Falconer The Torrey Pines High School
Thursday, March 26, 2015 | Vol. 40, Issue 7, 32 pages | San Diego | www.tphsfalconer.com
GSA TO HOLD “RAINBOW WEEK” The TPHS Gay Straight Alliance is hosting a “Rainbow Week” to educate students about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Intersex and Asexual Plus community, according to GSA member Milena Chakraverti-Wuerthwein (11). Chakraverti-Wuerthwein said that the club wants to “make sure that [it focuses] on the idea of a safe space, rather than making the week a controversial issue.” According to Chakraverti-Wuerthwein, the LGBTQIA+ events will most likely be held during the week of April 17, the National Day of Silence. “Torrey Pines does have a huge reputation of being a homophobic school, since it is sports-oriented,” ChakravertiWuerthwein said. “We want to change [the campus climate] by having an awareness week, because a lot of people may not realize that they’re being homophobic when they say ‘Oh, that’s so gay’ or ‘You’re such a faggot.’” According to GSA members, there was a misunderstanding between administration and the club when the week was initially proposed. “We asked the ASB Director [Brad Golden] to talk to [Assistant Principal Garry] Thornton for us … so it went from us to [Golden] to Thornton and back to us,” club member Haley Browning (12) said. “That’s like [the game] ‘telephone,’ so a miscommunication could have easily happened.” Browning said that the “gist” of administration’s initial response was interpreted by club members to be negative. Members speculated the response was due to the possibility of “backlash” if the event were school-sanctioned or attendance was mandatory. However, both Principal David Jaffe and Golden said that logistics had to be worked out before any event could be officially approved. “I don’t have a concern about [any potential] complaints, but I want to make sure that we do it in such a way that complaints do not overshadow the message of the week,” Jaffe said. “That’s why I’m working with [the club].” Additionally, Thornton said that the National Day of Silence could interfere with classroom activities, since teachers might have to reschedule projects or tests. Jaffe said that the club did not want to undermine the effectiveness of the Day
of Silence “by extending [exploration of LGBTQIA+ issues] to a week unless there was a good plan in place.” Both Jaffe and SDUHSD Superintendent Rick Schmitt are now “happy to stand by [what the club is planning to do],” according to Chakraverti-Wuerthwein. Jaffe said that club members have “given [him] some preliminary ideas, and they’re going to provide [him] with a plan and work out the logistics.” According to Jaffe, unlike with Red and Yellow Ribbon Week events, which are state-sanctioned activities for all students to attend, those who want to partake in Rainbow Week activities will have to “actively [ask for] permission,” even though the GSA is a school-sponsored club. “We can’t put [teachers] in a position where their students are forced to attend, so it has to be voluntary,” Jaffe said. “So a teacher couldn’t say ‘I’m going to bring my whole class to the assemblies’ without kids [having an opportunity to opt out]. They can’t just be forced to do anything.” According to Browning, in order to “foster understanding and communication,” GSA is planning to put up fact sheets with definitions and descriptions of different gender and sexuality identifications. “There are people who identify as something because they don’t know what other options there are, or people who just feel, ‘I’m not this, what am I?’” ChakravertiWuerthwein said. “So we are getting definitions and statistics out there to make people aware.” Co-athletic director Charlenne FalcisStevens and GSA leadership plan to bring in guest speakers, including Hudson Taylor, founder and executive director of pro-LGBT rights organization Athlete Ally. Taylor will speak on April 28, according to Chakraverti-Wuerthwein. “He’ll talk about making athletics an open community where people of all gender identities and sexualities feel comfortable,” Chakraverti-Wuerthwein said. Additional events extend beyond the TPHS campus. Chakraverti-Wuerthwein said that, on April 29, 20 Falcon athletes will join the San Diego Padres and students from other county schools to pledge “that their baseball space [and athletic programs] will be open, accepting and safe for people of all gender identities and sexualities.” By Tasia Mochernak and Katie Mulkowsky
ART BY SARAH BROWN AND ANNA LI
Don Collins wins TPHS Teacher of the Year award By Alice Qu A&E EDITOR
Peer Assistant Listeners adviser and Independent Study Online Lab facilitator Don Collins was voted TPHS Teacher of the Year by TPHS certificated staff members — teachers, psychologists and counselors — on March 6. Teachers were nominated by faculty, who then voted to determine the winner. “I wasn’t surprised [Collins won] because he definitely has a large presence on this campus,” PALs president Bailey Pope (12) said. Collins represented TPHS for Teacher of the Year at the district level, where a coordinating council — composed of the principals from participating SDUHSD schools and a department chair from each of 14 subject areas — reviewed teacher profiles and voted on a winner. On March 20, Earl Warren Middle School teacher Debra Cruse won district Teacher of the Year and will represent SDUHSD at the county level. “TPHS has loads of amazing, invested, talented teachers, so to be recognized by them and to represent them at the district level as Teacher
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The breeze, the sand and the bizarrely shaped racket all combined to make me look foolish. Tasia Mochernak See Falcon Tries, A27
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Teachers change cell phone policies By Maya Parella STAFF WRITER
Some TPHS teachers have recently implemented new cell phone policies in their classrooms to crack down on students’ device use during class time. Cell phone use is a widespread problem in classrooms. According to Assisted Living Today, the attention span of adolescents has fallen from 15 minutes to five minutes since 2001. Other consequences of constant device use include diminished ability to communicate in person and poor memory skills. The brain becomes accustomed to releasing excess dopamine, a chemical hormone that regulates happiness, with each alert, causing unnaturally high tolerance. As a result, people tend to become bored more easily and require device use to entertain them, according to the New York Times. After months of fighting cell phones for his
students’ attention, psychology teacher Matt Chess now requires his students to put their phones in the front of the room during class. “I’m not judging anybody, and I’m not feeling disrespected by [cell phone usage],” Chess said. “I understand the compelling nature of the technology, so I thought it was in [the students’] best interest, collectively and individually, to take the temptation away.” Chess’s students are only allowed their phones during in-class breaks or when technology is required for classwork. Biology teacher Mary Ann Rall implemented a similar policy in her classroom. Unless it is a test day, during which all cellphones are placed in a hanging shoe rack, Rall’s students are allowed to keep their phones with them. On nontest days, the rack serves, according to Rall, as a “threat” to encourage students to take personal responsibility and not use their devices during class. If a student is caught with his or her phone,
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