Falconer The Torrey Pines High School
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL ISSUE
Tuesday, August 26, 2014 | Vol. 40, Issue 1, 8 pages | San Diego, CA
BIRD’S EYE VIEW A2
A4 Ferguson, Mo. police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 11. Details behind the shooting are still unclear, but Brown's death has led to unrest, including protests and looting, in Ferguson; police responded with tear gas and smoke bombs against mostly peaceful protesters. The riots escalated until Governor Jay Nixon called the National Guard on Aug. 18 to help in “restoring the peace and order” to Ferguson.
On July 17, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down above the village of Hrabove, Ukraine, killing 298 people.
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On July 24, Air Algerie flight AH5017 crashed near the Mali-Burkina Faso border due to harsh weather conditions, killing 116 people. On July 24, TransAsia Airways Flight GE 222 crashed in Taiwan’s Penghu archipelago after a failed attempted to land at Magong Airport, resulting in 48 deaths. TransAsia suspects harsh weather conditions from Typhoon Mato caused the crash.
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SPORTS
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The nurse was looking at [the results] and she shook her head. She knew something was wrong.
-Emma Holty (10) See A5, 1 in 2,770
The Ebola virus disease rampage, which began in March across West Africa, has left 1,229 people dead and over 2,000 infected as of Aug. 19. Originating in Guinea, this outbreak, the worst in history, has spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. While there is no vaccine for the disease, the World Health Organization has authorized some use of the experimental ebola drug ZMapp.
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria continues its religious purge of non-Sunni Muslims and other minority groups in their attempt to reestablish a Sunni caliphate. The ISIS occupation has resulted in 1.2 million refugees and 13,000 civilian deaths. ISIS has recently carried out massacres of Kurdish groups in areas under their control and executed U.S. journalist James Foley. Efforts to provide assistance to displaced civilians are underway.
opinion.......................A2 feature.....................A4 a&e..........................A6 sports......................A7 backpage.................A8
UPCOMING EVENTS On June 12, three Israeli boys were kidnapped and killed by the Palestinian Islamic political party Hamas, causing a radical Israeli group to retaliate by kidnapping and killing a Palestinian boy on July 2. The incident, along with rocket launches from the Gaza Strip toward Israel, sparked an air and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli Defense Forces named Operation Protective Edge. There have been more than 4,760 air strikes on Gaza, while about 3,500 rockets have been fired at Israel. Over 2,000 people have died on both sides of the conflict, and no lasting ceasefire has been reached despite extensive peace talks in Egypt.
Labor Day (No School) Sept. 1 Back to School Night Sept. 9 Start Smart Driving Sept. 18 Late Starts Sept. 23 - 24 PSAT/PLAN Oct. 15 Falcon Fest
Written by Varun Bhave, Amanda Chen, Anna Lee, Tasia Mochernak, Maya Parella and Caroline Rutten
Oct. 20 - 25
ART BY TERESA CHEN/FALCON ARTIST
Boehner’s decision to sue Obama unfounded By Varun Bhave NEWS EDITOR
Republicans have long complained that President Barack Obama’s executive orders and other unilateral actions as president constitute an abuse of power, but Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner recently decided to act against it. On July 30, the Republicanled House of Representatives authorized Boehner to sue Obama for unlawfully overstepping his executive authority. The suit is a creative attempt to make a political statement, but is otherwise unfounded, unconstitutional and distinctly nonstrategic. The GOP stance is ironic, given that the delayed implementation of the employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act, which most Republicans strongly oppose and
even believe unconstitutional, is the central example of Obama’s overreach in the lawsuit. Although former President George W. Bush authorized waterboarding as an executive action, the Republicans were far less tortured about that. The hypocrisy extends even further, since the lawsuit reflects a flippant attitude toward the Constitution, to which most conservatives, at least when talking about issues like gun control, emphasize strict adherence. Even if Obama’s actions violated the law, the judiciary is the wrong branch to deal with the problem. Interpretation of judicial authority under Article III of the Constitution has established that unlawful behavior is necessary but insufficient for a legitimate lawsuit; to sue, one must have “standing” by establishing a personal, concrete injury caused by the unlawful conduct. It seems inappropriate for members of Congress to claim some intangible or speculative reduction of their power in relation to the president without injury to themselves as individuals. The closest precedent is the 1997 case Raines v. Byrd.
Members of Congress sued the Office of Management and Budget, alleging the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 was unconstitutional. While they contended personal injury, the Supreme Court threw out the case based on standing, even though it did later find the bill unconstitutional. This explains why, according to CNN, legal experts doubt Boehner’s lawsuit will be taken up by a judge. Relying on the courts to solve disputes with Obama
Republicans must hope that the lawsuit does not damage their chances of capturing the Senate. will overextend the power of the judiciary, while reducing the power of Congressional Republicans far more than anything Obama has done. It is not as though Congress has no other options to check the executive branch; in principle, impeachment is the best method to deal with a president who fails to follow the law. If the president merely interprets the law in a way
Congress dislikes, the remedy is to either change the law to remove presidential discretion or attempt to pass resolutions, like the War Powers Act, that limit presidential action. This means both Congress and the president have some ability to interpret the scope of legislation. But if courts are called upon whenever members of Congress have a complaint, then the judiciary can assume a more active role in determining the content of laws. Republicans are handing the courts authority not only to define the correct interpretation of law, but also restrict the similar authority of other branches by assuming that power. The final question is whether Obama has, in fact, overstepped his authority. In addition to their concerns about the ACA, Republicans take issue with Obama’s executive actions allowing children of undocumented immigrants to stay in the United States and releasing Taliban prisoners in exchange for an Afghan war prisoner. However, according to Forbes, Obama’s “executive order rate” is the lowest among presidents since Grover
Cleveland. Delaying parts of the ACA until 2015 in the interest of achieving a better outcome for the program seems more like good policy than tyranny. The Supreme Court is not a passive spectator when presidents go too far; it ruled in June that Obama exceeded his authority by making government appointments when he declared the Senate to be in recess, and has declared executive orders by former presidents unconstitutional. Given the unprecedented deadlock in Congress, it is difficult to blame Obama for trying to change what he can. From the perspective of the American people, the House might have gone too far. Polls by CNN, CBS News and the Marist Institute have found that a majority of Americans oppose the lawsuit and believe Obama has not abused his powers. According to news organization Politico, Boehner’s announcement led to the best fundraising day of the year for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Republicans must hope that the lawsuit does not damage their chances of capturing the Senate.
No place for grizzly bears in the Sierra Nevada By Anna Lee OPINION EDITOR
Despite the trademark image so boldly emblazoned on California’s flag, the grizzly bear is no longer a proud inhabitant of the Golden State. In fact, grizzly bears have been labeled “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act since 1975. In a petition presented to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on June 18, the Center for Biological Diversity, a national conservationist group which advocates for endangered
species, seeks to change that by reintroducing the grizzly to California, specifically the Sierra Nevada region. The group requests that the agency set aside 110,000 square miles for grizzly bears in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. The idea of bringing back grizzly bears to California, however, seems largely unrealistic, no matter how appropriate it would be to have the animal on the state flag actually residing in the state. The preservation of grizzly bears is no doubt a significant concern. After being hunted so vigorously, grizzly bears have lived in the confines of Yellowstone National Park and its surroundings — far from an ideal habitat. The grizzly population has grown only marginally over recent decades,
and climate change poses a real threat to grizzly bears; higher temperatures in the Rocky Mountains are severely damaging sources of grizzly nutrition, according to the petition. That being said, the current threats to grizzly bears will not all be magically solved by reintroducing the species to its historic habitat. In fact, having the bears milling about in the region would only create new problems. The impact on the environment of introducing grizzly bears must be considered. Adult bears can have home ranges of up to 600 square miles, according to the University of Montana College of Forestry and Conservation. With a new predator occupying such a large area, competition for food would become far fiercer, placing stress on preexisting black bear
populations. The new population of grizzly bears, largely vegetarian despite their aggressive habits, would also drastically limit the growth of plant life in the area. The ecosystem has had decades to adjust to the absence of the grizzly, and any reintroduction of the species to California must be done with tremendous caution, if at all. Encounters with humans would not pose a problem if grizzly bears were to stay within their allotted tract of land. But the bears are bound to wander out in search of their natural habitat and possibly down into the San Joaquin Valley or other areas with sizeable human populations. California is bustling with people; there would inevitably be an increase in the number of people stumbling upon enormous bears
in the wild — an understandably traumatic experience, as grizzly bears are known for being the exact opposite of docile. And any encounter with humans would be a double-edged sword: the California Department of Fish and Wildlife allows game wardens to immediately put down an animal that they perceive to be a threat to humans. The petition’s plan to carve out a neat little niche for grizzly bears in the Sierra Nevada region ultimately might do more harm than good. Still, even if the petition was adopted, the next step would be a tedious, years-long process of scientific studies and public hearings. It will be a long while before a grizzly bear is spotted roaming in the wilds of California; so go hiking sooner rather than later.
opinion
tphsfalconer.com
the falconer A3
STAFFEDITORIAL: WEAPONS ON CAMPUS Possession of firearms on college campuses has always been controversial, controversy that has been renewed by recent shootings at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the University of California, Santa Barbara. It is clear from these horrific incidents that the presence of firarms on college campuses potentially heightens tensions and definitely increases risk of harm to innocent people — even when concealed weapons are used for protection. Taylor Woolrich, a 20-yearold college student, recently petitioned Dartmouth College to allow her to carry a concealed firearm to deter her longtime stalker, 67-year-old Richard Bennett. Bennett began pursuing Woolrich when she was 16, and illegally accessed information like her address and the dates of her visits to family in order to follow her. After the man arrived at her family’s house during one of her spring visits home, Woolrich decided she needed to take action more drastic than a simple restraining order and requested
that she be given special permission to carry a concealed gun on her college campus. The Dartmouth administration denied her request for a firearm, however, as it would have violated school policy. Although her desire for the security afforded by the possession of a weapon was logical, Dartmouth was right to reject her request. There are many personal defense items available to civilians, and there are many choices safer than firearms. Disabling chemicals like pepper spray or nonlethal weapons like stun guns could have provided Woolrich increased security and made accidental deaths or collateral injury less likely. It is possible to operate firearms in a manner intended to incapacitate rather than kill, but such operation is difficult under stressful situations, even with proper training. It is unknown whether Woolrich has the training and the experience to properly use a firearm in selfdefense, but she could have posed
a significant threat not only to herself but to those around her if allowed to carry a firearm. Aside from nonlethal defense tools, there are other ways to improve safety in colleges. Most colleges have a 24-hour security force, and escorts can be arranged between campus locations. However, Woolrich stated that campus police were unwilling to accompany her after 9 p.m. Improvements need to be made to security measures, but arming individuals is not a solution. Even in the hands of trained professionals, small arms operation is very risky. In the confusion of an assault, factors such as distress and heightened emotions can impair a shooter’s ability to discern bystanders from attackers, which could cause accidental injury or death. Currently, the legislation regarding concealed weapons on college campuses varies from state to state. Some states ban concealed weapons on all college campuses. Others allow individual universities to make
their policies on concealed firearms. Still others fully allow students to possess concealed guns. However, the United States should consider adopting policy to ban concealed weapons on all campuses. Situations in which
students feel the need to protect themselves with a firearm can be prevented with the right safety measures. Security on campus should be enforced through the administration of a school, not by its students.
ART BY RUSSELL REED/FALCON ARTIST
Hyde Amendment creates unnecessary disparity By Maya Rao COPY EDITOR
Abortion rights have been so fiercely debated that nearly all politicians have adopted some sort of stance on the issue. Lawmakers who support abortion rights fight against policies restricting women’s access to the procedure, and lawmakers who oppose it do everything in their power to stop access. It is a constant back-andforth, tired struggle, and in the end — assuming, of course, that there is an end — no one will really know who wins. The focus of abortion rights has shifted from the core values, which are women’s rights and health, to politics, which is a muddle of personal vendettas morphing into political decisions. There is one thing, however, that all politicians seem to agree on: the Hyde Amendment. Never mind that the Hyde Amendment, which does not provide federal funding for some abortions, leaves
9 million women with no say in whether or not they have a child should they become pregnant. Never mind that this restrictive policy seems to be nearly the only thing approved of by a bipartisan majority in Congress. Politicians should not be able to make political decisions on what is undoubtedly a very personal topic. Since 1976, when the Hyde Amendment was first tacked on to federal budget bills, abortions have not been covered for women enrolled in federal health care programs like Medicaid, except in the cases of rape, incest or maternal life endangerment. Unlike most private and employer-sponsored health insurance policies, which often do cover abortions, the Hyde Amendment requires that no tax money should go toward funding abortion procedures for Medicaid recipients. Women covered by Medicaid generally have lower incomes than their counterparts enrolled in private or employer-sponsored health insurance plans, so the Hyde Amendment widens the gap between the haves and have-nots. Opponents of the amendment point to it to highlight the economic divisions within American society and how lawmakers are preserving those
divisions instead of erasing them. cannot control — they did not Supporters of the Hyde ask to be born into lower-income Amendment cite the economic households. Furthermore, and benefits — no taxpayer money more importantly, regardless of goes to fund abortion procedures a woman’s economic status, she — and social ones — it disarms should have full control of her the arguments of anti-abortion reproductive life. Now, five representatives in activists — but they are forgetting the personal detriments to the House of Representatives poor women. Lawmakers must are crusading to abolish the understand they cannot sacrifice Hyde Amendment, travelling one group of people to benefit the around the country in the “greater good.” If a policy rests Be Bold Road Trip to on unconscionable restrictions, raise support for their then it is no longer good. The campaign. They are brave United States was founded to go out on their own, without on the principle that all men, but and now women, are created the equal, and there is no better example of the hypocrisy of that statement than the Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment is not an economic issue at its heart, but a personal one. It proclaims that poor women are somehow less human than other women, entitled to fewer rights and constrained by more rules. These women often are the products of unhappy, unfair circumstances. They should not be punished for something they ART BY CAROLYN CHU/FALCON ARTIST
Falconer
The Torrey Pines High School
We, the Falconer staff, are dedicated to creating a monthly newspaper with the intent of encouraging independent thinking, expanding our knowledge of journalism, and providing the TPHS student body and community with a truthful, unbiased news source, in accordance with our First Amendment rights.
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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 newspaper 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 e-mail at falconer.ads@gmail.com or to Mia Smith’s mailbox in the administration building. Letters may be edited for length.
Editor-in-Chief Assistant Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Public Relations Copy Editors News Editor Assistant News Editor Opinion Editor Feature Editors Entertainment Editors Sports Editor Sports Design Editor Backpage Editor Polls Manager Photo Editor Adviser
Katie Mulkowsky Sarah Brown Anna Li Caroline Rutten Maya Rao Austin Zhang Varun Bhave Tasia Mochernak Anna Lee Sarah Chan Sarah Kim Alex Jen Alice Qu Fernando Stepensky Grace Bruton Charu Sinha Caroline Rutten Grace Bruton Mia Boardman Smith
backing of other members of Congress, they will most likely fail. It is up to the citizens of the United States to support the campaign and work toward abolishing the Hyde Amendment — and the absurd class divisions that it promotes — once and for all.
Staff Writers: Amanda Chen Kevin Chih Maya Kota Lily Nilipour Maya Parella Irene Yu Webmaster: Ben Lawson Photographers: Eric Cunningham Robbie Johnson Michael Lee Kenneth Lin Avery Spicker
Artists: Tori Austin Marisa Chang Grace Chen Kelsey Chen Teresa Chen Carolyn Chu Anna Huang Jacki Li Ellese Nguyen Russell Reed Micaela Roy Grace Yang
From the Ground Up 18 65
40
43
Years of History
More than 2,800 students streamed through the TPHS campus Aug. 26, glancing at pre-printed maps and schedules while hurrying to sometimes unfamiliar classrooms. Some were confident, some nervous, but almost all were wondering what awaits them behind closed doors and strange faces That feeling of anticipation is one of the only aspects of the first day of school that has not changed since TPHS opened in September of 1974. “When I began [teaching] in 1982, TPHS had about 1,500 students,” retired English teacher Barbara Swovelin said. “Maybe about 1,000 in its first years.” TPHS was the result of the need for an additional campus in the SDUHSD, as [then] San Dieguito High School was struggling with campus overcrowding. At the time, Carmel Valley was relatively undeveloped. “When I was [in] elementary school, the whole area had no houses at all. It was just kind of Torrey Pines by itself,” Oliver Miao (’93) said. “My friend and I would take our bikes out there and just kind of go off road on the dirt paths.” According to School Digger, a website that evaluates schools, homes first started appearing in the TPHS area in 1980, and about 69 percent of area houses existing today were built by 1999. In 1986, the TPHS theater, auditorium, football stadium, media center, and 23 classrooms were constructed, according to district records. As the community and the campus grew, so did the student population. TPHS had almost 2,000 students by 1988 and reached nearly 3,400 by 2004, according to Public School Review.
I was always appreciative of the diversity and how many different things students could choose. Whatever interests a student has, they’re able to find a club or an organization for it. Eric Chen (12) �������
“My first year teaching, we had a lot of portables; we were bursting at the seams with people,” Allan Tomlinson, who has worked at TPHS since 1998, said. After Canyon Crest Academy opened in 2004, the population at TPHS decreased steadily until 2007, when the largest ever TPHS class graduated. In the fall of 2007, it leveled out at around 2,600 students. The school’s academic reputation also bloomed early on. TPHS is a California Distinguished School and three-time National Blue Ribbon School, according to the TPHS Profile 2013. According to Principal David Jaffe, TPHS has been ranked in the top 100
schools in the nation in the last six years. Eric Chen (12) thinks that the community is the main reason for TPHS’s academic success. “There’s a lot of emphasis on acceptance and encouragement to pursue whatever interests people have,” Chen said. “And I think that’s a really important culture to have and it’s really hard to find elsewhere. There’s this expectation for students to do well.” Miao believes in the importance of families placing value in education. “You have parents who really care about their kids’ education and they get involved, which is really helpful [for the school],” Miao said. “It probably became easier to recruit teachers, so it was like a cycle that kind of built upon itself; the stronger it got, the more likely it would be for parents to move to that area.” Anna Huang (12) credits the TPHS staff for the success of the school. “We have some really great teachers there, so that makes it a really good educational environment,” Huang said. “I feel like since we’re so high achieving and relatively competitive, it’s a great academic environment.” As TPHS became better known for its academic and athletic achievements, Jaffe said that parents “specifically move[d] to this community for the great schools” and that it “just keeps growing.” While the academics of TPHS were boosted by a positive and educated community, Miao thinks the sports teams also benefited from the large number of students. “[TPHS has a large emphasis on sports] probably because the school is pretty large, and it comes from an area where people care about the outdoors and surfing, and just sort of spending time outside doing physical activity,” Miao said. “There were a lot of people who were good at sports and who cared about sports, and as you start getting good at them, that reputation builds upon itself too.” As of fall 2013, TPHS athletes have won 151 CIF championships in 26 varsity-level sports, according to the TPHS Profile 2013. “We don’t win CIF championships for every single sport, but we’ll win CIF championships in the same sport every year. That’s kind of expected at Torrey Pines,” Tomlinson said. However, while the school excels in the classroom and the stadium, Jaffe also acknowledges TPHS’s trademark versatility. “Any good high school has a number of activities that are center, and the nice thing about Torrey Pines is that while athletics is a focal point, we have a wonderful music program and a great arts program, all of our other types of programs are really strong,” Jaffe said. Chen says students can now be exposed to different fields of interest. “I was always appreciative of the diversity and how many different things students could choose,” Chen said. “Whatever interests a student has, they’re able to find a club or an organization for it. I’ve been able to explore different subjects.” Much has changed over 40 years at TPHS, yet the core ideas that define the school are still very much the same. by Lily Nilipour PHOTOS BY ROBBIE JOHNSON/FALCONER
feature
tphsfalconer.com
ASKEW by alice qu
The word “perfectionist” used to be a label I hated. I did not know the exact definition of the word back in elementary school, but from the mocking tone my peers used, I picked up on its derogatory connotation. Sure, it took me more time to finish the class handout than other people, but I was just making sure to color inside of the lines and fill in all of the white space. Eventually, I learned to appreciate the title given to me by my classmates. I even wrote it down as my dream career in the caption under my sixth grade yearbook photo, somehow persuaded that “perfectionist” was a legitimate vocation. Nowadays, coloring inside of the lines is the last of my concerns. There are no handouts or white spaces to fill in either, but I can guarantee that my room is quickly filling up in all of the wrong ways. My clothes are sloppily strewn all around the floor in a mess that I maneuver around in fear of accidentally puncturing my foot on a belt buckle — it happened once, and it was not too pretty. On my desk, a towering pile of books threatens to topple over at any second, yet I’m too lazy to properly stack them away on the bookshelf. Instead of spending time and effort on my homework, I doodle stick figures on assignments that instruct me to illustrate an elaborate scene of some historical event. I find myself longing for the label I once loathed. I constantly remind myself that I need to be more organized and act like a mature high school student, but just afterward, I always allow myself a reprieve by saying that other people are probably experiencing the same lack of motivation I am. As a child, I wholeheartedly believed that adults were perfect. I, like most other kids, wanted to grow up faster. I imagined that growing up would mean freedom, but perhaps Peter Pan was closer to the truth than I was. At age 16, I find myself regressing and wanting to be a child again. The pressures of growing up suddenly have sucker punched me in the face. Overbearing expectations perch on my right shoulder, reminding me of my obligations, while complacency whispers into my left ear, lulling me into a false sense of security. Going with the flow has made me into a different person — actually, “made me into a more lazy person” would be more accurate. I often want to step back into the times when I was more motivated to do my best and reach my full potential, rather than wait for that precariously balanced stack of books to plunge downward and scatter upon the ground. Maybe being like this is fine for now, but I know that sooner or later I’ll have to pick up the slack and the books and get down to work. Whenever that is, I hope it’s soon. I’m no longer the 12-year-old perfectionist I used to be.
the falconer
ONE 2,870 in
Last March, when volleyball player Emma Holty (10) went in for the free electrocardiogram screening sponsored by the Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation at a local hospital, she thought she would be one of many students who walked away with a clean bill of health. The procedure was simple enough: EKG patches that measured her heart rate would be placed on her chest, and if results came back negative, she would be free to leave. However, the test did not turn out as Holty expected. “When [the results] started printing, the nurse was looking at it, and she shook her head,” Holty said. “She knew something was wrong. It was really scary because I’ve always been scared of having something wrong with me.” Holty was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, a disease marked by episodes of a rapidly increased heartbeat due to an extra passageway for electrical impulses in the heart. Although she had experienced intense fatigue after physical exercise, Holty brushed it off as nothing serious. Even the quickened heartbeat she sometimes felt, a prominent symptom of WPW, she had deemed nothing more than a case of nerves. Heart conditions like WPW run in Holty’s family. Her cousin was diagnosed with the same disease before her, and several people on her mother’s side suffered heart attacks or live with serious heart conditions. Since she did not have obvious sypmtoms of heart disease, Holty went undiagnosed for many years. Holty took comfort in her family’s support. Karen Holty, Emma’s mother, often assuaged her daughter’s worries about the disease. After talking to a cardiologist at the EKG screening, the family was directed to Dr. James Perry, a WPW expert, and treatment looked promising.
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After discovering she had been living with a serious cardiac disease her entire life, Emma Holty talks about her diagnosis, treatment and recovery.
“I didn’t realize the urgency of it until we saw [Dr. Perry] and he said he wanted to do surgery in a few weeks,” Karen Holty said. “I was thinking [that we could put it off until summer].” While Emma did not have to quit volleyball or make any drastic lifestyle changes, she was instructed to monitor her heart condition closely while waiting to have corrective surgery. “I had to wear these heart monitors that are like EKGs, but they’re transportable,” Emma said. “I actually had to go to one of my volleyball practices with them on.” Following her surgery last spring break, Emma has lived her life normally. With the extra passageway in her heart blocked off, she is now cured of the disease. “There’s always a risk that it could open up again, but then they would just go in and do the same surgery,” Karen said. Even while she worried about her condition, Emma still enjoyed pursuing her hobbies and other interests such as volleyball, drawing, reading and traveling. Emma currently takes French classes and hopes that she will travel to Paris one day and “not look like a tourist.” Spending time with her mother has always been another activity she enjoys, even more so after her ordeal. “I think it just becomes more meaningful when you realize life can be short for anyone at any time,” Karen said. Karen Holty, who works at Ocean Air Elementary School as the administrative assistant, has taken this experience as an inspiration to help those around her. She encourages other parents, students and family members to be tested for heart conditions and has become an informal advocate for the free EKG screenings. “I definitely feel like I will always share [this experience] with everyone I know going forward,” Karen said. Emma, grateful to have discovered and been treated for her disease, hopes to work as a volunteer at the EKG screenings along with her brother in the future. A free teen cardiac screening will be held on Sept. 28 at La Jolla High School by the Save A Life Foundation. by Maya Parella
Emma Holty (10) PHOTO BY AVERY SPICKER/FALCONER
Concrete Love The Courteeners
If there is one thing the Courteeners do well, it is maintaining a household name in indie music. While the genre has warped and expanded, the Courteneers have managed to stick to a trademark “sound,” rooted in lead singer Liam Fray’s penchant for disgruntled ballads and flowing love songs. In releasing its fourth studio album, Concrete Love, the group upholds this reputation remarkably well — which is not necessarily a good thing. The album is a fun and easy listen, but the sound is all too similar to past albums: it is a collection of charismatic but predictable summer sing-alongs lacking depth or power. The album opens with “White Horses,” a dark and bombastic track, embodying every criteria for a staple rock song in an effort to shed any pop image. It has an emphatic beginning, but “White Horses” soon becomes confusing and loud. Any momentum from this track is lost as the album leads into the band’s single “How Good It Was.” Embracing the indie sound for which the group is most known and praised, the song is cheesy and not catchy enough to be memorable. “Black and Blue,” a song filled with frantic rhythms, appears halfway through the
album, while “Summer,” an unabashed attempt at a hit song, is filled with bouncy rhythms for a feel-good state of mind. While it has potential, “Summer” does not have anything innovative to set it apart from other popular summer tracks. When the chorus comes in, Fray’s voice echoes, making “You Overdid it Doll,” a single from past album Falcon that exhibits a light disco groove, seem like a distant memory. “Has He Told You He Loves You Yet?” follows next in a haze of hums and reverberating tambourines. As the balladry of “Small Bones,” “International” and “Dreamers” comes in, the album’s pace slows to a near halt. “Dreamers” may be the biggest letdown, winding down the album in a disappointing fashion, being lyrically lackluster and devoid of any true emotion. Concrete Love is a mediocre album with only a summer charm. The Courteeners may be experts in the art of iteration, but they do not have the ability to vary their sound. While their new release is adequate, indie music is evolving, and a band must modify and adapt or at least remain interesting enough to survive. Unfortunately, the Courteeners have done neither. by Maya Kota
PHOTO COURTESY OF POLYDOR
The Golden Echo Kimbra
PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. RECORDS
I knew Kimbra only as the featured artist in Gotye’s memorable hit, “Somebody That I Used to Know.” Unfortunately, her new album The Golden Echo crushed any fondness I had developed for her music. The first track, “Teen Heat,” begins reasonably well: a solid beat accompanied by the soft hum of her voice — and then all hope crumbles as the music quickens and the vocals rise in a horrifying crescendo of high-pitched singing that teeters on the edge of screechy. The next song, “90s Music,” has the same problem, but with the added annoyance of a voice like a radio host’s popping in sporadically to declare over and over again, “Every day be listening to 90s music.” We get it. You like ‘90s music. Stop talking. As the tracks continue, it becomes apparent that the other 10 songs are unrelated and have no underlying theme or message that could tie the album together. Instead, it features “Miracle,” a song so incredibly upbeat it might belong in a Disney movie; “As You Are,” an intimate ballad that sounds like a chorus of shrieking kittens; and “Rescue Him,” sung partially in an alluring drawl that would make Jessica Rabbit proud, eventually devolves into a shrill mess of
harmonies. “Rescue Him”? Rescue me from this song, please. Perhaps the chaotic disorder of the album is meant to be a showcase of Kimbra’s admittedly impressive singing ability, displaying the wide range of musical genres with which she is familiar, or perhaps it is meant to showcase stylishly disparate songs to attract more listeners. But when most of the songs are unforgivably irritating? The variety just ends up being tacky. There are a couple reprieves within this hapless collection of genuinely stressful singing. “Goldmine” is cheerful but a little haunting at the same time, and the intonation is reminiscent of Lorde. “Nobody But You” is enjoyable in the way that songs played during movie montages are, and “Love in High Places” is more not-that-bad than good. Still, even those tracks comprise a mixture of trite melodies and humdrum lyrics, making the few good songs on the album utterly forgettable. Kimbra has talent. Her voice is soulful and diverse in its ability, but her music is generally unimpressive. The Golden Echo was at best mediocre and at worst, plain annoying. by Anna Lee
BACK INTO THE SWING OF THINGS
FALL Girls Golf Boys Water Polo Girls Tennis
Football Cross Country Field Hockey Girls Volleyball
WINTER Boys Soccer Girls Basketball Girls Water Polo
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GAME TIME
By Fernando Stepensky NFL officials and team front office personnel never really have an offseason, which produces a flurry of storylines this time of year. With the preseason public relation ploys coming to a close and opening day steadily approaching, the “preseason sucks” chants are fading. NFL news is at a climax, and fantasy football’s opening siren is about to sound. Here are three things on my mind as the regular season approaches: 1. The preseason does not suck. I hear people bitch and moan about the preseason far too much, and all this does is separate the fake fans from the real ones. Preseason games are extremely important in the NFL not only for coaches, players and executives but also for officiating crews who have been handing out an average of nine more penalties per game than last year. These are the four games that teams get to try new schemes, players, formations and game plans. The preseason may not be as enticing to watch because of slow game pace, but if you are a true fan, then you watch at least the first half of the preseason games to scope out your own team. And you have to watch the entire third game since that is when most decisions are made about starters and regular season strategies. The preseason is boring to watch only for casual fans — it is extremely important to every single person working in the NFL as well as the true fan who seeks thorough understanding. 2. What is NFL Comissioner Roger Goodell doing? Ray Rice was suspended for two games after beating his wife but if a player smokes a joint he is getting at least a four-game suspension. This reflects outdated and wrongheaded thinking. Wake up, Rog. Even if I put my personal views on marijuana use in sports aside, a two-game suspension is only a third of the length I would have meted out to Rice, were I commissioner. Domestic violence should bring an automatic six-game suspension on the first offense and a full season boot for the second time around. Marijuana, on the other hand, should be legal with a doctor’s prescription under the NFL’s substance abuse policy. There is a fascinating and ancient legal medicine in some states called medicinal marijuana that the NFL seems oblivious to but should really get up to speed on. Sometimes I really wonder what the heck the NFL is thinking, and this is definitely one of those instances. 3. Fantasy football is the best— and the worst. While fantasy sports have made sports leagues loads of money, we have to remember that we are fans first, team owners second. I hate seeing people root against their own hometown team to win some unimportant fantasy league. I rather have the Chargers win the Super Bowl than personally win $200, and everyone should feel the same way. But for the sake of my sanity, I draft Chargers players so scores make me doubly happy.
The Falconer is honored to bring you our very first issue, with news that is at least 1-2 weeks old and articles that you will, at best, vaguely skim through.
A MESSAGE FROM TPHS ADMINISTRATION Welcome back, Falcons! Nobody really wants to be here, but here we all are anyway, like a reliable seasonal flu or rash. You may have noticed our lovely campus looks a little different; this is because we hate trees and will not rest till they are all ripped from the earth.
I dumped water on my head. I’m a philanthropist! -EVERYONE
world crumbles over summer, puts on plaid overcoat
ferguson The unrest in Ferguson Mo. prompted by the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown has led many to conclude that the militarization of Ferguson’s police force has caused a violation of constitutional rights, but we’re going to have to agree to disagree. We think the Founding Fathers would be pretty psyched to see an armored SWAT vehicle on the streets, mostly because they wouldn’t have seen a car before. And as for a violation of civil rights, Michael Brown’s right to a speedy trial was carried out more speedily than ever before by police officer Darren Wilson, who sentenced him to death without so much as a courtroom. Talk about cutting through the red tape! We applaud the efforts of the Ferguson Police Department to streamline the dull bureaucratic process of arresting, detaining and sentencing civilians before doing them bodily harm, whether that be by shooting an unarmed teenager to death or by tear gassing protestors—after all, there’s nothing more peaceful than unconscious bodies!
ebola The Ebola virus has wreaked havoc in the countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria, killing hundreds and infecting even more, as well as marking the first time in recent memory Americans have given a single sh*t about what’s happening in West Africa. The region has been struck by civil war and poverty for decades, but we all know there’s nothing like a highly contagious virus to capture the attention of the paranoid viewing public. “Illiteracy? Access to clean water? Pretty boring stuff,” Eddy Acken of Bacon, Ohio said, “But this virus thing? It’s like straight out of ‘The Walking Dead’—all the gory
fun of a viral apocalypse and absolutely none of the real life consequences for me. I’m hosting a viewing party this Friday if anyone wants to come.” The head of CNN’s Global News division agrees, saying the virus “finally gave us a narrative we could work with— and when that white missionary got infected, it was like Michael Crichton himself was smiling down upon us.” TV critic Alan Sepinwall wrote that the virus should have been nominated for a primetime Emmy Award, calling the coverage of the outbreak “the most compulsively watchable television since Season 3 of ‘Game of Thrones.’”
planes gaza Thousands are dying as the conflict between Israel and Palestine escalates, but thanks to the countless efforts of those on Facebook and Twitter, a peaceful solution may be on the horizon. Millions are furthering the cause of peace by constantly sharing links to news about the conflict on social media, captioned with such thoughtful analysis as “Shocking!” and “I can’t believe this is happening in 2014.” Thanks to the brave work of these concerned citizens, such as Dan Pits of Idaho, who averages 12 shares of Upworthy articles a day, the situation may soon be resolved. “I spent most of my adult life trying to negotiate a compromise by studying the complex cultural and historical nuances of this region,” said United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, “But it turns out I didn’t need to do any of that. All the people of Gaza have to do is follow the tweeted advice of xxHarryStylesoo and ‘give hugs, not war.’”
Three airplanes crashed around the world in July—there's no way that's a coincidence, right? The first one went down over Ukraine, the next in Africa somewhere and the last in China or something. What does it all mean? The lamestream media would have you believe the crashes were due to misfired missiles or bad weather, but get this: If you connect the three points of the crash sites, you get a very oblong triangle that
is actually the symbol of the Illuminati, we think—we’ll Wiki it later to confirm. The point is, we're pretty sure this is all part of a global conspiracy to severely lower the stock of small, independent commercial airlines. Even crazier: if you add up the number of each flight,l multiply it by three, divide it by the hours of news coverage each crash got, you get 768, which is the exact number of f**** no one gives about our theory.
ISIS After maybe two minutes of relative peace in Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, better known as ISIS, has seized control of the region and begun killing thousands in a mass ethnic cleanse. Following a decade of unimaginably destructive war with the United States and several years of widespread sectarian violence following U.S. withdrawal, Iraqis had about 120 seconds when things weren’t completely and utterly awful for thousands of miles
in every direction. “Why is it so quiet? Is this some sort of a trick?” asked an Iraqi shopkeeper during the recess. “Oh, that makes more sense,” he said around 30 seconds later as his shop burned down in an ISIS siege. The Pentagon announced in June that the United States would militarily intervene in order to bring stability to the region and peaceful democracy to its people. “Jesus Christ, not again,” said every Iraqi man, woman and child.