Falconer April 2014

opinion

tphsfalconer.com

the falconer

A7

STAFFEDITORIAL: paying college athletes

Collegiate athletes are not paid to play at any university in the United States. However, the debate over whether or not that should change is once again in the limelight, after star player Shabazz Napier of the University of Connecticut’s basketball team, which just won the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament and makes the school millions of dollars each year, said he sometimes goes to bed starving.

Although the NCAA just last week granted unlimited meals to scholarship athletes over and above a 3 meal-a-day plan already provided, the question of whether college athletes deserve separate stipends or salaries was left unresolved. While it is easy to side with the athletes, especially after receiving testimony from students below the poverty line, a plan to pay athletes remains flawed and infeasible.

The sports that bring in almost all of a school’s total sports revenue are football and men’s basketball, but if those athletes were paid, athletes across all sports would have to be paid the

“

In college, [sports are] still a school activity; they’re not really a job ... Your main idea is not to be paid, but to be there for school.

Izzy Landis (9)

same amount of money. A thirdstring quarterback or a backup punter may not make a significant difference in how much money the team generates for the school, but not paying players the same amount is inequitable and would negatively affect team dynamics.

In addition, talented players are sometimes given full scholarships to attend a university, and at an institution like Northwestern University, where football players were recently granted permission to unionize for the first time in the history of the NCAA, that can amount to about $250,000 over four years of schooling. Not only does that constitute a form of payment, but many athletes also take the spots of more academically qualified students at top-notch colleges like Stanford University, which has a top-25 football program.

With the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago ruling that Northwestern players can unionize, a more important question has now arisen in the pay-to-play debate: Is college

athletes’ biggest problem the fact that they do not get paid?

Rather than focusing on getting paid because their schools are making so much money off of them and their coaches are getting paid millions, players should try and get a fund in place to pay graduate school tuition, aid athletes who are under the poverty line and better their educations at their respective colleges.

That is, after all, what college is meant for — learning, not turning a profit.

While making money in college sports may make sense for the star athletes, the large majority of players do not go pro or last more than five years. To say these athletes must be paid on top of getting a quality education for free is ridiculous.

A free education, a l o n g with the

connections and networking players are exposed to when they are playing at the college level, are undervalued in today’s society. Saying these athletes are not reaping huge benefits already is ludicrous. It may seem unfair t h a t schools are making millions

art by teresa chen/falcon artist

student voices

“

Colleges make so much money out of the athletes’ hard work. I think some compensation would be good.

Sterling Conner (10)

Do you think collegelevel athletes should be paid for playing on their respective teams?

of dollars from the hard work of athletes, who are not being paid. However, what it does do is ensure the term “studentathlete,” which the NCAA uses to define its athletes, makes any sense.

Rather than struggling to put cash in their pockets, players should be trying to get a good education and get their degrees just in case they need them.

”

”

I don’t think you should be paid to play sports in college. I think getting paid takes away from their education.

No, because ... you’re not playing a professional sport. You’re playing for fun and trying to go professional.

Myles Hundley (11)

Allie Zimmer (12)

Ever since David Letterman announced he was leaving the Late Show...

... his successor’s eyes have begun to resemble a certain logo.

the strip.

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A8 the falconer

opinion

april 25, 2014

Supreme Court campaign finance ruling misguided

f

By Anna Lee copy editor

The April 2 Supreme Court ruling in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission lifted the ban on aggregate campaign donations, striking down caps on how much an individual can contribute in total to federal candidates and party committees.

The 5-4 decision followed the Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. FEC case, which removed restrictions on the funding of independent committees for or against candidates up for election. The new ruling makes it possible for individuals to support numerous political action committees or private organizations, which then donate to specific campaigns. These steps to make money an even bigger factor in American politics will only open the door to corruption.

The previous aggregate limit of $48,600 for the 2013-14 election cycle already allowed donors great influence in political circles,

as an individual could contribute to 18 federal candidates per cycle. Without aggregate limits, wealthy donors could spread their influence far beyond just 18 candidates, ensuring that the special interests of political action committees and the rich dominate the political realm.

The voice of the common citizen is completely overshadowed on issues like campaign finance, allowing those with big money to bend elections to their advantage and, in doing so, undermine the proud democracy of the United States.

The Court’s Republicanappointed justices justified their decision on the basis that the financial contribution caps were unconstitutional.

According to Chief Justice John Roberts, aggregate limits violate the First Amendment, which “prohibits such legislative ‘fine-tuning’ of the electoral process.” Accordingly, the court found it unacceptable for governments to restrict campaign finances to “equalize the financial resources of candidates” or “level the playing field.” However, the court does have one legitimate reason to restrict campaign finances: preventing corruption, and increasing the money flow into elections will inevitably increase corruption, or at least

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE emily sun The Falconer feature editor writes another sappy reflection. Thought it would end with her column? We did, too.

photo by grace bruton/falconer

the temptation to corrupt the political process by giving the wealthy more opportunity to influence politicians’ decisions.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research group that tracks the effects of money on public policy and elections, there were a total of 591 donors in the 2012 election cycle that contributed at least $46,200 to all federal candidates, and 1,715 donors that contributed at least $70,800 to party committees.

Removing aggregate limits allows donors even more opportunity to influence politicians. The continued abolition of campaign finance limits not only invites corruption but turns political activity away from benefiting the public and toward satisfying the desires of certain wealthy groups.

Therefore, those justices in favor of eliminating aggregate limits should actually be restricting political contributions and, by extension, preventing corruption — not using the First Amendment as a rationale for increasing the voice of the affluent in politics.

Supporters of banning aggregate limits also cite the First Amendment freedom of speech guarantee: Financial contributions are symbolic

expressions of approval and personal opinion. However, free speech is a personal right, not a means to manipulate political campaigns. The decision of the Court, as well as Citizens United, has closed the doors to democracy, in which the entire populace ought to be represented in the government, and opened the door to a twisted system where the bank accounts of the

When I was 4 years old, I helped my mother bake chocolate chip cookies for the first time.

From then, I knew I’d grow up to become a baker. I held fast to that dream until I was 6, furiously beating eggs and scooping flour into measuring cups. But after I was selected to perform at my ballet school’s recital with the principal dancers, I decided I’d instead become a ballerina. I practiced grand jetés in the living room and clenched my teeth as I struggled into the splits on the kitchen tiles. My plans changed again when I was 10, after an astronomy book inspired me to become an astronaut.

My dream of orbiting masses of swirling gas shifted to a job in genetics — or perhaps neurology — after a summer of poring over my parents’ medical journals. When I was 15, I firmly set my foot down under the instruction of Barbara Swovelin. I was sure I’d become an English literature professor — for a few months, at least, until I joined the Falconer, absolutely for certain this time — to become a journalist. I’m 17 now, and no closer to choosing a career.

I still love to bake.

I still love to dance — though usually alone in my room, unseen. I still pause by the window and gaze at the gleaming pinpricks against the night, wondering about what marvels lie enveloped in that velvet vastness. I conduct DNA research at a lab and pester my parents to keep up with their research. I guiltily indulge in reading by flashlight under the

covers until my arm aches and eyelids droop, and I’m as involved as ever as a proud “Falconerd.”

I think my indecisiveness stems from the fact that I still have much to explore. After all, I have over a year before graduation, and in that year I’ll examine every corner, devour every experience, until I’ve become mature and knowledgeable enough to formulate my ambitions. Friends of mine already have their dream medical schools in mind or are taking courses in preparation to become software engineers, but I want to be absolutely certain of the road I’ll take. So, before the path diverges, I want to experience every bit of everything.

And I can be sure none of it’ll

rich have an alarming amount of power over the people. America needs to reduce the domination of PACs and special interest groups, not give them more influence over the election process.

There is no reason to give money even more sway in the U.S. political system, not when removing limits will only lead to corruption of the electoral process and will upset of the balance between the vote of the people and the vote of the rich.

art by kelsey chen/falcon artist

I have over a year before graduation, and in that year I’ll examine every corner, devour every experience. go to waste. Upon entering high school, I tried my hand at every extracurricular I could; since then, I’ve joined the Falconer, edited for the school science journal, and competed in volleyball, academic team, quiz bowl and two types of debate. By the beginning of junior year, when more focus than ever on these activities was imperative, I was forced to narrow my scope. Still, debate had cultivated my confidence in public speaking, trained me to improvise and think faster on my feet, and helped me become a more articulate and well-spoken person. This all boosted my ability as a student journalist to write concise articles and interview utter strangers. I miss the sting in my fingers after serving an ace, the exhilaration after landing from a kill and the squeaking of shoes on the volleyball court,

but volleyball taught me how to better interact with fellow writers and academic team members. The exhaustion of long hours in the gym was a taste of the dedication required to stay up in the lab on late-night layouts.

John Steinbeck spent five years at college, taking only the courses that interested him before dropping out. I’m comforted by knowing that his success was defined not by a college degree but by his ability to integrate into his writing the cumulative knowledge he’d gained from not only school but also the odd jobs he took as an itinerant worker or the Sea of Cortez voyage he took with Ed Ricketts. Although seemingly connected by no pattern, all the experiences molded Steinbeck’s work and outlook on life.

I suppose I do know my true goal, encompassing all those previous and all those following it: I want to learn. Perhaps it’s fitting that I’m an avid journalist and quiz bowl player; I want to inhale and greedily gulp every experience, every factoid I encounter. In what form my goal will ultimately manifest is still hazy. But soon, I hope, I will have the proper tools to decide.

Even then, I’ll continue to examine and savor every inch of every facet of life. I’m reminded of a remark Kurt Vonnegut Jr. once made about his wife’s insistence that he buy an envelope online.

“I pretend not to hear her,” he said. “And go out to get an envelope because I’m going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope.

I meet a lot of people ... and a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And ask a woman what kind of dog that is.

And I don’t know ... We’re dancing animals ... we love to move around. And we’re not supposed to dance at all anymore.”

Mr. Vonnegut, I’ll show your wife a plié or two.

opinion

tphsfalconer.com

the falconer

A9

Mississippi act must be met with caution

By Katie Mulkowsky focus editor

Although constitutional law professor Matt Steffey of the Mississippi College School of Law called the public outcry over Mississippi’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act “much ado about nothing,” the effect of the legislation is far less comical than the Shakespearean play.

The bill, which was signed

by Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on April 3, “protects residents from laws or local ordinances that violate their right to protect their faith,” and adds “In God We Trust” to the Mississippi state seal, according to the Huffington Post. Supporters say that it will ensure unfettered practice of religion, while critics assert that the measure legalizes discrimination, giving businesses the right to refuse service based on religious objections. The bill is unnecessary, since the rights of religious people have rarely been compromised, but it may be a stretch to say that it will directly permit or encourage prejudice.

Mississippi is not Arizona, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is not SB 1062,

Not every citizen necessarily practices religion, and the rights of those who do not should be just as secure as the rights of those who do.

The other problem with the public opposition to the legislation is that it further reinforces the automatically adversarial relationship that forms between religious institutions and the LGBTQ community whenever a law concerning one or the other of the two is proposed. Legally and socially, both have undeniable presence and vocal and active constituencies, but despite differences, a spirited moral battle does not have to break out every time a law appears to some to favor one over the other. If states like Mississippi truly kept affairs of church separate from those of state, support of the former would not injure the latter, and laws that protect t h e

freedom of any group or individual would be welcomed by all.

Ultimately, the act is not as pointedly flawed as the one proposed in Arizona, but it is because of ingrained

prejudice that groups that see themselves as having opposing interests under the law are wary of the Mississippi bill. There is nothing clearly wrong with the terms of the bill or with the measures it permits, but given the many ways “religious freedom” has been interpreted of late, the LGBTQ community in Mississippi and elsewhere is not wrong in its trepidation about the bill’s potential implications.

art by carolyn chu/falcon artist

f

the Arizona bill “designed to bolster a business owner’s right to refuse service to gays and others if the owner believes doing so violates the practice of his or her religion,” which Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed in February, according to the Los Angeles Times. There have been many recent cases in which business owners have, in the words of Mitt Romney, “used religion as a fig leaf for prejudice,” but opposing the Mississippi Religious Freedom legislation because it might cause such prejudice is just as objectionable as the prejudice itself. According to the Huffington Post, the bill would make it easier to erect places of worship in Mississippi towns rather than legalizing business owners’ bigotry. In short, the public’s outcry has substance, but its argument may be off-base.

Still, opponents of the bill do bring up valid points about the issue of religion itself, from a legal standpoint. While it is the job of legislators to ensure the religious freedom of citizens, if there have been no specific instances in which those freedoms have been violated, the extra protection is not necessary in the first place. Since, in addition to granting specific protections to the religious, the act also allows the prominent mention of God in the state seal, critics are not entirely misguided in their fear that what might be interpreted as a bias in favor of religion could infringe upon the rights of those with secular or LGBTQ causes.

Automakers should value safety over money

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By Maya Rao staff writer

Nearly 1.3 million people die in car crashes each year, according to the Association for Safe International Road Travel. Road traffic crashes are the ninth leading cause of death globally but the second for people aged 5-14 and the first for people aged 15-29. Most of these accidents are blamed on the driver, leading to the formation of organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving. However, with recent automobile recalls, like the General Motors Jan. 31 safety recall, which led to nearly 2.6 million cars being pulled worldwide, people are starting to look differently at road crashes.

They are beginning to realize that the companies that make their vehicles, which they have depended on for security, might not care for their safety after all.

Legislation must be implemented to ensure that automakers value customer safety over money.

G.M. is only one company in a long list of corporations — including Toyota and Ford, which had a 1.3 million car recall and a 348,950 car recall, respectively, in April alone — that would rather sacrifice people than dollars.

Companies must realize that no

matter how high the financial cost, no amount of money can ever meet the cost of a human life.

G.M.’s main problem lay in a faulty ignition switch in their Chevrolet Cobalt cars. The part, which caused some cars to shut off while they were on the road, caused 13 deaths and 31 crashes.

Replacing the switch was deemed cost-ineffective by G.M., which concluded that it was cheaper to settle lawsuits brought by the families of the victims than replace the defective switches at 90 cents per car.

G.M. never wanted to make the Cobalt cars in the first place.

Kelley Blue Book analyst Karl Brauer said in an interview with CNN that G.M. stopped caring about the compact sedan when critics and consumers both reacted to it with little enthusiasm, but they could not stop making the vehicle due to labor contracts and fuel efficiency averages required by law.

Instead, they neglected it and ignored reports of the ignition switch problem for over 10 years, preferring to focus on more profitable ventures and leaving people who purchased the cars without the security it promised.

The Cobalt was designed essentially to meet G.M. fuel economy standards and utilize already existing manufacturing capacity, with no regard for consumer issues.

The focus of the controversy shifted to Mary Barra, the newlyappointed chief executive officer of G.M. In a Congressional hearing on April 1, she vehemently denied knowledge of the faulty switch.

Barra claims that investigations are underway, but denies personal responsibility and blames the “old G.M.,” saying she represents the “new G.M.” This “I didn’t do it” mentality, uncannily similar to that of a first grader, certainly does nothing to support the idea of a professional G.M., new or old.

Corporations always have a moral obligation to their customers.

By founding a company and selling products, the corporation is promising the consumer that the company is doing its best to ensure that the products sold are of top quality.

Without quality checks, the consumer is essentially being manipulated and exploited by corporations that do not follow basic ethical behavior.

Businesses are founded on human trust and grow on human trust, but somewhere between the hands of greedy executives and unscrupulous board members, trust takes a backseat to money.

It is somewhat odd to consider that, in a society that prides itself on honor and morality, the very people to whom we, as a population, entrust our lives and those of our families and friends, perhaps care the least about protecting us. Instead, G.M. and other companies across the world are equating the cost of a human life with a less-than- 90-centper-vehicle repair. They come to the conclusion that it would be cheaper to pay people for deaths than fix defective products. The situation is so absurd that it hardly seems real. A group of people sitting in a board room are carelessly deciding the fate of unsuspecting consumers by

arriving at the conclusion that dollars are more valuable than the lives of people.

These people do not fear the law because there is no law that ensures they will suffer a harsh punishment. G.M. knew about the faulty ignition switch, yet they did nothing to fix the problem.

Companies like G.M. must be given the same sentence as murderers, because essentially, that is what they are.

Barra promises that she will investigate this recall. She promises that she will make the focus of the “new G.M.” about safety over money, lives over cents. But how much are her promises worth to Lisa Warfield, who lost her mother? How much are they worth to Randy Rademaker, who lost his 15-yearold daughter? The fact is that America has already lost trust in G.M., and no matter how much Barra struggles and swears, once trust is lost, it is nearly impossible to gain it back.

art by megan lenehan/falcon artist

A10 the falconer

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FEATURE

Feature examines science-religion conflict in schools, A14

Entertainment reviews the month’s new TV shows, A15

b ond blood over

art by emily sun/falconer

The Falconer explores adopted students’ views of their pasts and how they influence their family relationships.

Although she is of Chinese descent, Maya Parella (9) considers herself Italian. She goes to Italian stores with her father and has learned to love bruschetta and pancetta. However, her association with the culture is far more than just an interest. At a young age, she was adopted from China into an Italian family and has been “raised Italian” ever since. “[After] I was found on a bridge in China when I was probably just born, I was brought to an adoption center,” Parella said. “They knew very little about me … and I was underweight and malnourished.”

Unlike Maya’s adoption, which came about as a result of parental abandonment, Kristina Spiker’s (10) adoption was a result of Russia’s child protection services. She was only 2 years old when she and her siblings were put up for adoption by the Russian government because their birth parents were alcoholics, and they spent five years I think it’s important together in an orphanage system before Spiker was adopted by an American that I remember where family without her siblings.

I came from, but be According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Adoption grateful for where I am and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting today.

System, a child’s chance of adoption plunges after age 5, and only one in 100 Maya Parella children will be adopted by 12. Canyon (9) Crest Academy junior Anya Efseaff faced similar odds in a Russian orphanage.

“Being adopted at the age of 10 is nearly unheard of, but I was fortunate,” Efseaff said. “A lot of people want babies because they feel like they can mold them into the people they want them to be, but if they are older, [parents] feel like they already have a lot of problems. That is not necessarily true.”

Although Parella was 8 months old when she came to the United States, younger than either Spiker or Efseaff, her parents made a point of telling her at a very young age that she was adopted.

“We told her because it was the truth,” her father Michael Parella said. “She is going to look in the mirror and know she doesn’t look like us, and we wanted her to know from an early age that even though her [adoptive] mother did not give birth to her, we wanted her and she is a part of our family.”

According to Maya, the concept of adoption was not entirely clear to her until she was 7, when she realized for the first time that she did not look like her parents.

“It made me a little sad at first because I’d see my friends and their moms holding hands, and I felt it was kind of different with my mom,” Maya said.

Because the majority of Maya’s friends are Caucasian, being Asian used to make her feel insecure.

“Sometimes she does not like being identified as Asian,” Michael said. “She’s an American who has Asian heritage, just like I’m an American with Italian heritage.”

However, Maya has learned to embrace her heritage and has recently developed an interest in her Chinese ethnicity. She and her family celebrate Chinese New Year, visit Chinatowns in different cities and cook Chinese food at home.

“We are very open, and if there is anything Maya wants to investigate, we’re happy to have her look into it,” Michael said.

Although Maya considers herself very “Americanized,” she has gained further exposure to Asian culture through her Asian friends.

“I used to connect better with white people because I was raised in a white family, so I know their customs,” Maya said. “But when I came to [TPHS], I found a giant Asian culture, and I’ve never been in something like that before. I just flowed right into it.”

Besides influencing her directly, Maya’s adoption has enabled her family to see things from another ethnic perspective. Michael’s decision to adopt his daughter from China helped him see situations in a different light and become exposed to things he would not have known existed otherwise.

”

“When Maya says that at school, [students] expect her to be smart because she’s Asian, I’m not used to that stereotype,” Michael said. “People view her differently than they view someone who looks like me, because the majority of this country is made up of people who look like me.”

Maya’s sister Emma Parella (12) enjoys having a sibling with a different ethnic background who can still share a very close bond with her. “[Having an adopted sister] teaches me that there are different cultures and different worlds, but those things can be broken down and made into one when put in the same place,” Emma said.

Michael said being open about Maya’s adoption is important in maintaining a healthy family relationship.

“When you’re open, things aren’t hidden,” Michael said. “We never wanted Maya to feel like we were keeping something from her. There’s nothing to hide, so we decided we’re going to tell her anything she wants to know.”

For Kristina’s mother, Nancy Spiker, it was important that Kristina knew she was part of the family.

“For us, it was always about how we loved her for who she is,” Nancy said. “We just wanted her to be real and be herself, and one of the things we did so that she would feel secure [was getting her] a birth certificate from California … It made her know that she isn’t ever going back to [the orphanage in] Russia … This is her home.”

One of Kristina’s biggest challenges was learning to let the past go and leave her Russian family behind. “[Knowing my biological family] made it a lot harder to leave because I knew that I actually had a connection [with them],” Kristina said. “It is definitely hard to let go because [being put up for adoption] is a part of who you are, but … you cannot really live life unless you give it up.”

According to Nancy, Kristina feared being returned to the adoption agency when she first came to the United States.

“I think that, always, in the back of the mind of a child who is adopted like that, you are always afraid that if you do something wrong, you are going to be given away,” Nancy said. “She always had this [thought] … At first, she always wanted to be especially perfect and especially happy all the time, like she could never just be herself.”

Although she does not think she could ever locate her parents anyway, Maya said, given the choice, she would not want to reconnect with her biological parents.

“My parents have raised me for so long, and I don’t want to get mixed up,” Maya said. “I think [Being put up for it’s important that I remember where I came adoption] is part of who from, but be grateful for where I am today.”

Maya considers her adoption an important you are, but ... you cannot part of her that she does not want to lose, and really live life unless you she enjoys talking about it. She said it has made her more sympathetic to people’s struggles, and give it up. she has even decided to adopt when she is older Kristina Spiker to “make a change in someone’s life as well.”

Efseaff also has a desire to “pay it forward.”

(10) With the help of her mother, she created Good Girl Lockets, through which they sell necklaces in local retail outlets with the end goal of helping orphaned children around the world.

“My mom always told me: ‘You may not be able to change the whole world, but you can change the whole world for one person,’” Efseaff said. “I am that one person. I hope to provide a future for orphaned children by donating a portion of the proceeds … to Anya’s Fund, [which] provides money for school and basic necessities, and helps pair orphan children with loving families around the world.”

Apart from making a difference in a child’s life and enriching the life of a family, adoption can also have other benefits. According to Maya, no matter what ethnicity her children will be, they will definitely have a taste for homemade Italian broccoli rabe tort with a side of Chinese spicy noodles.

By Sarah Chan and Russell Reed

”

A12 the falconer

footnotes. by jennifer grundman

Few things in life truly frighten me: spiders, dolls and missing the annual pig races at the Del Mar Fair. Spiders and dolls scare me for the same reasons — they’re creepy, and my family enjoys tormenting me with them. The thought of missing the pig races, though, induces a different kind of fear. It’s the fear that one day I’ll return to San Diego and find they are not there, much like how my mother returned to Brooklyn to find her old neighborhood sprouting trash instead of the trees she remembered.

Granted, I have at least a few years to go until I can panic about coming back to a revamped hometown. While some kids will be across the country for the next four years, I’ll be a whole 10 minutes away from my current home. But just as everyone does, I’m thinking about the future.

Perhaps one day I won’t be here — maybe I’ll be somewhere east, or raising a bear in Portland with my best friend like we’ve planned.

One day, I will probably come back. Although the area generally won’t change, the image of home will surely morph. Trees I’ve seen for years will be cut down.

Neighbors will move away and be replaced. My house might undergo aesthetic revisions. Maybe Swifty the Swine will tire of crossing a water tank for an Oreo.

Since I tend to experience time’s subjective upslope as a function of sadness and anxiety rather than excitement, obvious changes to the past make me feel that melancholic nostalgia that strikes older people when they look at pictures of their youth and know that those days are gone. The right quality of a warm summer wind will remind me of that time I played pingpong two years ago at a birthday party — and will also remind me that that instance will never recur, instead doomed to the weird glitches that develop in memories when they’re kept too long. Even as we all grow more independent and content, our hometowns will undergo changes that will have at least some effect on us.

For now, there isn’t much to do but try not to dwell on that.

Eventually a good portion of all people are fated to live the story of Lot’s wife; they will look back to the destruction of their pasts.

They, I and everyone else — will learn to force our eyes forward, and avoid looking over our shoulder, afraid of what we’ll see.

one in

feature

april 25, 2014

2,770

DoWon Kim (12) DoWon Kim earned the opportunity to conduct research in Peru, and uses his exceptional knowledge to lead the Falcons to success in quiz bowl, Science Olympiad and academic team.

quiz up: Kim reads tossup questions to players during a quiz bowl practice. Kim, president of the TPHS Quizbowl Club, is one of the top high school players in the state.

It was a surprise for DoWon Kim (12) to arrive at the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru at the beginning of last summer, only to discover his mentor for the prestigious Borlaug-Ruan internship was leaving on “winter” vacation.

“What was I going to do?”

Kim said. “I started talking to people. I became friends with two researchers — one was in the entomology department and another guy was a virologist. I became friends with them, they took me under their wings, and I did research with them.”

Kim earned the internship, offered by the World Food Prize organization after writing a research paper on Bangladesh, which suffers severe flooding because most of its land lies below sea level. Kim was encouraged to apply for the internship after he presented his work at a conference in Iowa, which featured the likes of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Although Kim’s work at the Potato Center has earned him nicknames like “Dic-tater DoWon,” his research mostly involved collecting field data and modeling the effects of climate change on crops and pests.

“I mostly did field work,” Kim said. “I got to go to the mountains at like 15,000 feet … [There was] a lot of hiking in the Andes, but it was cool to see the culture and the natives living there.”

In his free time, Kim played table tennis, made friends with local college students and traveled with a Korean professor from his homestay family. He frequented cultural fairs, the beach and the ancient city of Caral, “which has ancient Peruvian pyramids much older than Machu Picchu.”

Kim’s favorite part of Peru,

photo by alex mccracken/falconer

what a spud: The World Food Prize organization allowed DoWon Kim to work at the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru. however, was the food. While the country’s cuisine includes soups, rice, potatoes and ceviche, some dishes are more unusual.

“There was a restaurant, and they had no tables — they just took us to a hole in the ground with a layer of ash,” Kim said.

“They brought out stuff like potatoes, corn, beans and meat, and just set it on fire. As the fire burns out, the bottom cooks and you just pick stuff out and eat it.”

Kim’s other accomplishments in high school are dizzying — his internship, for example, prevented him from representing the United States at the International Astronomy Olympiad — but Kim has “focused more” this year on mentoring younger students as head coordinator of both Science Olympiad and the newly created Quiz Bowl club, which broke off from the TPHS Academic Team.

While quiz bowl and A-Team are both general knowledge contests, quiz bowl questions tend to be longer and more difficult.

“Many of the A-Team members were not happy with the way things were being run,” Kim said.

“We felt the system was inhibiting us from really pursuing quiz bowl, was a waste of time and was not a good financial investment.”

For Kim, A-Team is simply “not challenging enough” and akin to “being on a varsity baseball team and playing tee ball.” Kim hopes that the Quiz Bowl club, which currently has several dozen members, will remain strong

and perform well at the High School National Championship Tournament and National Scholastics Championship in May. In both quiz bowl and Science Olympiad, Kim delegates work and organizes entries at every tournament or competition. In Science Olympiad, coordination can sometimes be a logistical nightmare, since each of TPHS’ six sub-teams must be designed to avoid knowledge gaps in any subject area and scheduling clashes.

“We have 90 kids, and we have to make sure assignments don’t conflict,” Kim said. “Each team must cover all 23 events. There are partnered events and individual events with separate time slots.

We do this all by hand and then have to do the same thing for state team again.”

Although his job involves “a lot of work,” the effort seems to have paid off — TPHS recently took 4th place at the Science Olympiad state competition, and Kim led a team in winning the San Diego Regional Science Bowl, qualifying for the national tournament in Washington, D.C. on April 26.

Senioritis does not seem to have slowed Kim down, even though he has already chosen to study international relations at Princeton University in the fall.

Until then, however, many at TPHS will continue to hail Kim as supreme “pot-en-tate.”

By Varun Bhave

a look at the ways TPHS students put global issues in context

illustration by katie mulkowsky/falconer photos by sarah chan, kenneth lin and russell reed/falconer

Just as spider webs stretch from corner to corner of a room, the Internet continuously provides strands of information reaching the vast corners of the world. The Internet plays an integral role in keeping the current generation active and informed about news and ideas, especially in the form of videos.

Many of The Web’s most viral videos source from TED, which stands for “Technology, Entertainment, Design.” TED is a global set of conferences owned by the nonprofit organization Sapling Foundation, which is “devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks,” according to the TED website. In online videos, inspirational speakers talk about recent innovations and ideas in science and culture. Ryan Hund (11) watches TED Talks to stay updated on new information and inventions around the world. “[TED] lets me know what the latest developments are in science, research and all sorts of fields, and they often teach me about all sorts of things I don’t know,” Hund said. “They usually apply to things that are relevant, things that affect people.”

The global issues presented through TED Talks are available online and brought to communities around the world through local events. Tina Shubat (12) attended TEDxYouth@SanDiego, an independently hosted TED event, at Canyon Crest Academy in 2013.

“When I heard I was able to go to TED, I did research on TED and looked up some videos,” Shubat said. “They were really interesting, ranging from topics like economics, science and math, but there were also other videos talking about world experiences and important, influential stuff.”

According to Executive Producer and TEDxYouth@SanDiego licensee, Sonia Rhodes, the event was created to “bring big ideas to the youth of the San Diego region.”

“By intentionally curating a slate of presenters representing a wide range of industries, disciplines and artistic endeavors, we are able to showcase those people who are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible,” Rhodes said. “Serving as thought provocateurs, these presenters spark deep contemplation and meaningful conversation with our youth participants.”

More than 1,200 students have attended TEDxYouth@SanDiego in the past 3 years, and several have said that the event was a “catalytic and lifechanging experience,” according to Rhodes.

Shubat said TED’s success in spreading ideas is significantly affected by their use of the Internet.

“Our generation is solely focused on technological innovations, so I would say that TED is doing a really good job [advertising events like TEDx] through the Internet,” Shubat said. “They posted a bunch of stuff on their website and they had it on Facebook. They also have links that will show you the website, and after that, you can look at other different topics. I definitely agree that uploading videos is a good way of spreading ideas that represent good information that people need to know.”

Because TED covers a wide scope of interest, it can be used in a variety of ways. English teacher Kristen Cullen shows her students TED Talks videos that relate to the units they are studying. Cullen believes that, in addition to writing and reading articles, newspapers and literature, knowing how to “navigate something like TED Talks or how to get information out on the

Internet is very important as well.”

“People tend to be more open to ideas and influential promotions by different organizations because of the Internet,” Shubat said. “[With] technology now, there’s so much information that can be going out there, news and all that.”

Fueled by advancements in technology, a variety of ways to share information and an insatiable thirst for knowledge, webs of greater lengths are spun, uniting the ideas of people from near and far.

“Videos, especially [ones] from very educated people all around the world, from different cultures and different backgrounds, give information on so many topics that we didn’t even have access to 10 years ago,” Cullen said.

“They really are valuable tools for people, and [they are] really inspirational.”

Through the Internet, global topics and ideas reach a wider audience, creating worldwide movements that link people together.

“The cool thing about the Internet is that it’s a collaboration tool,” Hund said. “It’s not just content consumption, it’s content creation, and it allows you to collaborate with people around the world instantly.”

The academic world has collaborated via the Internet since the 1980s; and widespread sharing of ideas on the Internet was popular by the 1990s, but traditional ways are still used to gather and share information.

“There’s always going to be power and importance in a real life meeting or an actual demonstration or rally,” Hund said. “Getting up on a soapbox is always important, and because [it is] more traditional and less used, it allows you to filter out some of the noise that you see on the Internet.”

According to Shubat, live speeches also create more “personal connections” therefore leaving a stronger impact. However, the ideas different speakers spread through the Internet still manage to influence listeners from halfway across the world, as the distance between people is bridged by the Internet.

Some of Cullen’s former students started a cancer awareness organization, sparked by a TED Talk they watched online. Lauren Zhu (10) was inspired by videos of spoken word poetry she watched online to create her own spoken word club for the 2014-15 school year.

“The [spoken word] videos [Cullen] showed were impactful,” Zhu said.

“There was one by Rudy Francisco, and his work has really inspired me to write my own poetry. Honestly, I think one of his videos was what inspired me most to want to create [a spoken word] club.”

Zhu said that spoken word is more powerful and emotional than written poetry, and the best way to spread it is through the Internet, due to the web’s growing importance and accessibility. By facilitating the transfer of inspiration into action, the Internet will continue draw the world together into hubs from which strings of ideas form global networks.

“People use the Internet for so many things that if you were to take it away, people wouldn’t be able to survive,” Zhu said. “It’s a necessity.”

Both students and teachers navigate the vast and complex World Wide Web, catching up on new ideas and movements, ranging from technology to art and the spoken word. As the lattice of ideas continues to grow, the tangling strands that make up the web will connect speakers to listeners and thoughts to actions.

saw it

ONLINE by sarah kim and alice qu

looking

OUT by sarah chan and russell reed

Climate change is an immense global issue with which few people are intimately familiar. DoWon Kim (12), however, was able to familiarize himself with both the effects of and potential solutions to climate change through an international research opportunity.

Kim conducted research on the impact of global warming on potato farming and researched effective methods of sustainable agriculture and pest management at the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru. through the Borlaug-Ruan International Internship, offered by the World Food Prize with the goal of inspiring students to “embark on career paths in science, agriculture and global development.”

Internship students were placed in leading research institutions around the world to work with scientists and policymakers, with all expenses paid. In addition to his research, Kim was able to immerse himself in Peruvian culture by traveling to historic sites, trying new foods and staying with host families.

“A lot of high school students don’t pursue [international opportunities] because they are uncomfortable,” Kim said. “They don’t want to go into a new culture by themselves … but I think [the experience] teaches you to embrace new things and ultimately gain a broader perspective of the world.”

While research and social interests took Kim to Peru, Jamie Wisnia (10) traveled with her sister, a Canyon Crest Academy freshman, on a non-school affiliated, CCA teacher-led service trip to Lima and Cusco over spring break.

Along with taking in tourist attractions, students renovated houses, worked on traditional farms and socialized with local people. According to Wisnia, the trip was organized for students to “gain a cultural understanding that cannot be taught from a classroom.” During her travels, Wisnia applied what she had learned in her world history class to her exposure to Peruvian culture.

“I found that learning about the Inca civilization earlier in the year … helped me understand their culture and history better as a whole,” Wisnia said.

Making connections between history and cureent circumstances in the global community is encouraged by teacher and avid traveler Chris Drake, who enhances his curriculum with the knowledge he has gained through travel. “[International travel] helps me as a history teacher and a global citizen,” Drake said. “It helps me better understand the way the world operates, get in the minds of foreign people and see how they perceive the United States and how we perceive them.”

English teacher Anastasia Kokkinis believes that international travel can provide not only a historical education, but also opportunites for introspection.

“I think [international travel] can be an interesting [way to learn] survival skills too, to see how you can live,” Kokkinis said. “I think there’s a lot of neat things to learn about yourself through travel, like what you can handle and what you can’t. I’ve had the benefit of traveling with friends or students and knowing their boundaries.”

Kokkinis accompanied former TPHS English teacher and yearbook adviser Michele Paolini on a Shakespeare tour in England, where TPHS students were linked with groups from other American high schools. “[The students] loved it,” Kokkinis said. “It’s more extensive than a summer camp experience, and … for some, it was their first time away from home. That was a huge learning curve, just seeing how well they do with roommates and jet lag and things like that.”

Because Wisnia was able to apply academic knowledge to enhance her travel experience and cultural insight, she finds value in offering similar international opportunities to TPHS students.

“International travel opens students’ minds and allows them to make their own decisions,” Wisnia said. “Coming from such a privileged area and district, it

really opened my eyes, teaching me gratitude for what I have.”

According to Drake, various TPHS teachers have organized international student trips in the past, though they have not been school-or district-affiliated.

The trips are organized by student-travel companies and organizations selected by the chaperoning teachers. However, a Cambodia and Vietnam trip Drake was hoping to offer in the summer of 2014 will not happen due to its expense. Drake felt it was not worth what the company charged.

“We have taken trips to Europe in the past because they are … very interesting and exciting, but not a lot of people have been to Vietnam and Cambodia,” Drake said. “There is so much to see and experience [that is] so different from [the United States].”

TPHS teachers are not the only local teachers to offer such trips to students.

Rhys Osborne, a sophomore at La Jolla Country Day School, has taken advantage of annual summer service trips organized by faculty members at his school.

During a 2-week visit to Rajasthan, India, he worked to create a sustainable local water source while living in a village populated almost exclusively by snake charmers. Osborne said students were never served meat, due to unsanitary conditions; were given the same meal every night and had very few opportunities to bathe.

“If you wanted to take a shower, you would have to go into the bathroom and use the faucet to fill up a bucket and pour it on yourself ... and that was your shower,” Osborne said.

Although Osborne was unaccustomed to the living conditions, the exposure enabled him to experience and observe Indian culture.

“Not a lot of Americans are specifically open to Indian culture,” he said. “After being there and being taught Hindi and understanding more about what [Indian people] actually believe in and do, I know it’s something I wouldn’t have been able to understand any other way.”

Because of his experiences, Osborne has learned that there is a diverse world to discover outside of the United States.

“We’re really lucky to live in the place that we do,” he said. “I got to see all these really poor people in really poor situations … It was really interesting to see how they could be really happy with nothing, when people here can be really unhappy with everything.”

In addition to Rajasthan, Osborne has visited the Dominican Republic to teach English and is planning to take a service trip to Ghana this summer.

“I think it’s really important for people to have those experiences,” Osborne said. “If you have the money to be able to do international service, you shouldn’t be spending your money any other way.”

Drake also believes that the value of international travel extends beyond high school students to the entire community.

“International travel gets people out of their comfort zones, [gives them the opportunity to] experience new cultures and see how … people around the world deal with the same issues we deal with,” Drake said. “You can see that the world is not all like Del Mar.” While Drake decided against his 2014 trip because of the cost, international companies like Rustic Pathways and Global Leadership Adventures offer limited scholarships based both on financial need and merit. Others, like International Student Volunteers, provide ideas for raising funds for individual student expenses.

International travel opportunities like those offered by teachers at CCA, TPHS and LJCDS allow students to experience the world outside their comfort zones, putting global issues into a more personal context for young adults to understand and evaluate.

photo by kenneth lin/falconer illustration by katie mulkowsky/falconer

STARTING AT HOME

by alex jen and anna li In the past year, crowds of activists have protested outside government buildings in Ukraine, universities in Venezuela and city squares in Turkey. Thousands, tens of thousands and maybe even hundreds of thousands of citizens, make their voices heard through signs, chants and other calls for change.

On Nov. 27, 2013, four high school juniors picketed at the intersection of El Camino Real and Del Mar Heights Road in support of a cause that does not directly affect the San Diego area, but festers across the Atlantic Ocean and in Saudi Arabia. Holding posters that read “Honk for Saudi Women Drivers,” TPHS Amnesty International Youth Group President Nivaasya Ramachandran (11), Vice President Anna Huang (11) and members Sean Uribe (11) and Meera Kota (11) got 352 honks in less than an hour.

Honks may seem like weak opposition to the deplorable status of Saudi women drivers, but Ramachandran’s goal was awareness and public pressure, which she thinks is step one in affecting change in distant circumstances.

Dubbed “grassroots pressure,” the tactic for change used by Amnesty International is essentially indirect lobbying — members seek to inspire enough public outrage to attract the attention of policymakers. This, in fact, might prove as useful as donating money to a cause, which may help with the expense of fighting the good fight but may not affect policy.

“We got over 350 honks in an hour, which shows that people here do care,” Ramachandran said. “Even if we just got two people to Google the issue, we could make a difference.”

Having lived in Malaysia, Korea, China and Belgium, Ramachandran feels like she “owes a kind of patriotism to the whole world rather than one country.” “[Living in so many countries] helped me see that it doesn’t matter how different you are,” Ramachandran said. “It was so different growing up in Korea; whenever we went to the supermarket, I was the only ‘dark’ kid … it just made me see that it doesn’t matter if you’re different, you can still help each other.”

According to Amnesty International India Country Director Ananthapadmanabhan

Guruswamy, “the range of human rights violations cuts across the developing and developed world divide.”

“What is different about the developing world is that institutions like the police and the courts are typically less accountable than in the first world,” Guruswamy said. “Therefore, the difficulty in the developing world is in the implementation of human rights principles and [holding people accountable] when violations occur.”

Ramachandran, who was introduced to

I feel like while we’re sitting in Carmel Valley, it’s easy to think, ‘Oh, bad things are happening in the world.’ It’s a different matter entirely to do something about it.

Meera Kota student

Amnesty International by a teacher in Belgium, was so inspired that she decided to start an Amnesty International Youth Group at TPHS. “I feel like sometimes we underestimate how important it is to bear these things in mind, to talk about it with other people,” Ramachandran said. “That’s what the power of just talking about it can do. Of course raising money and donating is very important, but it is also important to give these people voices they don’t have.”

Kota agrees that the biggest impact students can have with what resources they have is “opening perspectives.”

“I’m very interested in womens’ rights, especially, and there are a lot of issues that TPHS kids aren’t aware of,” Kota said. “Knowing all

the problems out there, like trafficking, slavery, and inequality in eduation — it sometimes makes me feel helpless that I can’t do anything directly.”

To Kota, the “honks” — recognitions of a global problem — are stepping stones to change.

“I feel like while we’re sitting in Carmel Valley, it’s easy to think, ‘Oh, bad things are happening in the world,’” Kota said. “It’s a different matter entirely to do something about it, whether that’s actually visiting a country and volunteering, or just trying to educate more people so that more people will care.”

Kota hopes that once people are educated about human rights issues, more will take the initiative to create change, whether by increasing awareness or by helping internationally like she plans to; Kota hopes to volunteer in Indonesia in the future.

“We’re like grass in a field, and if we got every blade of that grass to create a fuss about human rights issues going on in the world, sooner or later the authorities would have to listen and react to our voices,” Ramachandran said.

The “authorities” often have the ability to effect change, but governments do not always have incentives to disturb the status quo.

Policies that violate rights may be economically advantageous, or govenrment officials may not want to interfere with religious practice, even though it may be discriminatory.

“Sometimes the government colludes in the violations that are perpetrated by big corporations or, at other times, government officials themselves are responsible for the violations, an example being the demolishing of a slum without providing adequate housing alternatives,” Guruswamy said. “Governments have the obligation to actively protect the human rights of every person in their territory. But in practice, [in] some sections of society, some individuals are more powerful, and the rights of the poor and marginalized are violated.”

When government cannot see the social injustice they may be perpetuating, organizations like Amnesty International take matters into their own hands, sometimes with young students and organizations close to home at the forefront.

art by katie mulkowsky/falconer

feature

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A14 the falconer

feature

april 25, 2014

THE SCIENCE OF

FAITH

by Alice Qu and Caroline Rutten When William Soo Hoo, projects manager of Research and “There’s scientific evidence in the Quran that proves that evolution Development at Scantibodies Laboratory of the San Diego biotech [is not real],” Hussein said. “There’s [a description] that says when a industry, was in second grade, he entered the school science fair with a fetus first starts to form, it’s a little clot of blood that looks like a lotus.” poster board titled “Bacteria: Cause and Prevention.” Soo Hoo got two Despite conflicts, Soo Hoo argues that the Bible provides ample things out of it: his mother’s relief that petri dishes no longer occupied evidence that prove Christian beliefs. the refrigerator and the knowledge that he wanted to be a scientist.

“The word ‘faith’ would be better translated in today’s culture as However, even with a strong interest in science at a young age, scientific ‘trust,’” Soo Hoo said. “There are many places in the Bible that affirm reason did not prevent Soo Hoo from being curious about other parts of the notion that faith is actually trust in something we can reasonably life that science could not address. believe. In the Gospel of John, the writer says that all these things, “It was in my high school years that I started to learn of the claims records of what Jesus did — miracles and healings — were recorded so of Christianity, and later came to hold these teachings as true,” Soo Hoo that we would believe that he is who he says he is. Faith requires some said. “At first, [science] seemed to make sense to me, but later, I came knowledge.” to see the evidence for Christianity [that] made it perfectly reasonable Due to the diversity of beliefs in her classroom and at TPHS, Rall to believe.” is cautious when approaching certain topics that challenge religious While the government separates education and religion in state beliefs. institutions, teachers, professionals and students have continued “I used to just teach [science in the same] straightforward way to practice their faiths, finding a balance between spirituality and the book teaches it, but every year I sense that some students are education. really uncomfortable with topics like evolution, the Big Bang and the AP Biology teacher Mary Ann Rall was born into hypotheses of how creation started,” Rall said. “So I try a Christian family, but did not take an interest in to introduce the unit with a discussion of what science religion until later in her life. is.”

“I kind of rebelled, and I felt like I was force-fed Although I personally However, not all teachers take the same approach. it,” Rall said. “With religion, it could not have been a “Last year, when we were learning about evolution, don’t believe [in my biology teacher said that it doesn’t matter what situation I was taught, it had to be a personal choice.

As life happened, I felt I needed something other than evolution], I’m not religion you believe in, you can’t ignore the scientific what I was learning, and that space that needed to be Alex Aguilar (10) said. offended by the fact that facts,” filled brought me back.”

According to Rall, science does not try to disprove Since then, Rall has become a devout Christian, they teach it. religion. They are completely separate concepts because despite the contradictions between religion and science there is “nothing repeatable or observable about most.”

John Park (12) that she has encountered throughout her career.

“It’s taken me a long time to come to peace with both student science and religion,” Rall said. “One of my fears is “I never questioned [the science] I was being taught, I more questioned religion,” Rall said. “I’m a very that some students [believe] one is correct or the other methodical thinker, since I like to analyze, evaluate and statistically is correct. Based on my knowledge of the Bible and the knowledge of modify.” science, they both are correct, and we should have an open mind and There are many contradictions between religion and science, as they a willingness to learn more and explore more ideas, not close them off lie on opposite ends of the thought spectrum. In Christian scriptures, completely.” there is only one God, who created the universe, and the Earth is around English teacher Mia Boardman Smith explains the relationship 6,000 years old, while science claims that the earth is 4.5 billion years between creation and evolution in a different way. old, fueling the debate over the extent of evolution.

“I went to Catholic schools while I was growing up, and the way the Even with contradictions, students who follow religious teachings Catholic Church reconciled the creation story and evolution was by like Nathan Lian (10) have accepted learning about topics that are characterizing the biblical story of creation as a metaphor for evolution,” inconsistent with their religion, most often in science classes.

Smith said. “That made perfect sense to me. I never saw a conflict.”

“It’s good to know about everything, so learning about evolution is Whether students and teachers choose to believe in science, religion not going to hurt,” Lian said. or both, students have the freedom of choice and the years ahead to John Park (12) is Christian, but because he grew up in an atheist discover and develop their own beliefs. family that did not believe in any higher power, he understands and “Both people of faith and people depending on science, especially accepts that others have viewpoints different from his own. young adults, should carefully examine their own views critically, be “Although I personally don’t believe [in evolution], I’m not offended ready to go where the evidence leads, and be intellectually honest and by the fact that they teach it,” Park said. open to all the data and come to their own conclusions,” Soo Hoo said.

According to Saida Hussein (10), who is Muslim, Islamic beliefs also Even though science and religion may seem part of two radically disregard the theory of evolution. However, like Soo Hoo, many Muslims different realms, Soo Hoo’s different passions for growing bacteria in use science to support their beliefs. a petri dish and Christian faith may not be as separate as they seem.

”

art by alice qu/falconer

ENTERTAINMENT

The Falconer takes a peek at ‘The Other Woman,’ A19

The pilots of two new TV series, ‘Fargo’ and ‘Sillicon Valley,’ get the once-over.

photo courtesy of fox entertainment

TV shows based on films have, historically, been hit-or-miss.

The nature of television is that it breeds long-form storytelling, expanding and delving further into its own universe as viewers invest in story arcs that can span years.

For some, television has provided a fascinating platform with which to enrich the canon of a film and even sometimes build a narrative stronger than the one on which it is based. For others, television has been a lazy way for production companies to capitalize on the success of popular movies, as is the case with the short-lived and unspeakably awful “Ferris Bueller” spin-off.

FX’s “Fargo” should have, by all accounts, fallen into the former category. After all, anyone seeking to reinvent Joel and Ethan Coen’s dark, comic masterpiece must have had a solid plan in mind, right? When I first heard about the “Fargo” TV show, I will admit I was nervous. TV shows based in film that actually work are usually pulling from source material that was already slightly underdeveloped — as with “Friday Night Lights” — or otherwise explore a single character who is so iconic that he or she remains compelling even outside of the specific context of the movie — as with recent successes “Hannibal” and “Bates Motel.”

The Coens’ “Fargo” meets neither of these requirements. It is not underdeveloped in the least — it is the opposite: fully contained, precisely balanced in its comedy and violence, not a subplot to be missed. The film follows pregnant police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) as she investigates the murders set in motion by nervous criminal Jerry Lundegaard (William Macy) along with his hired help, Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) and most notably Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi). It is not that any of these characters are anything less than iconic — Marge in particular is one of the most memorable characters in film history — but that the film works precisely because these specific characters are set in this specific premise, fumbling and failing as their expectations are subverted right along with the audience’s. The characters are at all times in careful orbit with one another, spilling blood over the masterfully shot Minnesotan ice as each violent act they commit ripples outward to affect everyone else — in so realistic a fashion, and in so unassuming a Midwestern town, that the story is ultimately rendered comic.

Yet another HBO classic in the making, Mike Judge’s “Silicon Valley” showcases a group of computer programming buddies trying to develop innovative software in the invention hub of Silicon Valley, Calif. The new show, which debuted on April 6, is both clever and funny overall, meeting the high quality of Judge’s previous popular hits, like “Beavis and Butt-head” and “Office Space.”

Based on Judge’s own experiences as an engineer in Silicon Valley during the 1980s, aspiring entrepreneur and software inventor Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch) moves to Silicon Valley in the hope of making his programming dreams a reality. After Hendricks unknowingly creates groundbreaking technology, investors and companies offer him millions for the software. Hendricks decides to gamble on keeping his software and starting his own company with his nerdy programming roommates.

The writing of “Silicon Valley” is witty, sarcastic and understandable even to those unacquainted with the tech-industry. The show does not overwhelm viewers unfamiliar with the complex language frequently found in other shows made for mature audiences, like “Mad Men.” Instead, the show is a dark, mocking comedy about the cutthroat programming industry comprised of overly ambitious programmers and pretentious CEOs. Middleditch also provides a standout performance. Like Jesse

It is this gravity between characters in these circumstances that holds the film together. Such a carefully woven, remarkably consistent and concise narrative has nothing further to say, because it has already been said so well. “This is the last film that needs a TV show to explore anything further,” I thought when I heard of the FX adaptation. So, again, I was nervous.

Perhaps this all occurred to FX showrunner Noah Hawley as well, because he decided not to lift any of the original characters from the movie — for fear, I guess, of telling the same story twice. He instead attempted to use the Coens’ trademark tonal blend of dark satire, campy violence and quirky Minnesotan colloquialisms to tell an entirely different story. In theory, this is a perfect solution to the seemingly unsolvable problem of adapting a movie that does not really need adapting: throwing in a fresh set of faces, but maintaining the captivating setting the movie established. But if Hawley feared redundancy and wished to avoid it, then he has failed spectacularly to do so.

Hawley’s “Fargo” reads as if someone played Mad Libs with the Coens’ original script, changing random adjectives to alter original characters and plotlines just slightly, but not enough that they register as even remotely independent from the film. The eternally frustrated, down-on-his-luck salesman Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman, who has evidently made a career out of playing put-upon characters) is nearly a carbon copy of Jerry Lundegaard, the only discerning difference being that he sells insurance instead of cars. Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman) is uninspired as Marge’s modern counterpart.

Blessedly, she is not pregnant — Hawley tries to stray from the original character in this respect — but is a pale imitation of McDormand’s plucky Marge in pretty much all other respects.

The rest of the show’s ensemble is virtually plucked from the original film, changed in some minor way, and presented anew.

Hawley’s effort to revitalize the story is misguided at best and offensively derivative at worst; it establishes nothing new and lets characters run in tired circles in predictable ways.

It is entirely possibly that I am judging the show too harshly —it should probably be allowed some breathing room. Further, when considered independently from the film, the pilot does a commendable job of establishing a few interesting arcs, and the Minnesota winter gleams even brighter than in 1996 with Matthew Lloyd’s inventive cinematography. However, this particular show does not have the luxury of autonomy from the original, when the original is one of the most culturally significant crime dramas in film history. And judging by MGM’s recent desire to franchise more of its movie properties through television, it is more likely than not that this show was dreamed up by a couple cable executives looking to ride off the cultural weight the original film still holds — making it no less unspeakably awful than a “Ferris Bueller” spin-off.

By Charu Sinha

Eisenberg did with his socially awkward character in “Zombieland,” Middleditch successfully plays a shy, nerdy underdog who wins the audience’s support. Previously cast in the Oscar-nominated film “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Middleditch is not an inexperienced newcomer. With a quiet, monotonous voice, but still sarcastically expressing plenty of criticism, Middleditch pulls off his character’s look and humor perfectly.

The show falls short with its story line, which is intentionlly identical to Steve Jobs’ life while he was developing Apple Inc. in Silicon Valley. Although the resemblance is clearly for the sake of comedy, the similarity could also demonstrate a lack of creativity. As the show develops, viewers will see if this becomes too prominent a flaw.

Additionally, parents may not like the show’s frequent depiction of drug use and profane language, even though it relates to a young audience with its sarcastic, raunchy humor. But what else can be expected from the man who created “Beavis and Butt-Head”?

With its youth-oriented plot, humor and perfect cast, the “Silicon Valley” pilot has set high standards for the rest of the season and many more seasons that should follow.

By Caroline Rutten art by sarah brown/falconer

entertainment

Stepping into Pangea Bakery Cafe is like entering a library, insulated from the road noise of Convoy Street in Kearney Mesa. The moment I entered, I realized that what I planned to do at Pangea — study for some tests — was perfectly suited for the ambience.

The bakery’s deathly quiet is only interrupted by the clacking of keyboards from a sea of MacBooks.

As with 85C Bakery Cafe and other Taiwanese confectionaries, customers load up trays with whatever they want, picking out rolls and tarts from tall glass cupboards near the entrance. Pangea also stocks iced cakes and sweets in racks near the back counter, which doubles as a coffee bar.

I scooped up packages of the shop’s Coconut Tarts, Bread Pudding and Cranberry-Lemon Cookies, but also decided to try the more savory Hot Dog Bun and Garlic Bread. Prices are high; almost every pastry costs over $2. A cafe latte is around $4, and even a package of seven cookies can be upwards of $6. The interior is spacious and, after settling down in a armchair with a textbook on my lap, I was ready to sample.

Sugar and Scribe The thing about Pacific Beach stereotypes is that most of them are true. The farther one heads down Garnet Avenue, the closer one gets to smoke shops and quirky second-hand stores — most of which could either be considered eclectic or seedy, depending on the weather. Of all the snack foods people might crave while walking the casual, seaside streets, designer cupcakes and quaint little quiches are likely not among them. Yet, right in the middle of Garnet Avenue lies Sugar and Scribe Bakery, a tiny store that houses what very well may be the best baked goods in the San Diego area. Steep prices and unconventional location aside, Sugar and Scribe is a great place for anything from a cup of coffee to a tiramisu cupcake.

When we arrived at the location, my dining partner and I were instantly put at ease by its clean, bright interior — a pointed contrast to its grungy surroundings. Dozens of enticing muffins, cakes, cupcakes, candies and quiches filled the display, and a chalkboard coffee drink menu hanging on the wall looked equally appealing. After much deliberation,

Everything in Pangea seems to have been soaked in butter, especially the crust of the coconut tart, which was rich and flaky. The filling, though creamy, tastes like plain custard; it was hard to detect coconut flavor, or any flavor at all, in the tart. The Hot Dog Bun was even worse. The chopped-up meat was baked into the bun, but the salty taste of the hot dog was ill-suited for the sweetened bread. It did not help that the bun was covered in — you guessed it — a lot of butter.

Fortunately, my rather large afternoon snack began to improve. The garlic bread was delicious, like it came straight out of an Italian restaurant. Lesser garlic breads sometimes rely on flavor alone, but this was the real deal, with small chunks of real garlic embedded in the crunchy bread. The bread pudding had a fruity edge from the apple slivers and cranberries layered within it. Finally, the lemon cookies provided a satisfactory finish to my quasi-study session. Although they had about as much lemon as the coconut tart had coconut, it was hard to argue that butter did not belong in the melt-in-your-mouth cookies.

Pangea Bakery was, not unlike my overstuffed tray, a mixed bag. Although pricey, the bakery offers a quiet place to work and all-important free Wi-Fi.

By Varun Bhave

we decided to purchase one cupcake each, which ultimately came to $8 that was frivolously yet well spent. We sampled the German Chocolate Cake and the Tiramisu Cake with Kahlua Buttercream, and while the tiramisu one was slightly moister, both surpassed nearby Sprinkles Cupcakes’ standard by a landslide.

The cakes’ consistency is what most notably set them apart from any other cupcakes I have consumed.

While chocolate cake tends to be more dry and crumbly, the German Chocolate was sponge-like and creamy, and despite having a tad too much coconut topping, was a solid dessert purchase.

The Tiramisu Cake was even better, with flavorful accents of milk and dark chocolate shavings on top of a frosting that gave the cliché “melts in your mouth” an entirely new meaning. While I usually would not drive to Pacific Beach for a pastry the size of my hand, Sugar and Scribe’s Kahlua Buttercream is good enough to make an exception.

Ultimately, while Sugar and Scribe’s location may deter tourists or even locals from stepping inside, its handmade baked goods are just as unique as the store’s surroundings.

By Katie Mulkowsky

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the falconer

A19

Say no to ‘The Other Woman’ In 1971, indie film pioneer John Cassavetes directed “Minnie and Moskowitz” Unsurprisingly, Kate Upton sort of just stands there and looks hot. Granted, the starring Gene Rowlands as Minnie, a straight-laced career woman who falls film tries to be self aware about this by making her the butt of many a dumb blonde unexpectedly into love. It is a tired trope, but Minnie was and remains one of the most joke, but this registers less as funny and more as just mean-spirited. In another multilayered, realistic, and hilarious women of romantic comedy. More than 40 years unfortunate result of stunt casting, Nicki Minaj is forced to be the sassy minority later, Cassavetes’ son, Nick Cassavetes, has directed “The Other Woman,” a film that sidekick to Diaz’s Carly, delivering a few weak punchlines, none of them memorable. similarly stars an uptight careerist looking for love, but this character is far from Diaz as Carly is, for the large part, dull and unfunny. Diaz plays the “cold careernuanced. The older Cassavetes is not just rolling in his grave, he is probably doing obsessed woman looking for love” with such boring snark and trite mannerisms that pirouettes. it is difficult to look past her character and enjoy the movie even as a guilty pleasure.

“The Other Woman” follows Carly Whitten (Cameron Diaz), a high-powered lawyer Maybe Cassavetes realized how tedious her delivery of banter comes across, because who discovers her boyfriend Mark (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is actually married to the she is alotted the bulk of the physical comedy. Even as she trips and breaks an urn neurotic Kate (Leslie Mann). A grudging friendship develops or falls two stories from an open window, however, Diaz cannot between the two women and a third mistress, Amber (Kate Upton), manage to hold an audience’s attention. as the three plot to take their revenge against the philandering Mann’s Kate is the only fully realized and truly funny character The Other Woman Mark. Hijinks ensue. Nicki Minaj also factors in there somehow, in the movie. Mann, who has honed her comedic abilities through but I forget how or why. collaborations with her husband, prolific writer/director Judd Rated PG-13 The film masquerades as female empowerment, but actually Apatow, is often uproariously funny as the obsessive and frenzied has nothing purposeful driving it. Borrowing a page from “John Kate. However, she is bogged down with a stale and cliched script, Tucker Must Die,” the women spend two-thirds of the film doing and though she does her best with the lines she is given, her things like pouring laxatives in Mark’s scotch and switching out inspired performance is not enough to save the entire movie. his shampoo for hair remover. It would be funny if it was not so sad. Characters can

The plot, despite its many twists and shock reveals, has no forward momentum, and should be immature and silly for the sake of comedy, but watching Cameron Diaz and the movie feels excessively long even when it stays within the 90 minute mark. catapult out of a window as Leslie Mann pours vodka over her wedding dress just The film attempts to build to a cathartic climax--the bloody “Home Alone” scene--but comes across as pathetic and kind of gross. The movie tries to be something halfway registers only as a bizarre mix of ridiculous and bleak. between “Bridesmaids” with its hammy slapstick and “First Wives Club” with its girly Most notable was the excessive product placement throughout the movie, for banter, but comes away with neither of those two films’ wit or charm. everything from tequila to cars. As Kate cries over her failing marriage, the “Turkey The majority of characters are miscast. I am not sure what Coster-Waldau is doing Hill” logo on her vanilla ice cream is visible from nearly every tracking shot of her in this movie, but he has shown through “Game of Thrones” that he is capable of much weeping frame. This is probably the most impressive feat of direction from this movie. more. In a scene reminiscent of “Home Alone” — never a good film to pull from — he Especially tragic is the fact that John Cassavetes was famously anti-corporate, and angrily crashes into a glass wall, breaks his nose and tries to be goofy about it. The receieved nearly no advertising revenue for his films. Perhaps the activist gene skipped whole thing is really very frightening. If Coster-Waldau was trying to figure out if he a generation, along with the talent. should break into comedy, I think he has since learned that he should not.

By Charu Sinha

Transcendence fails to transcend

Wally Pfister’s directorial debut “Transcendence” is ambitious, but falls the logistics of the process with nothing but a rushed scene and impressive short of a perfect execution. visual effects. However, it remains doubtful whether the consciousness At times, the film delves into genuinely applicable and disturbing Evelyn uploads is truly her husband, as it expands and creates a “hybrid” themes that provide profound insight into the complicated relationship army of desert townspeople commanded by him. Loyalty, love and between humans and technology. However, an illogical plot and an rationality are put to the test as Evelyn’s world spirals out of her control occasionally awkward script hinder the film’s visionary potential. when she is faced with her husband’s erratic and alarming actions.

Sometime in the very near future, Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) From there, stunted character development prevents viewers from and his wife Evelyn Caster (Rebecca Hall) work together to develop a truly understanding the motivation, characteristics and thoughts behind technology capable of supporting a sentient machine. Controversy arises the decisions made by Will’s now mechanical consciousness. as the age-old debate surrounding the possibility of creating a machine Waters, who arises as a potential lover to Evelyn, and computer scientist with an authentic soul is questioned and attacked by an anti-technology Joseph Tagger (Morgan Freeman) are sidelined throughout the movie terrorist group known as RIFT, or Revolutionary Independence From despite the probable and interesting impacts they could have contributed Technology. to the plot.

In a scene where Will reveals the possibility of a However, what the plotline lacks in logic and “human” machine to the world, one clearly perturbed maturity is made up for by its visionary cinematography.

Transcendence listener states, “So you want to create a god, your Stunning close-ups and lingering images of cascading Rated PG-13 own god.” But, as Will points out, “Isn’t that what waterfalls and flowering gardens proved to be much man has always done?” “Transcendence” explores the more enjoyable to watch in comparison to the sleek, underlying fear of both the power and the possibility of monotonous lab setting of the majority of the film. a time when technology might surpass human ability, As Will and Evelyn finally reunite in the last and that frighteningly realistic prospect influences stages of the movie, it is difficult to discern whether viewers’ perspectives of the future.

“Transcendence” is a story of estranged love, the struggle between right It is easy to see the potential in exploring the delicate balance between and wrong, the different facets of human nature, fear and paranoia, or realizing the full potential of technology and retaining fundamental even the true meaning of the human soul. It is more plausible to see the principles of humanity under the guise of a crowd-pleasing, action-packed film as a perplexing combination of all of the above. sci-fi movie, but “Transcendence” quickly exhausts the benefits of sleek, “Transcendence” attempts to appeal to viewers through breadth rather flashy visual effects without a fully developed and meaningful plotline. than depth, and it is for this reason that viewers are left with a sense of When Will is shot with a bullet laced with radiation by an extremist bewildered confusion rather than satisfied understanding of the love-hate RIFT member, Evelyn uses the help of Max Waters (Paul Bettany) to relationship between technology and humans. upload her husband onto the Internet; unfortunately, Pfister skims over

By Michelle Hao

A20 the falconer

entertainment

april 25, 2014

Neon Trees Pop Psychology

Although replete with synthesized beats and motifs of Trees, singing: “I found out how to trust myself/I found out I’m youthful defiance, Neon Trees’ Pop Psychology leaves listeners stronger than the pills.” With blatant similarities to “Living with only a vague memory of the generic tracks that make up in Another World,” but infused with gospel singing and the the band’s third full-length album. However, lead singer Tyler sounds of crashing waves, “First Things First” relays Glenn’s Glenn’s recent coming out imbues the lyrics with a mainstream story through lyrics like “I went out to find my soul and left the youthful recklessness that pairs excellently with most of the only comfort that I’d known/It wasn’t ‘bout a girl, or leaving California bleeding/It was all about me choosing where to go.” album’s pulsing rhythms.

In an unexpected turn, Neon Trees delivers “Voices in the The first song of the album, “Love in the 21st Century,” opens with an upbeat, hand-clapping tune and accusations of Halls,” a haunting melody telling a sob story of lost love. Those that are fitting for the conditions of a modern “broken heart qualities make it a strange addition to an album filled with typical teenage memories and the lead technology.” However, the chorus quickly singer’s experiences. becomes repetitive, and the song’s seemingly ‘Pop Psychology’ However, despite the several catchy lyrics fade out of mind as soon as the noteworthy tracks, the album falls short next track begins. of the high expecations for the band.

The following song, “Text Me in the The lead single of the album, “Sleeping Morning,” presents an appealing, synthwith a Friend,” fails to impress with infused tune with a taunting commentary on its unremarkably slow beat, drawling the easily corruptible nature of social media vocals and repetitive notes. Additionally, songs like “Teenager romances, making it a more memorable track on the album.

Neon Trees strays away from its established guitar and in Love,” “Foolish Behavior” and “Unavoidable” cannot avoid drum-based style, utilizing synthesized beats and hollow unimaginative lyrics like “He’s a teen un-teenager in love/What percussion sounds to create “I Love You (But I Hate Your a tragic attraction, what’s the point of romance?”

The lack of variety in the rhythms and overwhelmingly Friends).” Aside from the lyrics, which allude to Glenn’s recent announcement with lines like “All this emptiness would end/ common pop tunes of many songs in Pop Psychology stop Neon Stop pretending,” the unexpected transitions between the Trees from recreating their previous album’s impressive sound chorus and stanzas make it the most unique song on the album. and delivering a truly radio-worthy hit single. Each song is Similarly, “Living in Another World” and “First Things First” of average quality, and attempting to listen to the album are obvious testaments to Glenn’s struggle against people who continously leaves one bored to tears with its repetitive synths refuse to accept his sexuality. In “Living in Another World,” and lyrics.

By Tasia Mochernak Glenn accompanies the typical guitar-and-drums style of Neon

Neon Trees opened for The Killers in late 2008.

All band members are Mormon and are wellknown throughout Utah.

The band’s name was inspired by the light on the trees of the In-N-Out logo.

The new album was inspired by the mental and physical struggles of band member of Tyler Glenn.

Neon Trees set a Guinness World Record for most concerts in different cities in 24 hours. photo courtesy of rolling stone magazine

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PROM 2014

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SPORTS

Softball comes up short against Mt. Carmel, A25

Boys volleyball falls to Westview despite early lead, A27

Girls lacrosse falls to LCC in overtime GAME TIME

By Fernando Stepensky

LCC’s four.

“They just got a few goals at staff writer the end so the overtime didn’t Girls lacrosse (4-9) lost to La allow us to dig ourselves out of Costa Canyon High School (9- that hole,” midfielder Camille 4) 14-12 in a heated overtime Doan (12) said. “Under pressure, match. it was too late to come back.”

The first half started relatively In the second half of overtime, slowly with TPHS leading 3-1 Doan scored within the first and eight minutes into the half, ten seconds, and TPHS defense Chelsea Mapes (12) drove up managed to hold off LCC even the side of the goal and scored, after the TPHS goalie was pulled. bringing the score to 4-2. TPHS “There were only two minutes held on to its momentum despite left [in overtime], so [LCC] went several fouls and ended the first to stall,” TPHS head coach half with a 7-4 lead.

Kaitlyn Swagart said. “ [ T h e “I wanted to put Falcons] somebody Overtime didn’t allow us in came out with fresh legs to dig ourselves ... to chase or with a lot of fire,” LCC out of that hole. Under stop the ball to head coach get a turnover.” pressure, it was too Casey Rector Fifty seconds said. “They later, LCC late to come back. came up with scored again, Camille Doan and despite the the ... first Midfielder (12) Falcons scoring three goals.

We had to again on a goal by take a time out to take a deep Doan with two seconds left in the breath, but their momentum game, LCC still won the game definitely carried them and took 14-12. us out of our game [in the first The LCC and TPHS rivalry half].” has always been heated, but The second half proved Nicole Morris (10) said that the disastrous for TPHS. The team players tried to “keep it clean” on gave up two goals in the first the field. five minutes, and went on to give However, the shouts from up three more later in the half. the stands got so intense that Because of numerous yellow the referees had to intervene. cards, TPHS only scored two The players took some insults goals, tying the score at 9-9 and personally, Rector believes, sending the game into overtime. which may have accounted for “I didn’t think anything of it,” the 16 yellow cards in the game. attacker Kacey McKinnon (12) TPHS is scheduled to play said. “It was like, ‘Okay another LCC on May 6, a game that 3-minute half. Let’s go out and Morris feels “confident” TPHS work hard and play our game.’” will win.

LCC scored the first goal 45 Swagart feels “great” about seconds into overtime, and then the team going into the season, scored another two goals in quick and hopes to make it to CIF succession. At the end of the playoffs. first half of overtime, TPHS had TPHS played Westview (6-6) managed to score only one goal to after the Falconer went to press.

f

By Maya Rao

”

photos by tara manoogian/falconer

reach for the sky: Camille Doan (12) and Lucy Ferrari (15) try to intercept an LCC pass. The Falcons were defeated 14-12 in overtime.

The one-and-done rule in NCAA men’s basketball, the junior rule in NCAA football, and the fact that baseball players can sign professional contracts after high school, after their junior year of college or on their 21st birthday, all allow studentathletes to wrongly leave for the pros before they have completed their college degrees.

The junior rule in football was created because of one superior talent, Marcus Dupree, who wanted to leave college to pursue an professional athletic career. Believe it or not, the rule mandating that players had to go to college for at least a year before going to the NBA only started after a public outcry when Lebron James went straight to the Cleveland Cavaliers after graduating from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in 2003.

Before writing this column, everyone I asked for an opinion about these rules simply said they had no opinion and felt the rules provided perfect ways for athletes to get out of college and make their own living. However, what nobody is asking is whether or not it is right for people to matriculate at a university as supposed student-athletes, when everyone knows they are not taking challenging classes or seriously pursuing a degree because they plan on leaving in a couple of years.

When we see lead stories like that of Warren Sapp, a Hall of Fame defensive tackle who recently filed for bankruptcy, and we wonder how a successful professional athlete could be so irresponsible with his money, why don’t we consider that bailing out of college early after treating it like a way to pass time until the draft might be the heart of the problem? I am not implying that the players without a college degree are necessarily stupid, but having an education to fall back on and also being mature enough to realize the importance of academics would attract me if I were the general manager pondering a draft pick.

Andrew Luck stayed at Stanford University for his senior year to finish his architecture degree despite being projected as the No. 1 selection, and now, if Luck ever blows out his knees, he has a great job to fall back on with an excellent degree.

The rules don’t necessarily have to be changed because that would make records impossible to break due to shorter careers, but I just do not see how the NCAA can keep referring to its players as student-athletes when it is clear that many athletes across several sports only go to college because they have to go to college before they go pro, or as a stepping stone to the big leagues.

sports

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A25

Boys lacrosse crushes Harvard-Westlake 8-2 had the ball, we were able to stop most goals and get the ball back in our possession.”

Boys lacrosse (9-3) defeated Even though the Falcons Harvard-Westlake High School controlled the ball for most of the (14-5) 8-2 on Apr. 19 in a game first quarter, repeated attempts by the Falcons to wrap around with back-and-forth posessions.

“We expected them to be a the crease and open goal-scoring really good team, and they were,” opportunities Harvard-Westlake head coach ultimately Alex Weber failed early said.

“With We expected them to be on. “ O u r a good team, a really good team and they offense in the any mistakes you make were. With a good team, first quarter will be taken could’ve been any mistakes you make will better, but advantage of, be taken advantage of. when you’re up and that’s what a few points, happened.”

Alex Weber you’re pretty Harvardharvard-westlake head coach c o n f i d e n t , ” W e s t l a k e TPHS head took the first possession of the game, but the coach Jono Zissi said.

Although Harvard-Westlake Falcons quickly regained control with attackman John Sherman maintained control of the ball in (10) scoring the first goal of the the first few minutes of the second game 2 minutes into the first quarter, they were unable to find a hole in the Falcons’ defense. quarter.

“We had really strong defense TPHS brought the score up 2-0 this game,” captain and long-pole with 7 minutes 15 seconds left in defenseman Conner Lansdale (12) the quarter and quickly secured said. “When [Harvard-Westlake] the lead with another goal by

f

By Anna Li

news editor

”

offensive midfielder Spencer Small (10) with 3 minutes 13 seconds left in the quarter.

Harvard-Westlake kept control of the ball at the end of the first quarter and was able to manage a goal to get on the board, down 3-1. However, TPHS took advantage of a bad pass immediately following the goal, and lead attackman Marc Lefferdink (10) scored a goal with only a second left in the quarter to go up 4-1.

“We were feeling really confident with that lead,” Lefferdink said. “This team is from L.A., so we didn’t know much about them, but we realized which strategies worked and which didn’t really quickly.”

Harvard-Westlake, although outmatched on offense, scored their final goal to bring the score to 4-2 before TPHS took complete control of the game, with two goals quickly following.

In the last quarter, the Falcons scored twice again and kept Harvard-Westlake from any looks on goal with a “really strong defense,” according to Zissi.

photo by grace bruton/falconer

downfield: Luke Talman (20) prepares a big wind up for a pass downfield to a teammate. The Falcons beat Harvard-Westlake 8-2, claiming their ninth win of the season.

Softball falls to Mt. Carmel 6-3 after early lead f

By Savannah Kelly managing editor

TPHS Softball (13-7) fell to Mt. Carmel High School (9-4) 6-3 on April 22 at home, despite leading the game through the sixth inning.

The Lady Falcons gained an early lead by taking a smallball approach in the first inning.

Captain Emma Wong (12) led off the game by beating out an infield ground ball and then stealing second base. After a sacrifice bunt by second baseman Emily Wolking (12) moved Wong to third base to put her in scoring position, a fielder’s choice got Wong home and put TPHS on top 1-0.

“When we were on base we

were going to steal, and we stole eight bases in eight tries,” TPHS head coach Jonathan Moore said.

“That was good; our strategy was to get on [base] and steal.”

The Sundevils retaliated in the top of the second, starting off the inning with a double in the outfield gap. A ground ball then brought in Mt. Carmel’s first run, tying the game 1-1. However,

photo by

-----/falconer

photos by kenneth lin/falconer

THAT’S wHack: Kylie Robinson (17) swings at a high ball to get a single in the bottom of the second inning to get the Lady Falcons’ offense started. TPHS lost 6-3 to the Sun Devils, unable to revive their offense.

the momentum was short-lived, and a series of line drives in the bottom of the second put the Lady Falcons up 2-1.

“We knew the pitcher pretty well, and she has really good curve and drop balls, so we worked on that in practice, hitting those with live hitting,” Wong said. “We had to put ourselves in the best position against them.”

Both sides were then scoreless through the bottom of the fifth inning. According to Moore, part of starting pitcher Monroe Peed’s (11) success was her ability to execute the change-up.

“They’re good hitters; we have to throw change-ups to be effective,” Moore said. “It helps because it keeps them off balance.

I wish she could harness it for more strikes, but she throws good pitches.”

By the top of sixth inning, the Sundevil bats were revived, and a double followed by a two-out hit over shortstop brought in Mt. Carmel’s tying run, bringing the score to 2-2.

Continuing the back-and-forth battle, the Falcons brought in another run to put TPHS in the lead at 3-2 when captain Shelby Evans (11) pulled a line drive up the right-field line to bring in captain Kelsey Buchanan (12). However, the Falcons were

unable to manage more runs in the inning, keeping the lead at one run.

“We had a few nice hits that unfortunately got caught,” Buchanan said. “There was a diving catch in left [for a ball a player hit]. It was a great hit; it could have been a double or a triple, but we fell short and there wasn’t anything we could do.”

In the top of the seventh, the Falcons rebounded from an error on a routine play to first when Evans picked off the runner leading off from first. However, the momentum in TPHS’ favor was not enough to keep the Sundevils off the base-paths.

Mt. Carmel had a series of singles and walks that loaded the bases, and a clutch line drive up the middle brought in two runs to put the team ahead 5-3. A double earned the Sundevils yet another run to widen the gap, and the momentum ended there with a 6-3 Mt6. Carmel lead that the Falcons could not come back from late in the game.

“We’ve been starting games really well, but we’re definitely going to focus on finishing games,” Buchanan said.

The Falcons took on Canyon Crest Academy at home on April 24, after the Falconer went to press.

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monroe peed varsity softball april 22, 3:03:09 p.m.

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april 25, 2014

sports

tphsfalconer.com

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Volleyball defeated by Westview 3-2 SPORTS SHORTS

“We were up two games and it seemed pretty good, and I thought we were going to destroy Boys volleyball (19-5) lost to them in the third game, but we Westview High School (18-9) on started making mistakes and April 22, despite winning the it started to get frustrating,” libero Garland Peed (9). “We got first two sets.

Even though there were scared.”

The third set had missed missed serves by the Falcons in and kills by the the first set, they were in the serves Falcons, and the lead throughout the set and Wolverines took ultimately won 25-16.

When you get a lead, advantage of the to win According you have to keep pressure mistakes the set 25-18. to coJones, who on the other team ... They captain said his team has Joey Jones relaxed and let the other a habit of “getting (12), the team overcome them. complacent” after team “came winning a few out strong” Adam Zuffinetti sets, said that the in the first head coach Falcons started to set, but “slow down” after gradually lost momentum as the sets the second set.

“When you get a lead, you continued.

“During the first set, I felt have to keep pressure on the like we had it in the bag,” co- other team,” said coach Adam captain Kannon Kile (11) said. Zuffinetti. “You can’t let them “The second set it was close, but come back, and they relaxed I still felt confident, and we won, and let the other team overcome and then the third set was hard them.”

The Falcons stayed tied with and the team lacked execution.

The fourth game we just couldn’t Westview throughout much of finish. After winning the second the fourth set, but eventually game, we started to relax and fell 25-22. According to Kile, feel like we could easily win and “[TPHS] just couldn’t finish the we should have played hard and fourth set.”

Westview won the fifth set 15fought to win.”

Throughout much of the 9, ending the Falcons’ day.

“I just think we should second set, the Falcons were down, but TPHS caught up with improve upon our ability to the Wolverines, who were leading communicate and fight and push 18-11 after a series of kills. A tip to win,” Kile said. “The first play

by Kile helped the Falcons go up of the game, our coach told us to 19-19, and eventually win the set set a special place and we didn’t communicate enough to tell him 25-20.

f

By Jennifer Grundman staff writer

”

where to set.”

While Kile believes his team needs to work on communication, he conceded that teamwork and communication were Westview’s strengths.

Opposing coach MC Laughlin seemed to agree with Kile’s point of view, saying that while “[Westview didn’t perform well] in the beginning, [they] came together as a team at the end.”

While Zuffinetti expressed surprise at the game’s outcome, he remains optimistic about TPHS’ prospects in the rest of the season.

“If we beat [Westview] at the end of the season and continue to win out, then we’ll win the league,” Zuffinetti said.

Zuffinetti said that “most of the issues are getting the team pumped and ready to play.”

Peed is also optimistic about the team’s future, expressing confidence that they will get better as the season progresses.

The Falcons played Rancho Bernardo High School on April 24, after the Falconer went to press.

photos by grace bruton/falconer

STRETCH: Colin Bailey (12) tips a ball over the net with two Westview players ready to tip the ball back. The Falcons lost in five sets.

TENNIS Boys tennis defeated Mt. Carmel High School 15-3 on April 22. Although many varsity players did not play, head coach John Dellile said that it was still “great practice” for those who participated.

“I actually brought up a couple of good junior varsity guys to play just to get some experience since they were doing so well on the junior varsity level,” Dellile said.

The Falcons last game of the season is against Canyon Crest Academy, which they hope to win to stay undefeated for the season. Before league and CIF team matches, Dellile and varsity players Jacob Brumm (9), Sreeganesh Manoharan (10) and Henry Ji (12) played the 114th Annual Ojai Valley Junior Tournament from April 23-27 after the Falconer went to press.

Brumm, who is a 5-star recruit and the fourth ranked freshman in the nation, played in the Ojai Tournament for the first time, although Brumm has played in many national tournaments before.

“It feels nice [to play in the Ojai tournament] since it’s such a prestigious tournament,” Brumm said. “A main difference is that ... it seems more stacked than a normal designated [tournament], with more good players.”

The Falcons will play team CIFs and individuals in the end of April and beginning of May.

Volume 5, Issue 1

the GRUNION Friday, April 25, 2014

Grunion is as Grunion does

Prom Proves to be Boon for Local Economy College

By BERNIE MADOFF ACCREDITED EXPERT

According to recent reports, TPHS’ annual prom is evidently the only factor keeping local businesses in the black. During these tough economic times, excited seniors armed with their parents’ open wallets are willing to pay for “literally anything and everything,” according to Cindi Johnson of Cindi’s Magical Faerie Garden, a local flower shop.

“I make specialty corsages,” Johnson said. “Out of rare tropical orchids. They cost more than a month’s rent, and no one in their right minds would buy one. But these kids, bless them, are willing to buy several dozen, because apparently they need to have back ups in case the flowers don’t look right on Facebook. Thank god for you all.”

Jenny Soup, who bought 16 of Johnson’s corsages, says the cost is worth it if “it all adds up to a perfect night.” Soup has spent a total of $15,000 on a hummer limo, custom-made gown and newborn Sri Lankan leopard cub to carry around in her purse on Prom night.

“I named him Senior, get it?”

Soup said. “My dad had to pull a couple strings on the black market, but he understood how essential it was. After all, I’m leaving for college in the fall, so I won’t be going to Homecoming.

What else are my parents going to spend their money on?”

Patrons like Soup are contributing to the “largest economic event since the ‘dot com’ bubble,” according to University of California, San Diego economics professor Lee White.

“What we’re seeing here is a rapidly expanding market

in which consumers have no regard for the cost or even practicality of a product,” White said. “In layman’s terms, this basically means loaded 17-yearolds would buy an industrial forklift if they were convinced it completed their prom experience.”

According to White, the disregard for frugality and traditional common sense is the only thing that is sustaining the surrounding Del Mar and Carmel Valley economies.

“How else can you explain the existence of a shop that only sells designer boutonnieres?”

White said. “Or a salon that charges you $300 to blow hot air at your scalp, for f---’s sake.

The fact that these entirely unnecessary businesses have kept afloat is, to use an economic term, a goddamn miracle.”

However, the economic phenomenon is “very much limited to a 15-mile radius,” according to White. Tony Vega,

who used to run a Goodwill store in Logan Heights, was going out of business before he made the decision to relocate.

“I spent nearly all my savings leasing a property on Cedros for the store,” Vega said. “But I earned almost all of it back within the month. People were coming in and buying things I wasn’t even selling — like tin cans and gravel. One 40-yearold woman bought a piece of driftwood for $65, saying it was ‘rustic chic.’ Another time I asked a kid why he would ever need a broken record player, and he said ‘because it’s vintage.’ Incredible. It’s like a different world up here.”

According to Vega, the months leading up to Prom are his most lucrative.

“Yeah, it’s a busy time,” Vega said. “It’s going especially well this year because I found a box of moth-eaten nightgowns in my attic. I was going to throw them out but a girl asked today if she

could buy one of the high-low maxi dresses, and now here I am, 25 minutes later, with more money and fewer mothballs. It’s my favorite time of year.”

According to White, should TPHS students stop carelessly pumping money into the system, the effect would be “devastating.” Based on recent numbers, however, it seems that this is not likely to happen anytime soon.

“I just sold a fully functioning hydraulic replica of the Trevi fountain as part of something called a ‘Prom-posal,’” Eddy Jones, owner of an outdoor furniture store in Solana Beach, said. “I don’t know what a ‘Prom-posal’ is, but it sounds like a thing you spend time and money on in order to invite another person to spend their time and money on a different thing. Is that what they are?

I don’t care, I just bought a timeshare in Belize because of them.”

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/GRUNION

Board changes SAT

By SPIRIT GUIDE VILLAGE CHIEF

The College Board announced that several changes will be made to the SAT, including ending the penalty for guessing wrong, cutting obscure vocabulary words and making the essay optional.

“Wh-What?” every TPHS parent within a 30 mile radius said. “What is this change you speak of?”

The exam will revert to the old 1,600-point scale and will be available on the computer.

“But this cannot be!” a gathering mob of parents shouted. “We have been indoctrinating the youth since birth for this test!”

According to College Board president David Coleman, the changes are part of an effort to realign the SAT with high school curriculum.

“We have branded ‘2,400’ onto their foreheads as the Holy One ordered! The scripture cannot change!” the mob cried, gathering vocab cards to use as kindling in a sacrifical fire.

The test changes are designed to facilitate a move away from the need for testtaking tricks and strategies and refocus on skills and evidencebased thinking.

“But what of the magicians who taught the youths their tricks? Were they but witches?

Throw them in the river!”

Essays will be scored separately from the test and will require students to analyze a passage.

“Burn them,” local parents ordered as a pile of Kaplan books was set ablaze. “We have a new god now.”

Unidentified Freshman Still Trying to Find First Period Class

By AGENT MULDER FBI/TPHS ADMIN

Numerous sightings of a lost freshman boy wandering around campus since late August have been reported with increasing frequency throughout the past month.

Despite official statements released by administrators insisting that his existence is simply an urban legend, the boy has been sighted during lunch, at break, before and after school.

Reports indicate that the freshman is wearing a Pacers jersey and is of medium build.

He has been seen clutching a schedule sheet and a map, appearing bewildered; on several occasions he has asked passersby where room 504 is.

When told that there is no room 504, it has been reported that the boy slowly steps backward before running away or jumping

into a bush.

Other sightings detail his erratic but largely harmless behavior, including peering into rooms before apologizing that he has the wrong class, and somehow ending up stuffed into a girl’s locker.

“Where is the lecture hall?” the boy allegedly said upon the sophomore girl discovering him in her locker. “I think I am lost.”

Sightings have been reported throughout the past year — the earliest being Aug. 30 — and have steadily increased since then, now occurring every hour on the hour. The reports vary widely, but the established link is that the boy is most certainly a freshman, and that he has been trying to find his first period class for the past eight months.

“Is this the B building?” the boy purportedly asked while pointing to a tree. “I hope I’m

not late to class.”

There have been efforts to find and capture the elusive young man, but all have failed due to the boy’s fear of sudden movement and propensity to vanish from sight quickly and quietly. Moreover, many have attempted to capture him on film, but all photos develop grainy and out-of-focus.

The latest sighting claimed that the freshman was scaling the walls of the gym, trying to find the pool.

A hotline has been established for those who wish to report a sighting or who have any information regarding the identity of the lost student.

This page is intended for entertainment purposes only.

Any resemblance to real people and events is entirely coincidental.

By Charu Sinha

PHOTO BY GRACE BRUTON/GRUNION

Falconer

The Torrey Pines High School

www.tphsfalconer.com Friday, April 25, 2014

3710 Del Mar Heights Road, San Diego, CA 92130

Vol. 39, Issue 7, 32 pages

A LOOK INSIDE: focus

B1-B4 —Focus explores the ways students address global issues. photo used by permission of susie talman

TPHS LACROSSE REMEMBERS JOSE MONTAÑO IN LOVING MEMORY | Following honorary TPHS lacrosse member Jose Mantaño’s death, the team speaks about his influence on them and his contributions to the community. By Katie Mulkowsky Honorary lacrosse team member Jose Montaño, Jr., lost his three-year fight with medulloblastoma, an agressive and malignant type of brain cancer, on April 13.

His father made a public announcement on the Jose Montaño Foundation Facebook page the following day, alerting the organization’s near 1,600 followers of his son’s death.

“Five days before his third year anniversary of being diagnosed, Jose, my hero, my baby, my teacher, was called to heaven yesterday,” Jose Montaño, Sr. wrote. “I know he is now playing in God’s playground and being our guardian angel.”

The Montaño family’s relationship with the TPHS lacrosse team began in 2012, when a hospital social worker introduced the elder Montaño to Friends of Jaclyn, an organization which partners families battling pediatric brain tumors with high

school and collegiate sports teams. Since then, the boys have connected with Jose about 20 times a year, holding fundraisers and participating in his foundation events, according to head coach Jonathan Zissi.

“I think Friends of Jaclyn is a wonderful organization,” Zissi said. “Our kids learned just as much, if not more, from Jose than we could ever have given him.”

Jose’s experiences in the hospital gave rise to the Jose Montaño Foundation, through which he delivered toys and care packages to other hospitalized children each month. Long-pole defenseman Peter Hollen (12) said that he will always carry the spirit of Jose’s selflessness and positive attitude with him.

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget anything he taught me,” Hollen said. “Everything that he showed and everything that he fought — I’ll have it for the rest of my life, and I think

TPHS students selected as athletic leaders

f

By Hanrui Zhang staff writer

TPHS students Sierra Campisano (10), Katherine Lauerman (11), Riley Pope (10), Taylor Seamans (11) and Brian Wahl (11) were selected to be student leaders and representatives in a teen athletic leadership program called Pitch It Forward, created in August 2013 by Dan Engel and Gary Heil. Engel, chief executive officer and co-founder of the program, ran the Miracle League of San Diego for 10 years, a program in which many

TPHS special needs athletes participate to play baseball.

“Pitch it Forward’s mission is to challenge young athletes to lead — to inspire others to take responsibility for helping to create a better school for all students,” Engel said. “By combining the responsibility to lead, to learn, to perform random acts of kindness and to express gratitude to those that have helped, we believe that we can help young leaders while enriching the communities in which they live.”

Engel was inspired to create Pitch It Forward after his success

see PITCH, A2

that everybody on the team who met him will also have it.”

According to Hollen, Jose spent the last two months of his life as a “happy, regular kid,” and when his cancer returned for the final time, “he did not let it stop him.”

“I think it was hard for him to know [that he was terminally ill], but he kept pushing through; he kept fighting,” Hollen said.

Hollen’s brother, attackman Henry Hollen (11), described Jose as the “strongest kid [he] will ever meet” and said that he will always be a part of the team.

“He defined selflessness and strength at the age of 13,” Henry said. “We love him as a brother and he will forever be in our hearts.”

Zissi said that the most incredible part of Jose’s story is the empathy he had toward other hospitalized children during his own

see jose, A4

feature Both people of faith and people who depend on science, especially young adults, should be intellectually honest and open to all the data and come to their own conclusions.

“

—William Soo Hoo See A14, The Science of Faith

BIRD’S EYE

VIEW opinion....................A6 feature..................A11 entertainment......A15 sports.....................A24 backpage............A28 focus........................B1

The Falconer wins Best of Show f

By Sarah Chan staff writer

The TPHS student newspaper, the Falconer, won Best of Show in the category Newspaper Broadsheet 17 or More Pages at the 2014 National Scholastic Press Association and Journalism Education Association Spring National High School Journalism Convention April 9-13 in San Diego.

“I was really surprised [when we won] because we didn’t place in the Fall convention,” Editor-inChief Cory Lomberg (12) said. “But at the same time, it wasn’t necessarily shocking because we did put out an incredible issue ... we almost become desensitized from the great work we do because we don’t always get acknowledged.”

The convention took place at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront and included submissons from 185 newspapers and 194 yearbooks nationwide.

“I was thrilled [when the Falconer won Best in Show],” publications adviser Mia Boardman Smith said. “My excitement comes from the students being rewarded for their hard work.”

Out of the 1,112 students who participated in write-off contests, Alex Jen (11), Anna Lee (10), Anna Li (11) and Maya Rao (10) won Excellent awards in the Review Writing, News Editing/ Headline Writing, Newswriting and Commentary Writing categories, respectively.

According to Lomberg, the Falconer’s improvement since the Fall convention was due to a refinement of the earlier style, rather than changing the style entirely in order to appeal to the judges.

“When we didn’t place last time, I asked all the section editors if they wanted to change the direction or style [of the paper],” she said. “They said they just wanted to keep improving what we’ve been doing, and I think that’s what really brought us to the top. We kept improving our own style, we printed more pages, the quality of the writing got better and the design became more innovative. We were doing things we hadn’t even seen before at convention.”

The fall national convention will be held in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 6-9.

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news

april 25, 2014

GLOBAL UPDATE

What’s going on in the world?

The Falconer takes a look at the biggest recent news events.

n. america boston memorial — A tribute to the victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings was held at the Hynes Convention Center on April 15, 2014, a year after the tragedy. The ceremony included speeches, a moment of silence, a flag raising and church bells.

blood moon — Most prominent in North and South America, the April 15 lunar eclipse was the first of four, known as a tetrad, that will occur between now and September 2015. During the eclipse, the full moon turns a coppery red as it passes into Earth’s shadow.

the next blood moons will be on oct. 8, 2014, april 4, 2015 and sept. 28, 2015. on average, the eclipses in the tetrad will EACH be 53 minutes and 12 seconds long.

s. america

12

mile radius from the volcano affected by recent eruptions

60

# days state of emergency was declared for the area

volcanic activity — Peruvian authorities declared a state of emergency on April 15 after increased activity from the Ubinas volcano, which is 600 miles south of the capital, Lima. Four thousand people and 30,000 animals have since been evacuated.

literary genius — Gabriel Garcia Marquez, worldrenowned writer and Nobel Laureate, died April 17, 2014 at age 87 in Mexico City. His novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is considered one of the hallmarks of magical realism in literature.

news

tphsfalconer.com

the falconer

asia missing plane — The search for missing flight MH370 has reached a “critical juncture,” according to Malaysia’s defense minister. Provided the weather is favorable, authorities estimate the search will be completed in the next week.

korean ferry — A ferry boat carrying 477 passengers and crew, including 325 high school students, capsized April 16, 2014, on the way from Incheon to Jeju City.

As of April 20, 64 people are dead and 238 are reported missing.

? ?

A3

questionable facts the captain was among the first to abandon ship, telling passengers to stay inside. the vice principal of the visiting high school has since committed suicide.

europe

ukraine

• slovyansk

africa terrorist attack — Armed men, suspected to be the terrorist group Boko Haram, attacked a Nigerian boarding school, resulting in the deaths of two guards and the abduction of 129 schoolgirls. It is unclear how many girls are accounted for.

pistorius trial — After 25 days of testimony, the Oscar Pistorius murder trial adjourned on April 17 amid a report that a crucial defense witness, private forensic pathologist Reggie Perumal, will not take the stand when the trial resumes May 5.

ukraine crisis — Ukraine’s Easter ceasefire was shattered on April 20 after three people were killed in a checkpoint shootout outside of Solvyansk, leaving the Geneva peace deal between Russia, Ukraine, the EU and the U.S. in tatters.

hostage reporter — ProRussian separatists in Ukraine released a video of a female journalist, abducted and blindfolded for allegedly opposing the referendum, even though she says her purpose is to “tell the impartial truth.”

pistorius: a timeline feb. 14, 2013

pistorius shoots and kills girlfriend reeva steenkamp

mar. 3, 2014

the trial commences in pretoria, south africa

apr. 7, 2014

pistorius begins testifying in his own defense

infographic by anna li/falconer

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A4 the falconer

news

april 25, 2014

Earl Warren Middle School plans renovation f

By Katie Page

public relations manager

Earl Warren Middle School will begin this summer the first of three stages in the complete reconstruction of the school, as part of Prop. AA improvements.

According to the “EWMS Master Plan” on the school website, the new facility, when completed in the fall of 2017, will occupy 56,120 square feet.

The new campus will enroll 500 students, reduced from the current 705, when the planned middle school near Canyon Crest Academy opens in 2015. EWMS will also adopt a “vision of sustainable technology” to support increased awareness of humanity’s environmental footprint.

“When the school was built 60 years ago, [sustainable technology] wasn’t at the forefront of the conversation,” EWMS principal Mary Anne Nuskin said. “I think we’re all at a place now where we’re being more mindful of our impacts.”

The Master Plan has three focal points: “flexible, adaptable and technologically rich facilities, sustainable, high performance environments for learning and a communityfocused campus.” The changes will include new energy sources like solar panels on the roofs of classroom buildings, north-facing natural light windows and high-efficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioners.

“I was really excited [when my teacher told me about the remodel], but also kind of sad because I won’t be there to experience it,” Garret Seamans (8) said. “I think the [remodel] will improve the overall feel of the campus, too, and make it more friendly, which is really good.”

Phase one, beginning this summer, will include the demolition of the cafeteria, known as “Lola’s Place,” the blacktop behind the school, which is currently used for physical education activities, and Warren Hall. The blacktop area and cafeteria will become the district technology offices and hold the

district server, which is intended to increase the bandwidth on campus. Warren Hall will be repurposed as a student union and will include “spaces for student project-based learning as well as small group instruction,” according to the Master Plan. The space will supplement the existing public library services and will include two classrooms for P.E., but will be exclusively for EWMS students.

According to Nuskin, the second stage of construction will commence in the fall of 2015 and will begin with the reconstruction of classrooms, which will all meet the new SDUHSD standard of approximately 1,200 square feet.

“Part of [the second phase] will be moving [the] portable classrooms down to the blacktop, so we have some extra space when we’re redoing some of the [other] rooms.”

Nuskin said. “Students use those classrooms anyway, so they will be in a different

location.”

Nuskin is working closely with the project architects to make student safety and a healthy learning environment top priorities.

Amid heavy construction on campus, Nuskin acknowledges that construction dust, altered traffic patterns and distractions will be inconvenient but will yield a worthwhile result for both students and the community.

“I think it will be distracting when they’re preparing for the demolition because of the noise from construction, but I think it will be okay overall,” Seamans said.

The third and final stage of the EWMS renovation will include additional classroom, administration and counseling building remodeling.

The EWMS reconstruction is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2017, and the only building that will remain untouched on the 20-acre plot will be the Solana Beach Library, which has been on-site since 1925.

photo by alex mccracken/falconer

school’s in: Earl Warren Middle School can currently sustain 705 students. EWMS

plans to carry out a three-part renovation and expansion that will be completed by 2017.

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Registration Open April 1 to May 23 www.sdys.org • 619.233.3232

— VISIT —

our rehearsals in Balboa Park on Saturdays and Sundays to learn more.

JOSE continued from A1 chemotherapy treatments.

“It’s a wild concept for a 13-year-old to think outside of himself like that,” Zissi said. “All those great lessons that most adults try to teach you, these guys learned from a 13-year-old.”

Of Jose’s many qualities, the one that left the greatest impression on defensive midfielder Luke Braun (10) was his strength.

“The amount of strength that boy had to have to keep fighting the battle every day was an insane amount to handle, and he used that strength every day to help others,” Braun said. “I hope that one day I will have the amount of strength to use in my life that Jose used in his.”

Attackman Marc Lefferdink (10) agrees with teammates that the Falcons will not forget who they are playing for.

“Our whole thing is to play for Jose — to fight every last fight and to give everything you have, like Jose did, and to just have a positive attitude,” Peter Hollen said. “We say a prayer for him every game now. He’s in our head, in our hearts, and with us on the field.”

Team manager Alex McCracken (12) said that the Falcons have learned that “every little detail matters.”

According to Zissi, the Falcons will play the rest of the spring season in Jose’s honor. The Montaño family is accepting donations at 1835 Cabrena St. San Diego, Calif. 92154 and requests that donors specify where they want the money to go: to the foundation, or to the Montaño family.

news

tphsfalconer.com

the falconer

Students start Humans of Torrey Pines page f

By Sarah Brown & Michelle Hao

entertainment editor and staff writer

The Humans of Torrey Pines Facebook page and Instagram account, inspired by the Humans of New York Facebook page, was founded by Jamie Yu (11) and Timmy Holdsworth (11) on April 4 as a “way to bring the community together and get to know different people’s stories,” according to Yu. The page has accumulated over 370 “likes” and posted four photos, while the Instagram account has 130 followers.

According to Yu, she and Holdsworth interview and photograph around five or six people at once and post them throughout the week. “[Holdsworth and I] just go up to people and ask them, ‘Hey, have you heard of Humans of Torrey Pines?’ and ask them a question,” Yu said. “We got rejected a couple of times, especially in the beginning when people didn’t know what [the page] was.”

Jack Dong (11) became involved in HOTP because of his previous interest in HONY, and was the first to be featured on the HOTP page.

“There’s nothing deep, but it captures things on campus that normally don’t catch your attention,” Dong said.

Holdsworth said many of the questions asked of students are taken directly from the HONY page, and the responses work to entertain and reveal diverse stories across campus.

“[HONY] is more about lifechanging experiences, with more in-depth, inspirational quotes and things that could motivate you,” said Christina Baek (10), who “liked” the HOTP page. “[HOTP] is just not the same.”

According to Baek, some people “like” the page just because they are students, and not because of their interest in the content.

“If their motive was to have a popular page, [it is successful in that aspect because] it’s getting

more likes,” Baek said. “But I do not think it is as inspirational as Humans of New York.”

Michelle McKee (10) sees the potential for the page to become more popular by posting more pictures and providing more indepth captions.

“The [HONY page] is obviously a lot more professional,” McKee said. “It has like 5 million more likes, and [Brandon Stanton] is very experienced with everything he’s doing, but I think what makes the Humans of Torrey

Pines page really relatable is that it’s our high school students doing this.”

According to McKee, the page may help students be more “open and willing to share [individual aspects] about themselves.”

Although Yu said that she and Holdsworth “started the page for fun,” others see it as a way of integrating students on campus. “[HOTP allows] people to find out something new about someone else,” Holdsworth said.

“That makes me happy.”

photo used by permission of timmy holdsworth

CLICK: George Heller (10) and Alexandra Kiselyov (11) were both interviewed on-the-spot for Humans of Torrey Pines, a Facebook page modeled off Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York.

A5

PITCH continued from A1 with Miracle League, and believes instead of just “transforming San Diego once with Miracle League,” he can “change the world” with Pitch It Forward. The program includes student athletes from six other North County Conference high schools: Cathedral Catholic, Del Norte, Pacific Ridge, Rancho Bernardo, Westview and San Dieguito Academy.

Meetings usually cover one to two topics, in which Heil, Pitch It Forward co-founder and chief curriculum officer, presents meeting topics ranging from student psychology to integrated case studies in the learning process. “[We thought we would] start [with] the special education kids on campus; they are never really intermingling with students on campus,” Pope, a member of the frack and field team, said. “We try to break down that barrier, to make it more comfortable for us to be around them and for them to be around us.”

On April 2, Pitch It Forward and TPHS students completed their first joint activity with special education students in the gym, eating together and playing indoor and outdoor games.

“The goal is to continue refining the program in San Diego before scaling Pitch it Forward on a national basis,” Engel said.

For the 2014-15 school year, Pitch It Forward plans to conduct two programs in three new North County schools on top of the existing group, and another program encompassing 10 schools from the San Diego Unified, Grossmont Union and Sweetwater Union school districts.

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OPINION

Campaign finance ruling is bad for democracy, A8

Mississippi law should be treated with caution, A9

YES f

By Austin Zhang staff writer

Freedom of speech is an important right in the United States, especially on university campuses.

Open expression allows for expansion of thought. It may seem that hate speech codes, while well-intentioned, infringe on the right to express and share ideas and opinions. While legal precedent stands strongly against hate speech codes, there are still ways for them be useful and constitutional.

Hate speech is speech that expresses hatred for some group, especially in a violence-provoking manner. Generally, it is targeted against a group of persons defined in terms of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender or religion.

Several university hate speech codes were adopted in response to student activities that were offensive toward members of certain races. An environment of learning requires that students feel safe, secure and focused. Oncampus discrimination, whether by peers or by hate groups, disrupts such an environment, just as codes preventing hate speech can restore and preserve it. Furthermore, one major function of freedom of speech is the sharing of ideas, allowing for valuable insights. However, hate speech contains little in the way of high-value thought.

Opponents of the hate speech codes argue that while hate-speech is unpopular and

Many universities prohibit “hate speech” on their campuses. While opponents dispute the constitutionality of the codes, proponents claim they help maintain a positive learning environment. offensive, it is still the expression of an opinion, and should not be restricted if it does not cause direct harm.

Nonetheless, speech is a powerful thing and can shatter people’s sense of security. In the 1942 Supreme Court case Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, the Court ruled that “fighting words,” or those that provoke violent responses, are not protected by the First Amendment. Under a variety of circumstances, hate-speech can easily cross the line and become “fighting words.”

In the past, hate speech codes have been struck down for two reasons: Either the code a university established was too unclear, or too harsh in its execution. In other words, either a code was so broad that it was hard to discern what was allowed and what was not, or the code restricted more than simply “fighting words.” What these codes need is a period of development. The intentions behind them are good, as they are meant to provide the protection guaranteed to students of any gender, race or religion by the Constitution.

Ultimately, codes cannot control what people find offensive, and to attempt to create such codes invariably violates speech rights. Instead, codes should focus strictly and solely on preventing threats or incitement of violence.

Through more refined definitions and clear-cut qualifiers for what can be considered inappropriate for a campus and what can be considered reasonable expression of opinion, codes can allow all students to feel secure as they study, while also preserving the open forum and encouraging the variety of opinion that should define a college campus.

We asked you...

Should college campuses have rules against the use of hate speech?

70%

30%

YES*

NO*

said

said

*results based on an informal poll of 73 students.

As we continue to evolve into a society increasingly reliant on social media and easier ways to communicate with others, the importance of protecting First Amendment free speech rights will increase. University hate speech codes are inappropriate restrictions on free speech, as there is good reason students in learning environments should be allowed to express their thoughts and opinions about other people.

Colleges should not be allowed to ban hate speech.

Universities are grounded in preserving nonrestricted expression of ideas and concepts.

Having expressive freedom allows students in higher education to explore and expand new ideas, while revisiting or revising old ones.

“On a campus that is free and open, no idea can be banned or forbidden,” a statement from the American Association of University Professors reads. “No viewpoint or message may be deemed so hateful or disturbing that it may not be expressed.”

Censorship in the form of hate speech codes is indefensible, since universities can take such policies too far, and there is no bright line to delineate how much censorship can occur. Codes can be too broad if they restrict too much speech, or too vague if it is not made clear what expressions are allowed or prohibited, leaving room for a person to interpret the rules on his own.

Hate speech codes also make more expressive students on campus more self-conscious and unwilling to convey their ideas openly. Since hate speech codes limit students’ exposure to dissenting opinion, students will also have less experience responding to attacks in the

NO f

art by ellese nguyen/falcon artist

Should colleges have hate speech codes?

By Hanrui Zhang staff writer

future, limiting their preparation for resolving real world conflicts.

Supporters of hate speech codes argue that colleges seek to limit potentially violent interactions between students.

However, though the Supreme Court has recognized the expressive and emotive function of speech, it has rejected using sanctions like hate speech codes. Speech has a great deal of expressive power: According to the Court, speech “may often be the more important element of the overall message sought to be communicated.”

The impact of hate speech is based far more on the reaction of the subject being offended than the words actually said.

Restricting emotionally charged language for students who convey hate speech is illogical.

If the court recognizes a person’s right to expression, regardless of how emotive it is, there is no reason for courts or colleges to enact hate speech codes. In the end, if college students choose to engage in hate speech, the they should suffer whatever repercussions might ensue, as is the case in the real world. Universities and colleges should not be allowed to enact hate speech codes, as they are often too vague or broad to be effective and thus not worth the potentially harmful effects on students’ freedom of speech.