Falconer - January 2015

Falconer The Torrey Pines High School

Thursday, January 15, 2015 | Vol. 40, Issue 5, 30 pages | San Diego | www.tphsfalconer.com

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Tutor Doctor and Foundation to hold SAT and ACT

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By Lily Nilipour On Feb. 21, the TPHS Scholarship Fund and Tutor Doctor will hold practice SATs and ACTs at TPHS, which cost $25 each, to raise money for scholarships. “[Tutor Doctor] will provide practice ACT and SAT tests,” Scholarship Fund board member Karin Lang said. “[Students] can only take one test, and all the proceeds will go to our scholarship group.”

According to board member Mary Stromitis, students can register online at the TPHS Scholarship Fund website and will pay in cash or check at the event.

Registration is open to students from TPHS and other schools in the district.

Students who take either the SAT or the ACT at the fundraiser will be given additional benefits, according to Tutor Doctor President Chris Lien. “[Students] will each receive a professionally prepared report after the event, which will include the student’s correct and incorrect answers for each

question, a tabulation of answers by question type and summary recommendations for score improvement,” Lien said. “Students can also request a complimentary in-home consultation meeting to discuss the score report and analysis during the subsequent week.”

This is the first practice SAT and ACT held by the Scholarship Fund, according to Stromitis.

“In the past the school has held some SAT and ACT prep classes, and so we checked with the foundation and let them know that we planned to do this,” Stromitis said. “They were supportive ... to us, so we thought, ‘Okay, let’s do it, it’s going to help us.’”

All money raised at the event will go to scholarships.

“Every one of us is a volunteer, we don’t get paid for this,” Stromitis said. “So any money, proceeds, we get from events or fundraising activities, they all directly go

to the students.”

If successful, the event will likely continue in upcoming years, according to board member Susan Pfleeger.

Chelsea Barrows (11) believes that though a practice SAT or ACT may be easier than the real test, taking them can be beneficial for preparation. “[Practice tests] are helpful to see where you stand within the range of the actual SAT and ACT, and they can help you figure out which areas you need to study for,” Barrows said. “With all the pressure now with getting into college, you have to have the perfect score. So preparing for these tests just makes your college application to the next level if you can get a good score.”

Christina Li (11) also thinks practice tests can help improve SAT and ACT scores.

“They’re definitely really helpful

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The gratitude of his patients is one of the few things that makes [my dad’s] work worthwhile.

Sarah Chan See “Untold Stories of the O.R.,” A15

opinion.......................A6 feature.....................A11 a&e..........................A15 sports......................A19 backpage.................A24 focus.........................B1

Tinted windows and blinds Schoolwide Secret Santa event held

By Anna Lee installed in some classrooms OPINION EDITOR

By Caroline Rutten PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER Window blinds and door tinting were installed in the E, G and some of the B wing classrooms at TPHS over winter break as a security measure in response to the lockdown on Nov. 20.

According to math teacher Kimberly Huston, she and other teachers who received the blinds and tinting were notified on Dec. 19 to “clear the space around the windows” to prepare for installation over winter break.

Administration had previous plans to “put blinds in each of the classrooms through an extended period of time,” but the lockdown accelerated that process, according to Principal David Jaffe.

“During a debriefing with the district [after the lockdown], it was determined that installing the blinds and tinting was a priority and a safety measure,” Jaffe said. “It is to make teachers and students safer, and so that a potential shooter cannot see inside.”

According to Jaffe, blinds and tinting will be put in the B building

see WINDOWS, A3

The Torrey Pines Secret Santa event, in which students exchanged gifts from Dec. 15-19, was organized by Mackenzie Bath (12) via Facebook.

According to Bath, about 175 people were set to participate. She ran the event on her own, randomizing the list of participants and then “[giving] everybody one person.”

“It’s really not that much work,” Bath said.

“It’s just an hour that one time you’re trying to assign everybody [a Secret Santa].”

Some people who signed up as Secret Santas did not give presents, so their assignees did not receive gifts. Bath apologized, in a post on Facebook, to students who did not receive gifts.

Bath also said that she will not reveal the names of the Secret Santas who did not give presents, since people would only “get mad.”

“That’s not really in the holiday spirit,” Bath said. “Please try to enjoy giving.”

Anna Makris (10), a participant who did not receive a gift, had similar sentiments.

“The spirit of Christmas is giving, and that’s what makes you happy,” Makris said. “The person that I got was really happy with [her gift].”

However, she also thought the event was “a little disorganized,” and there needed to be a way for Secret Santas to find their assignee’s classes.

Bath will graduate in June and does not have anyone to organize the event next year. However, participant Michelle McKee (11) expressed interest in running a Secret Santa next year with her friend Milena Chakraverti-Wuerthwein (11). “[Secret Santa] is really exciting because you get gifts for [and from] people that you usually don’t interact with that much,” McKee said.

McKee and Chakraverti-Wuerthwein have no concrete plans for next year’s event at this time.

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news

january 15, 2015

Elsa Cayat • Georges Wolinski • Bernard Maris • Bernard Verlhac • Ahmed Merabet • Philippe Honoré • Frédéric Boisseau • Jean Cabut • Stéphane Charbonnier • Mustapha Ourrad • Michel Renaud • Franck Brinsolaro • Yoav Hattab • François-Michel Saada • Philippe Braham • Yohan Cohen • Clarissa Jean-Philippe

The Jan. 7 terror attack on Paris-based satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo did not just kill 12 people — it undermined speech rights that journalists worldwide have defended for centuries, humanizing every battle we have yet to fight by cementing one dozen more martyrs. In the wake of such a tragedy, we must not only mourn senseless loss of life, but also stand by the magazine’s staff members and their families with our unrelenting dedication to freedom of expression and truth.

- Katie Mulkowsky, Falconer Editor-in-Chief ART BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

TPHS debate team New athletic facility excels at tournaments

By Maya Kota STAFF WRITER

By Alice Qu A&E EDITOR Varun Bhave (12) was ranked No. 1 in the nation on Dec. 20 by debaterankings.com, which calculates national rankings for high school Speech and Debate.

Bhave had 540 points in the 20142015 season for Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and Kevin Krotz (12) was ranked 40th with 109 points.

Points are awarded to winners of national circuit tournaments, and each tournament awards a different number of points.

“I think I am first right now, but that’s not accurate because there are a couple of people who are definitely better than me; they just haven’t been to as many tournaments, so their rating is under-reported,” Bhave said.

“Until this year, there wasn’t a really good ranking system; it was just how many bids you got.”

Bhave won first place at the Sunvitational Speech and Debate Tournament on Jan. 11 and received his seventh bid to the Tournament of Champions for the 2014-2015 year.

According to Bhave, bids are “acknowledgments of how far [a debater reaches in] elimination rounds.” The TOC is a high school debate championship tournament held annually at the University of Kentucky at the end of April.

To qualify, a debater must have at least two bids. Krotz has three bids and LD teammates Ash Israni (12) and Sujay Singh (12) both have one bid. TPHS is currently ranked third in the nation for LD, with a total of 12 bids.

“Varun’s doing really well this year,” Krotz said. “To get to elimination rounds, you have to be in the top 25 to 35 of a pool of 200 [debaters], so he usually gets there and then wins the tournament. I’m not as good as he is, but I get to elimination rounds and pretty far in [those rounds].”

Bhave joined the LD team his freshman year and began debating on the national circuit his sophomore year. He is

LD varsity captain and has competed in over 25 national circuit tournaments. Bhave also attended debate camp at the National Symposium for Debate, a 2-week LD debate institute. “[Varun is] obviously the most competitively successful debater that I’ve had in several years,” Speech and Debate Coach Rachel Krause said. “He’s a great student leader, and he’s well-liked by the team, so I have very much looked to him for leadership in LD.” In his junior year, Bhave hired private coach Marshall Thompson, who he communicates with via Skype, Facebook and Dropbox, to help with practice, writing cases and strategizing for debate.

“I prepare for both sides [of a topic] by writing cases, writing frontlines, which are answers to what people might say against my cases, and preparing theory,” Bhave said. “Then I prepare answers to philosophy and framework stuff, because I’m mostly a philosophy-type debater, and Ks, short for kritiks, which are just indicts of words a debater uses in round, like offensive language.”

Thompson occasionally travels to tournaments with Bhave, who mostly goes to those in California.

“There’s a lot of travel, and it’s really tiring,” Bhave said. “You have to miss a lot of school, which is not always a bad thing.”

According to Krause, more students in other events like Congress and Parliamentary Debate also compete independently at tournaments.

“I think what we’re really starting to see in Speech and Debate is we have a lot of students reaching the national circuit level of debate in their events and putting a lot of dedication into this high level debate, which is really a sense of transformation for our team,” Krause said.

Krause said that the Speech and Debate team will try to recruit more coaches and acquire more resources in order to participate in more circuit tournaments.

TPHS’ newly constructed athletic training facility opened for student use on Jan. 5.

The construction of the building, which serves primarily as a weight room, was funded by the Prop AA bond initiative.

The old weight room, which was not initially considered for renovation, obstructed the construction of the new chemistry classrooms. Consequently, the facility was built on the south edge of campus.

“It’s a lot bigger and has garage-type rollup doors and larger windows for more ventilation and natural lighting.” boys athletic director Matt Livingston. “With those roll-up doors, student athletes will be able to go in and out and do all sorts of dynamic activities.”

The new facility also has the best of the existing equipment and new weights that will arrive in the next three months.

“A lot of the remaining equipment was old, out-of-date and in poor working condition, so it was neither safe nor in the best interest of the school to put that old equipment with the

new,” Livingston said.

According to Principal David Jaffe, additional apparatuses will be added to the facility, like five power racks that will replace the bench presses and other exercise equipment on the exterior of the room.

“We are planning to make improvements to the outside of the room by putting fit walls up and having CrossFit-type areas so it can really be a multipurpose training facility,” Jaffe said.

The money for the equipment was donated by outside sponsors and raised by the Torrey Pines Athletic Foundation through individual sports programs.

Approximately $40,000 was raised for the new equipment.

The outward appearance of the facility was also taken into consideration throughout the construction process. According to the SDUHSD website, the envisioned master plan includes a “new accessible entry to increase campus connections and visibility while still keeping with the campus profile.” “[The new facility] really is a higher-quality building, and it matches the brick and masonry work around the campus,” Jaffe said.

With the improvements to

opens

the facility, administrators like Livingston expect the weight room to be used more frequently.

“We hope more and more students will make use of the training facility, not only those who are a part of a school sport but even those that aren’t,” Livingston said.

Students who use the new weight room and its equipment may save time and money, according to Livingston.

“You hear so many students that have membership at a gym, and it’s not cost-effective nor time-effective,” Livingston said.

Sami Baki (10), who takes weight training, finds the facility easier to work in with the improved features.

“The weights are much more accessible than before and there are new machines in the room,” Baki said. “There is new equipment, air-conditioning and just overall improvements to the entire room.”

The new weight room is open to those in weight training, sports and P.E. classes, and those who use it after school must have the proper insurance and approval from the athletic foundation to use it if they do not have a school supervisor with them.

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

CAPITAL GAINS: The new athletic training facility opened on Jan. 5 for student use. It is primarily used as a weight room, and has the best of TPHS weight training equipment.

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WINDOWS continued from A1 “[TPHS] is a unique campus, and every room is different and needs different size blinds,” Assistant Principal Rob Coppo said. “We tried to hit the more obvious classrooms first and then go back to others.”

With new blinds and tinting, the rooms are better suited for instructional and safety situations. “[The blinds and tinting] make it easier to see with the projector,” Huston said. “I had to tape paper on my windows to make it safe. Now there’s more of a permanent solution.”

Additionally, according to Coppo, the blinds can control the temperature of the rooms, saving the school money.

However, according to U.S. history and government teacher Jim Harrah, whose classroom was not supplied with blinds or tinted windows, corner rooms like his should have been a higher priority.

“The corner rooms like mine and [Michael] Estrin’s, are the most vulnerable relative to the lockdown we just had,” Harrah said. “I think the blinds are a really good idea. I’m just frustrated that classrooms like Estrin’s and mine didn’t get them since we are the most exposed.”

According to Harrah, the bare windows in his classroom were an issue during the lockdown.

“I couldn’t close all the blinds, and I don’t have enough books and posters to cover all the windows,” Harrah said. “If a

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gunman came up the ramp, we would be exposed.”

Murray Kim (11), who was in Harrah’s class during the lockdown, did not feel safe, due to the exposure.

“I could see [Harrah] had trouble with the blinds, and if someone came on campus they could have seen us,” Kim said.

“I think we should add blinds and fix the rooms in general.

Safety should be taken into consideration when making these buildings.”

Lock-Blocks were also added to classrooms with doors that lock with a key from the outside. According to Jaffe, the administration plans to implement more security measures, like gates around the exterior of the campus, at a later date.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL LEE/FALCONER

DOOR DEFENSES: Blinds and window tinting have been installed in classrooms, including math teacher Kim Huston’s, across campus. The additions will improve instructional quality and school safety.

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Books moved to create space for new technology room Principal David Jaffe about the books and new technology room, and believes that “it’s always The books in the old textbook good to update things and invest room in the B building were in our future.”

Bisom-Rapp was one of many emptied out into the hallway before winter break to make who saw the opportunity to room for a new computer and take some books that would be technology room, according otherwise thrown away.

“I took a couple of AP Music to Assistant Principal Garry Theory books because the class Thornton.

“The textbook room is actually isn’t offered [at TPHS], and I kind going to become the hub of the of wanted to take it, so I might as technology center on the campus,” well get what I can,” Bisom-Rapp said. “I took Thornton said. another one “So we had to that my friend get the books would out of that Books [in which] the said help me with room before content is obsolete AP English winter break in Language] order to make ... are being picked [next year, room for the and then up, and some will be construction there was also work that rebound. H u c k l e b e r r y needed to be in done inside.”

-Garry Thornton Finn Spanish, and The books Assistant Principal I just [had to] will be stored take it.” in a room Amal Lamb (11) also found a on the opposite side of the B building and a room in the way to make use of the discarded English department (E) building, books.

“I took some music theory according to Thornton. However, books, since I’m in band, and many of the books in the hallway are no longer used by the school, just some books that I thought I would probably have to read and students can take those.

“Books [in which] the content later,” Lamb said.

The new technology room is obsolete … are being picked up, and some will be rebound is part of the continuous Prop and given away to other school AA-funded remodeling, which improved heating systems,” Thornton said. “Those includes and air conditioning systems that are garbage will be tossed in in classrooms, according to the garbage.”

By Lily Nilipour STAFF WRITER

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TUTOR continued from A1 because the SAT is not really so much of how smart you are, but pretty much just having a lot of practice or just knowing the test,” Li said. “It’s not really an accurate representation of how smart you are, but colleges look at it pretty heavily.”

Co-owner of Tutor Doctor, Tiffany Lien said that they were “excited to support TPHS” in hosting practice tests for students.

“If we can help students prepare for these tests while at the same time raise scholarship funds, it’s a win for everyone,” Tiffany Lien said.

The Scholarship Fund has

been providing TPHS seniors with scholarships ranging from $500 to $2000 since 1987, Pfleeger said.

“The first year we had a total of $5100 that we raised, which doesn’t sound like much today, but it was our very first attempt,” Pfleeger said. “We gave nine scholarships, so we were very proud of ourselves.”

Previously, money was raised through various fundraisers, donations and sales of the TPHS student directory, all organized by the Scholarship Fund. According to Stromitis, the group had the idea to work with Tutor Doctor because they had an advertisement in the directory.

“We started meeting with them and said, ‘We should do

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something with you together,’” Stromitis said.

According to Stromitis, this event marks $1 million raised by the Scholarship Fund since 1987.

“Since the beginning, we’ve kind of tallied up the amount of scholarship dollars we’ve given out,” Stromitis said. “This year we’ve reached our $1 million mark, total, so this is our $1 million campaign.”

Previously known as Dollars for Scholars, the Scholarship Fund became independent in 2013, according to Stromitis.

“All these years, we were under a national organization, called Scholarship America, and this particular program is called Dollars for Scholars,” Stromitis said. “Last year we formed our

own non-profit, so every dollar, everything will go directly to the scholarships.”

The Scholarship Fund accepts donations in any amount. If the donation is $500 dollars or more, the donor can name the scholarship and have some input on what type of student would receive the scholarship, according to Pfleeger.

Li knows that there are many TPHS students who can use the help with escalating college expenses.

“It’s definitely really helpful, because some people are close to having [enough money], but maybe they just want a small student loan and now they just don’t have to do it at all,” Li said.

Barrows believes that any sort

of scholarship can be valuable for graduating students.

“Even though college tuitions are going up and they are getting really expensive, every little bit of money will help pay for college,” Barrows said.

An awards banquet is held in May every year for students chosen to receive scholarships.

“The whole community will come together, and we talk about the accomplishments of these kids,” Stromitis said. “They tell us what school they want to go to and also what major they have.”

According to Parti, applications for scholarships go out in spring, and all seniors can apply.

Students are judged on their application, an essay response and an interview.

TP Cheer to host “Emerald City”-themed Winter Formal

By Tasia Mochernak NEWS EDITOR TPHS Cheer will host the 2015 “Emerald City”-themed Winter Formal at the Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier in downtown San Diego on Feb. 7 from 8-11 p.m.

According to Monica Burnett, one of the parents working with members of the TPHS cheerleading team to put on Formal, the location of the dance changes every two years. Last year, Formal was held at the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park.

“We’re always looking for a location that, first of all, can hold the size of our student body,” Burnett said. “We usually have anywhere from 650 to 750 kids show up, so that really reduces the amount of options we have.

This location is cool because it is surrounded by water. It used to be a cruise ship terminal and

now ... it is used as an event space and we thought it would be cool and different [from previous locations].”

ASB adviser Brad Golden believes that attendees will be impressed by the venue.

“It’s going to be a spectacle,” Golden said. “ ... beautiful to be at and beautiful to look at. There’s this huge, massive space on the water so you’ll be stepping into a [unique] venue.”

According to Burnett, the senior cheerleaders choose the theme each year. Cheerleader Sarah Stafford (12) said that the cheerleaders chose the “Emerald City” theme because “at camp, a lot of seniors did a ‘Wizard of Oz’ theme, so [they] wanted to keep the theme going.”

Besides dancing, Formal will feature two open air photo booths with props, according to Burnett.

In addition, candy, popcorn,

food and water will be provided, according to Stafford.

“The DJ we used last year is coming back,” Burnett said. “He is phenomenal. We also will have some special performances.”

Stafford said that varsity dance team will be performing at the dance, but the rest of the activities and events are “a surprise.” According to Burnett, the Formal committee is “looking into some other activities, but based on the budget, [they’ll] have to make the decisions as we get closer [to the dance].”

According to Golden, the new venue hosts many similar events and parking “will be a breeze.” Members of the TP administration will be present at the dance as supervisors.

Tickets are on sale now, and cost $40 with an ASB sticker, $45 without and $50 for outside guests. In order to attend the

dance, all students must submit their TPHS Dance Contracts, and students who plan to bring guests who do not attend TPHS must fill out a guest pass, according to the ASB website. Golden emphasized that it is not necessary to have a date for the dance; he encourages students to come in groups of friends and “have a great time.”

According to Golden, ASB has hidden two “ruby slippers” on campus, and students who find the shoes can bring them to room 17 to receive $10 off their Formal tickets.

“We’ll be hiding [the shoes] repetitively,” Golden said. “You find a slipper, you bring it in, and you get $10

off your Winter Formal ticket.

I’ll give you a certificate, and then I’m going to hide [the shoes] again. So, essentially, probably at least 10 people will have found these slippers. There’s two of them out there right now, [ever] since [Jan. 12]. This [promotion] will be going all the way until formal.”

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE FORMAL: Students who find the ruby slippers can receive $10 off their Formal tickets.

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ART BY CAROLYN CHU/FALCON ARTIST

PRO

By Austin Zhang COPY EDITOR

The United States is a country built by the hands of immigrants.

Those who first settled in colonies were immigrants from Europe. The first transcontinental railroad was constructed with scores of emigrant Chinese workers. Dutch influence in New York is still noticeable today with place-names like Brooklyn and Harlem. Despite the internment of Japanese-Americans under former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, young Japanese-American men still served during World War II. The United States itself is a “melting pot” of cultures, and that begs the question: Why is the presidency denied to naturalized citizens?

All branches of the armed forces are open to naturalized citizens, and naturalized citizens also hold office in the Senate, House of Representatives and Supreme Court. No state disallows naturalized citizens from running for governor.

But when it comes to the presidency, the Constitution states that “No Person except a natural-born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President,” granted that the person has been a resident of the United States for at least 14 years and is at least 35 years old.

The Constitution, though proven a resilient government doctrine, is by no means flawless. The 27 amendments are a clear example of that. The Constitution has been amended many times to replace or

U.S. citizenship is granted to those born or naturalized in the United States. Both can hold political office, but the presidency is reserved for U.S.-born citizens only. reword outdated clauses or to extend rights to groups not granted them originally. For example, the passage of the 24th Amendment in 1964 put a stop to the infringement of the civil rights of African-Americans and other minorities by white Americans.

In 1971, the passage of the 26th Amendment lowered the minimum voting age to 18 from 21 in response to youth protests. Therefore, it is not radical to consider that the Constitution may require further modification to allow naturalized citizens the opportunity to run for the nation’s highest office.

The process toward naturalized citizenship is a long one that proves a person’s devotion to the country.

First, a person seeking naturalized citizenship must have lived in the U.S. for at least five years — or three if he or she has been married to a U.S. citizen for at least three years.

Then, there is a citizenship test and a 10-step process organized by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that includes an interview, a biometrics appointment that takes physiological and anatomical data by which a person can be identified, and an Oath of Allegiance. It is fallacious to insinuate that a person who is willing to go through this lengthy, potentially arduous process is any less “American” than a person who was simply born in the United States.

Finally, it is important to remember that just because a person is able to become president does not mean that the person will become president. Opening the opportunity simply gives naturalized citizens greater heights to which they can aspire.

The presidency is seen as the paragon of American authority, and the power to vote is a right that has been sought and obtained by many different groups over the history of the United States. Naturalized citizens, of course, already have the power to vote for president. Now, it is time to give them the power to run.

We asked you...

Should naturalized citizens be allowed to run for president?

50%

50%

YES

NO

said

said

The United States is like “Animal Farm” — all men are created equal, but some are more equal than others.

The United States was founded on this sort of selective equality, but over time, many social barriers have been broken, and women and minorities can now participate in government freely. Still, there is one office that has been closed to naturalized citizens — the presidency. The presidency is the highest office in the country, and it cannot be open to those who are torn between two countries — the one in which they were born and the one they claim to love. Changing this part of the Constitution could have disastrous consequences.

Let us assume that this particular requirement was repealed. Now, every naturalized citizen is eligible to become president. People who crossed the border illegally can become president, because under the immigration executive order, some undocumented immigrants can become naturalized citizens.

People who were born in China or India or Mexico and lived there for 20 or 30 years would be able to run for the presidency. However, they have lived in another country for a large part of their lives and cannot possibly make foreign policy decisions without considering the effect it would have on their “home” country.

These people lived in that country, whether for 20 days or 20 years, and some part of their life will always be linked to that place. Hating another country is just as bad as loving it. Immigrants who escaped Fidel Castro in Cuba might want to impose strict sanctions on Cuba as a sort of personal revenge. Immigrants who left China peacefully might want to smoothly reach an economic deal that does not benefit the United States.

Presidents are not allowed to be confused in this manner. They have to be undoubtedly loyal to the United States, willing to do anything to better this country. They must be able to

CON

By Maya Rao COPY EDITOR

scheme against other countries, authorize clandestine operations and missile strikes and most of all, not breathe a single word to a single soul. They have to keep masks of diplomacy up at all times, regardless of their personal feelings on certain matters. If those matters involve relations with a foreign country, extra care should be taken to avoid an international incident.

Some might argue that the United States is an open and free country, and that we should allow immigrants to reap their benefits.

But citizens’ lives could be in danger if the president does not act quickly enough to stop a terrorist cell in his or her home country. Undocumented immigrants could cross the border more easily if the president was lax on immigration laws. This has never been a question of morality, but rather a more significant matter of national security.

Allowing naturalized citizens to become president is not only a bad idea, it is a potentially lethal one. A president’s allegiance to the United States can never be questioned, and no mentions of the Constitution’s imperfections or amendments’ citations can change that. People may point out the flaws in the thinking of the Founding Fathers, but the fact remains that the United States cannot risk the lives and the livelihoods of its citizens over an ethical debate. If naturalized citizens ever become president, this country will sink in a morally gilded ship.

opinion

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A7

STAFF EDITORIAL: NYPD CONFLICT WITH MAYOR jury’s decision not to indict Daniel Pantaleo, the cop responsible for Eric Garner’s death, de Blasio said young black men, including his own biracial teenage son, face dangers from the police, (a stance borne out by statistics). He also submitted 22,000 officers for a retraining course, further alienating the NYPD. It is understandable why the police have gone to such drastic measures of protest. The police and mayor should present a united front, after all. And instead the mayor has seemingly turned his back on the police with his “anti-cop” stance and rhetoric. However, that does not mean their behavior is excusable.

The actions — or rather, inaction — of the police have done more harm than good. Strikes are a reasonable, effective method of protest for most occupations, but when it comes to a public service official, whose job is to protect and serve, refusing to attend to his or her duty is

“

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Justin McGrath (9)

Mercedes Smart (10)

the police chief to stop these protests. But there is not much he can do when the force opposes his orders. Instead, the police officers that have participated in this protest need to take a few moments to reconsider their recent actions. De Blasio, too, should evaluate his next move.

One party needs to be the “bigger person” in order for the two to cooperate again. For the sake of the city, the mayor and police cannot be at odds with each other.

STUDENT VOICES

Not all police are the same, of course, but the majority of them are ... doing things that are unnecessary.

Do you think the police had an appropriate response to the mayor’s actions?

”

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[The police] need to uphold their duty to protect the public and ... they need to take responsibility.

The police acted in a way they thought was necessary and in other cases ... just to defend themselves.

Kenneth Shen (11)

Montse Quintana (12)

the strip

by carolyn chu

It wasn’t okay ... [The police] were evading their responsibilities and what they did was definitely not appropriate.

outright dangerous. There are other avenues of protest to be explored, like petitions, that do not threaten public safety. Furthermore, the police “strike” is not even a unionsanctioned activity, so there is little form or organization. Obviously, the police hope to call attention to their plight by not enforcing the law, and have succeeded. Only, they portrayed themselves in a negative light by doing so. Publicity is not always good.

When the officers turned their back on de Blasio at Liu’s funeral, it seemed like an act of disrespect to the fallen’s memory rather than a statement. There are far more appropriate situations in which they could have used that form of protest, like during a different speech about Garner — not during services meant to honor one of their own. Again, the police hurt their reputation with both the residents of NYC and the rest of the nation.

Perhaps it is the responsibility of

ART BY ANNA LEE/FALCONER

New York City police officers turned their backs on Mayor Bill de Blasio during Officer Wenjian Liu’s funeral services on Jan. 4, defying the police chief’s request not to use the service as a protest. Additionally, arrest rates in NYC recently decreased, as many police officers refuse to write tickets and make arrests in retaliation. The tension between the New York Police Department and de Blasio seems to be reaching a head — but who is in the wrong? At this point, it certainly seems as though the police have taken it too far.

The two parties have had an uneasy relationship since de Blasio’s mayoral campaign when he promised to reform NYC’s “stopand-frisk” practice, which many have criticized as a form of racial profiling. In December, former NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly said in an interview with ABC that de Blasio ran an “anti-police campaign.”

After the protests against the grand

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A8 the falconer

opinion

january 15, 2015

Bill Cosby’s response to allegations isn’t enough SPORTS EDITOR

Since 2005, over 25 women have claimed that Bill Cosby, the former family-friendly comedian and the creator of “The Cosby Show” and “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,” sexually assaulted and, in some cases, drugged them. As Cosby maintains virtual silence on the allegations and more accusers come forward, people are restless for Cosby to comment directly and in person on the accusations.

The statute of limitations prevents most if not all of the decades-old cases from being heard in court, and Cosby has decided to leave his reputation to the court of public opinion by not responding to his accusers except via a categorical denial through his attorney. Although this may be legally expedient, the alleged victims deserve a response.

In March 2005, Andrea Constand, former director of operations for women’s basketball at Temple University, filed a lawsuit against

Cosby claiming that he drugged and molested her in his Pennsylvania home in 2004. Cosby and Constand settled out of court in 2006 and did not disclose the settlement terms.

Court papers from the Constand case mentioned 12 anonymous women who made similar allegations, as well as Tamara Green, who spoke on the “Today” show about being drugged by Cosby in 2005. At the time, the comedian denied all claims, according to Time magazine.

When Cosby returned to the limelight in 2014 with plans for a new NBC sitcom and a Netflix standup special — both of which have been canceled — and a biography published in September, the allegations came back in full force, along with new claims by even more alleged victims.

Barbara Bowman was one of the anonymous women in the Constand case. She wrote an editorial in November 2014 for the Washington Post describing a chain of events very similar to the other stories, portraying Cosby in a light completely at odds with his public reputation.

“I was in my panties and a man’s T-shirt, and Cosby was looming over me,” Bowman said. “I’m certain now that he drugged and raped me.”

With accusations like Bowman’s and others describing similar scenes, the accused cannot simply refuse comment in the hope that the allegations will go away on their own.

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE VARUN BHAVE The Falconer news editor waxes poetic on the importance of a childish soul in a grown-up world.

The problem with Cosby refusing to comment is that he seems to expect the news story to crumble against his silence. When he was given an opportunity on NPR to make any statement, he shook his head and said nothing. The Associated Press interviewed Cosby and his wife after they loaned some of their art to the Smithsonian and asked about the allegations, to which Cosby said he did not want to speak. In a video released afterward, Cosby even asks for that part of the interview to be taken out, saying, “I would appreciate it if it was scuttled.” On Jan. 8, he even made light of the allegations against him during a live comedy performance in Canada.

After decades of silence, women have bravely come forth to tell their stories, only for the accused to hide behind his lawyers, refusing even to answer their claims. Cosby’s arrogance in assuming his previous reputation as a solid citizen will carry him through the allegations without so much as a personal statement in answer to the women’s claims is appalling. Whether or not the allegations are true, Bill Cosby owes his accusers a response. The courage it takes to speak out on such a traumatizing event is unimaginable, and receiving no real response or feedback from “the monster,” as Cosby is referred to by Bowman, must only intensify the trauma.

Most people on the Falconer staff, Know me as a serious person, Amicable but pop-culture illiterate, With chronic absence syndrome — it’s begun to worsen.

So you’d think this story would reflect, On my “growth” in the last four years, Sprinkled with touching anecdotes, Ending with college aspirations or fears.

I have written humorous poetry since elementary school.

My favorite authors — like Roald Dahl or A.A. Milne — wrote in alternating prose and verse. Bollywood movies taught me that even the most somber moments can benefit from a dose of rhythm. And I bought dozens of children’s poetry anthologies by poets like Bruce Lansky and Ken Nesbitt, filled with laugh-out-loud school stories about poor grades, evil teachers, phony illnesses and bathroom pranks.

I’m no Shel Silverstein or Jack Prelutsky, Though poetry is my favorite pastime, If you flip through a school lit magazine, It’s like humor turned into a thoughtcrime.

Melancholy free verse has become the norm, Simple rhymes are a thing of the past, There’s nothing wrong with solemnity, But why give up laughter so fast?

Composing poetry feels like solving a puzzle, and the care and precision needed to place the “perfect word” fine-tunes my everyday writing. More importantly, I’ve put hundreds of hours into intellectual pursuits, like Lincoln-Douglas debate, Quizbowl or lab work. Tinkering with ridiculous poems is a way of reminding myself not to take life too seriously. For example, I had to organize a mountain of papers this winter break, from previous school years, stacked in my garage. It was mind-numbingly boring work, it but also inspired me.

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

I’m buried in school papers, From my head down to my knees, There must be homework in here, From one hundred thousand trees.

I’m wading through seas of sheets, Scattered in every direction, If I can’t discard these soon, getting out Will soon be the million-dollar question.

I’ll always file every single sheet, I take a solemn vow, I’ve never been good at organizing, But I only regret it now.

Some poetry has snuck outside of the 75-page file on my computer — I compose “happy birthday” poems for cards and annual editorship poems for Falconer portfolios — but I mostly write for myself. Part of the reason is that silliness is received poorly, even when I feel it’s clever. The winning poems in writing contests are always brooding or depressing. It felt too risky to even send a sample of my work to colleges. How exactly does depicting this scene enhance an application?

ART BY RUSSELL REED/FALCON ARTIST

By Fernando Stepensky

Everyone cheered; the audience clapped, As archaeologists had the mummy unwrapped.

Then oddly enough, with a creak and a groan, The mummy sat up with a grunt, on his own.

Sitting up in his coffin, he began to say, “Egyptians didn’t look like that in my day!”

Everyone screamed and started to run, The archaeologists fainted one by one.

The mummy was baffled and scratched his head, So he curled up in his coffin and went back to bed.

I enjoy keeping childhood clutter around, and writing children’s poems, because I want to escape becoming a stereotypical adult. When I was younger, I discovered through children’s books how dangerous it was to close my mind to mischief or fantasy. Grown-ups in Roald Dahl stories are generally cruel, pompous or idiotic — and often suffer gruesome fates. The adults in “The Little Prince” are constantly engaged in “matters of consequence,” but lose their imaginations; they mistake a drawing of a boa constrictor swallowing an elephant for an ordinary hat, and neglect the fate of a beautiful Rose. And what could possibly be worse than not being able to see Hobbes and Winnie-thePooh come to life?

I still pore over Thomas the Tank Engine, And ritually watch Tom and Jerry, If being an adult means “outgrowing” stuff, I don’t think that I am ready.

I’ve costumes and props for setups, From Western shootouts to a jousting match, Trimmed paper airplanes and old board games, I categorically refuse to dispatch.

When Indian relatives come to visit, they are often surprised to see how little my house has changed; it remains chock-full of crayon masterpieces, comic books, countless Superballs and every type of toy weapon. They often ask why I still find childhood entertainment so fascinating, or if such “immaturity” is even normal. I am ready with answers, placed in terms they can understand: It might be useful if I become a pediatrician, or when I have my own children. The real answer is more complicated.

Imagining helps me appreciate the world, Rivers might run with chocolate or wine, Then I realize with newfound delight, They’d run with clear water all this time.

And simple jokes, hobbies, or stories, I still find entertaining or fun, Why must I lose my enthusiasm?

At some point, do I just have to be “done?”

Kids never lose their delight, In repeating some trick or game, Over and over. Adults too aged to grasp this, Don’t realize I’m just the same.

People don’t understand, so they need to be told, Repetition doesn’t have to be boring; you just have to be old.

opinion

tphsfalconer.com

the falconer

A9

UC schools should reconsider tuition hike

The University of California Board of Regents approved on Nov. 20 UC President Janet Napolitano’s proposed 5 percent tuition and fee hike for each of the next five years.

Gov. Jerry Brown said the state would refuse to increase UC system funding if tuition hikes are implemented, and, as a condition for creating new classes and more scholarships, California Assembly Democrats demanded that Napolitano and UC Regents drop the proposed hikes.

The Assembly members’ plan is in the best interest of UC students and should be accepted. Tuition hikes could discourage prospective students from applying and current students from continuing due to an inability to pay for college.

The UC website says 193,873 students applied for 2015 admission, a 6.5 percent increase over 2014 applications. Napolitano said that indicates “students and their families continue to place a high value on a UC education.” The numbers of faculty members and students at UC campuses have also risen since the early 2000s.

A tuition hike might seem reasonable under those circumstances, since it would provide more funds to accommodate the ever-increasing number of students enrolled. However, families of students have already endured several fee increases in recent years and should not be forced to continuously pay more for their children to attend college.

The UC website said that for the 2013-14 school year, California undergrads paid system-wide tuition and fees of $13,300, while nonresidents paid $36,178 — not including extra costs like books, supplies and board. Tuition hikes will drive these numbers into the $14,000s and $37,000s respectively in future years.

While more than half of undergraduate students receive financial aid, most of those who do not are from middle-class families, so they do not qualify for as many scholarships as low-income students and are unable to afford tuition as easily as affluent students and will be the impacted the most. Many will be forced to take out more loans or to drop out of the system entirely if tuition hikes are implemented.

In 2009, UC tuition was raised 30 percent in one fell swoop. Since then, according to a UC Accountability Report, the number of UC graduates with debt increased. In 2013, more than half of all UC students had debt of at least $5,000. Tuition hikes would exacerbate the situation even more for debt-ridden students and their families. The decision shows

that the UC system does not really have students’ best interests at heart and that it would rather raise revenue at the expense of its students than find other budgetary solutions.

Admittedly, the tuition hike is an effective way to acquire funds. But there are several other ways to go about increasing available monies, including cutting back spending in unnecessary or less-prioritized areas, offering more online classes and limiting staff pay raises. The reality is, tuition hikes will do more harm than good if implemented. The fact that tuition and fees are being raised reflects badly on the condition of the California government and state economy as well. Ultimately, a tuition hike will certainly damage the system’s reputation for topnotch education at excellent value.

After all, the proposed tuition hike has only antagonized UC students.

Protests from students, such as the week-long occupation of Wheeler Hall at UC Berkeley or the demonstrations outside the Geisel Library at UCSD, comprise a fraction of the negative responses the proposed hike has incurred.

It should not take student action for the UC Board of Regents to realize the irrationality of thinking that students will simply roll over and agree to forking over more and more money each year. The Board of Regents should reconsider its decision to raise tuition and approve the California Senate Democrats’ proposed plan for both the benefit of UC students and the system as a whole.

ART BY TERESA CHEN/FALCON ARTIST

By Alice Qu

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Pink and blue toys force harmful gender roles STAFF WRITER

Adorned in her dream dresses, Leelah Alcorn snaps selfie after selfie in the dressing room mirror. However, the only item she purchases that day is a symbol of her oppression — male clothing.

Born as a male named Joshua, Alcorn, a transgender girl, was faced with a harsh struggle between the femininity she felt and the masculinity her parents and society expected of her. She wanted to express her gender without judgment, but according to her online suicide note, a horrific period of discrimination and isolation led to her tragic suicide on Dec. 28.

The rigid separation of male and female clothing is only a small part of the picture. Gender-specific marketing is a widely utilized and accepted business strategy, and although all forms of it promote harmful gender roles, color differentiation may be one of the root problems.

For instance, toys in the majority of toy stores in the United States are segregated by color, with pink being associated with girls and blue with boys. Such obvious displays of gender expectations imply that pink-colored things are strictly feminine, and blue-colored things are masculine, subliminally enforcing the idea that it is wrong to play with toys not targeted at your own gender.

For children who care more about playtime than playing with the “right” toys, being told that Barbie dolls or action figures are off-limits can be confusing. Being repeatedly discouraged against playing with certain toys can result in feelings of deeply-rooted shame.

Forcing children to adhere to strict gender roles against their will can be interpreted as rejection of their feelings, making them feel “subjected to discrimination and ridicule,” according to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Healthy Children website.

The reasoning for the pink-blue segregation is dubious at best. A study by Time magazine found that, generally, both boys and girls prefer blue, so there is no logical reason for girls’ toys being pink. It makes more sense for more toys to be blue and appeal to both boys and girls.

In addition, toymakers also forget that not all children are cisgender, or identify with the physical gender assignment they were born with.

Some children may be nonbinary, identifying as neither male nor female, while others may be transgender, identifying with the gender opposite of the one they were born into. Some children may also be genderfluid, alternating between male and female identities.

Therefore, the color differentiation between boys’ products and girls’ products is no more than an ignorant marketing tactic that discriminates against those who lie outside social standards.

Some may argue that having designated colors for males and females is simply easier. With all the different branches of genders that exist, designating just two generic colors requires much less effort on a company’s part and is still considered politically correct by

most in modern society. The problem with this kind of thinking is that it forces people to blindly accept a lack of representation of nonbinary, transgender and genderfluid people, and more accepting, open-minded behavior is exactly what the United States needs.

Parents could simply allow their kids to play with whatever toys they want, regardless of whether it is considered boyish or girlish. But since it is considered strange to behave masculinely if you are a female, or vice versa, children can still end up feeling judged by society.

Clothing is a good example of this phenomenon. Disquieted stares and disappointed tongue-clicking remain common when children dress outside their gender norm, particularly boys dressing as girls. It is atrocious that, in today’s society, a boy wearing a skirt is seen as more wicked than an adult who shames him for it.

Children are influenced by everything around them. Trapping them within rigid gender roles before they even learn what gender is can result in lethal consequences. Alcorn is not the only transgender teen who has taken his or her own life.

Of course, not every child is transgender, nor will every child care what color toy they play with. Still, companies should make an effort to brush aside, if not completely ignore, gender roles in marketing, whether it is by disassociating pink and blue with male and female or simply by intermingling all types of toys. Forcing gender roles can be extremely harmful to children, and has no real purpose other than perpetuating meaningless social norms, and companies cannot continue to market in such a way without longterm repercussions.

ART BY GRACE YANG/FALCON ARTIST

By Maya Parella

A10 the falconer

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january 15, 2015

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The traditions associated with love date back thousands of years; they are inexorably tied to humanity’s existence. Yet for many, the expression of love is hardly a simple matter.

As with a growing number of Americans, Marya Rana (10) grew up in a household of mixed ethnic backgrounds — her mother is white and her father is a first-generation Pakistani immigrant. Though Rana describes her parents as compassionate people who “believe that showing affection to their children helps them build self-esteem and motivates them to work hard,” the historical differences between western and eastern ideologies persists today through varying cultural attitudes, including with regard to love.

American culture has a particularly liberal stance on the expression of love, and American media is far from shy about public displays of affection. Similarly, European cultures condone moderate demonstration of affection in public, which at times is a sign of respect rather than of a close relationship.

“Something the French will do when they greet you is kiss you on both cheeks,” said Margaux Paul (10), who lived in France for two years. “It’s very normal; it’s even rude if you don’t.”

Pakistani culture, on the other hand, is more conservative when outwardly expressing love, according to Rana.

“My parents don’t really go on dates, and they rarely ever openly show affection in front of their children,” Rana said, who believes her heritage plays a dominant role in her upbringing.

For many children like Rana, outward demonstrations of love are a household rarity. Particularly in non-Western cultures, the phrase “I love you,” is basically absent a family’s vocabulary.

“My parents have never said [to me], to my remembrance, ‘I love you,’” Steven* said. “Nothing I do is good enough, but in my opinion, that only makes me try harder… I can’t complain because every ounce of suffering I went through made me stronger and who I am today.”

However, Steven recognizes that regardless of his parents’ unaffectionate and demanding treatment, they are proud of his accomplishments, even if they never say so to him.

Some kids, like Steven, feel they have benefited from this sort of “no-nonsense parenting.” For others, like Amy*, whose family comes from Korea, such environments have been emotionally damaging.

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I began to [place] more importance in my work ethic rather than focusing on emotional things, which made me crave some sort of emotional fulfillment, since I don’t get that as much from my parents.

-Amy Anonymous Student “I began to put more importance on my work ethic than on emotional things, which made me crave some sort of emotional fulfillment, since I don’t get that as much from my parents,” Amy said. “I guess I just don’t know how to appreciate and love the people close to me.”

Despite lacking explicit demonstrations of affection in families like Steven’s and Amy’s, cultures still maintain less straightforward expressions of love. For instance, Rana says that “people in [her] culture usually demonstrate love through actions [like] making tea for one another, or doing each other favors.”

Salman Sadakkadulla (10) draws similarities between his Indian culture and Marya’s.

“My parents personally don’t [overtly] try to show any affection toward each other,” Sadakkadulla said.

Even though public displays of affection are socially

acceptable in metropolitan Indian cities like Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi, it is not normal to show affection in public by “openly kissing.” Still, according to Sadakkadulla, India has experienced a “gradual pull” toward American cultural practices.

“As western culture is imported to India, dating has become widespread,” Sadakkadulla said. “But in small cities and in certain ethnic groups like Muslims and Sikhs, traditional arranged marriages are still favored.”

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In my culture, as long as the person whom one has fallen in love with is acceptable to the parents, then “falling in love” is not considered bad.

However, no public shows of affections should be made.

-Marya Rana (10) Student In fact, according to the newspaper Times of India, 69 percent of marriages in the country are still arranged. In Japan, about 40 percent of marriages are arranged, according to the [London] Telegraph newspaper. According Mai Saito (11), who has familial roots in Japan, “arranged marriages [in Japan] are usually by people who are older and haven’t married yet.”

Love is heavily emphasized in Japanese culture, and Valentine’s Day is a significant celebration in Japan. Girls and women give boys and men chocolate and may confess their feelings, while on White Day, which is held a month later, boys and men are expected shower affection and pampering on the women.

Reiko Saito, Mai’s mother, stresses the importance of Valentine’s Day in Japanese culture, as she believes it often allows girls and women to express “true love.”

“Japanese girls and women tend to be aggressive in expressing love to boys while men are more passive,” Reiko said.

In contrast, Sadakkadulla says that women in India have been “socially engineered” to keep feelings to themselves.

“While boys usually try really hard to express their love in India, girls are usually shyer. Rarely do you have a girl running to hug a boy in public. [It is] always the boy writing the [love] letter and the girl reading it.”

Rana says that women play a more submissive role in romantic relationships in Pakistani culture as well.

“Males tend to play the more dominant role,” Rana said.

“This is ... a societal norm for Pakistanis, because they assume that men are more capable and overall ‘better’ than women.”

According to Rana, in Pakistani culture, women are not allowed to talk to men other than their husbands, a stark contrast to the relative freedom of most women in Western societies.

In Western societies, the patriarchal norm has softened with the spread of feminism and the free love movement, a progressive social movement that deems matters of love, marriage, birth control and sexual fidelity personal rather than cultural or state issues. It is now generally more acceptable for women to actively pursue love in Western society.

However, to characterize the U.S. as a place in which expressions of love are universally acceptable is to discount the many diverse cultures that call America home. For some, like Steven, love manifests in the way his parents constantly push him to better himself. For Rana, love is all the little actions her parents do for one another and their children.

Although views on love, gender and relationships differ across cultures, there is no question that love, however expressed, has the ability to transcend cultural boundaries. *Name changed to protect identity

A12 the falconer

feature

“The noise keeps me awake.”

Sarah Hughes (11)

A study showed that students who listened to Mozart had better spatial visualization ability than students listening to nothing. This led to the belief that music can enhance reasoning capabilities.

“Because there are different styles of learning, some people do better [with certain types of music].”

Andrea Ruby, audiologist

Background music can have a calming effect, decreasing stress and aggression, which in turn allows for greater cooperation and productivity.

january 15, 2015

“Doing work in a classroom is usually pretty loud and I get more work done.”

Kevin Johnson (10)

“When I [listen to] something, it makes me think more, and then I work faster.”

Kevin Johnson (10) Monotonous background music can promote better performance with tasks that require more information processing.

Music can improve productivity during repetitive tasks.

Music may influence the perception of time during a task, generally leading to an overestimation of the amount of time passed.

“I like the sound of them making the drinks [at Coffee Bean].

It just sounds like you’re in a factory and everyone’s working hard.”

Sarah Hughes (11)

Listening to music can enhance mood, relieve anxiety and depression, and increase cognitive functioning.

“I know that a lot of people don’t like loud noise, but it may help keep them on target.”

Andrea Ruby, audiologist

A low level of background noise can enhance performance on creative tasks, but a high level of noise may hurt creativity.

“[Background] noise is kind of the same thing as being around your friends, like a giant study group.”

Sarah Hughes (11)

“[Music] could be helpful as long as its not too loud.

Mellow music helps more, [like] classical or instrumental music.”

Andrea Ruby, audiologist

“[Music] helps me get more concentrated.”

Carolyn Zhao (10)

“Classical music will help me while I’m reading, but when I do math, I like to listen to something with a good beat.”

Sarah Hughes (11) Up-tempo music can boost mood and

provide motivation before starting on cognitive or creative tasks.

Typical popular music may interfere with problem-solving or highly complex tasks. Music with lyrics interferes with reading comprehension and information processing. *Information from Science Daily Website

infographic by anna lee and irene yu/falconer

tphsfalconer.com

feature

My dad is dressed in blue scrubs, an operating mask and a cap to cover his hair. I am dressed to match. I can’t help but take a picture of the both of us and send it to my mom, who tells me that we look like twins when only our eyes and foreheads are showing. He is preparing for a colon cancer removal, following a hernia repair.

I have not come to work with my dad in pursuit of career experience. I am here to shadow him and write about it; I want to see for myself what he does at the hospital and better understand the man who has been in the periphery of my life for so long.

My dad was always the one I would go to when there was a knot I couldn’t untie or a stomachache with a mysterious source. He was the one I went to for help with a tricky math problem or when I was too lazy to blow-dry my own hair — that is, during the rare times when he wasn’t working at the hospital. Before I go any further, allow me to set one thing straight: he has been a good dad to me. But when I think back to my childhood years, sometimes I can’t stop other moments from creeping into my memory — the times when my dad would miss school plays and fall asleep at the dinner table, or when my mom would come for elementary school “dad luncheons” in his place.

“

I want to see for myself what he does at the hospital and try to better understand the man who has been in the periphery of my life for so long.

When we arrive, he leads me through the hospital’s many floors and halls as if he has the route memorized. I guess that can happen after working at the same hospital for 30 years. I don’t know if it’s the way my dad greets everyone who passes — from doctors to nurses to the housekeeping staff — or the way the operating room staff beams when they compliment him in front of me, but I slowly appreciate the reputation my dad has built working here, and, even more, the modesty he brings back home with him. When we arrive at the operating rooms, I am enthusiastically greeted by doctors and nurses who mention how much taller I’ve grown since they last saw me, even though I don’t remember ever meeting them. It is a relief to feel welcomed and not treated as though I am a distraction to their work.

Many parents encourage their children to be doctors. However, I’m not sure if kids really know what the medical practice entails. Growing up, I always knew I didn’t want to be a doctor. Whenever my dad’s coworkers asked me if I want to follow in his footsteps and become a surgeon, I never failed to politely decline — much to their surprise and, often times, disappointment.

Of course, I respect my dad’s field immensely — he worked hard to achieve the level of skill and trust that he has. But I never shared his interest in medicine. In my eyes, the sacrifices — the years of training, the physical and emotional demands of a typical day at work, the time away from home — outweigh the gain.

There came a point when I stopped talking to my dad all together. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to connect, but because I didn’t have much to say to him and he didn’t have much to say to me. Of course, I know I wasn’t the only one going through that phase of teenage angst and generational conflict, and I also know that I am not the only child whose parent is a doctor.

But in my eyes, my dad didn’t understand me any better than I understood him.

For many years, this lack of understanding evolved into quiet resentment.

Other dads taught their kids how to ride bikes or had long talks with their daughters about boys or “not dating until you’re 30” — at least, that’s what I saw in movies — so why couldn’t he? As I grew older, I saw it as my responsibility to help my mom when my dad wasn’t around. I would navigate the instruction manual when we assembled new furniture or carry the heavy groceries in when my mom didn’t have enough hands. Predictably, I was very close to my mom, who would always try to explain to me the predicament my dad faced: If you want to be a great surgeon, you can’t be a great dad.

“

In my eyes, the sacrifices — the years of training, the physical and emotional demands of a typical day at work, the time away from home — outweigh the gain.

I watch him meticulously wash his hands before each surgery, grumbling about newer doctors not knowing “how to wash their hands correctly these days,” because they don’t follow the way he was taught in medical school: Fingertips to elbows, then elbows back down to fingertips. He has the movements memorized.

My dad attended medical school in Philadelphia, where the weather was perpetually gloomy and home, Hong Kong, was an ocean away. From the little bit he has told me, the years of medical school were not easy for anyone.

According to my dad, one of the hardest aspects of medical school was the

the falconer

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competition, caused by the sheer number of students. During training, you work longer hours than many professionals, but are treated with only a fraction of the respect, if that. Overnight stays at the hospital become routine when you’re constantly on call.

He told me that on Christmas he would eat dinner at one of the local churches because he didn’t have anywhere else to go. One Thanksgiving, he and his friends ate canned food and watched football in their dormitory room for nine hours straight because no place in town was open for business.

My mom has told me that sometimes when he recalls those years, he still tears up.

Going to work with my dad exposes a side of him I have never seen before. He happily greets his assisting team, and the room bustles with activity in preparation. It seems like they talk about everything but the surgery itself — past holiday plans, fantasy football pools, kids — while my dad is smiling through his mask the entire time. This is just another day at work for them, and their casual attitude toward the task at hand surprises me, but helps me understand why my dad loves coming to work.

While I eat a sandwich, I realize my dad has had only an apple for breakfast and no lunch — I wonder how often he has to do that.

As I watch him operate, his confidence and calmness intrigues me; he is in his terrain and his knowledge emanates from him. His hands are steady and precise yet remain nimble, and I slowly see where his skill at untying knots comes from.

Although I know he is accustomed to it, I still wonder how he can stand still and focus so diligently for such long periods of time. By this point I am getting sleepy, and I have left to use the bathroom twice. What happens if he has to use the bathroom? What happens if his legs get tired?

Apparently, learning how to block out such impulses is something you are taught in medical school. But sometimes I still wonder how extensively a textbook or medical training can prepare you for real-life, time-sensitive situations like the occasional emergency surgeries he performs. Although training to be a doctor requires studying and practice, you can only prepare to a certain degree. No surgery comes with a textbook list of steps that apply in every situation.

Surgeons have to perform any sort of surgery necessary for whoever is wheeled through the emergency room doors, during any hour of the day or night.

A Bee Gees song comes on in the background while my dad is operating. It reminds me of one of my earliest memories: my dad is carrying me, holding me to his shoulder. He is trying to make me fall asleep, walking around the room with me and playing the familiar disco melody. I drift off, breathing in the scent of the blue and black woolen sweater that he wears even now. I tell this to my dad while he is operating, and over the relentless teasing from his team, I can tell he is surprised I remember.

The sound of his pager is something I have grown up with; he’s never changed the sound of it for as long as I can remember. When it rings, I know the drill all too well — he stops whatever he is doing and calls the number that was paged to him. He then is briefed by the hospital on the case at hand, and is on his way in a matter of minutes. Most vivid to me are the times when he had just come home for dinner, only to have his pager ring and my mom, sister and I hold our breath, hoping it is one of the rare cases when he doesn’t have to leave but can give orders over the phone.

After five hours, my dad has finished both surgeries for the day, and we leave for his office. By now, he is starting to rub his eyes as he puts on the doctor’s coat that he keeps in the closet. The next three hours at his office are a blur — patients walking in and out and my dad going from door to door. When he finally finishes up at 5 p.m., a full 12 hours after we started our day, he is weary and I am too, although I remind myself I have done virtually nothing.

If there’s one thing my dad has made clear to me over the years it’s that the gratitude of his patients is one of the few things that makes his work worthwhile. The dedication to fulfill a calling requires sacrifices, but the satisfaction of being able to save, comfort or help someone in their most distressing moments is, to my dad, worth all the sacrifices.

To be honest, I was surprised at how a day at work with my dad can manifest itself into something much more personal. The occasional gift baskets, thank-you cards and holiday presents that seem to magically appear on the kitchen counter are slowly gaining context. I understand that my dad has only so much energy and attention to give, and almost all of it goes to his patients. He still gives me just enough, however, for me to see the reasoning behind his work ethic, perhaps the method to his madness.

The next time my dad falls asleep at the dinner table, I won’t approve, but I’ll understand. And the next time I have to assemble a new piece of furniture, however complicated, or carry in the heavy groceries, I won’t mind as much. I still don’t want to be a doctor, but going to work with him has made me realize one thing for sure: my dad has inspired me to work with the same level of modesty, dedication and knowledge in whatever future career I may choose.

ART BY SARAH KIM AND MAYA PARELLA/FALCONER

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feature

PEER ASSISTANT LISTENERS Each month an anonymous PAL pens this column to offer help to all Falcons.

It is common to be constantly under stress when attending a competitive school. Many factors and activities can cause stress, such as college applications or complicated relationships.

Fortunately, there are several ways students can deal with or handle stress in order to help them perform better academically and be better people in the community.

Some students are obsessed with their grades and being admitted to the colleges of their dreams. Others have to deal with issues at home.

Regardless, trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle should be everyone’s top priority. Knowing how to handle unnecessary stress is a crucial skill that will help students for the rest of their lives.

An effective way to relieve stress is to participate in leisurely activities. Though it may seem that there is no time to relax between studying for the SAT, coaching middle-school track and field and leading four clubs, taking just half an hour every week to listen to music or exercise can help calm and sharpen the mind. It might take some time away from studying, but relieving stress can improve performance later, making it worthwhile.

It also is important to have someone to talk to — not just about exciting events, but also about anger, sadness or stress.

Having supportive peers is a huge help and can aid in fighting the pressures of school or family life.

After all, stress is a temporary condition and can be overcome with the correct approaches.

Overall, it’s important to have a healthy way to relieve stress, whether through exercising, listening to music or even just talking. The PALs are here to listen to TPHS students and help them find ways to overcome their stress.

High school may be demanding, but with the proper support and strategies to eliminate stress, a better high school experience can be reached.

january 15, 2015

ONE 2,726 in

It is a scene straight from “The Devil Wears Prada.” Models are posing in designer clothing, cameras are snapping away and Katie Qian (12) is at the center of it all, channeling notorious Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.

Outside of school, Qian works as a fashion stylist, developing concepts and outfits for models in photo shoots.

“I’ve always been intrigued by all art,” Qian said. “I really like drawing, painting, fine arts — that kind of thing. I like fashion because it’s sort of an art that you subconsciously express.”

Qian started styling models when she was 15, and is one of the youngest in an industry composed of adult professionals. According to Qian, being young can pose some difficulties in building business relationships, but such hardships have not dampened her creativity or work ethic. Instead, she is motivated by people’s skepticism about her ability due to her age.

Though she now has a following, Qian found the fashion industry vastly different from what she had imagined when she stepped into it two years ago. In addition to creating photo shoot concepts and putting outfits together, Qian spends a significant part of her time emailing fashion companies.

High-fashion magazines like Hacid, Elegant, FSHN and Liner often recruit Qian to either aid in or direct the styling of their shoots.

“A [large part] of styling — which I didn’t expect going into it — is about public relations,” Qian said. “It’s about building relationships with showrooms and designers, and helping them get their name up there and getting them more publicity.”

According to Qian, communicating with older, established professionals can be a bit intimidating at times, especially when she’s working with designers or photographers she admires. However,

After entering the fashion industry at age 15, Katie Qian (12) shares her experiences as a stylist and discusses her sources of artistic inspiration.

it can also be a driving force, according to Qian.

“I think working constantly with people who really impress you and make you want to do your best … can be a positive force on your work,” Qian said. “It pushes me to do work outside of my comfort zone.”

Much of Qian’s inspiration comes from the outside world. Nature, poetry and architecture are common influences on her styling, though in past years she drew inspiration from her own past artwork. “[Drawing helped me] express a certain concept that I wanted to portray — the mood, the tone of it,” Qian said. “I tried painting and illustration, and now I’m doing fabrics and styling.”

Qian’s styling is also influenced by everyday trends. Though she does not obsessively follow or copy the latest styles, Qian said that certain elements sometimes “pop out” at her. When she finds herself inspired by aspects that are trending, Qian incorporates them into her fashion concepts.

“I pay attention to the trends, but I don’t consciously pick and choose from them.” Qian said. “If I see it and I really like it, then I’ll use it, [but] I actually try to avoid trends.”

Qian’s disregard for popular trends is often seen in her personal life as well. At school, she tends to dress more casually and comfortably than what people would expect from a 17-year-old fashion professional — instead of Wintour’s Prada, Qian routinely sports sweats and flip-flops. Even as a junior, when Qian’s daily wardrobe featured more “fashionable” outfits, she never felt compelled to bow to fashion dictates or external pressure, preferring to dress for herself.

“I [dress nice] when I want to, but I’m really lazy, like everyone else,” Qian said. “I don’t feel that much pressure about the way I dress all the time. It’s just school.”

Although Qian works primarily for fashion magazines, she has styled the occasional senior portrait and hopes to one day move into commercial work.

by Maya Parella

Katie Qian (12) PHOTO BY KENNETH LIN/FALCONER

As 2015 begins and the excitement of the holidays dies down, the stark reality of a new year settles in. For many, this means resolving to become a better, more productive person through New Year’s resolutions.

The Falconer explores the perks and pitfalls of this popular annual ritual for self-improvement, and weighs in on the eternal debate over its usefulness.

Examine the way New Year’s Resolutions, as a method of selfimprovement in our culture, impact students’ lives. eshin Visahan (10) was like any other person on New Year’s Eve. He made a simple resolution — to “spend more time studying” — and planned to generally improve himself in the upcoming year.

“I’m going to time myself when I’m studying and just make sure I’m not getting distracted,” Visahan said.

Forty percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions, most commonly to lose weight, get organized and spend less money, according to Forbes.

“People start the New Year [with resolutions] because it’s this new beginning, clean slate kind of experience with their hopes and wants and wishes,” San Diego psychologist Marjorie Miller said. “That’s sort of a common psychological process at the beginning of any new phase.”

Yet, when it comes to actually delivering on those resolutions, Visahan is a part of the minority.

“I’ve made New Year’s resolutions before,” Visahan said. “They were kind of just little things, but I did follow through with them.”

According to Forbes, only eight percent of Americans actually meet their New Year’s goals.

Miller attributes the inability to carry out New Year’s resolutions to harsh self-judgment about difficulty maintaining consistency as well as unrealistic and “lofty” goals such as to “lose 20 pounds” and “go to the gym five times a week.”

“There’s something sort of perfectionistic and pressured about some of these resolutions,” Miller said. “But when you disappoint yourself or make a mistake, people...will say, ‘Why bother?

I’m a failure anyway,’ and they just give up.”

Visahan thinks most people are unable to live up to their resolutions because they only make them to follow media and social trends.

“The people who give up on their New Year’s resolutions are just doing it to go with the flow,” Visahan said. “The people who follow through with them have already planned before in the years.”

Solana Beach 24-Hour Fitness manager Lauren Fellows also believes that selfimprovement motivations stem from pop culture influences.

“Around New Year’s, you’re coming out of the holidays, we’ve all been indulging, so now it’s time to start the new year off on the right foot,” Fellows said. “Society and culture all kind of play into that … so that’s when you hear people talk about, ‘Okay, it’s time to start getting in shape for the summer.’”

Miller also thinks that the popular media impacts self-image, mostly negatively.

“The media saturation is constantly

of TPHS students did not make a New Year’s resolution.

bombarding people with this idea that they should be a certain way,” Miller said. “The [popular] media, as well as social media, really pull [people] to look their best, to be cool and clever and together. So it makes a lot of sense that people think about New Year’s resolutions like that.”

However, not all people make “the standard” resolutions. Besides getting straight A’s by the end of the school year, Santino Mattia (10) has goals to “make the TPHS varsity basketball team” and “be a better person overall.”

“I can be nice and polite, and I could also spend quality time with my friends, not lie, do my homework, go to school on time and also be more sociable and go out to meet more people,” Mattia said.

Both Visahan and Mattia think that, to accomplish New Year’s resolutions, a certain level of determination is necessary.

“Just stay motivated and take it seriously,” Visahan said. “It’s important to let people know that you’re going to do it because then they encourage you.”

Fellows agrees that feeling accountable for something helps one achieve goals. However, she also believes that persistence is a driving factor.

“Consistency is the main thing for people,” Fellows said. “So keeping them consistent on a program and motivated and excited and feeling accountable really is the difference between people staying [with their resolutions] and not.”

Miller believes setting goals is an innate human tendency.

“Just as human beings, we’re drawn to growth and improvement in a very natural way,” Miller said. “We want to evolve and grow and be our best selves.”

Starting off a new year with resolutions may not necessarily mean achieving them, but it is still symbolic of a new commitment to improvement for many people, according to Fellows.

Mattia is one of the many people who experience the importance of a fresh start.

“So many things are becoming new in this world, and it just seems like … everything can go right.” Mattia said.

Despite the low success rate of sticking with New Year’s resolutions, people still find time in busy and hectic schedules to make commitments in their lives. Whether it be regularly studying or interacting with people more, resolutions are a promising and hopeful start to a new year.

by Kevin Chih and Lily Nilipour

do not have a plan to ensure they carry out their New Year’s resolutions.

of students believe that New Years resolutions do not work. *Based off a survey of 201 people

Falconer staffers reflect on their personal resolutions. y resolution this year is to stop making resolutions for the sake of January small talk.

I am fairly certain that most of the New Year’s resolutions I have made over the past 15 years have never lived to see the spring. My mom would probably call it pure laziness, and I would agree that my failure to adhere to previous resolutions is definitely due in part to a lack of motivation. However, I have recently found myself questioning the legitimacy of New Year’s resolutions entirely, if only to make myself feel a little better about my current situation and my past record.

Time is a social construct (and no, that’s not a direct quote from Jaden Smith’s Twitter feed); to me it seems so arbitrary that our motivation for self-improvement is never as high as it is at the beginning of some 365-day cycle.

If the majority of us stop caring about our resolutions at some point before the end of the year, we console ourselves with a probably-false promise that we’ll do it the next year.

I think it’s also important to note that New Year’s resolutions aren’t necessarily conducive to self-improvement. As complex and constantly-evolving human beings, we can choose to better ourselves at any point in our lives. In fact, we should actually strive for continual improvement that isn’t based on set points in time such as the beginning or end of a year.

Of course, I’m guilty of this myself. I would never resolve to eat more healthily around Thanksgiving break when I can just tell myself, “I’ll do it next year.”

he first step was a bowl of ramen and a marathon of Netflix. Then came the disposal of old diaries full of loveless entries and broken hearts. I’m not sure what’s next for me, but I know I’ve just embarked on a journey that will last me a lifetime — one of loving myself.

Self-love has never been easy for me, even as a young girl. The pressure to be the ideal daughter or friend has slowly been weighing me down these past 15 years, and I finally collapsed.

Maybe I didn’t crumble to dust at once. Maybe I’ve been splintering apart for a while now. I always plagued myself with the idea that if I didn’t make others happy or wasn’t perfect enough, then I was a failure. My childhood years were not as full of turmoil as they are today, but growing older than 10 was the worst mistake of my life. Too often I found myself wallowing in selfhatred, yet never doing enough to change myself. I thought 2014 would be good to me, a year to find my joyful side again, but all dreams go to waste if you sit back and wait.

I promised that this year, however, would be different. I told myself that 2015 would be the year I find my inner-child again and bring her back to life.

The girl who laughed freely and smiled all the time lost herself in high school, replaced by a sad, overlysensitive mess of a person. Self-love, I am convinced, is the only way to find her again.

Saying and doing, of course, are two completely different things. Not even a month into the New Year, I still find myself endlessly scrutinizing my flaws, both internal and external.

I’ve always thought my sensitivity toward the world was a curse, something to be scoffed at, because who would want to befriend a girl who cries for no apparent reason? Yet, with each tear I’ve shed this year, I’ve also found myself doing

But even though I haven’t explicitly made drastic changes to my life or to myself within the past several years, the sum of many subconscious decisions I’ve made in that time created huge differences in my life. I am much more comfortable and happy with who I am today than with who I was two years ago, even though at no point during this time period did I consciously resolve to become more self-loving.

The sudden radical change that we expect to come out of our New Year’s resolutions is also problematic. We aren’t made for that kind of immediate change, as my body ever-so-kindly reminded me on the morning it returned to school after two weeks of sleeping in. It’s not impossible to get long-lasting results out of New Year’s resolutions, but we should institute change in smaller steps over a period of time rather than suddenly subjecting ourselves to five days a week at the gym or no carbs, a week removed from no physical exertion and a bread-heavy diet.

Goal-setting is inevitable as a tool for productivity and progress, but instead of making New Year’s resolutions, it would be more effective and less taxing to make resolutions which concern individual months, weeks, or even days.

Nonetheless, I still fully respect and admire the decision of millions to make New Year’s resolutions for the upcoming year.

Whether or not they will actually be fulfilled, well, I guess we’ll just have to see next year. But hey, it’s the thought that counts, right?

by Amanda Chen

something I’ve rarely done before — telling myself that it’s okay. Comforting myself, even. Maybe people will think this strange, but I find that talking to myself works wonders when I’m sad and alone. I like to imagine that there’s a four-year-old me by my side, telling me all the things I need to hear, telling me how she needs someone strong and independent to count on. It’s a soothing thought, believing that you’re the hero of a young child. It makes you feel stronger and more confident in ways you’d never expect.

Quite honestly, that little girl is the sole reason why I can get through hard days.

She opens the doorway to self-love. My desire to protect her innocence means that I have to protect my own. Showering myself in compliments, I learned, is not vain — it’s healthy.

Calling myself a queen is not egotistic either, but a true sign that I am beginning to love and see worth in myself.

I want to fall in love with myself, quite honestly. I want to adore my own laugh and all of my quirks, rather than simply accepting them, because I am not going to simply tolerate myself. I am going to look in the mirror one day and smile, finally seeing the beauty in my existence.

I’m quickly realizing that I am the only person I will ever fully have in this life, and it will be one lousy existence if I spend all of it hating myself. I can’t keep finding shelter in other people, because they are not an antidote for my self-hatred. It is me who will be hugging myself at 2 a.m. when destructive thoughts come knocking. It is me who will run hands through my hair when I feel like I’m falling apart — no one else. I can’t expect happiness to magically find me, so I’ve got to create it for myself, and that begins with loving who I am.

I know I’ll have bad days, and maybe I’ll end up spending more time hiding under a desk than singing in the rain, but I am trying. I want to prance around with self-love and happiness, radiate positivity to all those around me. Heaven knows this life is tough, but I plan to dance through it.

by Maya Parella

ART BY MYLES HAMILTON/FALCONER

Falconer Opinion Editor and Conspiracy Theorist Anna Lee decries all New Year’s hype with her tongue firmly in cheek. oliday season has passed, and so we go on into 2015, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. I’m sure most of us are desperately clinging to the last vestiges of winter break and all that is good in the world (read: anything but finals and the dastardly SAT, which, coincidentally, is the same week as finals). “Why, God, why,” asked students across the country.

The answer is this: God isn’t real.

Students across the country are delusional. They should instead accept the devil, who has free shipping and comes complete with a neat little acorn logo! He is all they have now.

But seriously. The holidays are over, and we must face the facts. It’s time for a new year, kicked off with swanky New Year’s Eve parties and the simulation of a real holiday. Not to say that any other holiday is more real. I’m of the personal opinion that all holidays are government tools to keep us sheeple fat, sated and subservient, not actual tradition.

Take Thanksgiving: Is there proof that the pilgrims really did share a feast with the Native Americans in celebration of a good harvest? Yes? Well, hate to break it to you, but it’s fake. History is fabricated. Nothing is real. The Native Americans actually cannibalized the pilgrims and made a nice stew — honestly, they got what was coming to them.

So now that you’re on your way to enlightenment, let me share with you another alarming truth: The whole New Year’s “resolution” business is perhaps the most significant means of keeping the masses meek and easily subjugated.

“What? That’s absurd,” you say.

Go on, say it. Mock me, like all the others. But first hear me out: No matter what your approach is to New Year’s resolutions, you lose. If you make resolutions, you probably won’t complete most of them, branding

you a failure. If you make just one resolution and succeed, you will be invigorated! And then you realize that this one success is insignificant, just like you. If you don’t make any resolutions, you are listless and forlorn, disappointed in yourself and adrift in an indifferent universe. You are always left feeling weak-willed and malleable. There is no winning against the Overlord — read: Obama.

Both words start with the letter O. Do you see it now? The irrefutable truth?

I, too, have fallen victim to this trap. I remember my 12-year-old self resolving to do 10 pushups before bed every night, increasing the number over time, to strengthen my 12-yearold muscles so that one day I could become a ninja. I’m 90 percent sure that was my actual reason at the time. I’m also 100 percent sure that it is still my reason for doing anything ever. But becoming a ninja was clearly not enough of a motivating factor back then. I kept with the routine for approximately two weeks before I fell back into the sinister claws of sloth.

And so I became who I am today: a sniveling loser, writing this with only the strange burst of willpower that comes at the beginning of a new year, making my last stand against the corruption of New Year’s resolutions.

After which I will once more lose all resolve, becoming a dull shadow of a real human being. The future seems so bleak.

Haha! Just kidding; I’m Chinese, so I get wads of cash in red envelopes in like two weeks. I think my New Year’s resolution will be to “obtain money.” After all, why set yourself up for failure?

Disclaimer: I don’t actually think holidays and New Year’s resolutions are government conspiracies, but writing this half-convinced me that they might be. I should get more sleep.

by Anna Lee

ART BY MYLES HAMILTON/FALCONER

TRUE CRIME

By Amanda Chen and Caroline Rutten

Phoebe Judge is sitting on her living room couch, working late on a Saturday night. Seated across from her are Lauren Spohrer and Eric Mennel, co-creators of a podcast. Judge steps into a nearby closet, with headset and computer in hand. Clicking the red recording button on the screen, Judge introduces the crime covered in this episode: child pornography.

“This is Mary. She asked us not to use her real name. Her ex-son-in-law, Tommy Wall, was arrested as part of an investigation into a child pornography and sex ring. Four people have been arrested: three men and a woman. The ring was conducted under the guise of a daycare center in Sanford, N.C. It’s a horrible story. Something none of us never want to think about or even have our name associated with. As Mary says, we just can’t outlive that. I’m Phoebe Judge, this is ‘Criminal.’”

“Criminal,” the online podcast that Judge produces with Spohrer and Mennel in her spare time in Chapel Hill, N.C., is classified as a work of true crime — a nonfiction media genre in which real crimes, both past and present, are examined through a combination of investigative journalism and storytelling. According to Vicky Munro, a University of Minnesota professor who studies portrayals of the criminal justice system in American pop culture, true crime originated in the 1800s with the introduction of crime beats in newspapers and pulp fiction detective mysteries and eventually developed into an independent genre. Since then, the genre greatly expanded to include a wide variety of mediums, including podcasts like “Criminal” and WBEZ Chicago’s popular weekly online podcast “Serial,” hosted by Sarah Koenig and advised by National Public Radio’s Ira Glass. Over the course of its first season, which began airing in October 2014, “Serial” examined the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, a Baltimore County, Md., high school student.

Judge said the idea of making “Criminal” a podcast formed when co-creator Spohrer recognized a dearth of crime programs on public radio, despite their popularity.

“People love crime; they eat it up,” Judge said. “We were lucky because we were breaking into the podcast world that wasn’t infiltrated with lots of crime shows before.”

However, true crime is not just limited to podcasts. True crime books are also enormously popular, like the works of New York Times best-selling author M. William Phelps.

“True crime [has become] one of the foundational pillars of the book market,” Phelps said. “It’s not going anywhere. It’s expanding, if anything.”

As a self-proclaimed “victim’s advocate,” Phelps’ goal is to “look for the exclusive information and interviews that [the public] has not heard yet.”

In order to report such information, the factual nature of true crime requires extensive research and in-depth interviews to ensure accuracy.

“To get to that place where it reads like a novel, it requires a lot of research,” Phelps said. “If you’re going to write ‘It was a dark stormy night,’ you have to be sure it was actually on a dark stormy night. I do hours of interviews with ... the killers, victims and families. I review [police and court records] and interview everyone [involved]. Then I open it up to the public and see if they can give me any information.”

Despite the fact that true crime writers are telling real stories, author bias is almost inevitable. But Phelps says he has the evidence to support his biases.

[When you interview murderers,] you have to talk to them on their level ... After the [interview], you ... break down crying for the victims and their families -RJ Parker True Crime Author “I wrote a book called ‘Bad Girl,’ and I found out that the girl who was doing 49 years in prison was innocent, and I argued for this girl’s innocence,” Phelps said. “I had a bias against the girl who testified against her because I had proven that this girl had lied about everything. So how could I not have a bias against a liar?”

Associate Editor of the entertainment website A.V. Club, Marah Eakin, who covers “Serial” in her own podcast, agrees that while the intention of true crime is to be objective, the podcasting is opinionated by nature.

According to Munro, true crime writers can be unintentionally selective in choosing the subjects of their works, demonstrating a subconscious bias in favor of “a very specific kind of victim, [who] tends to be white and middle class.”

In addition, true crime sometimes requires writers to interview murderers associated with the crimes they are investigating in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the crime.

“I have been interviewing a serial killer known as Raven for the past four years, twice or three times a week, for my TV show [on Discovery Channel], ‘Dark Minds,’” Phelps said. “The work I’m doing with him is really in-depth. I am trying to get to the why — why did these guys kill multiple people?”

Constantly having to deal with disturbing crime on a deep, personal level can take an emotional toll on true crime writers and reporters.

“[When you interview murderers,] you have to talk to them on their level,” true crime author RJ Parker said. “After [the interview], you … break down crying for the victims and their families. Writing about school shootings, parents killing their children, and hot car deaths takes a lot out of me emotionally. Many times I just had to walk away from the manuscript for a few days at a time.”

While many aspects of true crime works may be dark and psychologically twisted, the genre’s popularity continues to grow.

“Crime is this stuff we’re told we shouldn’t touch, but it’s so present,” Judge said. “We all have the ability to be a victim or commit a crime ... Those are the things we’re drawn to. The things we’re not supposed to want are the things that become even more interesting.”

According to A.V. Club’s Eakin, the viewer’s feeling of involvement in the investigation of crime has largely contributed to the genre’s popularity.

People imagine themselves in the place of the victims and imagine what they would do differently ... It’s also always a good reminder of how fragile life is.

-Marah Eakin Associate Editor of the A.V. Club “People imagine themselves in the place of the victims, and imagine what they’d do differently,” Eakin said. “It’s also always a good reminder [to the viewer] of how fragile life is … Plus they want to feel like they’re in on the ground floor of something big —whether that’s the podcast or a potential reversal of a guilty verdict.”

Nicholas Christenfeld, professor of social psychology at the University of California, San Diego, says the popularity of true crime can also be attributed to humankind’s innate interest in violence.

“Why do people want to see bad behavior, destruction, death and dismemberment?” Christenfeld said. “It’s hard to get an experiment on that because it is difficult to control. [But] just like an accident on the highway, people are trying to look for blood and severed limbs.”

Christenfeld argues that exposure to violence creates a greater potential for problems by drawing awareness away from less “interesting” but more probable crimes.

“Things like child abduction get massive attention, but child abduction by a stranger is very rare,” Christenfeld said. “The thing that [realistically] puts your child at risk is putting them in the backseat after you had a few drinks.

But the drama is the thing that gets attention.”

Likewise, Munro believes that the widespread consumption of true crime, as well as fictional crime, particularly from television shows, has emotional implications for individual viewers.

“Some of the results [of watching true crime shows] are that people are becoming more fearful of becoming victims themselves and have less confidence in the system,” Munro said. “With fictional ones like ‘CSI’ and ‘Law and Order,’ people ... rely more on the system to catch the person because that’s what you see on TV. You can have a neat and tidy ending in a mystery, but you can’t guarantee the same with a real crime.”

Even with concern about the genre’s legitimacy and quality, true crime has been introduced into the high school English curriculum at TPHS. English teacher Catherine Moffett’s Advanced Placement English Language students can choose to read Truman Capote’s true crime book “In Cold Blood” as part of “seminar sets,” in which several groups of students each select a single book and discuss their reading. “In Cold Blood” tells the story of the 1959 murder of the Clutter family and is the No. 2 bestselling true crime novel after Vincent Bugliosi’s “Helter Skelter,” about the 1969 Sharon Tate murders.

“Typically when you hear about anything that has to do with crime in the news you hear, ‘This is what the crime was, this is what the evidence that suggests that certain these certain people did the crime and then here’s the sentence,’” Hersh Gupta (11) said. “But you don’t get [a deep] analysis of what they were thinking or [the murderer’s] motivation. I wanted to read [“In Cold Blood”] because it would offer something you can’t find in the news.”

Jackie Weinrich (11) chose “In Cold Blood” because she found the combination of fictional and journalistic styles in the book interesting. “[Capote] researched the killers a lot, which was very unconventional,” Weinrich said.

Moffett offers “In Cold Blood” as an option because she believes the book is “emblematic of the new journalism genre” and since it is nonfiction, it is “appropriate” for the class.

While the true crime genre is gaining a wider audience, the writers’ and reporters’ commitment to investigation and truth remains the same.

Judge ends her podcast for the night and exits her makeshift recording booth; all three creators are exhausted and ready for sleep after another long night of working on “Criminal.” Despite the tiring work they endure monthly, examining the details of disturbing cases, they continue to have high hopes for the true crime genre. But for now, “I’m Phoebe Judge, this is ‘Criminal.’”

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

A16 the falconer

You wouldn’t expect a band of five middleaged adults from Oregon to make it in today’s world of British boy bands and barely-legal pop stars, but the Decemberists continue to charm us with their fluid riffs and captivating narratives.

Just like any other Decemberists album, What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World isn’t just a collection of folk-tinged, indie rock songs — it’s a chapter book. After publishing three actual novels, lead vocalist Colin Meloy lent his writing skills to the Decemberists’ seventh studio album, which is just as political and witty as the previous six. After The King Is Dead unexpectedly rose to number one on the Billboard 200 in 2011, the band became a household name, as did their penchant for storytelling lyrics and oldfashioned instruments.

Meloy acknowledges his fans in the album’s climactic first track “The Singer Addresses His Audience,” singing “We know, we know, we belong to ya.”

The song lays a foundation for the rest of the album with Meloy’s introspective lyrics and clean guitar, along with the occasional harmonica or synthesizer.

Reminiscent of a parade march, “Cavalry Captain” starts with catchy, trumpet-sounding solos. Meloy continues to embed himself in the hearts of fans by claiming that he is, in fact, “the remedy to your heart.”

However, there is a point when the band’s dependable sound gets dull. The lead single “Make You Better” tells the story about a relationship at the crossroads. Everything is there: resonant

arts & entertainment

guitar in the background, Meloy’s crystalclear voice and grammatically-correct lyrics.

Unfortunately, the track displays no unique qualities, which is especially disappointing, seeing that the music video includes Nick Offerman of “Parks and Recreation” interviewing Meloy with a German accent.

Returning to their roots, the Decemberists deliver yet another song perfect for a maritime get-together. “Better Not Wake The Baby” is a modern sea chanty, not as literal as “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” from their 2005 album Picaresque, but still rhythmically nautical enough to evoke an image of pirates, Vikings or the like preparing for a long trip at sea — which no doubt will be the Decemberists’ next stage theme.

A Decemberists album wouldn’t be complete without a politically-charged song.

Referring to President Obama’s national address in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, “12/17/12” is your typical Decemberist folk ballad, featuring muted guitar in the background and dynamic harmonica solos. Sympathizing with the parents affected by the shooting, Meloy sings “Think of the grieving, and oh my boy, don’t you know that you killed me.”

The long anticipated album What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World isn’t groundbreaking, but it does perfectly encapsulate the Decemberists’ reliable folky sound, along with smart lyrics and entertaining stories.

By Irene Yu

PHOTO BY AUTUMN DE WILDE COURTESY OF CAPITOL RECORDS AND HUSH RECORDS

january 15 , 2015

arts & entertainment

tphsfalconer.com

Falling short of all the hype and controversy, “The Interview” draws closer to moderately disgusting than funny.

In the film, directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, show host Dave Skylark (James Franco) and producer Aaron Rapoport (Rogen), run a talk show called “Skylark Tonight.” Finding out that the North Korean Supreme Dictator Kim Jongun (Randall Park) is a huge fan of their show, they set up an interview with him in North Korea. They are subsequently asked by the Central Intelligence Agency to assassinate Kim with a simple plan that they manage to overcomplicate, due to Skylark’s insistence on being fashionable at all times.

The movie starts on a low note. It opens with a cute little girl who sings a propaganda song filled with disturbing language made worse through exaggerated English translations, showing lines like “May they be forced to drown in their own blood and feces / Die America die, oh please won’t you die / It would fill my tiny heart with joy.”

While swearing, sex references and exaggerated gore can be effective tools in comedy, “The Interview” had just too much. Most problematic were its scenes with excessive cursing and unrealistic carnage.

Rogen’s exaggerated and overly-dramatic acting, supposedly intended to draw out laughter, only came off as poor and awkward. On the other hand, Franco’s acting was on point, portraying all depths of Skylark’s character — high, drunk or both.

The plot of the movie is just as deep as Skylark’s persona. It’s questionable whether the script was written by an angry kindergartener with a crayon or if its writer didn’t feel like making the movie more creative than a superhero — for which Rapoport and Skylark don’t even qualify — saving the day.

Most of the time, watching the movie was spent not laughing, but questioning for what purpose this movie was even made. The only saving grace was two seconds of Joseph Gordon-Levitt surrounded by puppies.

The movie’s bold plot sparked massive controversy between the United States and North Korea, starting with North Korean threats to the United States in June 2014.

The North Korean government stated that the making of a film in which Kim is attacked is the “most blatant act of terrorism and war” and if released, would be met with “stern and merciless” retaliation in the form of nuclear bombing.

However, Robert R. King, U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, dismissed the threats as “typical North Korean bullying, likely without follow-up.”

In response, Columbia Pictures Industries and Sony Pictures Entertainment delayed the release of the film from Nov. 10 to Dec. 25 and reported that the movie was edited to make it more palatable to the North Korean government.

For a movie whose premise is the death of North Korea’s leader, there was really no way to appease North Korea besides completely editing out his assassination.

As expected, Columbia’s killing-Kim-in-a-way-that-hopefully-won’t-offend-NorthKoreans strategy did not work out as they hoped.

On Nov. 24, the Guardians of Peace, a hacker organization thought by the FBI to have connections with North Korea, hacked Sony and leaked clips of unreleased films and emails between Sony CEO Michael Lynton and RAND Corporation defense analyst Bruce Bennett. The emails discussed how Kim Jong-un’s death scene should be kept graphic to make a statement to North Korean citizens and potentially cause

Rogen and Goldberg officially sign on to write and direct “The Interview.”

Shooting for the movie begins.

The film’s teaser trailer is released.

North Korea makes its first official threat.

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an uprising. The Guardians of Peace pressured Sony with the impossible task of deleting all traces of “The Interview” from the Internet, promising in return to halt a campaign that threatened to release private company data to the public. They also threatened to commit acts of terrorism on any theaters that screened the movie, which caused many theaters to reject Sony.

With a majority of theaters unwilling to screen “The Interview,” Sony decided not to release the movie on Dec. 17, a decision that was met with much criticism.

The censorship led to a flurry of reactions. Hustler Video film studio claimed they would make a video titled “This Ain’t The Interview XXX,” a pornographic parody of the movie set to go into production early this year.

“I’ve spent a lifetime fighting for the First Amendment, and no foreign dictator is going to take away my right to free speech. If Kim Jong-un and his henchmen were upset before, wait till they see the movie we’re going to make,” Hustler Video founder Larry Flynt said in a Business Insider article.

Despite the scores of people upset over the movie’s cancellation, Sony found little help with releasing the movie. Hollywood offered no help; the Motion Picture Association of America went under witness protection and claimed noninvolvement.

Still, after much negotiation, Sony managed to get Google and Microsoft to release the movie for rental and purchase on YouTube, iTunes and “The Interview” website on Dec. 24 and in select cinemas on Dec. 25.

Since its release, “The Interview” has been rented and purchased more than 4.3 million times, bringing Sony a total of $31 million from online sales alone.

Activists like North Korean defector Park Sang Hak, along with other human rights organizations, plans to drop copies of DVDs and memory sticks of the movie via balloons to North Korea.

Although the quality of the film is incredibly disappointing, the awareness “The Interview” brings to the rest of the world, not of Kim’s secret love for Katy Perry’s “Firework,” but of the brainwashing that exists in North Korea, is much needed.

While the film tries to make light of the situation in North Korea through comic relief, the reality of some scenes presented — especially when Skylark finds out that a fake grocery store was used to make the characters think North Korea is a prosperous land without problems — sends a heavy message of the social, economic and political problems in North Korea.

The blatant nature of these horrible truths and vision of freedom in the movie shows why the North Korean government is so against the movie; they are scared such notions will spread to North Korea through bootlegs and inspire a real revolution.

It can be said that North Korea brought this upon itself. If it had done nothing, the movie could have passed as a cheap comedy. The plot and production of the movie, especially all the graphic effects, are so unrealistic that it’s doubtful whether a few laughs would come out of it, never mind a revolution. But because North Korea reacted so drastically to it, the movie has become a worldwide symbol against censorship and dictatorship, increasing anti-North Korean sentiments.

Setting all the possible political influence aside, “The Interview,” with all its dumb, ridiculous plotlines, jokes made in bad taste and over-exaggerated gore, is undeniably the most ridiculous movie of 2014.

By Sarah Kim

Sony pushes the film’s release date back from Oct.10 to Dec. 25.

Sony Pictures is hacked by the Guardians of Peace.

The hackers threaten theaters showing “The Interview.”

The Guardians of Peace call for Sony to cancel the release of the film.

Sony cancels the movie release.

Sony approves limited US release of “The Interview.”

Sony announces “The Interview” will be released in theaters and online.

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arts & entertainment

PHOTOS BY KENNETH LIN/FALCONER

Balut has always been vaguely familiar to me — kind of like that weird uncle you see at family parties but don’t know how he’s related to you. Balut is a favorite among the Vietnamese side of my family, but it wasn’t until the Entertainment editors suggested it that I considered satisfying my curiosity about the dish. I didn’t think it would be too bad. Little did I know, I would eat my words, along with the most nauseating thing I’ll ever consume.

Balut is a developing duck embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell.

Although it’s mainly sold as Philippine street food, balut is widely-consumed throughout Southeast Asia and usually accompanied by a beer.

During Christmas dinner, my mom decided to boil an entire pot of balut for the family and set one in front of me.

I cracked open the top of the egg and cautiously peeled away the shell. I was greeted by what looked like a normal hard-boiled egg — except for, of course, the veins, strange brown liquid and a couple of partially-formed bones in the middle. I picked up the egg, trying to ignore the feathers, and sipped the liquid inside. While I was not a fan of the strong smell, the taste wasn’t too bad — it was warm, like an egg if it was melted into soup. Next, I tried the egg yolk, which had a creamy taste that was different from the usual powdery texture I was accustomed to.

The hardest part was eating the duck fetus. I never actually referred to it as the fetus while eating it, but rather, as the “thing.” I contemplated cutting the thumb-sized clump of bones and feathers in half, but my cousin warned me that splitting it would make it look worse. I reluctantly spooned it out and stared, not knowing how I would bring myself to eat it.

The only saving grace was the seasoning: small, raw mint leaves and a mixture of salt, pepper and lemon juice.

I generously sprinkled some onto my spoonful, but it took about three tries for me to actually put the spoon in my mouth, with my stomach churning all the while. Eventually I willed myself to eat it, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. Salty. Sour. Slimy. Crunchy?

It was strange; it was meat, but tasted just like an egg. There was no taste of duck, and the seasonings distracted me from the strange texture.

I swallowed and cringed — one bite and I was done. In retrospect, balut didn’t taste as bad as it looked. Don’t get me wrong, it tasted pretty horrible, but I think half of the horrible taste was from the fact that I knew I was eating a duck fetus. Ignorance really is bliss.

Still, if for some strange reason you’re still curious enough to try, you can find balut at any Vietnamese grocery store.

Bon appetit.

By Sarah Chan

PHOTOS BY ROBBIE JOHNSON/FALCONER

I’ve been known to exaggerate. A 15-minute car ride might as well take “seven years” to me when the right mood strikes, but I’m also practiced in sorting hyperbole from truth.

Therefore, I wasn’t fazed much by the idea of a “century egg” — it can’t actually be 100 years old, right? — until I actually saw it. At that point, I figured my meal was either ancient, rotten, or both.

Pidan, also called preserved egg or thousand-year egg (discrepancies surround its perceived age), is black.

Eerily so. It’s made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mineral mixture of clay, salts, and rice hulls for anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, and it smells a lot like a bad science experiment.

“Are you sure it’s supposed to look like this?” I asked a fellow Falconerd, who mocked my evidently “White” palate. He assured me that the creaminess of the yolk was “normal,” and said it “tastes great with pudding.”

january 15, 2015

Deciding not to test my luck with any topping, I continued to poke at the salty, translucent jelly that was once an innocent egg white. It wasn’t terrible, but I wouldn’t exactly choose to swap an omelet for it.

After some research I learned that the curing process can be thanked for pidan’s consistency. The egg’s alkaline material raises its pH during preservation, releasing a variety of unfamiliar flavors that I began to appreciate after taking a few bites.

This also gives the egg’s shell a beautiful “pine pattern” — perfect for an Instagram tribute to the experience, graced with filtered technicolor.

There’s nothing quite like pidan in American cuisine, but that’s no reason to fear the dish — or any other exotic food, of any color. Trying something new is always entertaining, and scrolling through the resultant facial expressions captured on friends’ cameras is even more so.

By Katie Mulkowsky

PHOTOS BY AVERY SPICKER/FALCONER

I had never tried the Scottish dish before, but I knew it had something to do with sheep guts. So, feeling brave, I soon found myself downtown in a small British grocery outlet that sold goods from England, Scotland and Ireland. The shop had frozen and canned haggis, so I bought a can, since the frozen kind contained more beef than it did mutton. Unfortunately, — or fortunately, if you want to know how I really felt — the canned haggis did not include any sheep stomach, but did have a good amount of heart and liver meat.

Haggis, I learned afterward, is literally sheep guts in pudding form.

It is a dish normally prepared by several hours of simmering and is traditionally served with mashed potatoes and turnips. According to the can, “for ultimate enjoyment, this dish should be washed down with a glass of Scotch whisky.” However, I did not have any mashed potatoes handy, and ingesting any form of alcohol seemed to be a bad idea.

Giving the can an experimental

sniff, I discovered, was a bad idea. It smelled a bit like how tuna fish might smell if it was thrown together with pork and salt water. I was beginning to doubt I could stomach the food.

I followed the can’s instructions, which resulted in me upending the can, slopping the contents of the can into a bowl with a spoon, mashing the haggis with a fork and then microwaving it for four minutes. After the dish came out of the microwave, I saw that it had browned considerably. I might have burned it.

My first thought as I took a bite was that mutton’s characteristic taste was not present, and since the taste didn’t change, the dish rapidly lost its appeal. It was like eating bland ground meatballs; after a while, it just gets boring. I would imagine canned haggis tastes very similar to dog food.

I now know that if I were ever offered another food review from Entertainment, I would reject it wholeheartedly. Eating haggis was bearable, but not really my cup of tea.

By Austin Zhang

Falcons leave Vaqueros in the dust

By Fernando Stepensky

By Alex Jen A&E EDITOR Boys basketball (16-2) drove El Capitan High School (4-12) into the ground 67-20 during a home game on Jan. 12 at 7 p.m., taking the lead by the end of the first quarter and never surrendering it.

The Falcons needed some time to warm up, missing passes and flailing on shot accuracy early in the game. They didn’t need too much, however, and 1:13 into the game, Dominic Hovasse (12) sunk a three-pointer that ended up signalling the end for the El Capitan Vaqueros.

El Capitan had trouble keeping the ball in their own hands, often overthrowing and overpassing directly to the Falcons.

The Vaqueros seemed desperate to make double digits by at least the end of the first quarter, and at one point El Capitan senior Andy Casas blocked the face of a Falcon to a weak laugh from the crowd, but to no effect: the Falcons finished off the first quarter leading 20-3.

The second quarter did not go much better for the Vaqueros, their weak passes and slippery handling of the ball was no match for the Falcons’ impeccable defense. Timmy Saunders (12) was the star of the second quarter, relying on layup after to layup to build a strong offense.

“It’s always a goal to get [the ball] to the rim as much as possible, it’s an easier shot and you have a higher percentage,” Saunders PHOTOS BY ERIC CUNNINGHAM/FALCONER said.

PUSH: Dominic Hovasse (22) leaps and bounds over an El Capitan Vaquero to sink a shot Higher percentage, indeed — Saunders (TOP). David Glaser (10) breaks away from the offense and controls the ball (BOTTOM). made 83 percent of his field goals and scored “We lost three seniors [this season], so we repeatedly tried to hammer away — three, the majority of his 11 points in the second had a bunch of kids who haven’t had huge four, even five times until they got two points quarter. roles on varsity come out and perform big for in. The energy of the players never let up and “We had great energy to start the game, the Falcons never lost their speed, even after us,” Hovasse said. we worked on our traps and the Vaqueros slowed.

El Capitan made defenses, we worked on our According to Hovasse, the Falcons could several intermittent ball movement offensively, We just ran our sets attempts at scoring in improve their “shooting accuracy” and and we also had a chance the third quarter and “talking on defense” during gameplay for to play everybody, which is like we always do, was able to sneak a future games. always good,” TPHS coach “We were focused on the El Capitan game John Olive said. made good plays and couple three-pointers past the Falcons. The for tonight, but now, we’re definitely locked Particularly notable was tried to cut well and Vaqueros’ performance into the LCC game,” Hovasse said. “I think the teamwork, fast passes and assists between David finish at the rim. throughout the rest of we’re a better team than them, so if we can the game against many play better team defense, we can beat them.

Glaser (12), Jordan Shen -Timmy Saunders (12) Falcon substitutes made We’re definitely going to need to come out (11) and Dylan Bona (11) Shooting Guard it clear the game was a on top against their three best players — during the third and fourth relatively easy one for Tommy McCarthy, Brady Twombly and quarters. The trio never Travis Fuller.” the Falcons. missed a beat; when one The Falcons play their next game against TPHS held up its lead through the third needed to pass it away, another one was available. When one of them needed defense and fourth quarters with their rebounds. La Costa Canyon High School next Monday, Never giving up the ball, the Falcons Jan. 19 at TPHS at 7 p.m. to make a shot, another was there.

“

The NFL playoffs and Super Bowl are in February, predictions are running rampant, and I am here once again to predict the remainder of the season.

In Baltimore vs. New England at Gillette Stadium, I predicted that the Patriots would win 33-27 and came pretty close. While the Ravens have good personnel who make plays and contribute to the effort — as well as Joe Flacco’s solid offensive and defensive line — it wasn’t enough to stop New England’s perenial playoff contenders.

In Indianapolis vs. Denver, even though I hoped the Colts would win (for obvious reasons based on bias against our division rivals), I predicted the Broncos would take this one. Although my prediction was wrong, one thing is for certain: Andrew Luck is the future and Peyton Manning is almost in the past, but Manning is still and always will be hard to beat. Hopefully Manning will win a Super Bowl and get out of our division sometime soon.

In the Carolina vs. Seattle contest, I bet the Seahawks would dominate. I said that there was no way Cam Newton could beat Russell Wilson — Newton can Superman into the end zone all he wants, but the calm, cool, collected Seahawks will pull it out nine out of 10 times against the Panthers.

In Dallas vs. Green Bay, despite TPHS quarterback and die-hard Packers fan Sandy Plashkes (12) being a close friend, I predicted Dallas 37-33 and was, unfortunately wrong, due to a really bad Calvin Johnson ruling on a last-minute play.

With these wins we move on to the championship games in the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference, with a New England vs. Indianapolis playoff and a Seattle vs. Green Bay playoff.

Here, I predict that the Patriots will beat the Colts — sadly — in a close seven-point game and Seattle will beat Green Bay by three.

The Super Bowl will be the Patriots vs. the Seahawks, where the Patriots will win by 7, and the Yankees of the NFL will add yet another championship.

May the best team win, may the referees do a good job, may there be no injuries, may there be no controversy, may ESPN get its reporting right, and may my predictions surpass my accuracy rate from last year’s playoffs, when I got nearly all results right but had some substantial score prediction errors.

All of these games are the biggest moments in the lives of the players and coaches. Please don’t ever root for an injury or you’re a huge jerk.

“PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS? WE TALKIN ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS?!?!”

A20 the falconer

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sports

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Boys soccer falls to Bishop’s Knights 2-3

By Tasia Mochernak NEWS EDITOR

Boys soccer (8-3-3) fell to The Bishop’s School (1-5-1) 2-3 in a non-conference game on Jan. 9.

According to head coach Andy Hargreaves, the Falcons “didn’t do anything that [they’re] good at today.”

“I was very surprised at the outcome of the game because we’ve had a really good start to the season, we’ve won most of our games, and this is a team we usually beat,” Hargreaves said.

At the outset of the game, play was concentrated in the center of the field, but began to shift as both teams attempted to get past the others’ defense. After Bishop’s saved a few shots on goal, right wing Bailey Buckley (12) made a pass across the goal to forward Asher Booth (12), but the Knights’ defenders intercepted the ball. Then, it was their turn to attack, with a header from a throw in that sailed over the goal.

Both teams attacked and defended evenly throughout the opening of the half, but Bishop’s took the lead 1-0 with a goal off a corner kick 20 minutes into the game.

Although the Falcons attempted a variety of offensive attacks like long passes along the side, the Knights repeatedly sent the ball back into the Falcons’ side of the field.

With 2 minutes remaining in the half, a foul by Alec Turner (12) gave Bishop’s a penalty kick, which earned the Knights their second goal of the game, putting them in the lead 2-0 at the end of the half.

“We played well the first half, kept the ball on the ground and got a couple of goals,” Bishop’s head coach Malcolm Tovey said.

The Falcons started out the second half with a series of quick attacks and more than two shots on goal within the first 5 minutes. According to Tovey, “Torrey

Pines applied the pressure to [Bishop’s] and [they] were defending a lot more in the second half.”

The offensive plays paid off, as Booth scored the first goal of the game for the Falcons with a header from a throw 14 minutes into the half, putting TPHS on the scoreboard down 1-2.

The Falcons continued playing offensively, aiming to keep the ball on the Knights’ side of the field with long passes and numerous goal kicks. However, despite numerous attacks on the Knights’ goal by TPHS, Bishop’s scored the next goal off a throw-in, keeping them in the lead 3-1 with 10 minutes remaining. The Falcons did not fall back to solely defense, and with only 3 minutes remaining in the game, left wing Matthew Botsford (12) scored the second goal for TPHS with an assist from Booth.

TPHS had one more chance to score with 1 minute and 50 seconds remaining, when a foul on Booth by Bishop’s gave center back Nick Sorter (12) a free kick from the 25-yard line, although the shot sailed over the goal.

Hargreaves attributed the loss to “[Bishop’s] working harder than we did, [having] a better attitude than we did and approaching the game better than we did.” “[TPHS] didn’t approach [the game] in a mature manner,” Hargreaves said. “They weren’t prepared mentally and thought it was going to be an easy game to win.”

According to Booth, the team “wanted to win but we didn’t have the mentality and we didn’t go to every ball … we didn’t try hard enough, we just didn’t want it like the other team did.” “[We can improve on] working harder, going to the ball, sacrificing yourself and going to tackles,” Booth said.

Booth and Hargreaves are optimistic about the rest of the season. The Falcons’ next game is on Jan. 14 at La Costa Canyon High School at 5 p.m.

PHOTOS BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

IN SHINING ARMOR: Simon Dinkin (12) dribbles the ball past his opponents toward the goal (ABOVE). Drew Young (34) passes across the field to a teammate (BELOW).

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january 15, 2015

MARK YOUR CALENDAR The Falconer details varsity game schedules from Jan. 15 to Feb. 14.

SUN

11

MON

12

TUES

13

14

WED

THURS

15

Girls Water Polo at RBHS Girls Soccer vs. Ramona

18 25

19

Girls Water Polo @ EC Tournament Boys Basketball vs. LCC

26

1

2

8

9

20 27

21

Girls Soccer vs. Westview Boys Soccer at Westview Boys Basketball at Westview Girls Basketball at Westview

28

Boys Soccer at Poway Boys Basketball at Poway Girls Soccer vs. Poway Girls Basketball at Poway

3

4

10

11

Girls Water Polo vs. RBV

Girls Soccer at RBHS Boys Soccer vs. RBHS Boys Basketball at RBHS Girls Basketball vs. RBHS

Girls Water Polo @ UCSD Boys Soccer vs. Mt. Carmel Girls Soccer at Mt. Camel

22 Wrestling vs. CCA

29

Wrestling vs. Poway Girls Water Polo vs.

Westview

5

Girls Water Polo @ San Diego Open Tournament

Boys Basketball vs. Mt. Carmel Girls Basketball vs. Mt. Carmel

16

FRI

Boys Soccer vs. SDA Girls Water Polo vs.

Poway

17

Wrestling @ RBHS Tournament Girls Basketball vs. Helix

23

24

30

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Boys Soccer at Mt. Carmel Girls Soccer vs. Mt. Carmel Girls Basketball at Mt. Carmel Boys Basketball at Mt. Carmel

Girls Soccer at CCA Boys Soccer vs. CCA Girls Basketball vs. CCA Boys Basketball vs. CCA

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Girls Soccer at Westview Boys Soccer vs. Westview Boys Basketball vs. Westview Girls Basketball vs. Westview

SAT

Girls Water Polo @ EC Tournament Wrestling @ San Clemente Tournament

Wrestling @ Westview Tournament

7

Girls Water Polo @ San Diego Open Tournament

13

Girls Soccer at Poway Girls Basketball vs.

Poway Girls Water Polo vs. CCA

Boys Soccer at Poway Boys Basketball vs. Poway

tphsfalconer.com

FALCON TRIES: INDOOR SKYDIVING

BY SARAH KIM I am probably the most uncoordinated person you will ever meet.

Tripping over my own two feet is a daily occurrence, and I can barely kick a ball in the direction I want it to go. So the whole idea of “Falcon Tries” terrified me, that is, until I thought of a “genre” of sports that require no athletic ability: falling.

People think I am crazy for it, but I love the feeling of falling. It has always been on my bucket list to go bungee jumping or skydiving.

At first, I suggested that I do bungee jumping, but to my dismay, the closest location was in Los Angeles. Then, a fellow staffer suggested that I try indoor skydiving, which I had never heard of before but was ecstatic to try. Indoor skydiving has the benefit of replicating the actual feeling of skydiving without having to take the time to fly into the air.

After days of mounting excitement, I found myself at Skydive Perris in Perris, California, apparently skydiving capital of America. Eagerly walking into the wind tunnel, though, I was disappointed.

There were elementary school kids having a session before me, and it honestly did not look too exciting. The wind chamber was a lot smaller than I had expected. The kids got barely five feet off the ground, and their trainer had to hold on to and guide them the whole time.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from indoor skydiving, but with the “96-foot tall wind tunnel” described on the website, I assumed I would be in a larger room where I could go around 30 to 40 feet high at least.

Seeing the kids struggle to keep the proper form also made me slightly anxious because I realized it was going to be a lot more than lying down and doing nothing.

Even my dad, fully aware of my athletic capabilities, joked that he hoped I could at least get off the ground.

My session started with me and a couple kids who were far younger than me watching a video that taught us the basic form as well as hand signals for “chin up,” “legs bent,” “legs straight” and various other things that the trainer would use to communicate with us while we were in the wind tunnel.

After, the trainer had us go up, lie on a platform and practice the stable flying position: arching your body with arms spread out at 90-degree angles and legs slightly bent, spread the width of the shoulders. We then suited up and entered the chamber to wait our turns. As each kid in my group took his or her turn, which consisted of two one-minute flights, I couldn’t help but feel that the day would not be very fun at all. When my turn came, I walked into the wind

sports

the falconer

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Looking for ways to fulfill her love of falling but not old enough to skydive, the Falconer Feature Editor settles for indoor skydiving.

chamber, expecting failure. Lying on the bottom of the chamber, a springy metal net of sorts, and assuming the correct position, I was filled with dread as I waited for the wind to blast.

To my complete surprise, I flew up immediately and, with the trainer helping fix my position with hand signals, reached a good 6-7 feet in the air. The feeling was incredible; the wind was pushing me up with incredible force, and it really felt like I was flying. Everything seemed so chaotic with all the wind blowing and me continuously adjusting my position, that after the first 10 seconds I realized I was holding my breath and had to remind myself to inhale and exhale.

Halfway through, the trainer let me go to fly independently for a bit, which surprised me because he had not done that with the little kids. With my mind completely frazzled by the loud noise and wind, it took a lot of brainpower to think about keeping my legs straight to rise and then bend them while lifting my chin up. The counter on the screen was counting down the last 15 seconds, though I swear I had already been in there for about 3 minutes. Then my trainer helped push me toward the door and safely land outside on my two feet, where I realized how cold I had been in the wind tunnel. Sitting down and waiting for my turn again, I was completely blown away — no pun intended — by how much fun I had.

In our second session, the trainer grabbed the kids and flew in the stable flying position with them and took them up about a good 15 feet or so. I entered the room confidently this time. I started flying around again, this time with greater control, and was filled with pure joy. When the trainer held me, I knew he was going to take me up higher. My stomach tickled with nervous trepidation, and I repeated in my head “Wait, wait, wait, not yet, oh dear!” as the wind’s force increased suddenly and pushed me far above where the glass windows reached. Even though I never got as up far as I had originally wanted, the experience filled me with a surge of adrenaline, and I was sorry to leave when my last minute ran out.

More than the feeling of elation from the experience, I was proud and happy that I could check another thing off my bucket list — finding a sport in which I am actually somewhat capable.

There is no doubt in my mind that I will be at Perris again soon, training so I can do flips in the tunnel and, one day, in the sky outside.

PHOTO USED BY PERMISSION OF EDWARD KIM

FLY AWAY: Feature editor Sarah Kim is lifted into the air by a wind tunnel, reaching new heights.

The Falconer wishes our readers a very happy New Year, and hopes that 2015 will bring you another ten issues of engaging, painstakingly researched and well-written articles, which you will use to line your cat’s litter box.

A MESSAGE FROM THE TPHS ADMINISTRATION Happy New Year Falcons! As the saying goes, New Year, New TP; which is to say, we hope we can all turn over a new leaf this year; which is to say, please don’t threaten to shoot up the school through Snapchat or something, for f***sake.

The Best and Worst of (the first 15 days of) 2015

By Sharon McWasp GUEST COLUMNIST

Note to Readers: We are really, truly sorry that we let this happen. We know we promised two months ago that we would never let Sharon McWasp’s disturbed ramblings go to print again, but she threatened to sue for emotional trauma if we didn’t allow her space in this month’s issue. For the benefit of readers, let this serve as a trigger warning: the following words may cause nausea, vertigo, colon cancer or, ironically, emotional trauma. It is our imperative as journalists and as decent people to warn you that McWasp is a dangerous, depraved individual, on par with Hitler and Teresa Giudice. Please stop reading. Don’t even skim the next three columns. Just put down the paper, and forget this ever happened.

Hey Falcon friends! It’s me, Sharon. I know it’s been a while, but it took a little time and a little money in lawyers’ fees to be here again. But don’t worry, I’m back with more topical and Godfearing advice, just in time for the

New Year. In fact, today I will be reviewing what I like best and what I hate most about 2015. I figure that I am eleven months earlier than all the other BestOf lists, so I think that means I win something — cash money or a Pulitzer maybe. I’ll keep you all updated on that, but for now, please enjoy these lists, and know that if you disagree with me, you are perfectly entitled to your wrong opinion.

Best-Of 2015: 1. My neighbor, Rita: This friendly mother of three just moved in next door to me. Hi there, Rita! I love your new Farrah Fawcett hair-do, and the goulash you brought to the Tupperware party last month was simply divine. Thanks for all you do, Rita!

2. Gluten-free gluten: Well, folks, science has done it again.

Gluten has now been made gluten-free, opening up a whole range of dietary options for us conscientious eaters.

Here’s hoping for sugar-free sugar in the near future!

3. “The Lord’s Holy Guitar Pick,” my son’s Christian rock band: This year my son formed his own rock band, comprised of himself and his little brother, who both play the tuba. They’re still working out the kinks with their new album, “Virginal Jams,” but I don’t think I’m overstating when I say that they’re the best rock act in the history of music, second only to Bing Crosby.

4. Mitch McConnell: This devilishly handsome Senator is just utterly charming, and there’s something about his wobbly third chin that suggests a warm empathy behind those small, watery turtle eyes.

5. Juice bars: I am so delighted by the sudden upsurge in juice bars opening around North County. There is nothing like paying $15 for a glass of groundup kale to remind you that you are better than everyone else. Remember, a spoonful of smugness helps the wheatgrass go down.

Worst-Of 2015: 1. My neighbor, Rita: I trust she has stopped reading this article by now. I was lying before; I truly despise this woman. She looks nothing like Farrah Fawcett and her goulash is average at best (she puts cumin in it, which is, quite simply, un-American).

2. Fifty Shades of Grey: This sinful slandering of the written word is the downfall of our great nation, which is why I have read the novel seventeen times and will be seeing the film adaptation this year on opening day — for research purposes, of course.

3. Bread: I read earlier on the Internet that bread has carbohydrates in it, which I’m pretty sure means it causes homosexuality. This is not even to mention all the gluten. Beware, readers!

4. Joaquin Phoenix: Enough is enough.

You’re not in grade school anymore. Please learn how to use “you’re” and “your.”

-Smug Freshman On Postergate