Falconer - June 2015 by TPHS Falconer

Falconer The Torrey Pines High School

Thursday, June 4, 2015 | Vol. 40, Issue 9, 28 pages | San Diego | www.tphsfalconer.com

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PHOTO BY AVERY SPICKER/FALCONER

TPHS COMMUNITY SUPPORTS INJURED STUDENT by Tasia Mochernak and Caroline Rutten TPHS student Brian Applegate (11) suffered a traumatic brain injury in a skateboarding accident on May 14, and is now recovering at the Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. Many TPHS students, as well as members of the surrounding community, have expressed support for Applegate as he recovers. Following the accident, Applegate’s family created the Brian Applegate Support page on Facebook as a forum of community support for Brian and to avoid redundance in answering calls or texts and to “give [their] time, energy and full attention to Brian,” according to the page’s notes. Most recently, 1,805 people have liked the page, and there have been about 30 updates of Applegate’s condition since his accident. The ﬁfth grade class of Shannon Applegate, Brian’s mother, at Skyline Elementary School, created a GoFundMe account on May 15 to ease the family’s ﬁnancial burden of hospital bills. Since then, 168 donors have contributed

$22,095 of the $25,000 goal in 18 days. TPHS students also showed their support for Brian on campus. Matthew Feeler (11), ASB commissioner of spirit and one of Brian’s closest friends, had Brian’s original songs played during the morning announcements during the week of May 25. “Brian is an extremely well-liked guy, and we all love him to death,” Feeler said. “Brian loves music and made many of his own songs, and I know he would love to have everyone hear them and support him.” According to ASB president Jackie Weinrich (11), Brian’s friends have been “really excited, and it lifts their spirits to hear [his songs].” She also said that it allowed ASB to raise awareness of Brian’s condition and situation. Additionally, Brian’s friend and TPHS student Francesca DeRosa (11) helped set up the GoFundMe account and worked to create support for Brian on campus.

“I originally got a ton of notecards and brought them to school, and got over a hundred cards made for Brian,” DeRosa said. “I made posters, and [people] ﬁlled them with letters of prayers and love and compliments — just sweet things about Brian.” She also set up jars in the counselor ofﬁce at TPHS and Skyline Elementary, where his mother works, so that people could write notes to Brian. According to boys varsity lacrosse team member Luke Braun (11), Brian is a very close friend of many members of the team and often attends games, so team members decided to support and uplift him by putting stickers with his initials “BA” on their helmets. “[Brian] was always a fan to be there,” Braun said. “He was always there before games and he would always stay after, so it just felt right to recognize him in some way for being a friend, and such a good fan and person.”

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Having a conversation is so much more rewarding when you can hear a person’s voice for yourself. -Amanda Chen See “Offline,” A13

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TPHS almunus’ McDonald’s AP Physics 2 dropped from class list testing new ordering system By Maya Parella STAFF WRITER

By Anna Lee OPINION EDITOR

The McDonald’s on Via De La Valle, owned by TPHS alumnus Christian Sandoval (‘03), was chosen as the last of 31 McDonald’s restaurants throughout the United States to test the new Create-Your-Taste menu and ordering system. Sandoval was not a Marketing student at TPHS, but he has become an adept businessman. He owns two other McDonald’s in San Diego, though only the Via De La Valle location is testing Create-Your-Taste. The new system is indoor-dining only and features a touch-screen kiosk in the restaurant that allows customers to create a custom burger. According to Sandoval, there is a separate menu for Create-Your Taste with more options, including varying types of meat and buns. The system has also led to cooking with fresh-cut tomatoes, a change that has affected the regular menu as well. Despite some overlap in the ingredients for each menu, there are also two kitchen lines; for Create-Your-Taste, new technology has resulted in

see MCDONALDS, A3

AP Physics 2 will not be offered at TPHS for the 2015-2016 school year because only 11 students signed up for the class. AP Physics 2 is the precursor to AP Physics C, which most physics students intended to take after AP Physics 1, according to student Derek Xiao (10), who had signed up for AP Physics 2. “I’m pretty [disappointed] about the class getting pulled,” Xiao said. “It just goes to show no one’s actually interested in the topic [and are taking AP Physics C] for the [academic] boost.” AP Physics 2 is a slower class and includes topics like “relativity, quantum physics and aerodynamics” that are not discussed in AP Physics 1 or AP Physics C, according to Cathy Lu (10). Lu had also signed up for AP Physics 2. The class’s unpopularity stems from the idea that skipping levels gives students a “smarter” appearance, according to Xiao.

Pulling the class was necessary for financial reasons, according to chemistry and physics teacher Brinn Belyea. “Each course section [costs] a certain amount of money … to have a teacher teach it,” Belyea said. “Each teacher usually teaches five classes, so [TPHS] would be using one-fifth of a teacher’s salary to serve only [eleven students].” Lu views the lack of an AP Physics 2 class as an opportunity to expand her education. Besides signing up for AP Physics C next year, she plans to “self-study” AP Physics 2 material at home. She had originally signed up for AP Physics 2 because of the extra topics covered. “[I think that a lot] of people who don’t like physics probably just want to get the credits for [AP Physics C],” Lu said. “From that perspective, AP Physics C is the more important physics class to take if you want to want to skip in college.” Students who signed up for AP Physics 2 were given an registration extension to enroll in an alternate course.

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june 4, 2015

Global Update Ireland 62 percent of Irish citizens voted to legalize samesex marriage on May 22. The referendum must still be voted into legality by the Oireachtas, the Irish parliament, but it is estimated that some of the ﬁrst same-sex marriages will take place in the summer of this year.

by Maya Rao

Qatar On May 31, Qatar agreed to extend the travel bans on ﬁve senior Taliban heads following their release from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

Zurich, Switzerland Seven FIFA ofﬁcials were arrested in Zurich on May 27 after an FBI investigation. They are expected to be extradited to the United States under the suspicion that they received bribes totaling about $150 million.

Hubei, China The “Eastern Star” ship, carrying over 450 passengers, capsized during a storm in the Yangtze River in the Hubei Province of China on June 1. At the time the Falconer went to press, it was reported that 14 people survived, 18 perished and hundreds are still unaccounted for.

ART BY SOPHIE YOU

Transgender students in SDUHSD protected by law and policy By Irene Yu STAFF WRITER While awareness of transgender issues has been heightened in the media recently by the emergence of Caitlyn Jenner and other high-profile transgender people, SDUHSD has not been faced with changes to existing policies regarding transgender students since implementation of the AB 1266 bill on Jan. 1, 2014, which “require[s] that a pupil be permitted to participate in sexsegregated school programs and activities and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.” “It’s become a topic of late because of issues in the media, but this law, which is specifically about the use of school facilities in terms of restrooms, locker rooms and athletic teams, has been in place for over a year and a half with no issues,” SDUHSD Associate Superintendent Michael Grove said. LGBT media advocacy group GLAAD defines “transgender” this way: an umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. “When students come out as transgender, we have a conversation with the student and their family, and we come to agreements about how we’re going to handle the situation,” Grove said. “This is the way we treated [transgender students] before it was law and the way that we will continue to treat them.” The district did not make any changes to its practices after the implementation of the bill, but Seth Jones* believes the policies can encourage students to come out and feel more accepted. “The policies are important because they can help transgender students

feel more comfortable about their social environment,” Seth said. “It lets them know that they will be treated the same as other students.” Events like Rainbow Week at TPHS are designed to do just that, but Sheyda Khonji (11) believes schools should focus more on transgender issues. “A lot of people have progressed on their views on ‘L, G and B’ in the LGBT community, but not as many people have given much thought to the transgender community,” Khonji said. According to a Vanity Fair cover story, Jenner was accepted by her children and family members after coming out. Media coverage of Jenner’s transition has increased awareness of transgender issues like name changes and pronoun use in addition to making the general public aware of the prevalence of transgender identification, 700,000 Americans strong, according to the most frequently cited research at the University of California, Los Angeles School Of Law’s Williams Institute, which studies sexual orientation and gender identification law and public policy. San Dieguito Academy Principal Tim Hornig said the bill also allows for more discussion about these issues and creates a more accepting environment for transgender students. “Awareness is growing, and when a bill passes, it is a leveraging point to move forward,” Hornig said. “I think it’s up to the society and the school community specifically, to move forward appropriately.” According to Hornig and Grove, there has been no backlash from parents or other students about transgender students and policies in the SDUHSD. “I think we have a wonderfully accepting community,” Hornig said. “I think we’re fully aware that we’re not

talking about some unique dynamic here, we’re talking about life. We’re going to support them every way we can, and I think our students do as well.” Jones said not all transgender students enjoy the same level of acceptance Jenner has received from her family. “Even though people are accepting, there is still a level of people being uncomfortable with [transgender students],” Jones said. “The only way to really solve that is for people to know more about transgender people and issues.” Khonji agrees. “If teachers and administration are accepting and allow their students to be who they are, other students will follow their example,” Khonji said. “It’s important that administration and teachers openly accept transgender students.” Along with increasing acceptance for transgender students, Khonji and Jones said all schools need to create more open environments that would be accepting of all LGBT people. “LGBT people are all around you, but sometimes you just don’t notice it,” Jones said. “Anyone you interact with could be transgender or gay, but sometimes you’re just not sure about it. So why would you treat them differently?” Principal David Jaffe also said acceptance, along with respect, is the key to an open and friendly school environment. “It’s a bigger issue than just ‘transgender,’” Jaffe said. “It really is a culture of not just acceptance but respect for each other. That’s where the challenge is in big high schools – to build a culture like that.” *Name changed at the request of the student.

Seth Jones* ��

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MCDONALDS continued from A1 different cooking procedures. Customers design their meal at the kiosk, then bring a printed receipt to the cashier to place an order and pay. “It’s too hard for you to tell me what you want on your burger, trying to navigate the menu; that hurts speed of service,” Sandoval said. “The kiosks help determine what you want.” With the addition of kiosks, there are two more staff members to help customers operate the interface until more people are accustomed to them. They also double as servers for the dine-in portion of Create-Your-Taste. According to Sandoval, since his restaurant is No. 31 of the restaurants testing the system — the kiosks have only been installed for two weeks — he has been able to include more changes in technology and decor that are not a part of Create-

Your-Taste. He plans to add a digital screen that shows local news updates, including the results of area high school sports games. “I want to bring in a new set of customers, my age and younger, to have experiences at McDonald’s,” Sandoval said. “It’s going to be between a digital and human experience.” TPHS student Allira Barclay (9) said that she thinks the kiosk will be more efﬁcient and appealing to younger people, though she does not actually go to McDonald’s very often. Kenneth Lin (11), on the other hand, is not sure how attractive the concept will be for teenagers. “There’s a trend going around teenagers, saying you have to eat healthy,” Lin said. “But a lot of adults still go to McDonald’s and it’ll be interesting for them.” Create-Your-Taste could provide a healthier option since customers are able to build their own burgers, according to

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Sandoval. The restaurant will add a new chicken option for meat in 30 days, which can lower calorie intake. “Whatever [the consumer’s] calorie goal is for the day, they can adapt their burger to it,” Sandoval said. Lin recently tried CreateYour-Taste. Although he said it was not an unfamiliar concept, he still thought it “pretty cool for people who want to get their money’s worth or don’t just want a quick bite.” He was also surprised at the quality of the burger. “I don’t go to McDonald’s expecting much out of it; I’m there because it’s cheap and ﬁlls up my stomach,” Lin said. “This burger — it was like, ‘Is this from McDonald’s?’ I was really satisﬁed with the burger. It tasted really good and fresh.” According to Sandoval, Create-Your-Taste will be implemented throughout the nation by the end of 2015.

PHOTO BY MILES ARNOLD/FALCONER

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TPHS grad wins national snowboarding championship By Maya Rao COPY EDITOR Snowboarder Sierra Casper (’14) placed first in the halfpipe event and overall in the 1822 Jam Women age group in the United States of America Snowboard Association National Championships, which were held from Mar. 28 to April 7. The five events in the USASA championships are the halfpipe, slopestyle, boardercross, slalom and giant slalom. Casper placed first, ninth, fifth, eighth and sixth in each of those events, respectively, which allowed her to clinch the national title. “I was ahead by almost 30 points after my first run [in the halfpipe event], so I knew I was going to win,” Casper said. “The second run was just a victory lap for me.” Although Casper won the championship easily, the preparation for the events was anything but easy. Mammoth, where Casper trains, received little snowfall, so it did not have a boardercross course for practice. “The last time I had been on a boardercross course before competing in Nationals was exactly a year before, at the last year’s competition,” Casper said. The halfpipe was built six weeks before the USASA championships started, but because Casper broke her wrist “in a really bad place” and went into surgery four weeks before the tournament, she was only able to practice for about two full days in the event before she had to compete in the tournament.

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“The halfpipe qualiﬁcation [competition] was two days after my surgery, and I had to compete with my arm in a sling while I was on Vicodin and Percocet,” Casper said. “I was very limited in the time before Nationals because I was not allowed to train or be riding [a snowboard] at all. I had my whole arm and hand in a cast, and my doctor had told me that if I fell on it, the screw in my wrist could jam through my bone and I ran the risk of breaking all my ﬁngers.” Despite the potentially damaging consequences, Casper continued to train. History teacher Lars Trupe, who has known Casper since she was in preschool, was “not surprised” when he heard that Casper had won the tournament. “She was a great athlete [in high school] and she’s very, very driven,” Trupe said. Despite the fact that Casper has met much success in her snowboarding career, she said that she is too old to become a professional because many snowboarders are now turning pro at the age of 12; had Casper become involved in snowboarding at a younger age, she might have turned pro. However, she will take her winter quarter off of college next year to become a full-time member of the Mammoth snowboarding team, of which she is currently a part-time member. Casper also hopes to gain more sponsors in addition to her current sponsor, Monster Energy, for the rest of her snowboarding career, as she continues to do what she loves most.

THE CENTER FOR MARTIAL ARTS Would like to wish all Falcons an outstanding 2014/15 school year!

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I’M LOVIN’ IT: Customers of the McDonald’s on Via De La Valle test out the new Create-Your-Taste machines. The McDonald’s is the last of 31 specially selected U.S. locations to implement the system.

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ASB hosts “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” prom at NTC By Alice Qu and Lily Nilipour A&E EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER TPHS ASB hosted the 2015 “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”themed Prom at the NTC Promenade in Point Loma on May 23 from 8-11 p.m. According to ASB junior class president Jackie Weinrich, 720 tickets to Prom were sold and paid for the budget of approximately $30,000. The ASB Junior Class Council started planning Prom in May of last year, after new ASB positions were announced. “We visited a lot of venues, and we liked the Promenade because it had a lot of space and was easy to be creative with and do whatever we wanted,” Weinrich said. ASB sophomore class president Scotty Gange (10) said the setting and location were deﬁning features of Prom this year. “It was very nice-looking,” Gange said. “You walk in [and see] a very open, big space that’s very pretty and unique.” According to Alex Baracchini (12), holding Prom in a large courtyard made the event “really fun” and allowed students to socialize more. “I think Prom this year is better [than last year] because I feel like people are interacting and walking around, and seeing more than they would if they were [in a closed room],” Baracchini said. The “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” theme was expressed through garlands, paper lanterns

and lights that were meant to give the impression of stars and fairies, according to Weinrich. Small tables at the front of the venue were decorated with lamps and glass pebbles, and the pathways were lined with glowing jars. “The color scheme was purples and greens and ivory, and there were little touches referring to Bottom, the donkey, just randomly decorated here and there,” ASB adviser Brad Golden said. “It wasn’t like a Renaissance fair where everyone was speaking in Old English and quoting Shakespeare. It was ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ among the trees with lights and a fairy-like atmosphere.” Pretzel poppers, fried macaroni and cheese balls and chicken tenders were available for students, along with water, fruit juice, soft drinks and desserts like cupcakes, cream puffs and apple turnovers. Weinrich said the ice cream — offered in three different ﬂavors, frozen with liquid nitrogen and served with a variety of toppings on the side — was one of the highlights of the night. Students also dressed up and took pictures in photobooths while a DJ played music and the “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” movie played on a screen in the courtyard. According to ASB president Erica Lewis (12), the only problem for some people was ﬁnding the exact location of the event. “When you put [the address] in your directions, [the map]

doesn’t take you to the speciﬁc place,” Lewis said. “It takes you to the neighborhood, so we had to send the information about the location out and spread the word through friends and Facebook.” Lewis said that “everyone got there OK” and that she only received one phone call asking about the location. According to Golden, Prom this year was “fantastic,” and

he hoped that every junior and senior chose to be there. “All I could really notice was how much fun people were having,” Golden said. “Students at this school are so disciplined with their athletics and their arts and their academics, that to see them dressed glamorously, just revel in each other’s company and celebrate for a night is so important to the school.”

To Golden and Baracchini, the memorable event was something to be proud of. “Overall, [it was] a great senior prom and really well set up by ASB,” Baracchini said. “It’s a good way to end the year.” According to Golden, the newly elected members of the Junior Class Council for 2015-2016 have already started planning for the 2016 Prom.

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

BOTTOM’S UP: Students dance and socialize at Prom, which was held on May 23 at the NTC Promenade in Point Loma. The theme of the 2015-2016 dance was “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Boys Southern California Youth Rugby Championship Winner: Blake Smith (10) and his rugby club, the U16 Coastal Dragons • Smith also selected to the So Cal Rugby Squad of 25 California State Science Fair: Min Jean Cho (11), first place in Biochemistry category • Rebecca Chen (12), fourth place in Microbiology category 52nd District Congressional Art Competition: Carolyn Chu (11), first place overall Music in the Parks Festival Winners: Orchestra: first place “Superior” rating, Best Overall Orchestra award • Band: first place “Superior” rating, Best Overall Band award Rancho Santa Fe Literary Society Writing Contest Winners: Jessica Schwabach (10), grand prize winner • Margaux Paul (10), first place runner-up Alexandra Kiselyov (12), second place runner-up • Anna Lee (11), fifth place INTEL International Science Fair Winner: Francisca Valconcelos (11), fourth place in Robotics and Intelligent Machines category, also received United Technologies Award and all-expenses paid tour to European Organization for Nuclear Research Center in Switzerland National math competitions winner: Kevin Ren (9), one of 12 national winners of the USA Mathematical Olympiad and sixth place at American Regions Math League in Las Vegas Top 21 at High School National Championship Tournament for Quizbowl: Thomas Freedman (12) • Kevin Jiang (12) • Emily Sun (12) • Vasu Vikram (11) CIF United States Tennis Association Regional Boys Tennis Champtionship Winner: Varsity boys tennis: Max Angel (12), Jacob Brumm (10), Daniel Delatorre (11), Raul Delatorre (12), Timmy Holdsworth (12), James Hunter (12), Jiayong Li (11), Max Liu (12), Sreeganesh Manoharan (11), Jonathan Park (9), Charles Pei (12), Alex Scemanenco (9), Fernando Stepensky (12), Jonathan Wang (10) INFOGRAPHIC BY SARAH CHAN/FALCONER

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Advanced math students present New choir class offered projects at annual Math Open House for 2015-2016 school year By Anna Lee OPINION EDITOR Students of Abby Brown’s Calculus C, Calculus D, Linear Algebra and Advanced Topics classes presented their ﬁnal projects at the annual TPHS Math Open House on May 26. Brown, who started teaching at TPHS in 1999, has held the Open House nearly every year since then to give students an opportunity to “ﬁnd an application of what they’ve been learning all year long.” “[Holding the Math Open House] is a fun tradition and a really great way to end the school year,” Brown said. In the Open House, students must present their work in ways accessible to a wide audience of varying ages, interest and experience with math. Brown said she hopes that students gain the skills to communicate their work to others, which will be very valuable later in life. TPHS parent Liam Edmonds, attending for the second time, said he was impressed by the variety of work displayed as well as the presentations themselves. “The kids are very obviously

into their stuff, and I’m sure it’s taken a lot of effort to put these projects together,” Edmonds said. “They do a really good job at presenting, which is amazing for kids so young. They’re really professional.” According to Brown, 140 students presented during the Open House this year. They began working on presentations in late March and drew from various sources for ideas, including the calculus textbook, other classes and their own general interests. Calculus D and Linear Algebra student Casimir Kothari (11) found his project, the Basel problem, in the textbook. He said that students spent many hours working on their assignments. “I really got closer to my mathematical community, Torrey Pines, [and] have seen some interesting projects,” Kothari said. According to Calculus CD student Mikaila Reyes (11), participating students were also able to view each other’s projects during the Open House. “It’s a good opportunity to learn about what other people are doing, and it’s pretty cool to see the different applications of math

we’ve learned throughout the year,” Reyes said. Brown noted that students who had projectors in their presentations had dynamic visuals or interactive games that added “an extra element of fun and creativity to the night.” Parent Edmonds agreed, calling the Mathematica programs shown “fascinating.” “I never realized Mathematica was such a versatile program,” Edmonds said. “On even just one of the stands over there, everything from analyzing ‘Hamlet’ to biological applications were show on the project.” Brown said she is usually particularly impressed by the projects of her Advanced Topics students. “Most of them have had my class for two years and this is their second open house, so they really anticipate doing this sort of presentation from the very beginning of the school year,” Brown said. “It’s fun to see how their work develops to lead up to that.” The Math Open House tradition will continue next school year with Brown’s math class students.

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

MATH ADDICTS: Sijia Zhang (11) explains her project to students at the annual Math Open House. Calculus C, Calculus D, Linear Algebra and Advanced Topics classes presented their projects on May 26.

gain experience with ensemble music, and a great opportunity STAFF WRITER and outlet to be able to sing. A new choir class with an “There’re a lot of amazing emphasis on musical theater is singers at this school who have being offered at TPHS for the a passion to sing,” Wright said. 2015-2016 school year in order “I think with all of us together, to make the music program it will be a successful class.” more “well-rounded,” music The addition of choir is part teacher Amy Gelb said. of a transition to include more “We have great orchestra, pathway-oriented classes at band and jazz programs here TPHS, like the engineering at TP, and it’s time to add and anatomy and physiology choir,” Gelb said. “We have classes available next school several talented vocalists at year, according to Jaffe. The TP, and they need to have possibility of a seventh class by more opportunities to learn and the 2016-2017 school year also perform.” influenced the transition, Jaffe According to Gelb, the class said. will focus on vocal technique, Robin Kong (10) said she musicality and music theory. wanted to take choir when she The students will put on several heard that it was being offered, concerts, competitions and but she had no room in her performances throughout the schedule. However, if a seventh year, similar to her other music period were eventually offered, courses. Kong said she would definitely Although take the class TPHS has and thinks had a choral many other program in students would There’s a lot of the past, as well. amazing singers at the lack of “Knowing a sufficient classes like this school ... With all music classes, n u m b e r of music of us together it will it’s ideal to teachers at every be a successful class. meet the school has day so that hindered a Madison Wright you constantly reemergence Student build up on of the class, what you according to have,” Kong Principal David Jaffe. However, said. “If we put choir in [seventh an open section in the school period], having it be shorter yet schedule next year allowed Jaffe meeting every day, I think that and Gelb to implement their would compensate for it not previous plans for a choir and being a two-hour block.” expand the music department. Although Kong said she “In music, you have your did not have much experience instrumental portion of it, but with singing and choir, she there’s also the vocal side of thinks the choir class would it,” Jaffe said. “If you do that create an opportunity to explore in conjunction with drama, something new that she possibly then you have musical theater, could continue pursuing in the [which] can work [with choir future. and music].” “I think choir would be a bit TPHS student Chloe out of my comfort zone because Laverson (10), who is taking I’m not the best singer, but the class next year, thinks choir I enjoy seeing musicals and will help the drama and music compositions, so I want to be a departments by increasing part of that,” Kong said. “Maybe student participation in the I can develop the skills that programs. are good enough to join, [for “Choir is really going to add example], one of those choir to the musical theater aspect of groups in college.” this school,” Laverson said. “[It According to Jaffe, the will] probably get a lot more decision to add the choir class was people interested and knowing made after class registration, so about theater here, so it’s incoming freshmen and current exciting.” TPHS students were notified of According to Madison Wright the new opportunity after they (10), who is also signed up for had made their selections and choir, the class would be a way to were permitted to switch.

By Lily Nilipour

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PRO By Kevin Chih STAFF WRITER

Since its creation by former President Bill Clinton in 2001, the Clinton Foundation has raised over $2 billion from the governments of foreign nations. Most of these governments were restricted from making further contributions after Hillary Clinton became the secretary of state in 2009. Following Hillary’s departure from the State Department in 2013, the foundation began to accept foreign donations once more, which has brought up legal concerns with regard to Hillary’s presidential campaign. But there is no issue with the Clintons accepting money from foreign nations, as neither of them are currently working in or for the U.S. government. The money the foundation received has not been used for personal purchases. Had the Clinton Foundation accepted contributions while Hillary was in office, there might have been some legal and ethical concerns because of the massive conflict of interest. But the donations from nations like Oman, Kuwait and Qatar were given in limited amounts while the Clintons held government positions; the money went toward an initiative that aimed to reduce the costs of HIV and AIDS drugs. The money from foreign nations benefitted the world and did not compromise or influence U.S. foreign policy. The Clinton Foundation should be treated like any other private foundation. It is only because of the

The Clinton Foundation has accepted monetary donations from foreign nations, leading to questions about the ethics and legality of such action. Clintons’ involvement in U.S. politics that many have questioned the legality of such donations, especially in light of Hillary’s 2016 presidential run. The Wall Street Journal disclosed the records of all donations that the Foundation received. In a 2008 agreement with the Obama administration, the Foundation promised that it would publish the names of new contributors annually and limit the contributions of foreign nations. Although it complied with the latter stipulation, the Foundation failed to submit to the administration a list of new contributors, many of whom started giving money during Hillary’s term as secretary of state, although that information was published on the foundation website. Some believe that raises a red flag about the integrity of the Clintons. Accordingly, some argue that if Hillary has established previous relationships with foreign leaders and governments through the Clinton Foundation, she may feel an obligation to those nations, which could influence foreign policy decisions should Hillary Clinton become president. However, just as during her service as secretary of state, contributions from foreign nations will be limited, possibly even banned. The financial resources of the Foundation will not be used in Hillary’s campaign. Money that the Clinton Foundation raises in the next few years will serve only to further the Foundation’s philanthropic goals around the world, according to Bill. Bill Clinton is no longer the president of the United States, and Hillary is not the secretary of state — in fact, neither of them currently hold any government position. Even if they did take the money for their own personal use, they would not be at fault — because now, Bill and Hillary are private citizens who represent a wholly private foundation.

Taking into account the money the Clinton Foundation received from foreign donors, is your opinion of Bill Clinton favorable?*

59%

38%

YES

said

*Poll of Americans conducted by Gallup 3 percent of people undecided

The acceptance of millions of dollars from foreign governments by the Clinton Foundation during Hillary Clinton’s term as secretary of state was neither ethical nor legal. The Clinton Foundation halted donations from foreign governments in 2009 after Hillary became secretary of state, as part of the gift ban agreement with the Obama administration. The ban was enacted due to concern that the Foundation’s acceptance of money from foreign governments and its relationship with Hillary could influence the representation of U.S. interests abroad. Under the agreement, foreign money could only be accepted when it complied with certain exceptions written into the ban. Hillary was not affiliated with the Clinton Foundation when it was founded in 2001, but officially joined in 2013 after leaving the Department of State, and the foundation was renamed the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation. She left the board at the beginning of her presidential campaign in April 2015; however, it was discovered that the acceptance of the foreign donations coincided with her tenure as secretary of state. Donations from foreign governments can easily influence national leaders; this is enough to understand why foreign donations to the foundation are not legal or ethical. Accepting this money not only reflects negatively on Hillary, but also is unconstitutional — the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution states that no person holding office can accept money from foreign governments without the consent of Congress. Hillary’s relationship with Bill, as well previous work with the Clinton Foundation, outweighs the fact that she is no longer directly tied to the Foundation herself — the acceptance of foreign donations while Hillary was secretary of state, regardless

CON By Irene Yu

STAFF WRITER

of how much money actually changed hands, directly violated the Constitution. The influence of a political leader is not the only problem with the foreign donations. Donating to the foundation and lobbying Congress come hand-in-hand. According to The Washington Post, Algeria donated to the Foundation in 2010 for Haiti earthquake relief, which coincided with not only an increase in its lobbying visits to the U.S. State Department, but also a focus on pressing U.S. government officials on human rights issues in Algeria and spending over $400,000 on U.S.-Algerian relations. This is not a coincidence to be ignored. If countries like Algeria are allowed to continue donating to the Clinton Foundation, U.S. government officials could be placed in a dilemma — our decisions would undoubtedly be clouded by the fact that we would be indebted to other countries. The Clinton Foundation aims to improve education, healthcare and the environment, not serve as a conduit between philanthropy and the White House. The Foundation must establish the fact that it is not a gateway toward bettering relations with the United States; it is a purely private organization. Thus far, it has not proven itself to be unaffiliated with politics, and there is only one way to send that message: stop accepting money from foreign governments.

opinion

tphsfalconer.com

the falconer

STAFF EDITORIAL: RENEWING THE PATRIOT ACT PATRIOT Act is a worthy investment in national security. The U.S. government possesses the ability to monitor people considered potential threats, but citizens should also have the right to know what types of surveillance measures the government is using, particularly if those citizens are directly affected by those measures. Even though the nation’s credibility overseas was greatly damaged by the revelation that the NSA also was monitoring the email accounts of many foreign heads of state, Snowden’s whistleblowing was justified — government transparency should be a minimum requirement of elected officials in a democracy. However, national security should always be prioritized over individual liberty when the two come into conflict. While preserving the notion of liberty is important, the purpose of the government and its policies is ultimately to protect and serve its citizens, even if it may come at the cost of some of their personal freedoms. The fight against terrorism in the United States cannot be won if there is division among the people; rather, it must be a collective effort in which the people recognize that the

sacrifice of a few personal freedoms guarantees the continued freedom of millions of Americans. The impact of compromised national security far outweighs the perceived loss of some liberties, and thus justifies the actions taken under the PATRIOT Act. The constitutionality of the PATRIOT Act is still heavily debated. However, while the Fourth Amendment specifically pertains to the search and seizure of private property, individual citizens lose their right to privacy and ownership of their phone conversations when they sign with a phone company. Therefore, the NSA practices cannot entirely be considered an infringement upon personal privacy to begin with. Surveillance also discourages potential terrorists by making it difficult for them to communicate with each other and carry out their agendas. Nonetheless, as with all preemptive practices, it is difficult to quantify the number of instances in which surveillance has served as an effective deterrent to terrorism. These practices may seem like a waste of resources, but the PATRIOT Act is the best solution we currently possess and a benefit to national security.

ART BY CAROLYN CHU/FALCON ARTIST

One month after the 9/11 attacks, former President George W. Bush signed into law the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, also known as the USA PATRIOT Act. Among other things, the act gives government intelligence agencies like the National Security Agency the right, without a court order, to intercept and track the phone calls of individuals suspected of terrorism. Abuses of that right ﬂew under the radar for years but were brought to the attention of the American public by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Snowden’s whistleblowing resulted in an immediate backlash from Americans who believed that the government was infringing upon their right to privacy and individual liberties. After certain provisions of the PATRIOT Act expired on June 1, the Senate revised and restored them a day later with the USA Freedom Act. These revisions are designed to protect citizen privacy and encourage government transparency, according to the National Journal. Despite the high costs and its unproven effectiveness in the prevention of terrorist acts, the

STUDENT VOICES

“

I don’t think they should because it’s the people’s choice whether they should be allowed [to conduct surveillance].

Vanessa Beeler (9)

Anisha Tyagi (10)

”

Should we allow government surveillance by renewing the PATRIOT Act?

”

I don’t like [the idea of renewing the PATRIOT Act] because [the act] invades a lot of privacy.”

We have to give up some of our rights as the people so the government can take the steps ... to be able to protect [us].

Geonwoo Lim (11)

Jonathan Kuang (12)

the strip by carolyn chu

“

I think that they should renew the PATRIOT Act because it can be useful for [the NSA] to see what the general public is like.

please come back, shepard!

Falconer

The Torrey Pines High School

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

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Editor-in-Chief Assistant Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Public Relations Copy Editors News Editors Opinion Editor Feature Editors Focus Editor Entertainment Editors

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Artists: Tori Austin Marisa Chang Teresa Chen Carolyn Chu Michelle Hao Jacki Li Ellese Nguyen Russell Reed Micaela Roy Grace Yang

A8 the falconer

opinion

june 4, 2015

Government needs to better protect pollinators COPY EDITOR

Agriculture is a major component of the U.S. economy, contributing $789 billion to the economy in 2013, according to Department of Agriculture. And pollinators, like honeybees, beetles and birds, are crucial in the success or failure of harvests. By carrying pollen between plants, pollinators directly inﬂuence the reproduction of crops. The White House reported that honeybee pollinating alone accounts for $15 billion in yearly crop yield. This makes the current pollinator population decline a major concern both for the federal government and farmers, and the government must act more deﬁnitively to protect those populations. On April 2, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a moratorium on a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids as part of its program to protect pollinating organisms, particularly bees such as the honeybee. The agency will not approve any new applications for the use of these pesticides until more data can be collected from studies known as “pollinator risk

assessments,” but will not revoke existing approvals. While this action is commendable, the EPA needs to take a firmer stand to protect bees and other pollinating organisms in the United States. In June 2013, President Barack Obama mandated the formation of the Pollinator Health Task Force, led by the EPA and the USDA, to create strategies to combat pollinator loss. The Task Force includes representatives from seven major government departments, but thus far little has been done beyond the neonicotinoid moratorium. In that respect, the United States is lagging behind other members of the international community — three of the pesticides that the moratorium covers have been completely banned for both use and sale in the European Union since 2013. Meanwhile, the only thing the EPA’s action does is prevent new applications for neonicotinoid use. It does not prevent the sale of the chemicals to groups or individuals who are already registered to use such agents and does not remove any of them from the market. Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that neonicotinoids continue to be used on an “industrial scale” in the U.S. Furthermore, similar chemicals that are harmful to pollinator populations are not restricted because they are “classified differently for regulatory purposes.” While agencies of the federal government scramble to produce a comprehensive plan, bees, butterflies, birds and bats continue

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE KATIE MULKOWSKY The Falconer editor-in-chief remembers her high school “glory days” — Kanye lyrics and driver’s test included.

to suffer. Populations of Monarch butterflies spending the winter in Mexico’s forests have dropped by 90 percent, partially due to the loss of milkweed, a key food source for Monarch caterpillars and the only plant the butterflies lay their eggs on, from the increased use of herbicides, according to National Geographic. Such a dramatic decrease in the population of Monarch butterflies shows that the yearly North American migration of the insects is at risk. In 2013, U.S. b e e ke e p e r s tallied a 40 percent loss in overall colony size. Such losses continue to compound while relatively little action is taken. The efforts the EPA is currently making to assess the situation and conduct risk analysis are justified. However, the EPA could still place stronger regulations on pesticides that are harmful to pollinators, and expand programs dealing with other

contributors to pollinator loss. The problem has reached a stage at which following the traditional model of “diagnostics ﬁrst, solution second” may be too slow to deal with the magnitude of losses, and as such, the federal government, through the Task Force and the EPA, must consider pursuing additional solutions. Every delay in the enactment of protective policy only results in smaller and smaller

populations, and now is a critical time when legislators and regulators must act swiftly and deﬁnitively. To fail to do so may well jeopardize the lives of pollinators — as well as all who depend on U.S. agriculture.

Down Highway 101 we drove, as sea salt and smog slapped our necks with the wind. For us, the speed limit was never on a road sign. When a song picked up, we hit the gas. Naturally, our favorite songs were ﬂeeting. Our drives: snapshots of moments. So much of these past four years was ultimately about “getting there” — high school was never a destination as much as it was a vehicle through which we moved. Technically, my license came nine months late. My closest friends were always upperclassmen, though, so they drove me around much longer than it felt like they should have. Weirdly enough, when I think back to their passenger seats, what I remember most are air fresheners. Laura’s boasted a hula dancer and might have once smelled like coconut. Sam’s was rasta-colored and surfboard-shaped — you could practically taste the vanilla.

perfectly by Bon Iver. When college rejections came around, early 2000s soft-rock became our irrationallycomforting scapegoat. One of the more important lessons I internalized under such conditions is to never underestimate The Fray.

sun sets. There are street signs in our hometown that mark many different Firsts and Lasts. We were always moving, focusing on the next turn or step, but still found ways to make the in-betweens worthwhile. Somehow, we elbowed a niche into SoCal suburbia. At this point, moving away from the backdrop of every story we wrote here feels equally absurd and necessary. Halfway through the summer, my Corolla keys will transﬁgure into a MetroCard, but ideally, a better version of me will take shape with it. Anyway, you’re not really able to “know” a place until you leave it and love it from afar. The same has come to ring true for the people I’m still closest with: Maybe you’re not “best friends” until state lines don’t stop you from being so. It took time, but I ﬁnally learned what it means to value others and how to show it. Accidental friendships became the most important, as did standing by those who deserved it — image aside.

So much of these past four years was ultimately about “getting there” — high school was never a destination as much as it was a vehicle through which we moved.

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

After perpetual versions of “I really owe you gas money,” my first solo in the driver’s seat was the ultimate teen cliché. If nothing else, it proved that I’d finally shirked the glamorized skin of a Mom Van and materialized directly into a coming-of-age film. Just as much as we mocked it, we made our own “Perks Of Being A Wallflower” moments. Charlie’s tunnel was our Mt. Soledad. His “infinite” song: our anthem of that month. It’s funny how often the soundtrack to our lives updated. Seasons changed; “Latch” turned to “Bones.” Convoy Street became a consistent catalyst for Justin Timberlake revivals, and the quiet parts of La Jolla were echoed

ART BY TORI AUSTIN/FALCON ARTIST

By Austin Zhang

It was okay to revel in our youthful brand of road rage, not yet weighed down by adult understanding. But in all seriousness, each memory we paired with music helped us relish the ride we were taking, especially through its bumpier bits. Every freeway route we swapped for a coastal drive reminded us that there was no way — or need — to fastforward to graduation; it was okay to revel in our youthful brand of road rage, not yet weighed down by adult understanding. After all, we were extremely lucky to grow up where and how we did. At Torrey Pines, we were given so many outlets to push ourselves and succeed; outside of school, our hometown became a canvas for even further exploration. Our lives were equally about knowing every word to an Andrea Gibson poem and to Kanye West’s “Gold Digger.” Time magazine and Snapchat cultured us simultaneously. Everything “high school” felt both big and small. We learned to laugh at U-turns after leaving one-too-many debit cards on restaurant tables by accident, and ﬁnally got better at vetoing impulsive, late-night orders of carne asada fries. It sounds ridiculous, but so many of this city’s stupid backroads — along, of course, with the people who discovered them beside me — will be what I remember most about my high school years. We know every coffee shop around here that’s open after 10 p.m., can pinpoint all of the best bookstores in Hillcrest, and never fail to stumble upon convenient viewpoints right as the

There are street signs in our hometown that mark many different Firsts and Lasts. We were always moving ... but still found ways to make the in-betweens worthwhile. In retrospect, high school was easy to both diminish and obsess over. So many of us were equally ambivalent about and terriﬁed of grades or scores; all the while, relationships fell together and apart. Somewhere between Day One and now, I realized that independence comes with learning when to drive away and when not to. The years dealt us judgment, and we grew. From coast to freeway, it was always freedom that we raced. We’ll each be chasing something different soon, but the ride will be nothing if we quiet its integrity.

opinion

tphsfalconer.com

the falconer

Refusing to accept refugees will not curb smuggling By Maya Rao COPY EDITOR

European nations are killing thousands of people without lifting a finger. Africa and the Middle East are torn apart by war, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without lives, families or even shelter. Displaced wanderers replace established professionals. And these wanderers, the majority of whom are from Afghanistan and Syria, are not without purpose — theirs is survival. They settle down in countries like Jordan, which, due to the Syrian Civil War and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s push to create an Islamic caliphate, are filled far beyond capacity. So the migrants move on, hopping from country to country, hoping to find shelter until they end up in Libya. Libya’s ports are full of smugglers looking to cash in on these desperate souls, and the migrants are just desperate enough to pay the smugglers for a trip across the Mediterranean Sea to a European country, usually Italy. The smugglers put the migrants on sinking ships, literally — the ships are more suited to line the bottom of the ocean than carry hundreds of people. Still, people risk it all — their lives, their family’s lives — for a trip to Europe. Europe is a modern Canaan — it is relatively stable, at least compared to Afghanistan or Syria. It ensures

freedom, and it follows international law, which mandates that ships calling for help in international waters must be rescued, regardless of where the people on board are from. But now, Europe is overﬂowing with migrants, and countries like Italy cannot support many more. Many countries have cut down on the number of migrants they take, attempting to discourage smuggling. And while preventative measures against smuggling should undoubtedly be taken, refusing to accept migrants from other countries is most deﬁnitely not a solution. It is clear that the smugglers are callously taking advantage of the migrants’ troubles, just as it is clear that smuggling is inherently wrong. And if the ships carried contraband goods instead of people, maybe the conversation would be different, but the ships are taking people — and without help from other countries, the ships will sink, taking hundreds of lives. Leaving the ships without help costs lives, not dollars, and every country that leaves a ship to sink drenches its hands in the blood of those displaced wanderers, desperate only for a place to call home. Countries hope that by refusing assistance to the migrants, smuggling will be discouraged. This reasoning is logical. If making a voyage across the Mediterranean is breathtakingly dangerous, why would anyone cross the sea? Why would anyone want to make it to Europe if they would die along the way? But we do not live in a world

of cold logic. Even if all the countries in the world stopped taking migrants, people would still make the voyage. If there is even a sliver of hope that the ship will land on a deserted shore, that a family of fishermen will take pity on the migrants, that the migrants can somehow magically make it to Europe unscathed — people would take the journey. Because that voyage across the sea, with all its tribulations, is far better than the reality that lies in what is left of their former homes. In times of great distress, we do not think rationally — we want to survive, and we will do anything to survive. And the migrants’ best chance of surviving, they reason, is to make it to Europe. The objections brought up by European nations are understandable. These countries are struggling with their own internal problems and hardly have the resources to keep up with the massive influx of migrants flocking to their shores. And some countries, like Italy, suffer much more than countries farther north or without a Mediterranean port, like Germany or

Norway. Mediterranean countries are caught in an ethical quandary with the eyes of the world on them. Varied solutions, from storming smuggling compounds to forcing nations to take people beyond capacity, have been offered to this problem; the only solutions that can work require international cooperation. In times like these, when thousands of people are risking their lives to survive, we must let go of our petty differences and band together. America cannot take a morally superior position on this issue — we are not innocents. We have refused plenty of people arriving at our shores, from Chinese immigrants looking for a better life, to Jews ﬂeeing from Hitler. Now is the time to avenge all those faults, to show the world that there are some positives to this nation despite the negativity that surrounds our national events. We must form alliances with European nations, not because of political or economic or social needs, but because of a human

need: a need for survival. The idea sounds unfeasible, and it probably is — why would countries voluntarily take on the expenses of another country, expenses that could amount to millions of dollars? But these are people — living, breathing people — and no one can put a price on a human life. And maybe we will come to realize that. Maybe we will discover that not rescuing ships does not hurt the smugglers — they are paid already, and they will continue to be paid as long as there is war — but it does hurt the migrants, the people we are trying to save. Maybe we will ﬁnd a shard of humanity in ourselves, a little piece of our heart that aches for the men and women and children on the ships. Worry that they will sink before ships come to save them. Hope that they will ﬁnd a better life in Europe. Trust in the goodness of man.

ART BY MICAELA ROY/FALCON ARTIST

Prom dress codes restrict freedom of students By Sarah Chan FEATURE EDITOR

Prom season still lingers in the air, and the commotion over dates, photos and dresses remains in the aftermath. And with the dresses, of course, the controversy over school dress codes across the nation trails closely behind. Girls have been ordered to cover up their cleavage, back and knees. They have been scolded, required to go home or suspended. A high school in Pennsylvania has even required that students submit photos of their dresses before they are allowed to purchase prom tickets. Such restrictions for a highlyanticipated, annual school dance are unnecessary. Students’ choices of formal wear are largely irrelevant to the success of the night and pose no harm. How, exactly, is an openbacked dress sufﬁcient reason to kick a student out of a school dance? What students wear is their individual choice, and so they are accountable for how people perceive them. Although TPHS has a fair and far less stringent dress code regarding prom, many schools throughout the country are beginning to take prom dress codes to an entirely new and absurd level. Students in New Jersey have been told that wearing attire

deemed too revealing will result in an eviction — without a refund. Similarly, Shelton High School of Connecticut maintains a ban on all dresses with lace, halter tops and spaghetti straps, as well as strapless dresses, leaving girls with few dress options that will not get them reprimanded. Furthermore, the wide variety of dress designs makes enforcing a prom dress code difﬁcult. Who is given the authority to decide how short is too short, when exposed cleavage becomes inappropriate or which dresses are scandalous in comparison to others? Besides infringing on students’ freedom of dress, prom dress codes are also sexist, as there is no parallel standard or expectation for male students. Boys do not have to worry about expressing themselves through their clothing, as there are few rules regarding what boys can and cannot wear. Society is so much more scandalized by women in revealing clothing than men in revealing clothing; people are offended by the exposure of a female’s body, but not by that of a male’s. Prom dress codes that aim to curb “distraction” are simply catering to the convenience of males at the humiliation of females — a student from Virginia was kicked out of her prom because some of the fathers who attended claimed that her dress gave rise to “impure thoughts.” Women should not be punished for being the source of a man’s sexual discomfort. Male self-control is not the responsibility of females. We, as a society, need to stop telling girls to cover up and instead teach them that female sexuality is nothing to be ashamed of. And, truly, what is

more distracting: boys having to learn to deal with the occasional glimpse of a girl’s lower back, or girls being pulled aside, humiliated and forced to leave their proms? Some argue that dress codes enforce modesty and foster a positive school image. However, such rigid codes would not be so necessary if students were taught the importance of self-presentation instead of being forced to obey a seemingly authoritarian school administration. Students, both male and female, should be taught that how they present themselves sends a message to the world about who they are and how they want to be perceived. Given that knowledge, students can make their own decisions. Knowing the reasons behind an action is more important than blindly following that action without question or senselessly rebelling against it. Often, dress codes are blindly established and strictly enforced — what is lacking is a discussion between student and administrator, or perhaps even student and parent. Prom has become a rite of passage for many high school students, a oncein-a-lifetime event. It is only one night, and students should have the freedom to wear what they choose. Prom is iconic, and a new wave of restrictive dress

codes should not take away from that experience. Besides, respect is determined not by the clothing choices students make, but by their character. It is the responsibility of the students to demonstrate how much self-respect they have for themselves and, in turn, how much respect they expect others to give them. In this fashion, prom dress codes inhibit a student’s development of a sense of integrity in their clothing choice. And more importantly: They inhibit a student’s very right to self-expression.

ART BY MICHELLE HAO/FALCON ARTIST

A10 the falconer

FEED YOUR BRAIN FUEL YOUR FUTURE Summer credit classes start June 15. Fall credit classes start August 24. Apply & Enroll today at miracosta.edu/brain

Cardiff / Oceanside / Online

june 4, 2015

The Falconer examiness the stigma against community college at TPHS and the surrounding community and analyzes the factors that go into the decision between community college and a four-year university. Throughout the school year, as teachers post grades and students make plans for the future, phrases saturated with sarcasm like “What if I went to MiraCosta?” and “MiraCosta is my dream school,” pervade the TPHS campus. Although the statements are sometimes part of serious conversations, they are more often a sign of the predominantly negative attitude toward community college at TPHS. While many students think of attending community college as a failure or a waste of time, Tayah Bolt (Jan. ‘15) disagrees. Bolt, now a freshman at MiraCosta College, left TPHS this year after the first semester of her junior year because “high school felt like a waste of [her] time.” “When you take classes at community college, it’s like an AP class, but it counts for college and high school credit,” Bolt said. “So you can get those credits without AP testing and other craziness that goes along with taking advanced high school classes. I was getting more out of the credits I was [earning] at MiraCosta than I was at Torrey Pines, so it just made sense for me to leave.” Currently, Bolt is taking general courses at MiraCosta, including English and math. After two years, she plans to transfer to the University of California, Davis through the UC Transfer Admission Guarantee program, which allows community college students to transfer class credits and guarantees admission into UC Davis, Irvine, Merced, Riverside, Santa Barbara or Santa Cruz if they meet specific requirements. According to Bolt, one advantage of going to community college is the low cost. TPHS student Candice Canuso (12), who will attend MiraCosta next year, also believes that it is advantageous to attend community college, where it is cheaper to switch majors. Additionally, most classes in community colleges have a smaller studentteacher ratio than those at four-year universities, according to history teacher Lars Trupe, whose son attended community college. “Classes at junior colleges are smaller, and they are taught by the teachers who are listed as the instructors, whereas at a lot of universities, the teachers may lecture, but they don’t have any real contact with the students,” Trupe said. According to Bolt, if she were to take a freshman English course at a fouryear university like UC Davis, there would be at least 100 students; her current English class has only 20 students. With fewer students in class, Bolt finds it easier to connect with classmates. She describes her friendship with a 60-year-old woman in her ceramics class as one of the most “eclectic, but somehow relatable” friendships she has ever formed at school. Despite the evident advantages of attending community college, Trupe said that “one obvious disadvantage” is not experiencing the dorm and campus life that comes with attending a four-year school. Although Bolt said that her community college experience may not have “the whole ‘going off to college’ feeling,” she still feels that it has enough “spirit.” “It’s a pretty decent college feel,” Bolt said. “They have events for all the students, and it really makes our school feel like a community.” According to TPHS counselor Melissa Hernandez-Cyr, attending community college allows students to complete the required general classes just as they would at the beginning of a four-year-college education, but at a far lower cost. “Another [benefit] is sometimes a student’s GPA at the high school level isn’t as strong [and] didn’t demonstrate all of their skills, so when you go to a community college you get a fresh start,” Hernandez-Cyr said. “That’s the GPA colleges will look at when you transfer.” Community college can also be a place of self-discovery before the leap into

four-year university, according to Canuso. “At a community college, you can learn more about yourself and get better prepared for going to a four-year university, where it’s harder,” Canuso said. Although California’s community college system is designed to help students transfer into the California State University and UC systems, with some community colleges offering four-year college degrees, Hernandez-Cyr believes that many students and parents “ideally would love to know that [they or] their children are going straight to a four-year university, because that’ll guarantee they’ll get their four-year degree, and they’ll get their bachelors’ degrees.” “I think the fear of going into community college before going into a four-year college is that the student’s not going to [receive a Bachelor’s degree],” HernandezCyr said. According to Trupe, the location of a high school affects the reputation of community colleges. In some areas, going to community college after high school is expected, but at other schools, it may be seen as sufﬁciently rigorous. “I think [the bias against community colleges] is not in just the Torrey Pines community; it’s in our entire district, and the Carlsbad and Poway districts,” Trupe said. “There’s the expectation that kids that graduate from the schools in those three districts are going to go to a four-year college, and that the JC is a last resort and is generally looked down upon.” Canuso, who ended high school with a 4.1 GPA, also believes that “a lot of people who go to Torrey Pines think that if you go to a community college, you aren’t as smart or you slacked off in high school.” Bolt has also encountered this view of community college.

The stigma [against community college] at TPHS will not be eradicated unless proper awareness is raised. People should know about the upsides of attending community college and its real practicality. Tayah Bolt

�� “A lot of people just think you go to community college because you couldn’t get into a better school, but a lot of people go there just because it’s the most practical thing for them to do,” Bolt said. “What I’ve seen in a lot of my classes is a lot of people who didn’t get to ﬁnish their education coming back to school, and that’s something you don’t see in most [four-year] colleges.” Unfortunately, Bolt believes that the negative perception of community colleges will be fairly long-lasting. “The stigma at TPHS will not be eradicated unless proper awareness is raised,” Bolt said. “People should know about the upsides of attending community college and its real practicality.” Once students and the general community realize the “advantages and upsides” of attending community college, Bolt said it will be accepted more widely as a practical and equally viable option for a college education. By Maya Kota and Tasia Mochernak

ART BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER PHOTO BY ERIC CUNNINGHAM/FALCONER

A12 the falconer

feature

june 4, 2015

PLUGGED IN In a study conducted in 2015 by the think tank Pew Research Center, teenagers from ages 13-17 were asked about their technology and Internet use.

91%

use the Internet on a mobile device

41% use

most often

92% go online every day

56% go online several times a day

24%

go online “almost constantly”

73%

own or have access to a smartphone

20% use most often

can you 11% use

most often

5% use

most often

3% use most often

71%

own or have access to a own or use more than tablet have one social access to network site a computer

SO, HERE’S THE CHALLENGE:

use

most often

87%

58%

use a different site most often

1% use

most often

UNPLUG

coll

5 1 0 2 p a m e g e

DigiPen Institute of Technology

University of Washington

Columbia University

Benjamin Park

Daniel Eidelson Tierra Eshom Ash Israni Allen Katz

Elizabeth (Hyeongeun) Park Nivaasya Ramachandran*

Gonzaga University Jack Beach Alli Casella

Lucy Ferrari Claire Norman

Seattle University

Lewis & Clark College

Cornell University

Washington State University

Sarah Brown Milos Kartalija

Whitman College

Montana State University

ShiYang Fan

Jordyn Garfein

June-Summer Kim

The Culinary Institute of America

Kyle Pedretti

Charlotte Resnick

Karlin Bergum

Logan Butler

Hunter College

Pratt Institute

Syracuse University

Haley Trunkett

Teresa Chen

Lawrence Lee

Marist College

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

The American Academy of Dramatic Arts

Tess Cimino

Se Rim Choi

Manhattanville College

Sarah Lawrence College

Fordham University

New York University

School of Visual Arts

Samantha Miller

Grace Yang

United States Military Academy

State University of New York at Albany

Torran Raby

Dominic Hovasse

Bates College

University of Minnesota

Noah Szajowitz

Kaitlin Tiernan

Amira Dhanoa Margaret Izotov Kerry Luo Katie Mulkowsky Matt Mullen

Michigan State University

Beloit College

University of Michigan

Cameron Brantz Robin Elihu David Glaser Cassie Jordan Joshua Mammen

Grinnell College

Antonia D’ercole

Kaya Daniels

University of Nevada, Reno Logan Tomlinson

Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Brigham Young University, Provo

Colorado State University, Fort Collins

Andrew Garton Macenzi McGuire Emma Taylor

Megan Corgan Rachel Fetzer

Paige Thomas Jessica Walton

Red Rocks Community College

University of Utah

Jeremy Reed Courdin

Sarah Stafford

United States Air Force Academy Roland Wheeler

Drew Christofferson

Arizona State University

Israeli Defense Forces

Maddie Bloum Christy Goudamanis Christopher Ryan Katzin Marni Kaufman

Noam Cooper Nadav Kretzmer

Roni Kretzmer

Franklin University Switzerland

University of Arizona

Dimitri Schenk

Celeste Assi Bailey Buckley Skye Carrillo Skye Chandler Daniel Cox Jeremy Fleet Jillian Glatthorn Solana Kenyon Kevin Krotz

Gabriel Chaix

Noelle Nugent Sibo Yan

Northern Arizona University Jacob Belshin Kiana Lupinacci

European Business School Paris

Blake Regottaz

Chiara Masci Kelsey McGowan Tulsi Patel Simone Pedretti Nicholas Sabadicci Maren Sfeir Connor Smith Julie Touger

University of Phoenix University of Hawai’i, Manoa Judson Ham Malcolm Iwami

Justin Rusemaster

Nima Chatlani

University of British Columbia, Vancouver Francesca Oldham

Becky Dubowitz

Ignacio Marcet

Gap Year Cat Canedy Vicky Escala Veronica Norton

Tyler James

* indicates going to Australia

Gabriella Koren

Washington University in St. Louis Ariel Kang Michael Lee

Megan Lin

Blair Buchanan Emma Conger Robert Drevno Gillian Fuller Cody Goldman

Sydney Acierno

Julia London Marissa Platt Soﬁa Schugar Jake Susman

University of Denver Rachel Benrey

Autumn Raynne Murphy

Baylor University Julian Harris

Tauya Nenguke

Mary Wobler

Loyola University Chicago Brandon Trentalange

Northwestern University

Ted Foussianes Clayton Michael Jacobs

Erin Lu

Yardyn Shraga

Connor Pruett Nick Schultze Alec Turner*

Kristen West

University of Pennsylvania Melinda Wang

Susan Wang

Alan Sherman Amanda Stroiman

YunSung Jo Sarah Pacelli

Dartmouth College Ari Parsay

Amherst College Kelsey Chen

Erik Zhang

Blake McAtee

Bentley University

Case Western Reserve University

Boston College

Alex Baracchini

Montse Quintana

Nicholas Ho Yeseulmi Lee

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Boston University Lilly Budano

Gha Young Lee

Alayna Tomlinson

Lesley University

Duke University

Rachel Buckley

Jessica Williams

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Eastern Kentucky University Cassie Knutson

Hannah Miller

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Gunnar Moseman

University of Alabama Kailee Brashears Katie Buhai Madison Clagg Lauren Foster

Sarah Heine James Hunter

Camille Oemcke

College of William & Mary

Gianna Montini

Erica Lewis Connor Milmoe Alex Shearer

Pennsylvania State University

Jake Singer

Auburn University

Southern Methodist University

Colby College

University of Notre Dame

Max Liu Stephen Park Charles Pei

Amy Zau

Brandon Hong-Dominguez

Andrea Bower Anissa Dadkah

Alex Rasmussen

Eric Tang Sean Uribe

Sandy Plashkes

The Ohio State University

Purdue University

University of Chicago

Anagha Srirangam

Texas Tech University

Bailey Pope Manavi Sharma

Vanderbilt University

Rice University

Sierra Kile

Indiana University, Bloomington

Omar Gaidarov

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Adam Alsadek Erik Fishman Jonah Holty

Zachary Siegel Lindy Villeponteau Nick Wayland

Johns Hopkins University

Kelsey McMullen Alli Pocock Alex Stevenson

University of Mississippi Ashley Ramirez

Derek Choi*

Hope Chen

Victoria Ouyang

Clemson University

Kyle Ly

Amelia Ahles

Northeastern University

The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina

Anna Li Michael Lin

Adam Wheat

Smith College

Princeton University

Ruby Kohn

Varun Bhave

Tufts University

Joey DeMarco

Henry Hollen

*indicates also enrolled in Army ROTC at MIT

Georgetown University Anastasia Armendariz

Harrison Miller

Ryan Friedman*

Kevin Zhang

Hannah Ballew

Joy Li

MCPHS University

Rutgers University

Tulane University

Harvard University

Tailin Song

* indicates also enrolled in Army Reserve

Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas

Christian Surfers Africa Leadership Training

University of Iowa

DePaul University

Chase Cameron

University of Edinburgh: Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies

Steven Duong

University of Colorado, Boulder

Texas Christian University

Brandon Wright

McGill University (Montreal)

Liza Schoelen

Jacqueline Park Chris Rhim Charu Sinha Charles F. Yu

Katherine Chen

Madison Lombard

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Stephen Watson

Union College

Boise State University

University of Portland

Aryana Noroozi

Alexandra Kiselyov

Veronica Romines

Rosie McFadden Chase Rippy

St. John’s University

Danyela Swidler

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Brigham Young University, Idaho

Kendra Rettig Alessandra Stewart Hayden Austin Morgan Fox Cynthia Yantz

Parsons the New School for Design

LaShon Williams Antonio Bavaro

University of Oregon Zach Bycott Harrison Cohen Charlie Gonzales Emily Port

Emily Sun

* indicates semester at The Paris Institute of Political Studies

Zabrina Bonilla

Ally Chandler

Mackenzie Bath Annie McCutchan

Mason O’Rosky Timmy Saunders Rebecca Wang Allen Zheng

Hofstra University

Stephanie Yuan

University of Massachusetts, Amherst Aisiri Murulidhar

Matt Parkllan

Williams College

University of Dallas

Alexander Jen

Meaghan Harrington

Sorry, seniors! Some colleges may not be in the correct geographic location because there is not enough space. But the good news is: All of the colleges are on here.

Yale University Eric Chen Claire Lu

Cindy Yang

University of New Haven Alex Erdman

Rhode Island School of Design Sang Lee

Jacki Li

Academy of Art University

Pitzer College

Haiwa Wu

Jake Crawford

University of California, Los Angeles

Art Center College of Design

Pomona College

Hajung Song

Frances Hung

Bay Area Hair Institute

San Diego Christian College

Jensen Crouch

Shelbianne Evans

Sujay Singh

Tyler Mallari

California Institute of Technology

San Diego Mesa College

Grace Chen Jessica Choi John (Jack) Lloyd

Krista Decima Brent Dill

Jessica Wang Julia Yang

California Lutheran University Molly Gillies

Parnia Vafaei

Mina Eftekhari Christian Spencer

San Diego Miramar College

University of California, Merced Sean Paddie

Patrick Devera Kourosh Kazemipour

San Diego State University

Trey Muschamp

Michael Abramowitz Jack Bailey Patty Benrey Beau Blase Thaddeus Blase Sam Carpowich Nicholas Chen Cristina Chun Raul De La Torre Hana Furuichi Ayesha Haque

Devin Burton Kristin Butler Jack Carbone Ryan Cavanagh Arielle Cohen Eren Esener Dylan Fetzer Ryan Hund

Lucy Jacobs Lauren Kent Cory Mills Rachael Anne Roorda Jessica Rose Bailey Thompson Shelby Weaver

California State University, Fullerton Liam Kelly

California State University, Long Beach Mahanth Basavaraju Victoria Cimo

Victoria Hong

California State University, Monterey Bay Justin Woo

California State University, San Marcos Dustin Du Ashwin Paramashivan

Emily Reeves

Jagger Havlik Simon Ilko Johan Im Zoe Kaye Vyanna Ma Megan Patek Tyla Sass Jessi Shapp Spencer Timmons Otto Vanhatalo

San Francisco State University Chloe Hegedus

Elizabeth Lam

San Jose State University Emerson Ye

Santa Barbara City College Spencer Stryker

Santa Clara University Cole LaPolla Ian MacDonald

Mimi Najmabadi

Skyline College Sonoma State University

Marisa Chang Hannah Clifford Arielle Drapeau Mikayla Drapeau

Stanford University

Claremont McKenna College

Shaine Sorensen Jacqueline Yau

Clare Young

University of California, Berkeley

Godfrey Flax

Adriana Babakanian Katya Brooun Jamie Cheatham Christopher Chen Eddie Doyle Edward Fang Isaac Fu Kyra Grove Kevin Jiang Jason Kha Meera Kota

MiraCosta College

University of California, Davis

Omar Rodriguez Chiara (C.C.) Schwab

Brian Wahl

Cuesta College Harrison New

Harvey Mudd College Natalie Kadonaga

Loyola Marymount University

Alex Busse Candice Canuso Brenda Mejia Gonzalez Paolo Hinayhinay Ashley Martinez

Sebastian Montesinos Julianna Nerio Catherine Ortega Alexis Ramirez Ayli Tulberg

Jordan Li Katherine Luo Peter Manohar MacKenzie Myrhum Amy Ni Erika Oishi Savannah Rennie Veronica Schwabach Andy Shin Andy Suh Chris Yang Benjamin Lee Arun Paturi Olivia Rockeman Natalie Saddic Victoria Susman

University of California, Irvine

Palomar College Dobry Kolacz

Melanie Belk Noah Diamant Taylor Getz Andrea Hsieh Nikita Kaur

Quinn Morimoto

Pasadena City College

Mahima Avanti Mattie Cranick Melodi Flack

Louis Vincent

University of California, Riverside Kenneth Cheung Natalie Duong David Kim

Andrew Liu Brianna Nguyen Jonathan Yap

University of California, San Diego Karthik Arunachalam Min Ho Bae Yasmeen Baki Nicolas Calle Pil Kyo Jung Chau Le Jeong Seock Lee

Leening Liu Anisa Malangone JJ Murphy Juan Cruz Pawluszek Robert Robinson Harold Shen Yuhong Sun

University of California, Santa Barbara Allison Aguirre Ana Maria Ascher Delaney Baril Stepan Bokovikov Eva Buechler Erica Byrne Kierston Cannon Patrick Chan Kacie Cunningham Francisco Esquer Kareem Hassan Jack Hoeprich

Alexander James Robbie Johnson Jake Jung Jennifer Kwon Naomi Meave Josh Miller Sarina Nash Nicole Oberman Austin Tyler Sonnier David Sun Alin Wadhwa

University of California, Santa Cruz

Andre Reed

Chapman University Ben Heymann Katie Page Hunter Robbins

Vincent Ma Rocky Maas Jamie MacDonald Michael Margolis Matt Moldenhauer Michael Poulos Katie Qian John Stucky Jamie Love Yu Maggie Zhang Sheng Zhang

Ray Bochaghchi Steven Cappel

California Maritime Academy California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Lily Bai Rebecca Chen Polina Cherezova Benjamin Dang Jacqueline Garner Anna Huang Sehee Jeong Martin Kong Jonathan Kuang Ben Lawson Jane Lee

Priyanka Paintal Kathy Zheng

Max Angel Haley Browning Zach Cheung Christopher Dory

Lisa Hu Tony Huang Jacob Levine Christopher Mendoza

University of Redlands Chavonne Vuagniaux

University of San Diego Clare Bakker Jake Bauman

Timmy Holdsworth

University of San Francisco Savannah Phillips

University of Southern California Hailey Brue* Jack Dong Christian Gange* Marissa Hastings Rong Ji Richard Ju Madeline Mayer*

Taylor Seamans Emma Shafer Fernando Stepensky CJ Stubbs Declan Sullivan Luis Vidaurri

* indicates ďŹ rst semester at The American University of Paris

University of the PaciďŹ c Tiffany Chan Elliot Seo

JJ (Jacqueline) Shauh

Jialiang Wangliu DISCLAIMER: The Falconer staff has spent weeks soliciting the post-high school plans of all seniors. The submission deadline was May 29. These maps include the information provided to us by that date. The Falconer is not responsible for re-printing the map on account of any errors.

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I am with three friends on a Saturday night, watching “Boyhood” in the living room — at least, sort of. It’s on the TV playing in the background. The main character, a high school boy named Mason, attempts a futile discussion with his girlfriend, Sheena, about the ill effects of social media on human interaction. For her part, Sheena continues to look at her phone and only half-listens to him. “You have been, you know, checking your phone this whole time,” Mason says. “I mean, so what are you really doing? You don’t care what your friends are up to on Saturday afternoon, but you’re also obviously not fully experiencing my profound b----ing. So, it’s like everyone’s just stuck in, like, an in-between state, not really experiencing anything.” When this scene comes on, I am coincidentally also scrolling through my newsfeed, as are a few of my friends. I don’t really care what my Facebook “friends” are doing, as Mason says, but I’m still not paying attention to the movie. I look up just long enough to catch this part, contemplate his words and check my phone one last time before finally putting it down. Sheena responds, “It’s not an experience. It’s just information,” and the scene ends. There’s a gray area between the two: experience and information. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact moment when the mere absorption and synthesis of information turns into an actual “experience.” But I do think Sheena’s right for the most part. I personally believe that we can’t really experience anything while using our phones, computers or any other personal devices, for that matter. It’s just information that only serves to distract us from the greatest experience we will ever have: life. I use my phone to an unhealthy extent, probably much more than the average U.S. citizen does. I can’t help it, though, or rather, I don’t want to help it. My phone is the ideal friend: It’s never busy, it never gets angry with me and I can bring it with me everywhere I go. Before beginning this experiment, I used the Moment app to track my phone use for a week right after AP testing. I found that I was spending an average of five to six hours each day using my phone, and that did not even account for the hours I spent on my laptop. Although the numbers didn’t accurately reflect my phone usage on a normal school day, I was still alarmed by the sheer number of hours I was spending staring at my screen. For this story, I spent three full days offline. Initially, I agreed to do it as more of a rehabilitative exercise than as a social experiment. Although I found that unplugging myself did not change my daily life in any major way, I finally stopped observing my life — passively absorbing information — and started fully experiencing it. I limited myself to phone calls as a necessary means of communication. Before this experiment, I rarely called my friends because it was easier to text them or message them online. I would normally multitask while entertaining multiple conversations on Facebook, with each response spaced apart by several minutes. I quickly realized how rusty my conversational skills were. In real life, there are no emojis to fill the awkward, static-filled silences, and over the phone you can’t just “see” the message and not respond when you don’t know what to say. However, having a conversation is so much more rewarding when you can hear a person’s voice for yourself. It took some effort, but I ended up having a better conversation with someone in 15 minutes on the phone than I had ever had with him over text. He was very confused at first and told me that it was because he “wasn’t

used to this calling thing,” to which I promptly responded, “Me either.” Not having access to a phone makes a huge difference outside of conversation, too. So many people, myself included, are guilty of constantly checking their phones while in the company of others. Thanks to modern technology, I can now use my phone to converse with four different acquaintances and simultaneously enjoy a meal with my family in complete silence. It doesn’t really make sense for us to seek that pseudo-companionship through a screen when it can easily be found if we would just put down our phones and look up. The quality of conversation substantially increases when you are involved in one instead of ﬁve at a time. Of course, putting down your phone is easier said than done.

It doesn’t really make sense for us to seek that pseudo-companionship through a screen when it can easily be found if we would just put down our phones and look up. I was also overwhelmed by the amount of free time suddenly on my hands. On the first day, after hanging out with a friend, I came home to find that I had hours left in the day with, fortunately, no homework but, unfortunately, nothing to do. I now had over a third of the day to do other things and I didn’t know what to do with it. So I spent three hours on the phone talking to reluctant, preoccupied friends and ended up going to sleep hours earlier than I normally would have. I slept better each night and was more efficient and alert during the daytime as a result. As with the period of time that follows a breakup, my reliance on my phone faded with every day I spent without it. I was going out so often that I hardly thought about it. Still, as much as I wish there could be, there is no happy ending to this story. All my friends were amazed that I was able to survive the three days, which isn’t really that long in the grand scheme of things, but their incredulity serves as further testimony of our society’s incredible need to be constantly connected and plugged in. And the day I started using my phone again, I went immediately back to my old habits. So here I am, stuck in a toxic relationship with my phone, losing sleep and valuable time that could be spent with real people. It doesn’t seem so bad in the now, but I know that I would be far better off without it. I am fully immersed in the movie by the end. My phone lays untouched on the coffee table beside me. Mason is now grown up and attending college. In the final scene, he is talking to a girl named Nicole. “You know how everyone’s always saying ‘Seize the moment’?” Nicole says. “I don’t know, I’m kind of thinking it’s the other way around, you know, like the moment seizes us.” I think the reason we insist on holding on to these special moments is that we’re gradually losing our ability to do so. We push these moments aside like absentminded bystanders simply being informed instead of experiencing. You can’t appreciate something that you aren’t aware of. Don’t let the moment seize you, and as clichéd as it is to say so, carpe diem.

By Amanda Chen

INFOGRAPHIC AND PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

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Every month an anonymous PAL pens this column to offer help to all Falcons. Dealing with friendship and relationship breakups can be some of the most difficult parts of the high school experience. According to psychologist Melanie Greenberg’s study on the neuroscience of friend and relationship breakups, “students report feeling significantly less distressed about the breakup after about 10 weeks.” Those 10 weeks can be challenging to get through, but students can distract themselves by getting involved in sports and clubs. In addition, expressing your feelings to others can help build better friendships and relationships. Students are welcome to come to room 49 every 2-4-6 day during lunch to get peer support or just for a good time with PALs and other students, many of whom have endured similar breakup experiences. A fellow PAL shares her breakup experience. “[My ex-boyfriend and I] dated for seven months during sophomore year and I devoted all my time to him. We always hung out and went on dates, and I was close with his parents, too. Then one day, my best friend told me that he was cheating on me. I confronted him, but he denied it even though I knew that it was true, so I broke up with him. I was really depressed for a couple of weeks after, but I found happiness in writing poetry and coaching basketball.” Community service is another great distraction from the emotional pain experienced during the 10 weeks following a breakup. Helping others and providing service to the community can bring about selfconfidence and self-respect. Ultimately, students need to remember not to force themselves to “just get over it” too quickly. Emotional pain after a breakup can take a while to subside but will always be alleviated with time. Self-care, getting involved in various activities and being of service to others are great ways to ease the difficult process of dealing with the pain of friendship and relationship breakups.

Carolyn Chu (11) is usually splashed with paint — recently, her legs, hands and face have been streaked in dark blue from her work on the TPHS art room’s door. And throughout the year, the colors on her skin reflect the paint on her canvas. Almost entirely self-taught, Chu began art at a young age when her dad brought home stacks of notebooks and markers that inspired her love of art. “My parents would send me to after-school Chinese programs, but [I eventually quit because] I thought it was stifling [that] we would just copy other art to improve our own technical skills,” Chu said. Chu would then occasionally take one-day art classes that involved her and “10 other old ladies being taught by another old lady.” Mainly, she drew as a hobby. Her passion was enhanced when she took AP Studio Art this year, where she learned how to express her emotion and ideas through her work. “When I was able to apply what I learned there to my own ideas, [I] realized how freeing art is,” Chu said. One of her favorite paintings is “Through the Machinery,” which illustrates scattered objects, like a telescope and constellation, and depicts the story of a young boy who she imagined would study stars because he dreamed of travelling to space. Most recently, Chu’s love of art and desire to test her proficiency encouraged her to apply to the 52nd District’s Congressional Art Competition. Chu won first place, which earned her winning work “14 Second Day Dream” a spot on the U.S. Capitol walls to represent the district for a year; she also won a fully-funded trip to Washington, D.C. courtesy of Congressman Scott Peters. “The piece I did for the competition was inspired by when I was in Las Vegas with my family,” Chu said. “We were in a giant ferris wheel that overlooked the cityscape. There was a moment when my younger brother was looking at the scenery and was really absorbed in [the view]. Time stood still for a moment, and I really wanted to capture that.” Chu had no expectation of winning, which made receiving the award all the more “surreal.” “When I found out that I won, I became very numb and had to slowly process what was happening,” Chu said. Chu has also used her art to express her frustration with the school system, especially after taking a number of AP classes. Realizing she “was

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Award-winning artist Carolyn Chu (11) pursues her passion for art, expressing anticonformist sentiments and other “freeing” emotions and ideas.

just a student in the giant system and couldn’t do anything to change it,” she decided to express her frustration with the standardization of education and robotic production of students through her art. “One of my works is a classroom, and there are some students depicted in it sitting in tight rows,” Chu said. “When you look closer, they are actually these mechanized robots made out of metal and partially covered by human parts. They are human being costumes over robots.” Despite deﬁance in the face of standardization, Chu plans to take on a more “practical” career and make art a separate pursuit. “I was thinking about going into business, but I can always incorporate art into a business plan,” Chu said. “I want art to be part of my life. I think there is a balance.” Chu also has a charitable outlet for her passion through her leadership in the Art In Motion club. As president, she organizes art projects for children every other Friday at the Carmel Valley Library to promote creativity in kids and teach them some art history. “We’ll do fun activities, like making animals with model magic, and other times we’ll do more art history-centered ones, like making tissue water lilies and then gluing them to a paper that they drew on with oil pastel to emulate Monet’s style,” Chu said. Whether Chu decides to make a living at making art or not, the validation she has gotten through awards and the paint on her face demonstrate her passion for creating. By Caroline Rutten

Beyond the LGB[TV] By Anna Lee and Lily Nilipour Gay best friend Damien of “Mean Girls” is always there to gossip in entertainment can bring out homophobia still prevalent in society. and help you pick out clothes. Lesbian couple Marissa and Alex of Even minor LGBT characters or scenes in a movie or show can incite “The O.C.” commit too fast, too soon. Bisexuals like Remy Hadley backlash and criticism from viewers. on “House” are promiscuous and untrustworthy. These are some of “A straight couple kisses on TV, it’s no big deal, but if a gay couple the portrayals of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in kisses on TV, all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Oh, this show is promoting popular media that perpetuate myths and stereotypes. And though gay rights, they’re crusading for something, they’re obviously trying ascribing traits like flamboyance can seem harmless, the portrayal to shove this in our face,’” the student said. “And it’s not like that. of LGBT individuals as more caricatures than real people can have a They’re [just] trying to get more representation out there.” tremendous impact. Yet, not having representation can be even more harmful, Lamb “For the LGBT students and people who are watching it, when you said. Society is past denying the existence of homosexuals; people see yourself or a version of yourself being portrayed in a specific way, proudly declare their adoration of even unofficial romances like John you tend to follow those stereotypes, which may or may not represent and Sherlock of the BBC’s “Sherlock.” Still, a lack of LGBT role models who you actually are,” TPHS persists in entertainment and Gay Straight Alliance president social media, which contributes Amal Lamb (11) said. to insecurity among LGBT youth, The cultivation analysis according to MiraCosta College theory posits that “people’s Gay Straight Alliance faculty coideas of themselves, their world adviser, Steven Deineh. and their place in it are shaped “These young people, by not through television,” according seeing themselves represented in to MiraCosta communications ‘successful’ careers, [are left] in studies and mass media a nebulous place of, ‘Where am Amal Lamb professor Alex Ware. If this is I, who am I, where am I going to �� true, stereotypes can have a be?’” Deineh said. “We’re starting lasting effect on people, causing to see more ‘normal’ roles … [but] them to act a certain way just to we’re still a long way off [from] be “socially accepted or culturally relevant,” Ware said. getting away from heteronormative prescription and sexuality.” “Especially as young people, when we watch others behave, we can More LGBT representatives in the media would have made coming emulate that if it’s somebody we aspire to be like, or it’s somebody out easier for the gay student at TPHS, but although he felt isolated that we admire, or it’s somebody that we relate to,” Ware said. growing up because there was no one to look up to, he thinks media However, Ware said that media like television and film can be coverage and inclusion of LGBT individuals is improving. beneficial in “bringing awareness to the surface [of LGBT issues]” and “With the way media is evolving now, it feels like it’s easier to come bringing positive portrayals of the LGBT community. For instance, out,” he said. “There’s more and more people out there already out.” actor Jared Leto’s Oscar-winning performance in the “Dallas Buyers Celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and Laverne Cox have played Club” helped bring attention to transgender individuals. But according a part in increasing discussion about LGBT issues in media. Their to TPHS GSA president Lamb, portrayals are not always positive, high visibility influences more audiences to be aware of the LGBT particularly when characters are based purely on their sexuality or community, and both are involved in LGBT rights activism. when they represent tropes. “There’s a lot of high profile folks who are helping to make LGBT “On most shows, if [a person is] the gay character, then that’s what identities more accessible to straight people who don’t have as much they are — they’re the ‘gay character,’” Lamb said. “They aren’t really experience with it as they should,” Deineh said. “It’s a slow progress, any deep personality that makes you think about the world in a new but it’s definitely there.” way.” According to co-vice president of TPHS GSA Emily Zhi (11), a more There is, in fact, a set of criteria called the Vito Russo test, named widespread presence of LGBT individuals in television showcases for prominent film historian and GLAAD cofounder of the same clear improvement in the tolerance and acceptance of the LGBT name. The test analyzes the way LGBT characters are included in community by society as a whole. film, developed by GLAAD, a media-monitoring organization whose “When you make a connection with someone who is gay, you goal is to “rewrite the script for LGBT acceptance,” according to its realize you have to stop stereotyping them,” Zhi said. “You can make mission statement. To pass the Vito Russo test, there must be an an emotional connection with a TV character and [realize that] gays LGBT character in the film, his or her role must not be defined mainly aren’t bad.” by sexuality and he or she must be tied to the plot so that his or her Accurate, positive representation of the LGBT community has removal would have significant effect. not yet been achieved. There are the missing tales of the spectrum of According to Professor Ware, less than half of 17 major studio films sexuality as a whole, Lamb said. with LGBT characters in 2014 passed the Vito Russo test. But there are stories to celebrate: There are tragic love stories “Studios are trying to portray more and more characters that like Jack and Ianto of BBC’s popular show “Torchwood,” and there represent the LGBT community, [but] characters are still not passing are budding romances like Nickelodeon’s Korra and Asami of “The the Vito Russo test,” Ware said. “So I don’t know if they’re doing a Legend of Korra.” Showing the profound connections between LGBT better job. There are just more characters that are perpetuating the characters, and reaching out to viewers to establish connections same [stereotypes].” beyond the screen, may be a way for society to look past prejudices An openly gay TPHS student said that more LGBT representation and stereotypes.

When you see a version of yourself being portrayed in a speciﬁc way, you tend to follow those stereotypes, which may or may not represent who you actually are.

3.9

Percent of primetime broadcast scripted series regulars that are LGBT characters 2014 Information courtesy of GLAAD

Percentage of ﬁlms with LGBT characters by top studios 1. Warner Brothers (32%) 2. Paramount (23%) 3. Universal (21%) 4. Fox (18%) 5. Lionsgate (12%) 6. Disney (8%) 7. Sony (6%)

Of the 114 releases GLAAD counted from the major studios, 17.5 contained characters identiﬁed as either lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

7/17

Films that passed the GLAAD Vito Russo test

PHOTO BY AVERY SPICKER/FALCONER

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entertainment

As serious journalists, the Falconer staff is committed to bringing sophisticated, highquality articles to readers. Our news stories are of the utmost relevance, our opinion pieces are overflowing with wisdom and our food reviews are filled to the brim with exciting new restaurants that you probably never bothered to check out. Our dedication to producing only the best left us with no other option but to end the year with a bang — french fry tasting. Preparations for the highly-anticipated fry tasting were intense. Not only did the staff spend a substantial amount of time deliberating over which fries to test, but we also had to deal with the problem of soggy fries. The select few who were entrusted with the task of buying them came to class bearing aluminumwrapped plates, thermal bags and even towel-insulated ceramic containers. We were serious. Our esteemed Entertainment editors shooed us into the lab as they set the room up for the experiment. With five plates of halfcold french fries set out and no knowledge of which esteemed fast food chain they came from, the Falconer staff stood at the ready. Despite the limp appearance of the food — side note: french fry runs during lunch bring only disappointing results — the smell of oil and minimally burnt potato was inviting. I stood against the testing table with my peers huddled around me. Pencils were ready, and tensions were high. The first brave soul to take a fry hesitantly popped it in her mouth while the rest of us awaited the nod of approval. Once we began, the fries disappeared from the plates in a flash. The first fries to be fully devoured were the Jack in the Box fries from Plate B. Unlike the others, they actually had a recognizable flavor when cold. I recall there being a slight taste of olive-oil, accentuated by minimal salt.

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most oily: Wendy’s

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The Jack in the Box fries were ranked highly by the staff in both appearance and taste, with averages of 7.79 and 7.08 out of 10, respectively. While everyone else took their time savoring each fry, I may or may not have shoved two or three in my mouth at once. Possibly four, but who’s counting? Truth be told, I was not the only person stealing seconds from the table; after everyone’s initial tastes, handfuls were disappearing. In less than 10 minutes, the taste test was over. After much deliberation over the fries’ crispiness, saltiness, oiliness, size and taste, the results were in. Based on the staff’s collective rating average, Jack in the Box fries were the favorite, with an overall score of 5.61. In-n-Out came second with 5.20, scoring high but being deemed too soggy to be the absolute best. Wendy’s, whose fries were just a bit softer and slightly bland, was ranked third at 5.16, while Carl’s Jr. managed to scrape by with fourth place. Their fries were consistently described as on the oily side, and extremely lacking in crispiness and saltiness. Most shockingly of all, McDonald’s fries were ranked fifth despite their popular reputation. I personally thought they tasted like cardboard and deceit. In my opinion, Jack in the Box fries were undoubtedly the best. The seasoning was not too overpowering, but had the perfect mixture of salt and olive oil. In a scientific sense — we are most definitely scientists doing a lot of intelligent stuff over here — tasting the fries straight out of the fryer would have provided more accurate assessments because, really, who likes cold, limp strips of potato? But the experience of taste testing proved to be quite enjoyable. The atmosphere in the classroom was buoyant with laughter, and, of course, you can never go wrong with a little oil and salt. Next time: burgers. by Maya Parella

best

june 4, 2015

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FOR ART’S SAKE

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MELISSA WOO

SIMON KIM HAIWA WU

SAVANA LENDRUM JACKIE LI

To be honest, I wasn’t all that excited to go see the For Art’s Sake show. It was a Tuesday and, after a long day of school, all I wanted was to go home and take a nap. I trudged slowly across campus, dragging my feet the whole way there while wishing I hadn’t taken this story. I expected a lot of great art — I’ve been to the show each year and it’s always been very impressive — but nothing grand enough to make me glad to have sacrificed my nap time to come. I took back every negative thought I had before coming to the exhibition, with great ferocity, because I was stopped dead in my tracks before even entering the building. The entrance was repainted by a few of the AP Studio Art students with a flurry of vivid blues and whites, depicting jellyfish floating through the ocean. I couldn’t help but stand there for a few minutes, backing up to get a better look. The only word that came out of my mouth was “wow.” In fact, after entering the building and getting to the actual exhibition, “wow” was apparently the only word in the English language that I knew. Stepping into the art show had overwhelmed me and filled me with a sense of awe. It felt as if someone had grabbed me by the shoulders and, looking me dead in the eye, said, “This here is pure talent.” There was such a variety of art that I had a hard time knowing where to begin looking. The AP Studio Art students floored me — I couldn’t even choose a favorite piece. It seems almost unfair to mention a few of the art pieces and students I was impressed by; everyone had shown such a solid set of work. But what first caught my eye when I entered the show was Grace Yang’s (12) art. The nature and concepts of her art were just so intriguing, especially the pizza. Oh god — the pizza. Her artwork depicting a pizza with different facial parts as toppings disturbed me, but I

loved it. And the pure technical skill of her pieces was equally astounding. I finally tore myself away from that wall, only to soon find myself glued to another. Jacki Li (12) showcased a number of paintings that, at first glance, look like they were done digitally. In fact, even after multiple glances it still looked like digital art because her work was so cleanly done. Her brushstrokes were impeccable. The only thing that prevented me from buying absolutely everything Li had painted was the hollow reminder of my empty wallet. It was infuriating that there was all this magnificent art around me that I didn’t have the funds to buy, especially because many of these artists were offering their works at such low prices — at the quality of work that they were presenting, they could have easily demanded a few hundred more for each piece. I kept wandering around the art room, going back and forth from wall to wall. Some pieces from Carolyn Chu’s (11) exhibition looked so realistic that they could have passed for photographs — the amount of detail put into each piece was unbelievable. Hajung Song’s (12) paintings also left a deep impression not only because of the level of detail, but also because of the novel concepts of the paintings. It may sound like I’m exaggerating, but this article doesn’t even do the presented pieces justice. It was well worth the lost nap time. Wishing I could stay longer, I dragged my feet all the way out the door — before pausing to stare at the mural for a few minutes longer. If there was one negative thought that I was left with after leaving the exhibition, it would be the fact that I now felt absolutely screwed about signing up for AP Studio Art next year. by Sarah Kim

GRACE YANG

AMY YU

TIFFANY KANG

KATIE CHEN

MAI SAITO

GRACE YANG

MAI SAITO

GRACE YANG

ERIK ZHANG

GRACE YANG

ASB and TAP students play AB 949 proposes first annual kickball game cheer as CIF sport By Caroline Rutten PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER Students from ASB and the Transitional Alternative Program had their ﬁrst annual kickball game on May 12 at the TPHS softball ﬁeld as a “fun event to bond and build relationships,” TAP teacher Susan Bouchard said. According to event planner Duncan Eshom (11), ASB commissioner of philanthropy, the kickball game was a way for students from the two neighboring classrooms to get to know each other and to include TAP students in ASB activities. There were 15 participants from the TAP and 30 from the ASB 4th period class, according to Eshom. Each class was split evenly between the two teams. “The event was so heartwarming,” Bouchard said. “All the kids were involved, and [the] ASB students were so open-minded. Since ASB is such a big part of [TPHS], it is really nice to see those

ASB-TAPkids share experiences with the TAP kids and really promote acceptance.” Additionally, according to Bouchard, socialization is an important skill for TAP students, so events like the kickball game, like all opportunities to interact with others, are beneficial. Her students loved the event and “were soaking it up.” Eshom said that ASB was “just as excited as the TAP kids meeting and playing with everyone.” Even though this was the first kickball game, there have been previous events between the TAP and ASB, according to ASB director Brad Golden. “I think this is a great tradition,” Golden said. “Students learn from one another, and [the game] was an opportunity to grow as people, so it fits in the context of school. It is important for the leaders of ASB to work with everyone at the school. In a moment like this, it shows how beautiful even a game like kickball can be.” Eshom, Golden and Bouchard all said they want to make the kickball game an annual event.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BRAD GOLDEN

JUST FOR KICKS: Connor McMillen (9) pounds the ball to right ﬁeld as the other team gets ready for the play. The kickball game was a success and may lead the way to more games in future years.

By Austin Zhang COPY EDITOR On Feb. 26, California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez introduced Assembly Bill 949, which stipulates that competitive cheerleading be officially recognized as a sport by the CIF and that the CIF establish standardized rules and guidelines for cheerleading. One goal of the bill, according to Gonzalez, is to grant cheerleading recognition through the establishment of a formal CIF competitive environment. However, according to TPHS cheer head coach Suzy Chodorow, CIF classification may not be the best way to accomplish those aims. “At this point, I wouldn’t be in a hurry to support CIF status,” Chodorow said. “TP cheer is [already] a year-round sport, supporting our on-campus athletics.” Additionally, Chodorow said cheerleading at TPHS is already a competitive sport. “After basketball season ends, our competition cheer season begins,” Chodorow said. “It’s definitely ‘above and beyond’ high school cheer in terms of time. There are extra practices after school to learn choreography and to fine-tune our routine. We typically compete in four to five competitions [per year].” According to Chodorow, the passage of AB 949 would result in changes to the way cheerleading is run, including limitations on how many practices can be held. For varsity cheerleader Jackie Weinrich (11), cheerleading is already a rigorous activity. “I think that the rules we have, especially at Torrey Pines, really puts [cheerleading] at the caliber of the other CIF sports at this school, even though we’re not CIF,” Weinrich said. “I think that the regulations that we have now are allowing us to perform to our [full] athletic capacity.” Varsity cheerleader Stefanie Ho (11) said competition season is very time-consuming, to the point where she “would consider that aspect of it pretty much a sport already.” Another intent of the proposed bill is increasing the safety of cheerleading through the newly created CIF regulations. However, according to Chodorow, safety protocols are already in place for the cheerleaders at TPHS. “I believe cheer is safe,” Chodorow said. “For example, when stunting, we have ‘spotters,’ or extra cheerleaders that are not directly involved in the stunt, around to help catch if a [cheerleader] wobbles or falls.” Athletic directors Charlenne Falcis-Stevens and Matt Livingston said they had no statements about the bill until they had more information about it. As of May 29, the bill had passed through several California State Assembly committees and is being debated on the floor of the Assembly.

INFOGRAPHIC BY ALICE QU/FALCONER

sports

tphsfalconer.com

DAY IN THE

LIFE

The Falconer looks into surfer Austin Sonnier’s (12) near-drowning experience, which earned him international fame.

Austin Sonnier (12) wrenched open his eyes, blinked away whirlpools of salt water, and paddled with one arm away from the towering waves. He washed up on the shore with an injured shoulder and a hyperextended neck, in the midst of a crowd of concerned yet eager photographers. “I’m crawling, my shoulder’s paralyzed, because underwater [the wave] hit me so hard in the head that for about five seconds, I blacked out and was stunned,” Sonnier said. “I couldn’t move my body.” On May 3, Sonnier and some friends went to the Wedge, a popular surfing spot in Newport Beach, to surf waves reaching up to 25-30 feet — a rare occurrence in California. Sonnier went expecting little more than a good time with his friends. Yet as Sonnier cruised at the bottom of a wave during his last ride of the day, the rail of his surfboard dug into the water and catapulted him forward, and his face hit the water. On impact, Sonnier’s shoulder popped out of its socket, and another crashing wave broke over his head, hyperextending his neck and giving him whiplash. According to Sonnier, what saved him from drowning were his ability to hold his breath, some quick thinking and luck. “There’s really gnarly rip currents that sweep you into the jetty, so at that point [I was] facing a choice,” Sonnier said. “[Either] risk getting swept up into the jetty, or try to ride … a 20-foot wave that’s breaking on the shore. So, I take the wave and get another wipeout, but I get washed up to the sand and barely stumble up.” According to Sonnier, there were 200-300 people on the beach watching the surfers, as well as a phalanx of news trucks and photographers. “When I was walking up the shore, I got approached by five or 10 photographers with their business cards,” Sonnier said. “[They were] saying, ‘Hey, that was nuts;

the falconer

we’re going to send this into Surfline, Surfer Magazine, the local newspaper,’ and they weren’t lying.” By May 7, four days after the event, a photograph taken of Sonnier at the Wedge had received 23,000 visits on Surfline, a widely known news website in the surfing community. At the time the Falconer went to press, the photo had garnered more than 62,000 visits. “I’ve had a couple other publications … but international publication was exhilarating,” Sonnier said. “I just go charge the Wedge with my friends, and literally, international posts everywhere.” A nationally-ranked surfer, Sonnier has competed in surfing competitions and series since middle school, including with the Western Surfing Association, the National Scholastic Surfing Association and the Scholastic Surfing Association. However, not long before his wipeout at the Wedge, Sonnier began shifting away from competitive surf to focus on free surfing, get some “big waves” under his belt and “start making a name for [himself] in the surfing world.” “Just three months of me hanging out with my friends, just trying to surf for myself and not for contests, and I landed on the front page of the biggest surfing website in

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the world,” Sonnier said. “It feels surreal. It can all change in the blink of an eye.” To Sonnier, who has been surfing since he was 5 years old, the constant unpredictability and individuality of the sport is what makes it so enjoyable. “There’s so many variables, so every wave is different,” Sonnier said. “It’s just you and the ocean. There’s no other sport like it, where you’re just completely encumbered by natural elements.” Sonnier’s experience at the Wedge not only amplified his reputation as a surfer but also humbled him with the close encounter with serious injury and possible death. “So, I was like, ‘Okay, Austin, you’re a good surfer, but the ocean is still always in control,’” Sonnier said. “‘It still always dominates. Don’t get too carried away; you can always improve.’” After graduating, Sonnier will surf for the University of California, Santa Barbara’s surf team. His passion for the sport is nearly impossible to curb; once he washed up on the sand after the wipeout, Sonnier simply shook off his injuries, gathered his equipment and reset his mind for another day of surfing. By Lily Nilipour

PHOTO COURTESY OF AUSTIN SONNIER

SMILE AND WAVE: Austin Sonnier (12) loses control of his surfboard and wipes out beneath a roaring, 30foot wave at the Wedge. Despite his dangerous experience, Sonnier wants to surf even bigger waves in the future.

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michael lin badminton may 29, 4:16:48 p.m.

camera: canon eos 50d lens: canon 85mm f/1.8 USM iso: 3200 exp: 1/400 seconds f/stop: f/1.8 by avery spicker

june 4, 2015

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FALCON TRIES: ROWING BY MAYA PARELLA Despite her small size, staff writer Maya Parella (10) braves the water in a boat two sizes too big.

Here’s the thing: I am the human embodiment of a clumsy baby giraffe. Perhaps it is due to the weeks of sleep missed on account of Netflix marathons, but I simply cannot get around without tripping or knocking something over. To make matters worse, I start squeaking every time I fall, and let me tell you, people in real life do not find squeaking nearly as endearing as they do in the movies. Still, when I volunteered to try out rowing for the Falconer, I was pretty confident I could get through a day without making a fool of myself. Mission accomplished — not. The morning I went rowing started out uneventfully enough. When I arrived at the San Diego Rowing Club at 11 a.m., the air was pleasant but a bit chilly. The water was a clear, aqua blue, accentuated by pebble-covered sand. My fellow staff members — Eric Cunningham, who was my instructor, and photographer Grace Bruton — greeted me with friendly smiles. I was at ease. The apprehension kicked in when Eric began teaching me the basics of rowing. I felt a little silly on a mock rowboat seat, desperately trying to learn the correct movements without embarrassing myself. There are four parts to a stroke: catch, drive, finish and recovery. In order to actually move, your arm and leg movements have to be very precise. Not to mention that you have to manage the dozens of other tiny details: back straight, wrists up, oars always parallel on the water’s surface — it was too much for me. Each time I attempted a stroke, I left out some essential component that messed up the entire process. Note to self: Add “multitask” to list of things I cannot do. Finally, after Eric declared me sufficiently enough to row for real — which, honestly, was doubtful — we brought the boat to the water. Now came yet another obstacle: actually getting into the boat. After some difficulty, I was situated properly in the boat and promptly realized I had already forgotten everything Eric had taught me. At this moment, I felt panic begin to erupt inside me. Not only was I irrationally afraid of being chided by Eric, but I was also worried about whether I would come out of this whole experience unscathed. According to Eric, the most important part of rowing is making sure you always have ahold of your oars. Let go for a split second and the boat will flip. So it turns out that rowing involves both physical and

mental exertion. Combined with my lack of hand-eye coordination, that pretty much guaranteed I’d flip the boat. Being the gentleman he is, Eric patiently retaught me the steps while wading jean-clad in thigh-deep water. We must have been quite the sight from a distance: an anxious girl in a boat two times too big for her and a half-soaked boy straddling the bow. A handful of semi-successful rowing attempts later, I cast off by myself. Without Eric’s step-by-step instruction, I hardly moved at first, but his shouts of advice and encouragement were uplifting. Slowly, I got into a rhythm. Since the boat was too big for me, the oars often caught on my shirt. Although I usually managed to pull free in time to keep my rhythm going, at one point I let go of the oars for just a second. Then, I knew. The end was coming. The freezing water was shocking, to say the least, and being too deep for me to stand in, went up my nose and in my mouth, momentarily ramping up my panic. When I finally settled down, I began the process of getting back into the boat as Eric had previously taught me. As if falling sideways out of the boat was not embarrassing enough, struggling to get back in was even more mortifying. While holding on to both oars with my left hand, I had to simultaneously push my entire torso onto the boat with my right hand, and then do some radical yoga moves to maneuver my backside onto the boat. Let’s face it. I am a 5-foot-2-inch, 90-pound girl with a history of ramen eating and Netflix binging; my upper body strength is almost nonexistent. It took me a good five or six tries to get back in, and my dive in the water actually ended up refreshing me. Within minutes, with Eric’s frequent direction, I began rowing like a pro. Or as close to a pro a klutz like me can get, anyway. Turning the boat around was not as hard as I anticipated, either, though my right arm was about as useful as a limp noodle. I took three more laps around the bay, only falling in once more, before I decided to call it a day. Not surprisingly, my arms ached the moment I let go of the oars, and my hands refused to straighten for a good five minutes. Although I was wet, cold and a tiny bit sandy, my rowing experience was thoroughly enjoyable. Embarrassing moments aside, I think I did pretty well out there, for a rookie.

PHOTOS BY GRACE BRUTON/FALCONER

ROCK ‘N ROW: Parella tenuously finishes her first successful stroke, managing to not flip the boat in the process.

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The Falconer mapped out the achievements of the staff seniors, digging deep to discover all about their futures and finding that the seniors took unforeseen, but impressive paths to success. The Falconer credits itself for the outstanding accomplishments of the seniors and hopes that they will keep their memories of late-night, pizza-filled layouts with them wherever they go.

Name: @kmulk__ Location: New York, New York Following her immediate success as co-creator of Sensory Input Magazine, KT knew right away that she would devote the rest of her life to keeping a “conversation about youth, perspective, and the power of an active voice that refuses to be muted” alive, according to sensoryinputmag. com. She continues to post ambiguous photos on Instagram (we STILL don’t get the captions) and pen tool in local coffee shops. If you see a messy blonde bun on a well-dressed individual carrying a MacBook, CamelBak and a thousand other things that couldn’t ﬁt in her bag, you will be able to say that you’ve been graced by the presence of former Falconer Editor-in-Chief Katie Mulkowsky. On Friday nights, she can be found slow-snapping to Chet Faker and Taku. Alrite, alrite, who would have guessed? This is absolutely absurd.

@sarahwho?? 2 Name: Location: South Korea

Name: @bloonsTD Location: Boston, Massachusetts With a suitcase full of black leggings and flip flops, Anna Li set out to Boston in search of a limited-edition, region-specific Team Fortress 2 hat. She took with her a passion for brooding, unsmiling selfies accompanied by mystifying captions that suggest inside jokes never to be explained. The New England climate, which shockingly validates forecasts other than Arctic-in-the-morning-and-Sahara-in-the-afternoon, did not deter Anna, who carries her quarter zip everywhere, ready to throw it on at the first sign of below-50-degree weather. And if that doesn’t keep her warm enough, she will surely find a Jonas brother to keep her cozy. Or maybe two — when she counts her blessings, she counts them twice.

After graduating from Cornell University with a degree in computer science, Sarah Brown has chosen to abandon her prestigious post-grad life to pursue her secret dream of living the life of a K-pop star. Turning down countless job offers requesting she become the leader of a revolution of female coders, Brown moved to South Korea last month to start training. After a few weeks, Brown was scouted for her phenomenal singing and dancing abilities, and her ﬁrst single album featuring Taeyang will be released on May 7. Rumors have suggested that Brown is also preparing to debut in a girl group, but prospective members have commented that they have not seen her at recent practices. Brown was last seen running through an alleyway from a crowd of revolutionaries, attempting to convince her to become their leader.

Name: @robbiejohnsenator Location: California After graduating from UCSB as a political science major, Robbie Johnson ran a successful campaign and became California’s youngest senator. Between ordering shipments of blue mystery lollipops and creating excel spreadsheets for “fun,” Sen. Johnson barely has any time to pursue his lifelong dream: sailing around the world and pen tooling each country he passes. He is currently saving up for this trip by buying and selling stocks, but in the meantime he will keep providing safety and semi-cold French fries for everyone in California.

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Name: @fernanbro Location: Bristol, Connecticut Where did Fernango? University of Southern California graduate Fernando “Fernanbro” “The House Plant” “Fern” Stepensky accepted a position as commentator for ESPN, fulfilling his lifelong ambition of handing people their sports opinions and urging anyone who will listen to support home teams over fantasy lineups. Although the lack of Board & Brew sandwiches in Connecticut and the ESPN workplace requirement that employees show up on time occasionally are major obstacles, Stepensky feels confident in his ability to tackle the rigor of professional work and find ways to circumvent the attendance requirement. He also feels that his extremely high level of proficiency in “Bubble Trouble,” a major contributor to his acceptance and subsequent successful academic career at USC, will aid him in his endeavor.

Name: @ajen Location: Finland After spending four years getting a degree in art history — also known as wasting four years at an expensive school and then living in your parents’ basement — Alex Jen (‘15) deﬁed the odds and was offered a job at Helsinki’s Finnish Museum of Ancient Scandinavian Art. In preparation for the harsh weather, Jen bought out the entire winter collection at Uniqlo, including three extra $500 parkas as well as every possible article with art on it. “What the s--- it’s cold!” he screams. It would probably help if he stopped exposing his bare chest to the elements and actually buttoned up his shirts. Old habits really do die hard.

Name: @varun5 Location: San Diego Having graduated from the prestigious Princeton University with Bachelor’s Degrees in Poetry and Snark, Varun Bhave is now back home in San Diego doing what he does best: conning children out of money. Bhave now resides in a milliondollar penthouse apartment bought with the proﬁt he made from his best-selling poetry collection entitled “I am better than all of you.” Even though he had a successful high school career — ﬁrst in the nation for Lincoln-Douglas Debate (that was 4 years ago and only lasted for a month) and successfully asking Anna Lee (later EIC of the Falconer) to Prom with a 20-line poem — he, unfortunately, has fallen into the grasp of early peaking syndrome. His current hobbies include sitting at home clinking champagne bottles and getting tipsy in the company of his vast trophy collection.

Name: @sinhahaha Location: Unknown The last we heard of Charulata Sinha, she was a prominent criminal lawyer residing alone in a penthouse apartment high above New York City, and neither she nor we are quite sure how she got there. Maybe her statistics minor somehow helped her play the stock market. Since graduating from New York University, Charu has been married six times, and has also successfully defended herself in just as many murder cases. She apparently never really recovered from “Serial.” Despite her notoriety, she has evidently managed to remove herself from the grid — no social media whatsoever. Her family has been reduced to posting desperate pleas for contact in Facebook groups she belonged to in high school and tearfully re-reading the backpages she wrote in the Golden Age of Falconer humor.

Name: @01100010 01100101 01101110 00100000 01101100 01100001 01110111 01110011 01101111 01101110ben Location: crumbled ruins of TPHS “Who? I’ve never met him before,” was the common response when the Falconer asked UCLA students about the elusive Comp Sci major. Upon further investigation, we’ve found that Ben in fact never left the now-abandoned publications lab, still playing Bubble Trouble. “I’m practicing,” he said, eyes never once leaving the screen. “I’ve gotten really good. Fernando will never know what hit him.” In order to continue his studies, Ben has written a program to perform all his coursework and communicate with professors by cybertelepathy. “It’s a bit like Ultron — except without the murderous rampage and no actual robot. Although…” He stood abruptly. “Excuse me. I have some work to do.”

ART BY AMANDA CHEN, SARAH KIM, MAYA KOTA AND ALICE QU/FALCONER WORDS BY AMANDA CHEN, SARAH KIM, ANNA LEE, TASIA MOCHERNAK, MAYA PARELLA, ALICE QU, MAYA RAO, IRENE YU AND AUSTIN ZHANG/FALCONER