

With three nationally ranked players filling the singles line up, the Falcons added five singles victories to the score. Jacob Brumm (11) defeated both Westview’s line one and line three singles 6-2 before being subbed by James Singer (9) against the Wolverines’ line two player. Daniel De la Torre (12) beat the same players 6-4 and 6-2, respectively. Although the Falcons could not defeat Westview’s line two player, Nikita Pereverzin’s (12) comeback 7-5 victory against Westview’s line one player completed the Falcons’ winning score.

“It was pretty windy today, so the conditions weren’t that good, but the team

was still doing really well,” Brumm said.

“We have a lot of spirit and fight, and our cheering and intimidation are definitely our strengths.”

DeLille was impressed with the team’s performance, and said “the team did great coming against a very tough team and pulling it out.”

“Westview is the number two team in our league, and I think we showed them that we are the top guys here,” Manoharan said.

The Falcons will play in the Corona del Mar All-American Invitational tournament March 25-26 in Newport Beach, in which Brumm, Manoharan and DeLille hope a “really strong and really deep” singles and doubles lineup will earn them their second consecutive national championship.

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

SLICE AND DICE: Sreeganesh Manoharan (12) hits a backhand slice in his doubles match against Westview’s line one team, which he and Matthew Sah (9) won 6-1.

On Feb. 13, Team Del Sol, a San Diego based synchronized skating team, featuring two TPHS students.

Grace Lee (11) and Leah Ding (12), represented the United States and won first place for the United States at Trophy D’Ecosse, an international skating competition held in Scotland.

“When they announced the scores and we realized we had won, there was a split second of silence and we all started hugging and crying,” Lee said. “It was hard to really comprehend the magnitude of it all until we were receiving our medals and hearing the U.S. national anthem being played.”

After being chosen in August 2015 by a panel of judges from the Olympic Committee to represent the U.S. at the tournament, the team worked on and entered a short program and a long program in the competition to James Bond’s Skyfall and to Bollywood music.

“How we place at the tournament is determined by the sum of the two results from the two programs together for a final score,” Ding said. “After obtaining first in the short program, we were all overwhelmed with happiness, but the excitement only lasted for a few hours before focusing in on the long program, knowing that nothing was determined yet placement-wise.”

According to Lee, the team received their all-time highest score at the tournament. The team also won the Christopher Bucanan award, given to the team that had the “most entertaining program of the competition,” based on both the choreography and the performance of the skaters.

Ding said the skaters were extremely focused and aggressive throughout the competition.

“I think we were just very present in the moment,” Ding said. “It’s very easy to let the adrenaline and nervousness get to you, but we were all able to stay calm and connected. We could have improved on a couple of small errors, but nothing too dramatic.”

After Trophy D’Ecosse, Team Del Sol traveled to Kalamazoo, Mich. from Feb. 24-28 to participate in the United States Synchronized Skating Championships and placed seventh among ten teams.

According to Lee, two teams from the Pacific Coast, four teams from the Midwest and four teams from the East Coast gathered in Kalamazoo to compete against each other after winning their respective sectional competitions.

Although Team Del Sol placed well throughout the competitive season, harsh weather and travel complications “physically and emotionally drained the team,” and contributed to the “lack of energy and skating quality,” which prevented them from putting forward their best performance, according to Ding.

Despite the “disappointing result,” Lee said the tournament was enjoyable because “the stadium [was] packed,” and “the crowd was full of energy.”

With the competitive season over, the team will focus on recruiting skaters and preparing for next year’s goals and competitions, according to Ding.

Ding remembers “the hours on hours with the people who [she] considers her family,” the most but hopes that in the future the team will continue to improve and be Team USA at Trophy D’Ecosse next year.

A24 the falconer

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DAY IN THE

LIFE

A25

After playing field hockey and football professionally, JJ Javelet (‘03) switched to the shorter, more intense sport of rugby, and hopes to compete for the United States at the 2016 Rio Olympic games.

JJ Javelet (’03) is the perfect athlete. She has played countless sports, some professionally, coaches field hockey at TPHS and has played on two U.S. national teams. Now, she is finally getting a shot at an Olympic medal — with women’s rugby.

Javelet started her career at TPHS in the “finesse game” of field hockey and was recruited to the University of Louisville.

She became the nation’s top college scorer during her junior year, and by the time she graduated, she was the school record-holder for points and goals, a three-time academic All-American, an NCAA Woman of the Year finalist and the valedictorian of her graduating class. Shortly afterward, Javelet was named to the U.S. National Field Hockey development team.

Although Javelet did not make the final U.S. squad for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she continued playing field hockey professionally in Germany, then switched to football.

Javelet played wide receiver and defensive back in the Women’s Football Alliance, winning co-MVP awards and back-to-back championships with the San Diego Surge in 2011 and the Chicago Force in 2012. “[Then], the former USA Rugby Sevens head coach asked one of my former rugby teammates if she knew any potential crossover athletes,” Javelet said.

After her teammate showed the rugby coach Javelet’s game footage, Javelet was invited to Chula Vista for a tryout. Shortly afterward, she found out that she had made the team — so moved back to San Diego to train full-time in January 2014. “[Rugby] is very similar to football,” Javelet said. “My role as a wing was very easy at first: catch the ball and run away from the defenders, which is exactly what I did as a football receiver.”

Still, getting used to the sport took some time.

“It was challenging to learn the rules,” Javelet said. “For my first couple of tournaments, I really had no idea what the referee was calling.

I also had to get used to only throwing the ball backward — every other sport I played allows for the ball to be thrown forward.”

But once she got the hang of it, Javelet excelled, and she now trains five days a week, nine hours a day at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center, including four hours of conditioning and one hour of lifting per day.

“We [also] have regular meetings with our nutritionist, who analyzes our diets and makes suggestions,” Javelet said. “Our strength and conditioning coach writes our conditioning and weight programs. We have four-week cycles focusing on power, strength, explosiveness, agility, mobility.”

Javelet has competed with the U.S. national team in tournaments seven times in the past two years, but her aspirations reach beyond national glory — she wants to compete on the Olympic team.

“It is extremely competitive to make the Olympic team, as we have so many talented athletes,” Javelet said.

Although she feels like she has “a good chance” of making the 2016 Olympic squad, “every day is a battle to keep improving yourself and your teammates.” But the players will not be content just to be on the squad.

“It isn’t good enough to make the Olympic team,” Javelet said. “We want to win a medal.”

And despite the long road she has taken to get there, despite the success she has achieved in other sports, rugby is closest to Javelet’s heart.

Rugby is “challenging, rewarding, exciting, terrifying, humbling,” and with it, Javelet is going for the gold.

by Maya Rao

College admission testing isn’t a group project.

Why prep in a class?

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

Test prep in an individualized environment, with a proven success strategy, will make the most on test day. + We use full length, retired ACT tests + Our average score increase with program completion is 6 points and we guarantee a score improvement + Our tutors have scored in the 95th percentile or higher

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A26 the falconer

sports

f/stop

nikita pereverzin varsity tennis mar. 17, 3:27:55 p.m.

camera: canon eos 50d lens: canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS iso: 100 exp: 1/400 seconds f/stop: f/4.0 by avery spicker

march 25, 2016

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A27

FALCON TRIES

WEIGHTLIFTING

by Sarah Chan MANAGING EDITOR

Managing Editor Sarah Chan (12) valiantly attempts to pump some iron as she enters the strange world of weightlifters.

PHOTOS BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

DO YOU EVEN LIFT: Sarah Chan struggles to bench press the bar, learns how to shoulder press and rolls her eyes while fruitlessly attempting dumbbell rows.

The last time I walked into the Bay Club’s fitness gym, I was 12 years old and looking for my mom. I remember how long it took for me to muster the courage to poke my head in — not the best place for a shy middle school student. Six years later, I found myself there again, self-consciously trying to lift weights for the first time. I was equally lost.

To me, the gym has always been a confusing, bizarre and intimidating place where lots of sweaty strangers congregate to get in shape, make weird noises and judge one another. For this reason, I tried to pick a time when the gym would be most empty: a Wednesday night, about an hour before the Bay Club’s closing. Murray Kim (12), who lifts weights regularly, was my personal trainer for the night.

After warming up on the treadmill, I started with squats. The huge contraption of metal bars and posts looked like some sort of torture device, and for my thighs, it was. I began by facing the bar, then putting the bar on my upper-back by dipping under it. Then, I had to slowly squat until my hips were below my knees, keeping my chest up and making sure my knees didn’t go past my toes, while balancing the bar on my shoulders. I had to be extra careful not to tip over and possibly go crashing through the walls, and after a couple reps, my thighs and glutes were burning. I wasn’t even able to squat with weights — the bar itself was 45 pounds — and I stuck out like a sore thumb.

Next up were the shoulder presses.

This exercise required me to sit with fivepound weights in each hand, slowly raise my arms over my head until the weights almost touched, then lower them back down. This exercise was relatively easier

than squats, but what I really didn’t like was that I had to sit in front of the mirror and watch myself as I worked out. It felt thoroughly awkward, and I found it hard to keep a straight face, especially because I was expending an embarrassing amount of effort to lift five pounds. Maybe a zero had rubbed off of the weight or something.

After doing some simple lunges with 10-pound weights, I tried something called dumbbell rows. I grabbed a 20-pound weight, placed one leg on top of the end of the bench and one hand on the other end, and bent my torso forward until I was parallel to the floor. Then, I lifted the weight off of the ground with my free arm.

While this exercise was supposed to work my middle back, all it really did was tire out my already shaky arms. My “personal trainer” was not much help with this one either, since lifting has become so secondnature to him that he kept leaving out technique details and then accusing me of “doing it wrong.” After completing a few reps and avoiding eye contact with myself in the mirror once again, I hurriedly put the weights back.

Next, I was taught how to properly do bicep curls. As it turns out, you don’t sit in front of the mirror with your elbow on your knee and admire your biceps as you pump iron, as I’ve seen in the movies. Instead, I was told to stand up straight, keep my elbows close to my torso and raise each weight to my shoulder, alternating sides and keeping my palms facing outward.

To me, curls seemed like the ultimate stereotypical weight-lifting exercise; I felt like I could be pumping iron at Santa Monica’s Muscle Beach and casually fistbumping Arnold Schwarzenegger. My biceps, probably shocked at the sudden

amount of work they had to do after not exercising in quite some time, gave up after 20 reps.

Finally, the moment of truth: bench pressing. It required me to lie on my back, and lift the bar up and down, over my chest.

This was what I had dreaded most — it looked very difficult and seemed to put me at-risk of completely crushing myself, but luckily I had Kim to spot me. First, I had to learn the proper exchange between the spotter and lifter to ensure safety: the lifter had to prepare the spotter by saying, “One, two, three, lift,” and had to signify the end of the exercise by saying “rack it.” Once again, I could only bench the bar itself, and I had trouble remembering to lift the bar over my chest, instead of over my face, which would have been an unfortunate casualty if I had dropped it. I could only muster a meager five reps, during which my arms were visibly shaking the entire time. When I finally finished, I was out of breath, but the worst was over.

As I left the gym, my muscles cramped with every step. After a thorough look in the mirror, I concluded that I did not acquire any “gains” nor did I look any more “swoll” than I usually do — which is not at all.

Overall my weightlifting experience was an educational one, to say the least.

I can now better understand the appeal: quick and effective workouts, various types of exercises, fast-burning calories, even heightened confidence. But in my opinion, there are definitely more pleasant ways to exercise that I’d rather stick with, like yoga, running or hiking. Call me lazy, but weightlifting is just too much effort, and I found it utterly repetitive and boring. I plan to “rack it.” Permanently.

the GRUNION

Volume 5, Issue 3

Friday, March 25, 2016

Senior class turns out to be more of a joke than senior class prank In attempting to do justice to the traditionally impressive and original senior pranks at TPHS, this year’s senior class prank was decided upon in a very democratic platform, the Class of 2016 Facebook page, to give everyone a chance to voice their opinions.

After conducting various polls, it was decided that the prank would be to cover the school with toilet paper — a very clever prank voted for by three students and voted against by 96 students. Ah, the beauty of democracy.

There were various, unanticipated facets of the prank that only added to the fun: The cement trash cans in the parking lot were broken, the gate near the administration building was torn out by a pickup truck and no student in the senior class wanted to admit to doing the prank.

Many seniors were opposed to the prank even before the collateral damage to school property, but

there were some proponents.

“It was a team effort, for sure,” Dumm Witeboi (12) said. “It was a great bonding experience; we all sat in my pickup truck and attached a rope to the gate and I pressed on the gas as hard as I could, taking down the gate Saddam Hussein style. It was dank.”

According to Witeboi, the only reason he and his friends went through with the prank was because the initials of toilet paper were also in the initials of TPHS. It was “really funny and clever” in the opinion of Witeboi and friends.

Witeboi is one of very few students who enjoyed the prank — probably because everyone else was too busy worrying about the cost and consequences of the property damage, not to mention the total lameness of the idea. But everyone was able to “come together and have fun,” Witeboi said.

Students and staff who came to school the next day were met with

a sixth grade flashback.

Justis Serv’d (11) really despised the senior prank.

“I had a total deja vu to one Friday night sleepover at Ashley Falls,” Serv’d said. “There is nothing redeeming about the senior prank this year except for the fact that it is nearly certain that future senior pranks cannot be worse than this.”

Costs of damage have now amounted to over $10,000, which is about one-third of each participant’s weekly allowance. So, no harm, no foul.

This prank garnered far more attention than past senior pranks because it was less of a prank and more of a “what the actual hell” moment.

This year’s prank will serve as a great example of what lighthearted senior pranks should not look like in the future. So, thanks to everyone who participated.

Never forget #Gategate.

Senior Ditch Days counteracted by Staff Ditch Day led by Principal David Jaffe

Falcon tries: drinking water Living in San Diego can be tough — Ubers take forever to reach my house in Rancho Santa Fe and I hate parking at school because the Teslas and Porsches always make my Mercedes convertible look cheap. But it’s especially tough when I go to pick out a bottle of water, because the only choices I have are Smartwater, Fiji and Voss. I was fed up with my limited Starbucks selection of clean, filtered water, and decided to venture outside of my comfort zone.

The first stop on our water-tasting expedition was my house. Before heading in, I warned my group of friends that this was going to be a new, dirty but lifechanging experience.

Our first water was: tap water. As we know it, tap water is uniquely flavored, and when we drink it we never really know if it’s dangerous or not. I’ve been reading a lot of news lately on the T.V., so I’m wellaware of the lead poisoning found in the water in ... Minnesota? Maine? Malaysia?

In order to really get the full experience, I didn’t let my friends use cups. Water tasting transcends any kind of Swarovski glass cup and I think by drinking out of the tap ($0), my friends and I would really be able to get down and dirty.

I’m known to be the most daring out of our friend group, so I went ahead and stuck my entire face beneath the tap. I counted to three and my friend turned the faucet on.

I could feel the fresh minerals sprinkling onto my tongue — this was better than any freshwater-spring water that my parents use to fill the tank of my goldfish.

At this point, I was really moved. I urged all my friends to try it and even held

my friend’s rose-gold Marc Jacobs watch so that it wouldn’t get wet. They enjoyed it almost as much as I did. I think this experience helped me realize what a great deal tap water really is. You get to drink it at your own house and by doing so without using cups, you experience what it might be like for those in developing countries.

Really, very eye-opening.

Second on the list was a water found at Jimbo’s and on Tumblr. I usually don’t follow trends — my Lululemons and Brandy Melville shirts are a choice, thank you very much — but I decided to give Blk Water ($7) a try. I painted my nails black and combed my hair over my face to match the look of the water. Looking at the black tint of the water made me queasy, but I closed my eyes and took a gulp. Even though the fulvic acid and minerals made the water taste exotic, I didn’t enjoy it as much as the tap water, and I don’t think goth is a very good look for me.

Lastly, I decided to take a sip out of the ocean ($0). Usually when I go to the beach, I focus on tanning and taking Instagram pictures, but this time, I focused more on keeping the sand and kelp out of my mouth. The water had more taste than the others, but was a little salty. I cupped the water into my hands, realizing that though it probably wasn’t the safest alternative to Dasani, it surely was a new, cheaper water source.

Overall, I’ve never had a more eyeopening experience. Drinking water from different sources made me feel like the underprivileged children in Africa. I think I’ll even change my Facebook profile picture.

Falconer used in various ways other than actually being read and appreciated

This page is entirely fictional.

By Maya Kota and Irene Yu Photos by Avery Spicker

FOCUS B1

PHOTOS BY GRACE BRUTON AND ERIC CUNNINGHAM/FALCONER

PRIVILEGE A

s a child, Madison Walden (10) was not allowed to leave her home — not Jackson said. “He had a sense of pride about it.”

CalFresh, the California implementation of the federal Supplemental because of strict parenting or harsh weather conditions but because drug dealers constantly lurked outside her apartment door.

Nutrition Assistance Program, provides financial assistance for food purchases by households with a total monthly income less than or equal to 200 percent of “It was just me, my sister and my mom in a two-bedroom apartment in Mira the federal poverty level. In 2010, when Jackson was in sixth grade, the federal Mesa,” Walden said. “If it wasn’t drug dealers, it was prostitutes or hookers, and our next door neighbors were doing cocaine and heroin.” poverty threshold for families with two children was a yearly income of $23,111, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

But even with hookers and hard drugs just a few feet away from where she lived, Walden still managed to have a normal childhood. She and her sister spent Jackson and his family did not end up applying for food stamps, but did apply to receive free or reduced lunch from SDUHSD when he started high school. the majority of their time hanging out with other kids in their building, watching Eligibility for free or reduced lunch is determined by the U.S. Department of movies and playing with their stuffed animals. They went swimming together and came home to their mom’s homemade meals.

Agriculture’s Income Eligibility Guidelines. For a family of four like Jackson’s, a yearly income of $44,863 or less would qualify students for free lunch.

“It just felt like home,” Walden said. “I loved it, and I was with my mom, but According to the National Center for Education Statistics, over half the if I visited the same apartment today, I would probably be harassed.” students in the country qualify for free or reduced lunch. At TPHS, only six When she was 6 years old, Walden, her sister and her mom moved to Cardiffpercent of students qualify, according to data collected by U.S. News during the by-the-Sea. Walden and her sister quickly adjusted to their environment and 2013-2014 school year. developed an attachment to their new elementary school.

“One of my friends works in City Heights, where you have [low-income housing], “[Living in Cardiff] was so much fun,” Walden said. “There were really good people there, and I made really good friends that I still talk to this day.” and people talk about the school lunch form like it’s no big deal,” Jackson said.

Unfortunately for Walden, the bliss was temporary; it lasted until Halloween “But here, you keep it kind of secret. What I’m afraid of in sharing it is people’s of second grade, when her mom announced that they would be moving to San judgment, because if they’re not educated about the topic, they’re going to come Bernardino. Reluctant to leave their friends and school, up with all these biased or stereotypical thoughts.” the sisters moved in with their step-grandparents, and Receiving free lunch was by no means the solution to were only able to see their mom once in a while. all of Jackson’s problems. In seventh grade, Jackson’s dad Despite everything that has happened, Walden was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He also is currently considers herself socioeconomically privileged to a being treated for bone cancer. certain extent.

“My dad has [cancer] in the left side of his hip, the “I have food, I have shelter, I have clothes to wear, same side that [former TPHS student] David Gulko had and I’m happy,” Walden said. “I’m just glad to be here it on,” Jackson said. “I told a person I was getting close to, and lucky to be alive.” who was also David’s friend, but they didn’t believe me.

Although he comes from a background very different People who are just way out of your situation, people who from Walden’s, Myles Hamilton (12) also acknowledges have never been in your shoes — they just don’t want to that he is privileged. But Hamilton did not fully believe it. They just reject it.” understand his socioeconomic status until sixth grade, Jackson has always looked up to his dad, who has when his parents got divorced. Before the divorce, persevered despite the hardships he has faced. Jackson’s Hamilton lived in Rancho Santa Fe, which ranks number dad, who holds a doctorate in chemistry, has published 14 on Business Insider’s 2015 list of the most expensive over 40 research papers and has had over 30 years of ������� zip codes in the United States. The average home price lab experience, but it was still difficult for him to find a there is $2 million. stable job after being laid off. With his dad working jobs “We had to downsize homes in both areas, which was a huge eye opener at motels and his mom taking care of his older brother and him, Jackson helped in because I went from this $5 million home to a house in Encinitas with my dad,” any way possible, whether it was picking up coins on the street or working 10-15 Hamilton said. “That change in my life made a huge difference in the way that hours a week on top of school.

I see the opportunities that I’m given as opposed to people that might not have “[Getting a job] taught me the value of the dollar,” Jackson said. “After I the same privilege.” started working, I knew $10 equates to this much work. If you don’t know the Hamilton recognized that his overall lifestyle — having two debit cards and value of the dollar, you’d just be continuously spending.” being able to design a line of sunglasses — was not the norm for everyone.

Jackson’s family never struggled to pay bills, but affording things that some “I also have family in Iowa, and their lives are so different from mine,” easily take for granted — like insurance, a hangout at the Del Mar Highlands or Hamilton said. “Everything that they see is all about farming, and that’s all even pants — was difficult. He recalls a day in 10th grade when two girls pointed there is in the world. I started to compare and contrast how I live to how other out that he wore the same black pants every day. people live. I saw different things [after the divorce] and it was just an eye“[The two girls] tried to keep it on the down low, but I knew they wanted me to opening experience.” hear them,” Jackson said. “I just looked at them and thought, ‘If only you knew.’

Like Hamilton, Adam Jackson’s* (12) life circumstances were a little different And it hurt. For the entire class I slumped down in my chair, just realizing I than the average teenager’s. But, instead of pulling credit cards out of his wallet, didn’t belong.”

Jackson was picking up coins off the ground.

For Jackson, the feeling that he does not belong at TPHS not only occurs in “Ever since I was a little kid, I’d always say to myself, ‘I know [picking up the classroom, but also in the hallways during passing period or outside during coins] can help!’ when I didn’t really understand the situation,” Jackson said. lunch — and especially in the student parking lot. “[Picking up coins] is just so engraved in me. It’s hard breaking out of the habit “One time during sophomore year, in the front of the school I saw four now; I get disapproving stares from doing it anywhere in Carmel Valley.”

Lamborghinis,” Jackson said. “I never even thought I would see that at TPHS. After Jackson’s dad was laid off in 2008, casual dinner table conversations I never really go [to the student parking lot] because I see all these BMWs and about school and college were immediately supplanted by arguments about Audis. It’s just difficult being surrounded by money when none of it is yours.” welfare and food stamps.

Due to differences in socioeconomic background, Jackson often feels “My brother and mom were for food stamps, but my dad was against it,” uncomfortable and unable to relate to other students at TPHS.

IT’S JUST DIFFICULT BEING SURROUNDED

BY MONEY WHEN NONE OF IT IS YOURS. ADAM JACKSON* (12)

BY ANVITHA SOORDELU AND IRENE YU

“I can’t always relate to people,” Jackson said. “It’s a natural human thing to hang out with people you have stuff in common with because you grew up a certain way. You have all these idiosyncrasies, but TPHS itself is a clique.”

According to University of Houston-Clear Lake psychology professor Kim Case, underprivileged students are often ostracized by more privileged students. “[Privilege] affects how we think about each other and how we behave toward each other,” Case said. “People have negative stereotypes about people they see as poor or having less than them. Psychologically, it’s hard to be in the group that is considered inferior. [Underprivileged students] are going to be left out socially because people don’t want to mix groups.”

Walden also feels out of place at school, particularly because she grew up in a small Mira Mesa apartment and at one point even lived in a Motel 6, the complete opposite of the ocean view homes of many TPHS students.

“If I had money, I wouldn’t be [at TPHS, because I don’t want to be here],” Walden said. “A lot of students here are spoiled and everything is just given to them in their life, while others have to get a job and buy their own clothes and food. I don’t like how judgmental TPHS is. If I live in Rancho, then I’m popular — but if I live in a shack but am really nice and have a good personality, then I’m still seen as a loser.”

Hana Chitgari (12) is one of the students who grew up on the other end of the socioeconomic spectrum, in a house with an ocean view and in a family with a stable financial status. Unlike Walden, Chitgari, who knows she is privileged, said that socioeconomic status is not the reason for the judgment at TPHS. “I think that people who are from different socioeconomic backgrounds can still be friends and hang out,” Chitgari said. “I do think this school is cliquey, but it doesn’t necessarily have to do with money. For me, personally, I don’t choose my friends based on money, and I don’t think about that at all when I’m with them. The cliques can be caused by other forms of privilege, but it’s also high school — that’s just how kids are at this time.”

Even if the judgment does not directly stem from socioeconomic privilege, Jackson attributes his perceived alienation to his lack of disposable income.

For instance, he wanted a smartphone starting UH-CL PSYCHOLOGY in eighth grade, but could not afford one until the beginning of his junior year.

“Everyone had one, and I could feel the social pressure on how people would look at me when I would say I can only call people on my phone,” Jackson said.

“Now, I feel like I can assimilate into this upper middle class a lot more even though I personally feel that I don’t belong in this environment. I was socially divided because I was economically divided.”

Because Jackson has never truly felt at home at TPHS, he feels the need to adopt a persona that is “really loud and crazy, and at times obnoxious” when at school.

“I just leave all my thoughts as soon as I get dropped off at the cul-de-sac here,” Jackson said. “I just leave that in the car, and at school I act weird as hell, just to make people laugh. You never know what people go through outside of that sevenhour gap. People get beaten at home, they get raped, they think about suicide, they have depression — all that stuff that we go through, we don’t talk about at this school.”

Out of all the conversations that can be overheard at TPHS, discussions about AP testing, college applications or school events are commonplace, but unless a teacher directly addresses it, socioeconomic status is rarely a topic of conversation.

According to Case, it is difficult for people to talk about their privilege because “the system is set up to where privilege is supposed to be invisible.” “[Privileged students] are raised in an environment where they’re considered

the norm by the media, the education system and the entire culture,” Case said.

“It’s not like [privileged people] don’t notice that other people don’t have the things they do, but it’s convenient not to notice it and not think about it. So, it’s difficult to get people to [recognize their privilege].”

Although Jackson is open to discussing his economic circumstances to close friends, previous experiences, like the friend accusing him of lying when he told them about his father’s bone cancer, have made him wary about opening up to others. Walden had a similar experience as a child, but now believes that there is no reason that economic problems should not be openly addressed.

“When I was young, my friends didn’t understand what was happening and their parents just judged me for [my financial issues],” Walden said. “Everyone has financial issues, so they might as well get it out and stop keeping it in. I bet half the school has problems that they’re not talking about, and they’re just acting rich to be popular and fit in.”

Jackson often is uncomfortable listening to conservative arguments regarding welfare and Medicaid, a federal health insurance program for low-income people, during AP Government activities like mock Congress, in which students express their political views.

“It kind of hurts talking to conservative people,” Jackson said. “But that’s how our viewpoints are made. It’s from your situation; you can’t really argue with somebody [about] what they believe. A lot of conservative people have grown up thinking that people who are poor are just lazy.”

Both Jackson and Walden said that socioeconomic privilege fosters competition and academic pressure at TPHS. According to history teacher Jim Harrah, who will teach sociology next year, there are high expectations for students to succeed because the majority of TPHS students are socioeconomically privileged.

“Students coming into [TPHS], on average, are well ahead of the game, ahead of students from other schools where there’s no socioeconomic advantage,” Harrah said. “When your parents are more educated, you have a higher level of interaction, intellectual conversation and deeper critical thinking going on at home as opposed to students having to worry about helping out, or Mom and Dad working late — some do, of course, but I just think that’s not the norm here.”

PROFESSOR English teacher Bobby Caughey, who previously taught at schools like Clairemont High School in San Diego, said that while the students are no different in their hopes and aspirations, there is a greater drive to succeed at TPHS. “The notion that either it’s perfection or nothing is more evident here than at Clairemont, or even other schools that I’ve visited,” Caughey said. “Through my consulting, I’ve been to schools in Alaska, Ohio and the inner city of Cleveland, and here, there’s a different pressure that our students feel than the students at other schools feel.”

Having a financial advantage allows students to afford test preparation courses, which can, in turn, raise test scores and therefore college admission chances in comparison to students who cannot afford professional help. Students from families earning more than $200,000 a year scored an average of 1714 out of 2400 on the SAT, while students from families earning under $20,000 a year scored an average of 1326, according to a 2014 study reported by the Washington Post.

“Education is more accessible [for socioeconomically-privileged students],” Caughey said. “They can access college prep courses ... That stuff is readily available. It’s pretty obvious in every way that students with greater socioeconomic privilege have more opportunities than students who are underprivileged.”

Case said that students might be oblivious to their privilege when it comes to accessing college or test preparation courses and books.

IT’S NOT LIKE [PRIVILEGED PEOPLE] DON’T NOTICE THAT OTHER PEOPLE DON’T HAVE THE THINGS THEY DO, BUT IT’S CONVENIENT TO NOT THINK ABOUT IT. KIM CASE

“Ironically, I’m happy that I’ve been through this,” Jackson said. “It’s “When you have access [to extra educational resources], you don’t have actually a learning experience. A lot of people, before they go to college, don’t perspective on what it’s like to not have access,” Case said. “Privileged students have experiences that have taught them anything.” often think everybody has the same resources they do, but that’s not true.”

Walden’s socioeconomic background has also had a positive impact — it Jackson takes multiple AP courses and worked on his college essays for has allowed her to develop closer bonds with her family. months to make up for his disadvantage. But he does not want to place a “If I had money and was spoiled, I wouldn’t be with my family a lot,” financial burden on his parents by taking expensive test preparation courses.

Walden said. “[A lot of] people are always on their phones or with their “[My dad] told me if I wanted SAT prep not to worry about the cost, but I did friends. I love my mom and my sister; we’re always together, which makes worry because I knew how expensive it was,” Jackson said. “[His reasoning] me really lucky.” was that I was competing against people who have similar grades, SAT scores Walden’s mother, who recently moved to Temecula, is not able to see and extracurriculars, but also had the monetary advantage as well.”

Walden and her sister often because her grandparents disapprove of some of While students like Hamilton have the advantage of financial resources, the decisions her mother has made. Instead, Walden and her sister have to which may provide an advantage, Hamilton said that resources like test meet their mother in secret at a park near their house. preparation courses or books will only be helpful if you utilize them effectively.

“It’s hard not being able to see her a lot because she’s also my best friend,” “You can strive regardless of your financial situation,” Hamilton said. “I’m Walden said. sure there are a lot of really rich kids that take Meanwhile, Jackson’s financial circumstances courses about improving their ACT scores, and have driven his interest in rap and poetry, both they go and just sit there. Having resources is one of which he feels give him “a voice through which thing, and utilizing them is another.” people can hear [him] out on what [he] has to While many TPHS students are able to afford say,” an experience he has never had before. various resources like visiting college campuses “I connect more with people who go through or hiring a college counselor, not all appreciate hardships,” Jackson said. “Rappers and poets that privilege, according to Chitgari. have an outlet through which they speak about “A lot of kids [at TPHS] are privileged and their situation in an artistic way that can connect spoiled about it,” Chitgari said. “We all take for to others facing [the same] issues or [introduce granted the fact that we get to come to school and them to] people who have never experienced have good teachers that actually teach us; I don’t what the rapper or poet went through.” think people realize how lucky they are.”

Jackson, Walden, Chitgari and Hamilton Chitgari did not give much thought to her are all headed in different directions. Jackson privilege until Caughey pointed out in English carefully weighs the cost of attending the class that TPHS students do not have to worry universities that have already accepted him about school shootings as much as other areas. while applying for more scholarships. Even as a With the rise of school shootings in recent sophomore, Walden spends her time researching years, safety has become a more relevant issue. and applying for scholarships and works to According to the National School Safety and save money to pay for college. Chitgari, already Security Services, “while there are no credible committed to California Polytechnic State statistics on the exact number of schools using STUDENT University, San Luis Obispo puts pressure on metal detectors, stationary metal detectors used herself to succeed after witnessing the success of on a daily basis are typically limited to large her immigrant parents. Hamilton plans to study communications at a foururban school districts with a chronic history of weapons-related offenses.” year college and in the meantime is focusing on developing his sunglasses TPHS is not one of those schools. line. Although the paths they take are steadily diverging, beyond high school “If a school has stable adults and seems clean and safe, that is a huge and beyond the flashy student parking lot, their personal experiences and indicator of privilege,” Case said. “You don’t have to walk through metal financial situations have helped put whatever privilege they may have into detectors. If [students] walk into a building that is more like a prison than a perspective. school, it will affect their learning environment.”

Understanding the concept of privilege and recognizing the differences Besides comparing different school environments, Case believes that in socioeconomic status, even at a school that has a parking lot with several volunteering can help privileged people become more aware of their expensive cars, can easily be an experience exclusive to underprivileged socioeconomic status. After volunteering at events to help homeless people students — unless there is someone who will listen to the stories they share, in downtown San Diego, Chitgari said that she recognized the “simple things according to Jackson. that [she] is lucky to have”— like food, clothes, and a place to sleep and shower “The best way [to make people aware of their privilege] is to listen to every night — are luxuries for some. stories, especially on a one-on-one basis,” Jackson said. “If I hear a story Hamilton also said it is important to be self-aware of one’s privilege; about someone I don’t know, I’m just like ‘Oh, OK,’ but if you know them neglecting to accept it indicates a “narrow perspective about how you live.” personally, it hits you harder.”

“If you ask your parents questions and have an understanding about where *Name changed to protect identity you live and how different it is from someone that lives somewhere else, you’ll be a much smarter person,” Hamilton said.

For instance, Jackson has often thought about his own circumstances and considered what might have happened if his dad had not gotten laid off. Jackon said he is appreciative of the various financial situations he has gone through.

YOU CAN STRIVE REGARDLESS OF YOUR FINANCIAL SITUATION. HAVING RESOURCES IS ONE THING, AND UTILIZING THEM IS ANOTHER. MYLES HAMILTON (12)

PHOTOS BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER