April 2018

Falconer

The Torrey Pines High School

Friday, April 27, 2018

Vol. 43, Issue 7, 28 pages

www.tphsfalconer.com

Business students interview Birkenstock CEO at Sole Concepts grand opening photo by hayoung park/falconer

BUSINESS BIRKEN-ROCKS: Six students from TPHS’ Marketing and Advanced Business Management classes, along with Marketing teacher Jackie Niddrie, stand next to Birkenstock USA CEO, David Kahan, after interviewing him at the grand opening of Sole Concepts in downtown San Diego on April 20. Niddrie and Business Management teacher James Anthony hand-selected students to interview Kahan.

By Annie Cheng STAFF WRITER Six TPHS students attended the grand opening of the Sole Concepts shoe store in downtown San Diego to interview the president and CEO of Birkenstock USA, David Kahan, about how he manages Birkenstock Americas.

Four students from Jackie Niddrie’s Marketing class, David Cynkin (11), Erik Misak (11), Shadi Mohebbi (10) and Samaya Patel (10) as well as two students from James Anthony’s Advanced Business Management class, Jade Cany (12) and Izzy Shroff (12), were selected to participate by Niddrie and Anthony.

According to Niddrie, the students were picked based on merit and grade level.

“I feel very honored to have been chosen as one of the two students to go interview the CEO,” Cany said. “I feel like Mr. Anthony can tell that I’m serious about doing business in the future.”

The opportunity to interview and

introduce themselves to one of the most successful CEOs in the shoe business was humbling, according to Cynkin.

Before attending this event, students were asked to read some biographies and the history of the company, according to Niddrie. Business Management students prepared questions about his management and leadership style, while Marketing students prepared questions regarding promotions, social media and product sustainability. For 20 minutes, the students asked the Birkenstock executive questions surrounding the company’s values, office atmosphere and methods for hiring employees.

The meeting with Kahan helped students grasp the importance of a person’s work ethic, commitment and creativity to the company when it comes to conducting business affairs, according to Cany. “[I learned that] there is no such thing as a job that is too small or unimportant, and as long as you have the passion and determination, the hard work pays off eventually and a lot of doors will open,” Cany said.

As a marketing student, Cynkin asked Kahan about how Birkenstock utilizes social media platforms to expand the Birkenstock brand across the world.

Birkenstock does not use any celebrities to endorse their brand, Kahan said in response.

“When you see celebrities wear Birkenstock, we don’t pay them to wear Birkenstock,” Kahan said. “They wear them because Birkenstock is a shoe brand that they like.”

During the meeting, Kahan also heavily stressed the value of a positive company culture. The unique company atmosphere allows the company to reach the product’s maximum level of potential.

“He talked a lot about how it’s a whole culture they are into at Birkenstock,” Cany said. “[Also, all the employees] need to love their product.”

According to Kahan, Birkenstock is a one-of-a-kind brand because it is a very genuine and “high-touch” brand that personally interacts with each of its customers.

As April draws to a close, teachers are finishing off the last of their AP course material, preparing to send students off to the Del Mar Fairgrounds for two weeks in May to prove their proficiency in their classes. But in classrooms all across campus, two days of material have been put on hold for the school to participate in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium tests, implemented by the California Department of Education.

TPHS administrators moved SBAC testing to the weeks of April 16 and 23, which was followed by claims that the

testing would interfere with AP class preparation time.

During the 2017-18 school year, TPHS implemented a new SBAC schedule, in which they have students take the test, meant to analyze both reading and math, before AP testing.

“Because scores [during the 2016-17 school year] were significantly lower, we decided to push testing to before APs so that students aren’t burnt out by the time they take the SBAC,” Assistant Principal Robert Shockney said.

The scores from the SBAC testing of the current senior class were lower than TPHS’ average scores, bringing down the school ranking, according to scores

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SBAC testing moved to avoid AP tests

By Bea de Oliveira and Elaine Song COPY EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER

BIRD’S EYE VIEW

supplied by TPHS administrators. The scores were 10 and five percent lower than in previous years for English and Math, respectively.

According to Principal Rob Coppo, the testing schedule was also changed to help students prepare for upcoming AP tests.

“We decided to try it, as we had always done it for decades before,” Coppo said.

“To have the testing before AP testing where the kids can be a little bit more focused ... and use it as test prep for AP.” This response, though, has come with “a lot of feedback” from various teachers and department chairs, according to Shockney.

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BIRKENSTOCK CONTINUED FROM A1

“Even in the day and age of the internet, there’s still no substitute for sitting down and buying shoes; we call it sit-and-fit,” Kahan said. “You sit and get fit and try on the shoes. There’s no substitute for that anywhere online except for Birkenstock.”

Birkenstock also fits in a small niche of companies in the world that cater to many generations, according to Kahan.

It is a brand that is used by people of all ages.

“Birkenstock is the only company where you see mothers and daughters, and even grandmothers, wearing the shoes at the same time,” Kahan said.

According to Kahan, Birkenstock’s clean form and design keep Birkenstock attractive to consumers even after a couple of centuries.

“Since Birkenstock’s establishment in the 1700s, the shoe’s simple design is what keeps Birkenstock in style even after all these years,” said Kahan. “If you find a pair of Birkenstock that was hidden in your closet for the past 20 years, you can immediately wear them outside without the shame of them being old-fashioned.”

According to Cynkin, the meeting with Kahan was positive, even though it was not what he expected.

“My expectations for the event were way more intense than they actually were,” Cynkin said, “I thought it would be a formal and fancy face-to-face interview, but it was actually a pleasant surprise because it was just our group and him in a casual store talking and learning from him in a more social [environment].”

According to Kahan, he rarely gets to talk face-to-face with students about the company.

“Most of the time, it’s the sales team that [hold small meetings with customers], it’s rare that I get the opportunity to come,” Kahan said. “I just happened to be in LA for an event...so I drove down for this.”

In the future, Kahan would like to continue holding this kind of small events for Birkenstock. “[The company and I would] love to.

We love doing things with consumers,” Kahan said. “It’s great that we do these events. We wish sometimes that we have more time to do them.”

Cynkin would recommend this event to any aspiring business managers and anyone looking into entering the business industry “because of the amazing value and knowledge that [he] gained.”

news

Senior advises avoiding distracted driving

By Eve Gross-Sable and Michael Nirula COPY EDITOR AND SPORTS EDITOR Trevor Ewing (12) used to ride his motorcycle everywhere he went, until he got on his bike for last time on March 25.

Ewing was riding his cruiser down Camino Del Mar so he could enjoy the sunset after working an eight-hour shift at Vons, when he was struck by a teenage girl with a learner’s permit who violated his right of way.

“I was in the lefthand lane and I was accelerating -- the speed limit is 40 miles an hour, and I was going anywhere from 24 to 32, from what the police report said,” Ewing said.

The girl, who was southbound, made a left turn in front of Ewing’s northbound principal motorcycle.

“I probably was only within maybe a good 100 or 50 feet and she just turned right in front of me,” Ewing said. “My first instinct was to grab on the brakes as hard as I could, you know, trying to slow down.

But what happened was I lost control and I laid my bike down.”

According to Ewing, the term used to describe the situation when a motorcycle falls and the rider falls under it is “low side.” After falling, his body slid on the asphalt until it was halfway beneath the car, and he sustained a broken left wrist, thumb, shoulder blade, hip, femur and ankle, along with third degree burns under his knee.

Ewing’s dad, Ken, had just arrived in Las Vegas at the time of the accident.

“My heart dropped to the floor. I went into total mind numbness just walking around like a zombie for approximately 45 minutes, I just didn’t know what to do. I was in shell shock,” Ken said.

While it has not been included in the police report that the driver of the vehicle was using any sort of technological device, Ken believes that it’s likely the accident could have been prevented if the risk of distraction had been minimized..

“I’m almost certain that she was on a cell phone device or a GPS device because

The TPHS Jazz Band placed second at the Irvine Jazz Festival held at Irvine High School. 80 different ensembles competed at the festival this year.

Outstanding Musicianship: Trombone: Lenni Elbe (12) Trumpet: James Freedman (10) Alto Saxophone: Matthew Jiang Vocals: Sofia Nocito (12) Violin: Nicole Pustilnik (9) Piano: Andrew Zhao (12) infographic by bea de oliveira and angela liu

april 27, 2018

she’s not from this area,” Ken said. “And so she was distracted, and you know the thing that’s important for everyone here from Torrey Pines, in this region, and everywhere else, to know. We start … by stopping the distraction.”

Principal Rob Coppo agrees that, especially among teenagers, there is a high probability that distracted driving accidents will occur, given the prevalence of smartphones.

“It is a serious responsibility to drive a car, and that’s why we have our Start Smart program here on campus with the [California Highway Patrol] to make sure we are better training our students,” Coppo said.

New California law mandates that drivers can no longer use their smartphone in their hands for GPS, which was previously an exception. People are also prohibited from texting or calling unless they use a handsfree device.

And while phones are responsible for many accidents, Ewing says many future accidents can be prevented simply if drivers are more aware of their surroundings and

It is a serious responsibility to drive a car and that’s why we have our start smart program here on campus with the CHP to make sure we are better training our students.

Rob Coppo

adjacent vehicles, which can often include motorcycles.

“Maybe you could look a little bit over the shoulder a little more and see if someone’s coming, you never know, maybe it could save someone’s life,” Ewing said.

As in Ewing’s accident, many involving motorcycles are caused by negligence of an automobile driver. According to the National Highway Safety Administration, during 2003, it was found that in all motorcycle accidents occurring between motorcyclists and cars, the motorcyclist was either not at fault or less at fault than the other driver 80 percent of the time.

Teacher Lars Trupe says that while speed and control are often a factor in motorcycle accidents, another issue is the California law allowing lane splitting, in which motorcyclists are allowed to go in between cars in lanes.

Trupe says he has had a few of his own experiences with carelessness by drivers over the course of his years riding a Vespa.

“I had one incident a couple years ago when I was going down Highway 1, and I got run off the road by a car that was going too fast. I ended up sliding out. Thankfully, the damage to the scooter was cosmetic and I only had a few scrapes,” Trupe said.

While Ewing has changes in mind that he believes could prevent future accidents like his, his energy is currently focused on recovery. After 23 days in the hospital and several surgeries, Ewing plans to make his return to TPHS, hopefully with some time to spare before graduation.

photo by jocelyn tzeng/falconer

DISTRACTED DRIVING: Trevor Ewing (12) was struck by a car on Camino Del Mar while riding his motorcycle on March 25 (ABOVE). After his incident, Ewing has become more interested in accidents involving motorcycles and learning how to prevent them.

Honorable Mention: Colette Chiang (10) Annie Cheng (12) Eve Gross-Sable (11) Anvitha Soordelu (12) David Vapnek (11) Excellent: Michael Nirula (12) Superior: Angela Liu (11)

TPHS earned Best Overall Medium Delegation at the UCSD Triton MUN XVII Conference.

Best Delegate: Thomas Freedman (12) Outstanding Delegate: Sarina Hegli (9) Andrew Seo (9) Honorable Delegate: Natalie Anashkin (10) Matthew Ralph (12)

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tphsfalconer.com

SBAC testING CONTINUED FROM A1

AP English Language teacher Catherine Moffett believes last year’s SBAC testing schedule, with AP students tested after AP tests, was better than the one used this year.

TPHS administrators see the SBAC as a way to align curriculum and identify weaknesses in each subject area tested.

“The [SBAC] test is here to gauge your progress,” Coppo said. “It’s one component to gauge ... if our curriculum isn’t aligned [with the state standards].”

The results of the SBAC are a tool for evaluation and can be used to select new textbooks and change classes to meet state expectations.

How the administration views the test – as a tool for evaluation – is very different from how students view it.

Having taken the math portion of the SBAC test, William Lutz (11) considered the experience a “complete waste of time.” “[The test is] Clare Gao (12) made up of stuff student that I did in eighth grade,” Lutz said. “All you’re [doing is] just cutting away from the time that you have to prep for the actual AP tests.”

The class of 2018 took the science portion of the SBAC this year, although the placement of the SBAC before AP testing may not have increased enthusiasm in the senior class like administration hoped it would.

“The tests don’t really affect the seniors. I think at this point in the year, in general, the seniors won’t be trying very hard,” Clare Gao (12) said.

With most, if not all, college decisions already sent out and two months left in the school year, the senior class does not have as much incentive as juniors to do

well on the SBAC, but some, like Gao, see the benefit in the schedule change.

“Maybe [the testing schedule change] will work for the underclassmen or juniors,” Gao said. “That way, they still have to be focused in school, rather than after the AP tests, when they wouldn’t try as hard because they’re done with all of their major tests.”

Gao took her SBAC science test over two class periods in her third period AP Economics class. Despite missing two class periods, she does not feel that the testing impacted her class schedule.

“I don’t feel less prepared [for the AP test], because we’ve already gone through so much of the material and a lot of it now is just review,” Gao said.

However, she does feel that her college application process was affected by TPHS’ SBAC scores from the 2016-17 school year.

“I think [the scores] played a role [in my college admissions],” Gao said. “When colleges look at who they want to admit into their freshmen class, they take into account the standing of your high school.”

An Ivy League admissions officer who asked not to be named refuted that theory.

“We never look at the school SBAC score. We rely on what we know about previous students from Torrey Pines.”

California does not do official state school rankings. They are formulated using various factors, such as racial and ethnic diversity, as well as test scores. The number of students taking AP tests, the percentage who passed and English and math proficiency.

Doing SBAC testing prior to AP testing is designed to raise scores, Coppo believes that “the scores are going to perpetually up; it’s just going to happen with the flow of time.”

Maybe [the testing schedule change] will work for the underclassmen or juniors. That way, they still have to be focused in school, rather than after the AP tests, when they wouldn’t try as hard because they’re done with all of their major tests.

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New TPHS Dance Company created to include new classes

By Colette Chiang and Vlada Demenko STAFF WRITERS Starting in the 2018-19 school year, the TPHS dance program will undergo changes created by the administration and dance teacher Sarah Kaye to utilize the new TPHS Performing Arts Center and expand the program.

The new program will be known as TPHS Dance Company, and will include the current Dance P.E. and dance team classes in addition to new Intermediate and Advanced dance classes.

“The JV and varsity dance teams will be separate from the Intermediate and Advanced Dance classes,” Principal Rob Coppo said.

Those classes, Rob Coppo which will also principal be separate from Dance P.E., will be taught by Kaye.

The curriculum is not yet finalized, but students will learn more about the history and cultural aspects of dance in class, according to varsity dance team member Shannon Sun (10).

According to Coppo, the new program was inspired by the construction of a new facility that will be dedicated to the Visual and Performing Arts Department.

“We’re building a multi-million dollar facility for dance classes, and I want to make sure we have a true, integrated program that has a top level and high-end dance class,” Coppo said. “[We] want to make sure [we’re] using those tax dollars wisely, and that we are getting enough kids in the program.”

Another change that will be implemented is the dance team will become an after-school program. Some dance team members predict those future practices will conflict with their schedules.

“After school, I have other programs or activities to go to, and that kind of takes away from my time,” varsity dance team member Kathryn Yoo (10) said.

In response to the changes, dance team members created petitions to “bring the dance team back,” which were based on miscommunication between administration, Kaye and students, according to Coppo.

“I love that students wanted to sign a petition to save [the dance team], but it didn’t need saving, because it wasn’t going anywhere,” Coppo said.

Students heard rumors about the new program, including that the dance team would no longer perform at football games, have no JV team and no longer perform hip hop, all of which are untrue, according to Coppo.

“We first heard the news that there wasn’t going to be a dance team anymore, like we didn’t think we were going to perform at sporting events or pep rallies or anything,” varsity dance team member Lauren Hervey (11) said.

According to Coppo, one of the main controversies has been around the audition packet, or the papers dance team applicants will fill out, the form of which is still being finalized by Kaye. Before students petitioned, applicants “would’ve ... had to [perform] contemporary and hiphop [dance styles in their auditions] to make the dance class,” varsity dance team member Neha Pubbi (9) said.

The new plan does not require enrollment in Advanced or Intermediate Dance to audition for dance team.

TPHS dance adviser Kaye declined to comment, citing the unfinalized nature of the changes for the 2018-19 school year.

We’re building a multimillion dollar facility for dance classes, and I want to make sure we have a true, integrated program that has a top level and high-end dance class.

TP students create aquaponics project in atrium garden

By Esther Choi and Farhan Hossain STAFF WRITER AND FEATURE EDITOR An aquaponics project by Ellie Flint (12), Kiana Kazemi (12) and AP Environmental Science teacher Brian Bodas is currently being created in the atrium garden between Matt Chess’ classroom and the staff printing room in the B building.

Aquaponics is a closed system that reuses water to grow plants and sustain fish. The plants can be consumed by humans and also provide sustenance for the fish.

The waste created by the fish provides nutrients for the plants as well.

Last year, Kazemi and Flint wanted to create an aquaponics system through the Go Green Club, which promotes environmental Kiana Kazemi awareness. student “[The club] sort of fell apart,” Flint said. “So it kind of just came down to us two.”

Flint and Kazemi came up with the idea last year and got the project approved by administrators in December 2017 after six months. They finished construction before spring break. Kazemi, who took APES with Bodas her junior year, knew he had made aquaponics projects in the past and had the technical knowledge to create the system. Kazemi also has experience with aquaponics projects.

“My dad and I built our own aquaponics greenhouse when we lived in New Zealand as a fun project we liked to do, so I guess I had some experience from that as well.”

Kazemi said.

Flint had spare wood at home that was used to build the supporting structure.

All of the components were either bought or, like the solar panels, donated by Bodas from previous projects.

“We mostly funded this ourselves,” Kazemi said.

To create the wooden structure, wood bought from Home Depot and brought from Flint’s home was stained to waterproof the material.

The atrium was chosen as the location (12) of the project due to its secluded nature and access to the needed natural elements. “[The atrium] has water access, it has power access, plus there is a drain, and also we need a certain amount of sunlight – the whole aquaponics system is essentially powered by a solar-powered pump,” Bodas said.

Currently, the plastic containers do not have any fish, as Kazemi and Flint are focused on growing the plants, which range from various herbs to lettuce.

This project, specifically, we find really fascinating because it’s so easy to do, and it can be really effective for a lot of different places like countries that don’t have access to a lot of good soil.

“At the moment, we’re growing lettuce and ... relate them to some of the seeds; lettuce is really easy to grow because different phenomenon that we study in it grows really fast and it also grows really environmental science,” Bodas said. long roots which is really useful for an Kazemi’s and Flint’s motivation for the aquaponics system because you want the project stems from a mutual interest in the roots to be submerged in the water but you environment and sustainability. don’t want the rest of the plant,” Kazemi “This project, specifically, we find really said. fascinating because it’s so easy to do, and it The lettuce is edible and organic, and can be really effective for a lot of different the water will be regularly tested places, like countries that don’t have access “We won’t be putting any extra to a lot of good soil,” Kazemi said. chemicals in there,” Kazemi said.

Kazemi and Flint are both seniors, so While aquaponics systems usually have they hope juniors or underclassmen with big fish like tilapia, the smaller size of the similar interests in conservation and TPHS containers and the inaccessibility of sustainability to take over the project an uncommon fish limit the types of fish when they graduate. If they cannot find that can be used in this aquaponics project. anyone, they will give it to Bodas, who can “More than likely we’ll put goldfish in reuse the parts for another project and put there,” Bodas said. the fish in the pond outside the B building.

While the project is not yet completed, Bodas plans to introduce the system to his APES classes and has already incorporated it into his curriculum.

“I might use it in my environmental science class to show students what photo by hayoung park/falconer these kinds THE WATERWORKS: The aquaponics system located in the of integrated TPHS atrium garden reuses water to grow plants, including different s y s t e m s types of herbs and lettuce (ABOVE). The system was built by Kiana look like Kazemi (12) and Ellie Flint (12) under Brian Bodas’ supervision.

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On April 10-11, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, withstood two marathon days of questioning by the Senate and House on Facebook’s mishandling of data and a data breach, in the wake of the discovery that Cambridge Analytica, a British consulting firm, harvested the personal data of 87 million Facebook users and allegedly aided President Donald Trump in his election by generating targeted content.

In addition to Zuckerberg, the congressional lawmakers aimed to bring in top executives from Google and Twitter to discuss privacy.

news

On April 18, Saudi Arabia officially lifted its ban on cinemas by opening a movie theater in the capital of Riyadh. The launch is part of the government’s purported plan to improve overall Saudi Arabian society, titled “Vision 2030.” Moving forward, American movie theater company AMC has plans to construct 100 cinemas in Saudi Arabia by 2030.

On April 13, the United States, the United Kingdom and France launched airstrikes against Syria in response to a possible chemical attack on the residents of the Syrian capital of Damascus by the Syrian government the week before. The U.S., French and British missiles were directed at the Syrian capital and were specifically aimed at a research center, a storage facility and a chemical weapons bunker in the city.

Information courtesy of ABC News, CBS News, NBC, The New York Times, USA Today and The Washington Post

april 27, 2018

Leaders of North and South Korea will meet April 27 in South Korea, marking the first time in history a North Korean leader will enter South Korea.

Leaders of the two nations have only met twice since the peninsula was divided in 1948. The meeting is seen as a precursor to a meeting between North Korea and U.S. President Donald Trump. words by jeremy chung and alexei serguienko infographic by bea de oliveira

PAC

MONEY IN POLITICS

SUPER PAC

political action committee

an organization that raises money to influence elections or legislation, especially at the federal level

a type of independent PAC that can raise unlimited sums of money if it does not coordinate directly with candidates

In 2016 election cycle, PAC’s spent

$1.8 billion As of today, there are

1,905 Super PACS

46

of all money spent on federal campaigns in the 2016 election percent cycle came from PACs.

Tom Steyer

$66.3 million

Miriam & Sheldon Adelson $52.7 million

Donald Sussman

$36.8 million

Fred Eychaner

$33.1 million

*Information provided by the Washington Post

PRO

By Kahyun Koh FEATURE EDITOR

A stage actor and journalist from the turn of the 20th century and after who was well-known for his trenchant political criticisms, Will Rogers once famously said, “Politics has become so expensive that it takes a lot of money to be defeated.” Nearly 100 years later, there remains a pervasive sentiment among Americans that politics has indeed become as expensive and corruptive as Rogers made it out to be. Many Americans have expressed a frustration regarding money’s involvement in political affairs. Such a stance has been taken by nearly 50 percent of Americans who are opposed to members of Congress’ spending of Political Action Committee, or PAC, money, according to U.S. News and World Report.

In the U.S. and Canada, a PAC is an organization that collects campaign contributions, which are then donated for the purpose of campaigning for or against candidates. PACs can only contribute a maximum of $5,000 to a candidate committee per federal election, but $10,000 if you include the primary. Conversely, the amount of money that super PACs can donate to politicians is not capped in any way, under the condition that it is not contributed or coordinated directly with parties or candidates, although the funds can be used to advocate for or oppose candidates or parties.

There is not a rigid, resolute or rational reason why candidates for Congress should not be able to take the finances from PACs. Firstly, it is perfectly legal for Congressional candidates to do so and, as for the controversy revolving around money’s controversial role in politics, it is universally inevitable for money to factor into the process of determining certain political outcomes—perhaps the most noteworthy being presidential elections. More important is the

$21.2 million infographic by sumin hwang

As more members of Congress decide not to take corporate and political action committee donations, the debate about the role of money in politics heats up again.

fact that preventing Congressional candidates from taking PAC money would indirectly compromise First Amendment rights, as it guarantees Americans the right to spend unlimited amounts to elect anyone they wish.

Contrary to what some critics of PACs may think, money’s role in politics is not necessarily a bad thing. By helping to provide money needed for the production of political ads, PAC money can increase, inform and improve voter knowledge on candidates.

Money’s prominent role in politics is not at all a new concept. It is puzzling that some critics against PACs are so suspicious of the possibility of Congressional candidates engaging in “secret” spending. Especially when all super PACs are required by law to disclose their donors, minimizing the chances of corruption caused by “dark money.”

As mentioned previously, one of the chief concerns that critics have regarding the issue is that money may become the ultimate means of determining a political outcome, especially one that is impactful or important. While such situations may have happened in the past, this fact alone is not enough of a reason to be completely against PACs, as politics is not all about finances; money, even if allocated and used wisely, is merely an aiding factor at the best.

A telling example is when Mitt Romney brought in an extravagant $18 million from a super PAC during the second half of 2012, according to The Guardian. Although former U.S. President Barack Obama received a noteworthy $14 million less from his Super PAC than Romney did, Obama still became president.

No matter how much financial backing a potential candidate may be granted by their PACs, money is ultimately useless if that person does not have the qualifications. With the exception of some extreme cases, politics in today’s American society is not so flawed that money is the ultimate deciding factor. However, if for some skewed reason, the opposite does happen to be true, it has nothing to do with PACs being problematic.

Rather, if the aforementioned does happen, it is actually indicative that there is a much larger problem plaguing American politics at hand.

Robert Mercer

In response to a question asked to Americans by CBS News:

Do you think wealthy Americans have more of a chance to influence the elections process than other Americans?

66%

31%

YES

NO

said

said

*3 percent of those polled did not respond

In 1974, Congress imposed limits on individual contributions to federal candidates and their political committees in the wake of the Watergate Scandal. In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that the corporate expenditure ban was unconstitutional and independent expenditures could not be limited during federal elections, based on the 1st Amendment principle perverted to purport corporations are people and money is speech. This implied that corporations could give unlimited amounts of money to groups to spend in support of candidates, as long as the contribution is not made directly to a candidate’s campaign. This was the birth of super Political Action Committees and it has only given the super-rich further power to control campaigns.

Unlimited donations from rich, corporations, labor unions and other individuals and are complete disasters for American democracy.

A 2012 study by Demos, a nonprofit public policy organization, and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a non-partisan public interest advocacy group, found that just 132 individual American donors each gave at least $1 million, amounting to more than $600 million in 2012 and were responsible for 60.4 percent of all the money raised by super PACs. Ultimately, it pushes the majority of U.S. citizens to the sidelines to watch the corruption of our democracy continue to grow.

During the 2012 presidential election, a more subtle version of the super PAC was created: the candidatespecific super PACs. Candidatespecific super PACs can raise unlimited contributions with the sole purpose of supporting a presidential candidate. This version of super PACs originated when strategists for Mitt Romney were experimenting with the potential after the misguided court decision in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case eradicated any federal limits on spending on elections. The amount of money that super PACs can contribute to campaigns has become unlimited.

Super PACs are supposedly independent of a candidate’s campaign, but this distinction

CON

By Jeremy Chung STAFF WRITER

has pretty much disappeared.

Contributions are supposed to be limited to $2,700 per donor during a general election. However, the system of contributions is not even disclosed so there’s no transparency at all.

Federal law prohibits coordination between the candidate’s organization and super PACs, but federal election regulators have become unable to enforce this law. Experienced operatives of super PACs often easily avoid the non-coordination law and provide the candidate with what he or she needs without explicitly working with the campaign organization.

According to the Supreme Court’s view on coordination between a candidate’s organization and super PACs, a corporation that spends $25 million to elect a senator will not be able to buy corrupting influence over a senator’s position because the corporation has not “coordinated” its expenditure with the senator.

In early February, U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand pledged to reject corporate PAC checks to their campaigns due to the corrosive effect of corporate money in politics. They are both encouraging their colleagues and other candidates to join them in the fight to reform and repair the broken campaign finance system.

Obviously, the campaign finance system is much in need of reform.

What is the point of having campaigns and elections if the super-rich can financially support candidates with unlimited funds? Even after the candidate is elected, the super rich and wealthy can buy influence over government decisions because of the funds super PAC’s provided. As a democracy, America cannot let a small percentage of the U.S. manipulate decisions that will affect the majority of U.S. citizens.

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opinion

april 27, 2018

Staff editorial: Colleges should be able look at applicants’ social media In the past decade, most people have taken note of decreasing college acceptance rates and more recently, actual acceptance numbers. The number of college admissions officers who examine applicants’ social media profiles also deserves attention.

According to Kaplan Test Prep’s 2017 survey of 365 admissions officers, 35 percent of them now check applicants’ social media pages, compared to 10 percent of officers in 2008. While this may not seem like a particularly shocking statistic due to the advancing technology and growth in social media use in recent years, it is significant that social media content has begun playing a greater role in the admissions processes at many institutions.

Admissions officers are justified in taking applicants’ social media profiles into consideration in decision making, since it allows them to gain a more thorough understanding of who the

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applicants are, and will encourage today’s social-media-loving students to become more responsible online users.

The applications that college admissions officers receive are often incomplete, in a sense, as students attempt to describe the best versions of themselves and omit anything that may put off admissions officers. Social media content is an easy and more accurate way to get a true sense of applicants, allowing admissions officers to make more informed decisions. When students complete their applications to different colleges and universities, there is usually no place for them to display photos of themselves or images that are important to them, which is what social media platforms provide. By looking at applicants’ online profiles, admissions officers that may not be able to have a face-to-face conversation with applicants are at least able to see applicants’ physical attributes and what matters to them based on what they are posting. Many applicants also use social media to promote their accomplishments and talents, which can include images of themselves volunteering

or photos and videos of their artwork and music performances. Such information is extremely helpful for admissions officers, who can then determine with greater accuracy which applicants are best suited for their schools, making the practice of reviewing applicants’ social media profiles beneficial for both officers and applicants.

The fact that admissions officers are taking applicants’ social media profiles into account during the admissions process can also help to remind students of the responsibility and potential consequences that come with posting content online.

The most popular social networks among teenagers in the U.S. in 2017 were Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, in order of popularity, according to Statistica, an online analytical software.

On each of these platforms, users are able to make their profiles public (anyone can view them) or private (only a select group approved by the account owner can view them). Both settings allow for online content to be screenshotted and viewed later, even after the original content has been deleted, with the only difference being private profiles allow only certain people access to such content. When applicants are aware of the fact that what they post online can be used against them during the college admissions process, it can help them make wiser decisions about what to share or say online. Those who choose to publicly share their social media profile should be held responsible for posting inappropriate or offensive content, since

they chose to share it, and they should face the consequences of being reckless or disrespectful on their profiles.

Some who believe that admissions officers should not look at applicants’ social media profiles think officers are likely to be biased against them based on the content they find. For example, some believe that applicants who openly express their political views or choose to wear certain types of clothing could influence officers’ decisions on acceptances.

However, according to the Atlantic, most college admissions officers are well-trained to be unbiased and professional when looking at applications, and they are also usually young, making it easier for them to empathize with applicants since they have recent experience with the college admissions process. The fact is, that no one can truly ensure that an admissions officer will make completely unbiased decisions, and ignoring applicants’ social media accounts will do nothing to make officers more objective when reading applications.

College admissions officers should use applicants’ social media profiles to help them decide whether or not to accept applicants; doing so allows applicants to more accurately show officers who they are, and it teaches students to be more discriminating in what they post online.

Social media has become a powerful and beneficial tool in today’s society, and there is no reason to prevent it from being used to aid admissions officers in making more informed decisions about applicants.

photo courtesy of charlie leight/getty images

Pruitt has failed the Environmental Protection Agency

Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, has proven to be the worst of President Donald Trump’s cabinet members. From both an ethical and an environmental perspective, he has failed in his duty as administrator of the EPA. Prior to his appointment, Pruitt was the attorney general of Oklahoma, where he actually sued the EPA on multiple occasions. In an investigation in 2014 by the New York Times, they found that Pruitt helped organize an “alliance” among energy companies and Republican attorneys general to attack the EPA. He has a history of tending to the interests of oil and gas lobbyists, and he has continued to cater to those interests in office.

Last year, Pruitt filled positions on the agency’s scientific advisory committees with oil industry experts and state officials pushing for less regulation on fossil fuels. He has also, by repetition, fed into the lie that environmental regulation kills jobs and that the future is not in renewable energy, but in digging for coal.

As the implications of climate change rapidly move closer, Pruitt has made it clear he will not use his power as EPA head to actually help the environment. He led the effort to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, an insult to every other nation on earth. In February Pruitt even suggested that climate change might be beneficial, despite scientific evidence pointing to the opposite. According to NASA, humans are the primary drivers of climate-warming trends, and it is “proceeding at a rate unprecedented over decades to

millennia.” Some of the long-term effects of climate change include a continuing increase in global temperatures, more droughts and heat waves, stronger and more intense hurricanes and rising sea levels.

His failures from the environmental perspective aside, Pruitt has committed a growing list of ethical violations, like spending $43,000 on a soundproof booth, which the Government Accountability Office concluded violated federal law. At the taxpayers expense, Pruitt has tripled his security detail and insisted on only flying first class. He demoted or reassigned multiple EPA officials who questioned his spending. The New York Times also reported that Pruitt gave unauthorized, massive raises to two of his favorite staffers that the White House had already rejected. Several other cabinet members have also been criticized for their spending, including Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, buying a $139,000 office door and HUD Secretary Ben Carson spending $31,000 on a dining room table.

Gina McCarthy, a former EPA administrator said “Pruitt’s goal is simple: No studies, no data, no rules.” As Pruitt blatantly disregards science and pushes the interests of oil lobbyists, the condition of the planet is only getting worse. In any normal administration, Pruitt would have been fired long ago. Our president, however, has reportedly presented the idea of appointing Pruitt attorney general. Pruitt deserves to be fired, not promoted.

by Sammy Hallal

photo from quartz

Falconer The Torrey Pines High School

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

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San Diego City Council should not support Trump in lawsuit against California STAFF WRITER

On Apr. 17, 2018, the San Diego city council voted to support President Donald Trump in the debate over California’s immigration laws.

Trump’s cabinet is displeased with three California laws that limit the cooperation and work of federal immigration agents. According to CNN, “One [law] prohibits private employers from voluntarily cooperating with federal immigration law enforcement, a second restricts local law enforcement from sharing information about the release of criminal immigrants to federal agents, and a third allows the state to inspect federal and Department of Homeland Security documents, which the Department of Justice considers off limits to local authorities.”

The concern over immigration and deportation of people living in the U.S. without citizenship or VISA has only ramped up since Trump took office. However, California’s just opposition to the federal government better represents the democratic philosophy that the United States government was founded on. Thus, the sanctuary states and cities California seeks to defend should remain in order to benefit the American population.

If California were to abandon its sanctuary cities and states, the crime rate would increase, and the region would become comparatively dangerous. Robert Reich, the Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, explains that if California

joined in on rounding up immigrants here illegally, Trump would utilize the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1996 to deputize local and state law enforcement officers as immigration agents. If the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents increases, less law enforcement police officers will be able to maintain control over the crimes throughout.

Although the federal immigration policy seems only to affect immigrants, native-born citizens also experience negative effects because of it. Deporting immigrants and trying to stop immigration is unbelievably costly and drains the country’s funds. In 2016, CNN reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement lost $3.2 billion from deporting immigrants from the U.S., and deportation was not as active in 2016 as it was in 2017 and currently is in 2018 under Trump. The U.S. has numerous other internal problems that should be prioritized over deporting people.

The misconception that foreigners are more dangerous and likely to commit crimes is false.

In July 2015, the American Immigration Council, a pro-immigrant nonprofit in Washington, analyzed data from the Census’ 2010 American Community Survey and found that “about 1.6 percent of all immigrant males between 18 and 39 years old were incarcerated, compared to 3.3 percent of the native-born population.” People who live without citizenship or visa simply desire to make a living and do not want to make society more dangerous overall, so no purpose exists to spend money to force them out and break up traumatized families.

Other sanctuary states or cities, such as New York City, showed decreases in crime. According to the New York Times, “As of December 27, 2017, only 286 people had been murdered in New York, a city of 8.5 million. Compare that to 1990 when the city saw more than 2,245 murders.” With New York’s massive population, the drop in murders is significant.

Memphis and New Orleans, cities that

have only approximately 10 percent of New York’s population, saw 226 and 175 murders respectively, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which are, in comparison, much higher rates than New York.

By looking at previous examples, sanctuary states should be defended in order to make society safer overall because those who reside here illegally are not more likely to commit crimes than native U.S. citizens.

According to the 2014 Mexican National Survey of Demographic Dynamics, from 2009 to 2014, 1 million Mexicans and their families left the U.S. for Mexico. However, U.S. census data by the Pew Research Center showed an estimated 870,000 Mexicans coming to the U.S., less than the number of immigrants into the U.S. Since the flow of immigrants has changed, the need to actively immigration has disappeared.

As a city near the border, San D i e g o ’ s immigration rate is one of the largest in the nation. According to the University of Southern California, “approximately 698,000 immigrants currently live in San Diego County – comprising 23% of the total population. About 76% of all immigrants have arrived since 1980, with 24% arriving in the last decade.”

Since San Diego houses a

great number of immigrants, the introduction of immigration agents will greatly impact the society negatively for the aforementioned reasons Sanctuary states are legal, according to the tenth amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

According to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the amendment prevents the “federal government from coercing state or local governments to use their resources to enforce a federal regulatory program, like immigration.” Therefore, Congress and the federal government cannot compel state or local governments to collect immigration status information in order to share it with the federal government because it works against the amendment. Since the Constitution was created to defend all citizens’ basic human rights, San Diego should assist California in defending sanctuary cities.

To save money, defend people’s basic rights and make society safer overall, the local counties in California ought to work together to oppose the Trump administration’s attack on sanctuary states.

art by seyoung lee/falconer artist

By Daniel Kim

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE GRAHAM RICE

Without knowing my past, it would seem as though my life in beautiful Del Mar, Calif. has come without any hardship. The first decade of my life on the Gulf Coast of Texas opened me to the culture and characteristics of a diverse community. Until my second grade year in Galveston, the relationships I had with people were similar to those in the suburban life I now live in Del Mar. It was my mother’s choice to place me on an entirely African American football team that gave me a new revelation on the arduous challenges families can face. That same year, Hurricane Ike struck the island of Galveston and forced the majority of citizens to evacuate. Upon arriving back in Galveston, I witnessed the devastation that natural disasters are capable of inflicting. The most impactful to me was the number of people, many of whom were my close teammates and friends, forced out of their flooded homes. The sudden change of environment that I experienced in a matter of months, from playing on a team made up of kids whose lives were so different from mine in so many ways, to living with the effects of a natural disaster, influenced my efforts to support those of all socio-economic cultures.

My gratitude for an undestroyed home inspired me to provide my classmates support by offering them a place to stay while they dealt with the stress of finding a new home or repairing their destroyed ones. Helping my teammate, Trey, clean out his flooded house made me aware that thousands of people on the island had lost everything and didn’t have the money or resources to change that. As I

transitioned to the public school, these events gave me a better understanding in relating to kids enduring the same loss and struggles. I learned that the economic background and ethnicity of an individual can be forgotten when encountered with difficult situations.

My move to California was something I never anticipated and never hoped for. Leaving a fractured island I loved and embraced, felt like I was abandoning the people who inspired my outlook on life. I had grown to cherish the unique hospitality and pride of Texas. The mannerisms, morals and values I derived from my upbringing in Texas influenced my character at a young age. I learned the way people needed and deserved to be treated in order to earn their respect.

As I watched the live coverage of Hurricane Harvey last fall, I was reminded of the desperation that struck my community nine years prior.

Something that makes up a large part of my character is a willingness and passion to understand experiences from others’ points of view. By spending hours helping the homeless population in downtown San Diego, I’ve been able to do just that and learn about the backgrounds of people who have been wrongfully stereotyped because of their financial situation. My experiences with numerous people living on the streets, who are grateful for any help they get, have altered my previous rationale that anyone living on a sidewalk and receiving welfare checks were directly responsible for their status. The majority of the

photo by david vapnek/falconer

Staff Writer Graham Rice (12), soon to be a TCU Horned Frog, reflects on his upbringing in Galveston, Texas and recovering from Hurricane Ike.

homeless population is fighting to get off the streets, yet disabilities or appearances render that impossible. Through many conversations with men and women of all ages, I learned they have the perception that nobody cares about their well-being, and my passion is to change that perception. Every Sunday morning, I’m not only providing a warm meal but a sense of hope for the men and women pushing themselves to get off the streets and provide for themselves. I admire the various gentlemen who arrive in line with a smile, eager to update me on a possible job opening they are seeking or the new

shared home they will be living in. My previous ignorant self, who may have avoided the reach of a homeless person, has transitioned into a young man willing to hear out a person for who they are and where they come from.

Religious or racial differences or whether or not an individual has a bed to sleep in at night should not determine the amount of respect he or she is accorded. With an optimistic view on the current problems of those in difficult circumstances, I rise to the challenge of solving the problem before it evolves into an even greater situation.

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opinion

april 27, 2018

Facebook should make improvements to its security and privacy settings

By Estelle Kraft

BUSINESS MANAGER

In a digital age, where information is accessible at our fingertips and technology is taking over our lives, the meaning of privacy has changed from one of complete security, to one of hope for complete security. In 2007, Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook, the social media platform, with the idea of creating a social calendar, contacts book and one place to see everything from photos to status updates, but recently users have seen nothing but warning signs to protect their information from companies they did not even know had access to their information.

In 2013 a Cambridge University researcher named Aleksandr Kogan created a personality quiz app that allowed users to connect social media platforms, such as Facebook. This allowed players to connect information on both apps, providing the data collected to both companies. To his credit, once Zuckerberg was notified of this he demanded that all files of data be deleted, but in recent light, Facebook and the public now know that there are still accessible files. The data of 87 million Facebook users were exposed to Cambridge Analytyica.

Facebook knew that when they gave outside companies the access to their users’ personal information that it would be accessible forever.

Zuckerberg, who failed to answer multiple interview questions in person, posted on his a response to the Cambridge Analytica crisis on his own Facebook, stating that he could not protect a users data and he would not be able to serve the user properly, but this has happened before. As an avid Facebook user, I often see

advertisements for things that I have searched for previously, this is not just by coincidence, as Facebook sells your search history to advertisers in order to reach their desired market. Apps like Candy Crush, Airbnb, Spotify and Uber make it easy for users to login because of the one password to remember, but users overlook the fact that now that company has their personal information as well. Granted, the user decides to put this information on platforms, but Facebook created a more vigorous version of its’ privacy policy in 2014 in order to assure users of safety of sharing their information to the company.

As the platform has evolved, so has the privacy policy, but this does not mean Facebook has stuck to their end of the deal.

When President Donald Trump campaigned for the current presidency, he hired Cambridge Analytica in order to gain the votes he needed to win. Whether the public knew it or not, Cambridge Analytica had all of their information which was then used to target potential voters. Anything a user shared on their profile, no matter the privacy setting in 2015, was accessible by Cambridge Analytica for various accounts such as the Trump campaign.

In a New York Times’ interview, a Cambridge employee until 2014, Christopher Wylie stated, “rules don’t matter for them. For them, this is a war, and it’s all fair.” American politicians have used this approach of acquiring information from social media platforms before, such as Barack Obama in 2012. Not only does Facebook make money off of your information, but so does Cambridge Analytica and any other company they work with.

Cambridge Analytica goes beyond collecting and providing raw data for political campaigns.

The company claims to have built in-depth personality profiles on every American using a process known as “psychographic targeting” based on people personality types. Many have expressed fear that the process paves the way for psychological warfare while others have disregarded it as meaningless. The quiz also helped the company create a visualization tool that showed which areas of which states were

most persuadable, what issues those votes care about and highlighted potential campaign donors.

It is important to note that prior to the news of the information raid, Facebook was already under fire for Russia’s use of the platform to spread propaganda and influence the 2016 American election.

Zuckerberg, outside of his post on Facebook, has made statements to CNN and various other news outlets, but all the public has seen is him digging himself into a deeper hole. In what appeared as a sad attempt to empathize, Zuckerberg noted that his information was also compromised, a ridiculous thing to say considering it was he who authorized it in the first place. As a man who prides himself on the security of information placed on his platform,

he is not doing the best job of protecting it or covering up the mistakes that he has made.

Zuckerberg and Facebook can continue to promise the public that their information is secure through new privacy settings and statements, but until Cambridge Analytica and similar companies are completely unassociated, internet security is a dream. Facebook users should remember that what they share with the company will permanently float around on the internet, but this does not mean that they should be afraid of it getting into the hands of various companies as they should be protected.

Zuckerberg can not continue to treat Facebook like the company it was in 2007. The platform has rapidly evolved into a full-fledged media corporation with access to the information of millions.

facebook and cambridge analytica up to

87 million Facebook users had their data and profiles exposed to Cambridge Analytica

social media website

71 million

of those who had data leaked were Americans.

political consulting firm

connection to the

trump campaign cambridge analytica CEO

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VP

Alexander Steve Nix Bannon

worked on

scl group British company that works for governments and militaries worldwide

TRUMP CAMPAIGN

introduced Cambridge Analytica and the SCL Group to

information from the washingon post

infographic by sumin hwang photo from anti-defamation league and lviv it arena

It doesnt matter who Philip Anshutz donates to, Coachella will still go on COPY EDITOR

Each April, over 100,000 musicians, models, actors, influencers, athletes and ordinary people flock to the Empire Polo Club to see their favorite artists perform in the Indio heat.

But, while the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival only takes place for two weekends out of the year, the hype around it seems continual.

Start the year in June, when Coachella advanced ticket sales begin. Talk is mostly dormant for the summer and fall months, but in January, just as soon as students become antsy, the lineup is released, and social media feeds and stories are flooded with pictures from past years’ festivals with captions like “100 days ‘til we’re back in our favorite place” or “Third time’s the charm.” Posts from the festival continue for weeks afterward.

Coachella has become a California institution; it’s basically a rite of passage for any teenager growing up in this state, to the extent that many who go to colleges elsewhere will return specifically for the festival. Something about it, maybe just its sheer Instagram-ability, draws in colossal crowds year after year.

I’ve never attended, but I can’t say I wouldn’t want to. The combination of magnificent art installations and trending performers, with the added possibility of running into a celebrity, all without parental supervision, is beyond appealing. Not to mention the outfits! Coachella is a fashion lover’s paradise.

But behind the ferris wheel and pristine grass field sits Philip Anschutz, the billionaire owner of Anschutz Entertainment Group, Coachella’s parent company. AEG came under fire in 2017 when it was reported by the campaign Freedom for All Americans that Anschutz’s private foundation, the Anschutz Foundation,

had allegedly donated to organizations that supported anti-LGBTQ legislation, like the National Christian Foundation, between 2010 and 2013, according to the Los Angeles Times. People became concerned about their money going to such organizations and began publicizing their decisions to boycott the festival, urging others to do the same.

Soon after, Anschutz released a statement, saying “Recent claims published in the media that I am anti-LGBTQ are nothing more than fake news – it is all garbage. I unequivocally support the rights of all people without regard to sexual orientation.” He also claimed that the company “[does] not tolerate discrimination in any form.” He went on to say that “Neither I nor the Foundation fund any organization with the purpose or expectation that it would finance anti-LGBTQ initiatives … when it has come to my attention or the attention of The Anschutz Foundation that certain organizations either the Foundation or I have funded have been supporting such causes, we have immediately ceased all contributions to such groups.”

In my extensive research of Anschutz, it has been hard to locate the original source of the allegations against him, which makes it difficult to ascertain which facts have been confirmed. It’s clear that many of those who have become anti-Coachella got their information through social media, where the content of Anschutz’s statement is often absent.

I absolutely believe that boycotts are effective when warranted, and if it Anschutz came out as an adamant supporter of anti-LGBTQ initiatives, I would hope that performers would boycott as well. The point of a boycott is to put enough pressure on a person or organization to change

their actions, but Anschutz already denied that he is anti-LGBTQ and gave his word that he would prevent his corporations from donating to such organizations in the future.

The problem is that, even in 2018, Anschutz was again criticized when Billboard found in tax returns that the Anschutz Foundation had donated $770,000 to anti-LGBTQ groups in

whether or not he continues to do so.

Not that it’s any excuse for his other contributions, Billboard also reported that over 99 percent of Anschutz’s $63.7 total charitable donations have been made to non-political charities like the Boys and Girls Clubs. In an effort to better his image with the LGBTQ community, Anschutz also donated $1 million to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

With that being said, Anschutz is by no means a saint. For one, he’s known to be friends with oil billionaires David and Charles Koch and has given money to Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity, which fights against climate change legislation.

People are completely justified in not wanting their money to end up in the hands of those organizations, but it’s important to note just how connected Anschutz is. AEG’s worldwide venues include Staples Center, LA Live and San Diego’s own Valley View Casino Center. It also owns sports teams like the Los Angeles Kings, Los Angeles Lakers and LA Galaxy, and puts on other music festivals like FYF Fest and Camp Flog Gnaw. Additionally, the company sponsors many artists on their tours.. It would be safe to assume that some of the people who have spoken out against Coachella continue to attend events promoted by AEG or buy things from sponsors of those events, simply because they are unaware. It’s almost unavoidable.

Unless someone is absolutely sure that they will never buy tickets for anything associated with AEG, refusing to go to Coachella doesn’t make much sense. Given that Coachella increased its capacity by 26,000 people, it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere anytime soon, so you might as well give into your desires and go. art by neilah soliday/falcon artist

By Eve Gross-Sable

2016. Those groups include Focus on the Family and the Heritage Foundation, both of which oppose same-sex marriage. It’s understandable that people wouldn’t want to pay money to a man who has given it to those organizations,

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Information from Education Corner and ICS Learn

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april 27, 2018

The old adage “birds of a feather flock together” still rings true in modern day society. The distinguishing “feathers” used by people to separate themselves into groups, however, are complex and have far-reaching consequences.

As Kimmy Fogliatti (10) walks down the hallway during lunch, she notices many different groups of students clustered together, from jocks sporting game-day uniforms, brainiacs finishing up AP Biology notes and a myriad of groups that fall somewhere between the two. Though this seems like a scene taken from “Mean Girls,” these cliques are a reality for most high school students. Fogliatti is an exception, however. With her light blue eyes, long, brown hair and mixed ethnic background, she doesn’t fit into just one category.

“I definitely think that a subconscious bias exists within everybody, and that can be shown by how they sometimes avoid people of different races,” Fogliatti said.

Coming from a family with a Caucasian dad and Chinese mom, Fogliatti has lived in a balance between different groups her whole life.

“A lot of times, my grandma, who is Chinese, will be speaking Cantonese throughout the house,” Fogliatti said. “I think that kind of bothers my dad; it’s just disjointed sounds to him.”

At school, however, she believes that having a mixed racial identity has helped her make friends.

“Being biracial [has made me] more comfortable with a bigger variety of people,” Fogliatti said. “I feel like I belong in both groups, not that I don’t belong in either.”

Similarly, African American student Kaytlynn Martin (11) believes, in principle, that she doesn’t fit into just one group.

“I try to keep it diverse overall because I just feel like it’s better for me as a minority to surround myself with different people,” Martin said.

Having moved from Texas to Las Vegas at the start of high school, and then to San Diego starting her junior year, Martin sometimes “feels like an outsider.”

According to her, cliques based on race at TPHS are very apparent, and can make it hard to find people she relates to.

“It was way easier in my previous locations to make friends,” Martin said. “Texas, where I’m originally from, is where I’ve had the most [diverse] friends in terms of race.”

According to Martin, “you naturally relate more to [people of the same race as you].”

Fogliatti also believes that having friends of the same race is a natural tendency, acknowledging that most of her friends are Asian.

“People want to be around others who are kind of similar to

them,” Fogliatti said. “Whether it is intentional or unintentional, I think they gravitate toward choosing friends that are the same race as them.”

Especially for students that are new to the school or the English language, finding friends of the same nationality can be comforting, according to Fogliatti.

“If your primary language isn’t English and you speak a different language, to build relationships with better communication, you tend to talk to people who are of the same ethnicity as you,” Fogliatti said.

Arthi Matrubhutam (10), who moved from India, shares this sentiment.

“I am geared toward people who are the same race [as me] because I’m more comfortable communicating with them,” Matrubhutam said.

According to Dr. Erin Elmore, psychologist at the San Diego Psychological Center, people are often most comfortable around things that are familiar to them, a phenomenon the U.S. National Library of Medicine, operated under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health, calls “homophily.”

“We get uncomfortable around something that feels unknown or unfamiliar [to us],” Elmore said.

Fogliatti experienced a change when she moved from Chicago in the summer of 2016, and discovered that “both high schools, here and in Chicago, are very cliquey.”

While being in multiple friend groups at TPHS was easy for her, Fogliatti noticed that it was a struggle for some of her friends.

“I was comfortable with everybody, and whenever I tried to get my white friends to talk to my Asian friends, there was a little bit of weird tension that I wasn’t really aware of,” Fogliatti said. “It was so natural [for me to] communicate with both groups.”

The tension between her friends prevented Fogliatti from “combining” the groups.

“My friends didn’t have common interests, experiences or anything like that; they were just very different people, so they clashed in that they couldn’t have a good conversation with each other,” Fogliatti said.

These differences can become ingrained in people, as studies conducted by University of Toronto

Professor Kang Lee found that racial biases can arise in babies as young as six months of age, disproving the misconception that racial bias arises from past negative experiences.

“Implicit racial biases tend to be subconscious,” Lee said, according to the study. “It permeates almost all of our social interactions,” but can be combated by having exposure to different types of people.

Fogliatti believes that there are benefits to having a diverse group of friends, such as being able to experience new things, like different cultures, childrening practices and foods.

“There are more positives [than negatives],” Martin said. “For example, when you surround yourself with different people, you [are able to] see many different perspectives.”

According to Elmore, high school cliques can be both beneficial and harmful.

“It just depends on the quality of the clique; there’s a lot of benefits to having a close group of friends or people that you feel close to,” Elmore said.

“If it’s a clique that’s formed at the expense of other people, or to harm others, it can be a negative thing.”

Though from different racial backgrounds, Fogliatti and Martin both attribute their friend choices to personality and things they have in common over race.

“I have a lot of friends on track, and we like to joke around a lot,” Martin said. “I just like to be around positive people.”

by Colette Chiang

of white people only have white friends.

feature

tphsfalconer.com

of San Diegans are in the middle class. For a family of four, that requires a $57,000 annual salary.

In the current divided U.S. political climate, in which liberals and conservatives clump in separate groups, friendships can suffer.

Tyrus Willden (12), whose views tend toward the conservative, enjoys discussing politics with friends whose opinions lie on the opposite end of the political spectrum; he sees it mutually-beneficial experience.

Although their opinions may conflict at times, Willden and his friends do not let their differences affect their friendships.

“I have friends who are very, very passionate [about their political beliefs], and there’s not a problem when we discuss politics,” Willden said.

Similarly, Aviva Schwaiger (11), who identifies herself as politically liberal, is aware of the diversity of political opinion among her friends, which she sees as an interesting way for her to better understand her peers and strengthen her friendships with them.

“One of my friends had a different opinion than me, but we were able to use that as a way to help our friendship grow,” Schwaiger said. “We had arguments, but they were more constructive discussions.”

Willden has sometimes felt consequences for expressing political opinion, to the point that peers have distanced themselves from him, as some did in response to the #gunssavelives sign he held at the March 13 walkout and gun violence protest.

“There were people who [weren’t] very happy with the sign I held,” Willden said. “They didn’t officially say ‘We’re over,’ but they stopped talking to me.”

Erin Simpson, who teaches Willden’s Contemporary Global Issues class, says it’s necessay to give students safe space to express their opinion.

“As you’re growing up and learning things, you want to become confident in what you believe,” Simpson said. “You’re able to form opinions and

It doesn’t take much to spot groups of friends at TPHS. Students who drive themselves to school meet in someone’s car or on their way up the ramp. In the quad, those without cars also either congregate with friends or walk together to class.

Some of those bevies include students from both groups. Financial status certainly affects the lives of individuals, but does it affect friendships, too?

Two students on opposite ends of the financial spectrum are Claire Murphy* (10) and Cindy Adams* (12). Murphy’s financial well-being stems from her father’s successful businesses, while Adams’ mother and her mother’s boyfriend both work to support the family, including a second job her mother’s boyfriend recently started.

Despite the difference in her parents’ income and that of other students, Murphy does not feel any divide between herself and students with less money. This may be because not all of her friends are aware of her financial situation.

“I don’t really talk about that stuff with my friends,” Murphy said.

Murphy hasn’t had trouble making friends since moving here from Mexico as a child.

“It’s pretty easy to make friends [with people of a similar status] here … and I think that connecting with them is easier, too,” Murphy said.

The same applies to Adams, who said she is inclined to make friends with people of similar financial standing.

“I feel like [income] connects people more … because I never think that I’m not good enough for [my friends],” Adams said.

Despite connections with those in similar economic circumstances, neither Murphy nor Adams thinks they has been unable to form

express opinions that might be different than what your parents taught you.”

Teddy Landis, the student chair of the Harvard Public Opinion Project, which runs the Harvard Institute of Politics biannual Youth Poll, hopes the political climate will not stay as divisive as it is today.

“I believe that [political polarity] is actually getting better, particularly because of our generation,” Landis said. “Things will be getting better. For the first time in a long time, you’re seeing young people get excited about an election.”

According to the Harvard poll, 18 to 29 year olds are about one-and-a-half times more likely to vote in the 2018 midterm elections than they were in 2014.

Clinical psychologist Pamela Kalinoski believes that political polarization is a by-product of human instinct and involves two emotional forces.

“When we feel our beliefs, opinions or convictions are being attacked, we naturally feel an impulse to support our ideas by aligning with like-minded others,” Kalinoski said. “It legitimizes our own beliefs and demonizes those with opposing beliefs.”

Past history between people may also play a part in dividing those with different opinions.

“If we already have an existing rivalry on some level, it further discourages acknowledging the other person’s perspective because doing so may confirm our fear that the other person is smarter or more successful than we are,” Kalinoski said. “Both of these can polarize to the point or straining or breaking relationships.”

Politics manifests itself even in high school friendships like many at TPHS, but increased awareness and more tolerance could lead to a return to the days when political disagreement meant a healthy debate and not the end of a relationship.

by Esther Choi

Information provided by the Washinton Post, PRRI and Pew Research Center

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friendships with those of different means. Adams says she sees this among some friends, though.

“They want to be friends with some of those really rich [people], but they can’t be because the rich people don’t want to be friends with them,” Adams said. “So, they fake it, and then it just [turns] into this huge mess, and then they don’t know who they are.”

In fact, Adams has seen this firsthand with her sister, a TPHS freshman.

“Sometimes I feel like she wants to be with those people that don’t accept the lower income people,” Adams said.

Carly Shay* (12) knows what Adams is talking about.

“I feel like there are certain things you can’t do or say with a certain group of friends because some people aren’t understanding that you can’t have everything or go out and do the things they do,” Shay said.

Principal Rob Coppo said he is aware of the needs of low socioeconomic status students, so TPHS offers many services to assist them. According to the last school report, 6.2 percent of students qualified for free or reduced lunch.

“Besides subsidized lunches, we have free breakfast for everybody; we have a school social worker [and] our counseling department works very closely with students who may have additional needs,” Coppo said. “We try to support those students who may need a little extra.”

Also aware of the divide is sociology teacher and long-time coach Jim Harrah.

“I’ve seen it at Torrey Pines for quite a few years … definitely socioeconomics gets in the way, it makes a difference,” Harrah said.

As the 2:35 bell rings, signaling the end of the school day, the students rush to the parking lot, eager not to get stuck in the inevitable traffic.

Others make their way to the media center or the front of the school with a group of friends and wait to be picked up there.

by Alexei Serguienko *Name changed to protect identity

in every 10 Americans have a lot of friends in the opposite political party.

of Republicans and Democrats hold unfavorable views of the other party’s members. infographics by farhan hossain/falconer

A16 the falconer

feature

Stefan Prestrelski (10) shoots for the stars as he explores his passions in aerospace, swimming and robotics. His first great achievement: winning a NASA Ames Space Settlement competition.

It all began with a simple airplane, a love for aviation and the magical machines that flew across the wild blue yonder. With time, the mystery became science as blueprints and books filled with knowledge of the sky began to pile on Stefan Prestrelski’s (10) desk. His pen moved, the knowledge came together and his passion for aerospace was reflected in one drawing, a sketch of a spacecraft.

“My [interest] developed from just aviation and there was just a vision,” Prestrelski said. “I became more interested in the propulsion systems like the engines and eventually took an interest in space.”

In October, Prestrelski had the opportunity to make his dreams a reality by designing and creating a space settlement design for the 2018 NASA Ames Space Settlement Design Contest, in which he won first place in the 10th grade category.

Each year, approximately 10,000 students from grades in both middle and high school, submit around 2,500 projects to the competition.

“I came across the [competition] almost by accident,” Prestrelski said. “I was doing some research, came across it and was very interested.”

The first step in the project, finding a teacher adviser, had an obvious answer for Prestrelski: Brinn Belyea, his AP Chemistry and Engineering teacher.

Not only did Belyea function as a mentor, but he assisted Prestrelski in calculations and various steps of the project.

“I have to give Mr. Belyea a lot of credit,” Prestrelski said. “He helped me with a lot of the calculations and concepts, as well as with the design.”

Numbers after numbers were written on the paper. Now that the spaceship was drawn, there was the issue of making sure it was functionable. Years of research and commitment had come down to this moment, as the mathematical calculations were verified, each one step closer to making Prestrelski’s dream

“My [interest] developed from just aviation and there was just a vision,” Prestrelski said.

“I became more interested in the propulsion systems like the engines and eventually took an interest in space.”

Stefan Prestrelski student

come true.

To be eligible for the contest, not only must the project be accurately designed, but the mathematical calculations must be perfect as well.

Prestrelski’s project, “Project EMLEE: Conceptual Design of a High-Velocity Electromagnetically-Launched Emergency Evacuation System for the MoonOrbiting Space Settlement MOSS-2033,” is equipped with various technological advances, created to launch space capsules using electronegativity.

“My evacuation system, which is what I believe I won the award for, has an activation system that uses electromagnetic rails instead of rockets,” Prestrelski said.

The only drawback to his design is the amount of energy required to power the launchers, an issue he hopes to fix in the future when he re-submits next year.

As a varsity athlete and member of both the TPHS and the Bay Club swim teams, Prestrelski’s days are filled with swimming and robotics. To create his project, he worked almost every weekend from October to February, when he submitted his proposal.

“There were definitely a few hurdles with the design and some of the calculations,” Prestrelski said. “I have never taken physics before, so I don’t know if all of the calculations are correct.”

Even with the time constraint and new subject, Prestrelski persevered, resulting in an award-winning project.

“I was genuinely surprised … and didn’t expect to win at all, but it happened,” Prestrelski said.

According to Prestrelski, his win could not have come without the great support of his family and friends, especially his parents who have always supported his passion and his sister who helped with some of the design aspects.

In the future, Prestrelski hopes to pursue a career in aerospace engineering, visiting flight clubs and continuing his research on space engineering.

The design and calculations are complete, mapping out a path to space. Each letter and symbol flows on the page like a completed puzzle. He has done it, fulfilled his dream. From small airplanes to rockets, Prestrelski has come a long way, with his spaceship design being a testament to his love of aerospace.

by Bea De Oliveira

photo by david vapnek/falconer

april 27, 2018

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YOU HAVE A DREAM.

miracosta.edu/lauren

MAKE it happen This

Apply at

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april 27, 2018

Ninety percent of millennials want “authenticity” from the brands they buy, according to the 2017 Consumer Content Report, compiled by market research firm Stackla. But how does a large corporate entity prove to consumers that it has raw emotions and is real and relatable and just like them?

By dropping a mixtape, of course.

On March 23, Wendy’s released on its Twitter account “We Beefin’?” without any advance notice.

“The mixtape drops now. Not pulling punches. We Beefin’,” the tweet said.

The response was immediate. “Twitter Is Here for Wendy’s ‘We Beefin?’ Mixtape,” read the title of an article from HipHopDX. “Wendy’s drops novelty hip-hop mixtape, and it’s lit,” was another story from the Chicago Tribune. “Wendy’s released a surprisingly solid rap mixtape and ravaged McDonald’s,” USA Today said. On Twitter, the Wendy’s account garnered over 6,000 comments.

“Nobody warned me I’d be waking up to such fire. Damn,” one commenter said, to which Wendy’s responded: “We tried to warn people.”

The album is comprised of five tracks, and is not as great as the glowing internet reviews make it out to be. While most current pop songs hover around the three-minute mark, most of Wendy’s songs are one minute long, with a few closer to 30 seconds in length. The vocals lack variation, without any clear distinction between the choruses and the rest of the lyrics. The background music is made up of overly repetitive electronic beats that, at times, come across as cold and even ominous.

While similar to other hit songs, the beats do not seem to complement the songs and come across as afterthoughts. But, the tracks have a high production value and show that Wendy’s has been carefully studying current top songs or hired people who do.

Although the album has failed to receive significant radio airtime or break into the Billboard Top 100, the Wendy’s album is already a success. For the fast food giant, the album is merely an evolution of the image the company has carefully curated for years.

Wendy’s gained internet notoriety through its Twitter account, which regularly bashes competitors and random internet users. While most brands avoid controversy and attacking online strangers (who could be potential customers), Wendy’s sarcastic and brash nature on social media is a sharp contrast to the traditional sanitized messages other companies post, and many of their interactions online have become

viral memes. In late 2017, BuzzFeed compiled some of the tweets in an article titled “The Person Who Runs Wendy’s Twitter Deserves A Raise Because These Tweets Are Gold.” In one tweet, a question is directed toward the Wendy’s account: “How much does a Big Mac cost?” to which Wendy’s responded: “Your dignity.”

The burger chain’s posts have accomplished something most brands fail to do online: build a personality. The creation of a mixtape, however, suggests that what Wendy’s is aiming to achieve is celebrity status. For celebrities, there is no better way to attract attention than a celebrity feud, and nothing starts a feud like a diss track does. In the Wendy’s diss track, aptly titled “Rest In Grease,” Wendy’s declares itself the “fast food First Lady,” taking aim at McDonald’s with “You number 1? That’s a joke/Why yo’ ice cream machine always broke?,” an attack that stems from memes accusing McDonald’s of neglecting ice cream machine maintenance.

The fast food industry is competitive, with restaurants trying to gain dominance over each other across different global markets. Yet these attacks are different from the usual television ads comparing prices. Wendy’s is channeling Taylor Swift in the music video for “Bad Blood,” where, with an assortment of weapons and explosives, Swift blows up her alleged nemesis Katy Perry. Wendy’s is Mariah Carey, calmly telling a reporter “I don’t know her” when asked about her rumored feud with Jennifer Lopez. Wendy’s is Jay-Z, responding to Kanye West’s attacks on his album “4:44” with the line “You ain’t a saint” – a direct reference to West’s song “Saint Pablo.” Wendy’s hops on the train of starting internet drama in an attempt to gain more publicity. Wendy’s aspires to be as petty as a pop diva, with the hopes of accumulating a vicious fan base that will adopt an intense tribalism and throw themselves into the face of Wendy’s rivals.

One listener, who appeared to have joined Team Wendy’s, commented “I am shooketh. Forget @McDonalds. @Wendys is my Queen FOREVER !!!!!”

Wendy’s marketing strategy may seem strange at first glance, but underneath the memes and pop culture vernacular lies a traditional business tactic: a calculated, targeted advertising strategy. With its social media savvy, Wendy’s is creating a new playbook for digital marketing. As one Twitter commenter noted, “We are witnessing history here.”

by Farhan Hossain

WE BEEFIN ?

When democracy first burst forth through the Parthenon of ancient Athens, following along two steps back was satire, making faces and mocking Democracy’s rallying cries. Throughout history, the presence of organized government has always been accompanied by satire, hand in hand, foot in mouth. Humorous caricatures and parodies of the government present political commentary in an easy-to-swallow format, both engaging and entertaining the mass public.

In times of political dictatorship, covert satire was employed in the absence of freedom of speech. This phenomenon can be observed now in China, as netizens spread cartoons such as “Winnie the Pooh,” implying the chubby bear’s resemblance to President Xi Jinping, as well as a picture of Homer Simpson blocking the way of a car from the cartoon “The Simpsons” that resembles the famous Tank Man p i c t u r e from the 1989 Tiananmen Protests. The inconspicuousness of these images allowes them to slip past government firewalls.

In nations where speech isn’t restricted, some imitations are less veiled.

Satire had a strong presence in the 2016 presidential elections, and has yet to lose momentum in the United States.

Since 2016, actor Alec Baldwin has hosted the late night television show “Saturday Night Live” 17 times, portraying the 45th President Donald Trump in each hosted episode with exaggerated hand gestures and scrunched facial expressions.

“Saturday Night Live” continues to consistently incorporate into the show satirical sketches about the current administration, including a parody commercial featuring Scarlett Johansson as the President’s daughter Ivanka Trump, presenting her new perfume called “Implicit.”

When political commentary is presented through comedy, it reflects the cynicism in its creators, and, if well-received, its audience. Satire arises out of a nation’s discontent with its political atmosphere, but stops just short of dissent. It coyly points out inconsistencies in politicians’ promises and actions, the irony of a government’s moral

standing in conflict with its policy, yet offers little more than opinion tied with a pretty ribbon of humor, whether its tame nature is out of choice or necessity.

Satire as a form of political commentary can make political opinion and current events more accessible to the general public, as its role in media is oftentimes just as much a form of alternative journalism as it is entertainment. Yet, the ability of satirical commentary to spread like wildfire in this era of the internet is as dangerous as it is informational. Even politicians like Congressman John Fleming have been duped by satirical news sites, as the Republican Representative shared an Onion article in 2012 titled “Planned Parenthood Opens $8 Billion Abortionplex” in a Facebook status and warning constituents against “wholesale abortion.”

The humor in situations such as this is not lost on anyone (except maybe Fleming), yet the impact of misinterpreting political satire as fact can be far greater than just a mistaken social media post. The danger of consuming political commentary solely through humorous outlets such as The Onion or “Saturday Night Live” lies in their two-dimensional portrayal of political issues. An August 2017 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center reported that 67 percent of American adults consumed news from social media, with 18 percent claiming that they do so often.

This statistic, combined with the fact that satirical commentary by prominent outlets such as “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” “The Daily Show” and “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” are all similar in message presented by shows with homogeneous political views. When it comes down to it, satire is frequently comedy at the expense of a political view. It’s often exaggerated for the sake of humor, and misinterpreting humor for fact can either make satire appear vicious, or the satirized subject appear ignorant.

Despite how easily satire may be misunderstood, it is still an important medium of political thought, as its frankness and popularity make it an effective outlet for frustration toward the political atmosphere. Satire’s role in political commentary is similar to dessert at the end of a meal. It’s short, sweet and satisfying, but it can’t replace dinner.

by Elaine Song

photos from saturday night live and internet movie database

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april 27, 2018

TINASHE: JOyride First announced in 2015 that it would be released in 2016, Tinashe’s “Joyride” has kept fans eagerly waiting for a very long time. Nearly three years later, the long wait has proven to be worthwhile as Tinashe released a photo from rca records 13-track collection loaded with strong, powerful singing that properly showcases her wide vocal range.

The opening track, “Keep Your Eyes On The Road (Intro),” is simply a one-minute track of car sound effects and Tinashe repeating the title phrase over and over again.

Finally, the track ends as Tinashe announces, “Prepare for joyride,” and the album’s title song starts playing.

Its strong bassline paired with low-pitched vocals work perfectly in “Joyride,” and although the song itself is good, Tinashe’s voice does not seem fit for it. Her vocals are far

too soft for the fast-paced and punchy chorus. According to Tinashe, at one point before the album’s release, this track was supposed to be on Rihanna’s album “ANTI.” Tinashe eventually got the song, but Rihanna’s voice would have served this song much better.

As the track comes to a close, it blends seamlessly into the next track, “No Drama,” featuring popular Migos member Offset. The song’s catchy chorus, electronic background music and ad libs by Offset paired with lyrics such as, “We pulled up in Gucci, dripped down in Gabbana/ Bad as a wanna, only chasin’ gunnas,” make it seem like a classic Migos track with a Tinashe twist. “No Drama” turned out wonderfully and is one of the best feature songs on the album.

The next song missed the mark. “He Don’t Want It” is one of the worst songs on the album, a painful combination of squeaky vocals and intense, overwhelming background singing, all sung in a whiny, unappealing voice. The same can be said for “Stuck With Me,” featuring Swedish electronic band Little Dragon. The other voice on the track is presumably that of Little Dragon’s lead singer Yukimi Nagano. Tinashe’s voice clashes with Nagano’s, and together they produce a half-hearted, off-key, weak mess of whiny vocals. Nothing about this song is enjoyable except

for the moment that it is finally over.

A highlight of the album features Future, and is titled “Faded Love.” This song can be described in two words: “Top 40.” This is the ideal pop song, made to be played at a party or in a club. The pleasant electronic music and Tinashe’s electronically-edited voice in the chorus makes the perfect recipe for pop success. Future’s verse works very well with the song and their two voices pair well together in this track.

This song will probably be played on the radio nonstop for the next few of months.

Tinashe certainly saved the best for last, with the closing song, “Fires and Flames.” It’s slow and relaxed, yet manages to show off her tremendous talent and vocal range, with silky, soothing singing about the pain of loving someone who is destructive and bad. Accompanied by gentle piano music, Tinashe soulfully sings, “Fires and flames, are in your eyes/I wish that I didn’t burn so much.”

All in all, “Joyride” is an amazing album. It spans a wide array of emotions and moods, and skillfully flaunts Tinashe’s musical skill. Although there are some songs that are lacking in quality, the good ones make up for it.

Hopefully, Tinashe doesn’t make her fans wait another three years for her next album, which is sure to be amazing.

by Dhathry Doppalapudi

Jason Aldean: Rearview Town The new “Entertainer of the Year,” Jason Aldean, is on a roll after releasing his latest album, “Rearview Town,” earlier this month. His eighth album is composed of 15 tracks, one of them featuring Academy of Country Music Awards “Female Vocalist of the Year” Miranda Lambert, each tied to a memory of leaving the past behind and moving on. “Rearview Town” is filled with storytelling songs, bringing fans together through their own hardships and those of the people around them.

Praised as both a performer and a musician, Aldean starts the album with “You Make It Easy,” written with country duo Florida Georgia Line. Released about a month before the rest of the album, “You Make It Easy” talks about how Aldean met his wife, and beautifully describes Aldean missing his family, with lyrics about how even though there are hardships, the support of his wife and three children make the sacrifices worth it. Instrumentally, the guitar in the song paired well with Aldean’s voice, which allows the song’s heartfelt message to really shine through.

“Rearview Town,” the title track, follows Aldean’s theme of looking to the future and moving on, but has heavier beats and a spotlight on the guitar, which brings some diversity into the album. On a song with

a deeper and more personal meaning, Aldean does a great job getting his message across to his fans through his lyrics. By using phrases like, “It ain’t nothin’ what it used to be” in his music, Aldean expresses how he feels about his past and how he has changed since then, despite everything else staying the same. He talks about how he could dismiss his prior feelings and approach the town, but his album displays his strength in taking the high road and moving on to a better situation.

Aldean speaks of different situations that could be improved in his duet “Drowns The Whiskey,” with Miranda Lambert. The track opens with a more upbeat instrumental influence, talking about how a drink is supposed to take all the pain away, but a certain girl makes a drink unnecessary. Aldean and Lambert complement each other in the song beautifully. Aldean has figured out the proper way to tell a story through his voice and his inflection, and that is especially prevalent on this track.

With his song “Blacktop Gone,” Aldean brings a more rock and roll feel to the country album, but he also continues with his theme of moving onto the next chapter of his life. With a more upbeat tone, Aldean’s aspirations are clear, and can directly relate the lives

of his listeners. For Aldean, the future hopes may translate into producing more music or spending more time with his family, but either way, it is a refreshing message in a country song.

Even as a recently released album, “Rearview Town” is written and produced for success. Aldean’s theme of hardship and looking to the future is clear and apparent.

The accessability and relatability of those topics make Aldean’s album interesting because of how universal it feels. photo from broken bow records “Rearview Town” is a storytelling album, and Aldean does a great job of doing just that, definite proof that he truly deserved to earn the title of “Entertainer of the Year” at the 2018 Academy of Country Music Awards.

by Estelle Kraft

Breaking Benjamin: Ember With its release on April 13, “Ember” joined Breaking Benjamin’s discography as its sixth album, producing 12 repetitive tracks for three years after the band’s previous studio album, “Dark Before Dawn.” photo from hollywood While the new album contains dramatic instrumentals, it lacks in two areas: vocals and creativity.

The album starts with a 30-second off-tune piano track called “Lyra,” before the first full song, “Feed the Wolf.”

Though the transition between the the two tracks is wellexecuted, as the guitar starts to make itself apparent toward the end of “Lyra,” the deafening bass and drum show a clear contrast to the piano at the beginning. Breaking Benjamin adds another layer when the vocals make their way into the track, marking the recurring problem that plagues almost every song. The vocals, sung by lead singer Benjamin

Burnley, were either layered too drastically or modified to a point where the lyrics are indecipherable and unpleasant to hear. That being said, the tempo changes made the song more interesting and the instrumentals were undeniably well-produced. However, it was nowhere near enough to shift my attention away from the poor vocals.

“Red Cold River” is the second track of the album, and shows a lack of improvement from the previous track.

While “Feed the Wolf” had decent instrumentals, this track seems to regress from that and plays a very disconnected background, specifically with the use of a piano that seems to have no place among the hard bass and drum that are so present in each song. Along with this, the vocals continue to be just as unpleasant as the previous piece, as well as accompanied by violent screaming. On top of that, the song does not differ that much from the previous song in the sense of theme, tempo and use of instrumentals, showing how all of the tracks lack creativity and uniqueness.

The one song that redeems the album is “The Dark of You,” which was a drastic change from everything else I had heard up to that point. The instrumental is much more gentle and melodic rather than loud and disorienting. While the bass and drum made their way into the more dramatic background, they were incorporated well and gave the track an emotional yet rock-influenced feeling, making it

the most unique song on the tracklist. Very notably, the vocals improves the track. Rather than sticking out of the background, it flows nicely with the slower instrumentals of the song, as layering typically does with slower, softer songs. This song is undoubtedly the best on album.

The softer ambiance of “The Dark of You” is short-lived and returns to the darker, louder themes, most significantly in the track “Save Yourself,” which includes a deeper, Satanlike voice interchanged with Burnley’s “normal” vocals. The meaning of the song isn’t especially fresh when compared to other Breaking Benjamin songs, or really any other rock song. It illustrates how feelings like hate, sadness and faith become worthless once someone faces death, as seen in the lines, “Hate lies hopeless/When the heart and soul divide/ Pain is worthless/When the shadow comes alive.” Generally, this track was mundane and unoriginal, despite its use of shocking vocals to interest the listeners.

“Ember,” at best, reflects the overused stereotypes seen in rock music like using bass, screaming and singing about death or darkness. Because of this, the album is boring and surprising for a band whose previous records have gone gold and platinum. At worst, it is a poorly produced, incoherent mess of noises that were highly repetitive and unpleasant to sit through.

by Vlada Demenko

tphsfalconer.com

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Falcon Cooks: Although I have a strong distaste for BuzzFeed as a corporation, I can never resist the extremely satisfying oneminute time-lapse recipe videos uploaded

by BuzzFeed’s cooking offshoot, Tasty.

Adweek estimates that the 2,000 videos released in the page’s first 15 months alone reached over 500 million Facebook users, attracting an exponentially growing audience with mouth-watering cheese pulls and groundbreaking articles including “Create a Tex Mex Platter and We’ll Reveal Your Introvert/Extrovert Percentage.” Many of Tasty’s videos promise to be easy enough and accessible for any amateur cook, but my experience in recreating these two recipes proved that my baseline skills were much lower than I thought.

Originally I had planned to cook both dishes in one night, but I decided to call it quits after the “Strawberry Lemonade Layer Cake” took me a total of four hours to make. All of the ingredients were pantry staples so it wasn’t expensive to bake, but I did find that I lacked many of the kitchen tools required to efficiently recreate the recipe. Because we didn’t have an actual sifter, the batter ended up full of flour clumps. To get rid of the clumps we frantically mixed the batter for at least 10 minutes, even though the recipe specifically warned against overmixing the batter.

While I waited for my cakes to bake, I started on the whipped cream. I originally started with the proportions in the recipe, but the cream lacked strawberry flavor so I ended up doubling the amount of jam, which for some reason, made the frosting taste like cream cheese. After putting too much whipped cream on the exterior of the cake, it started to look very lumpy and leaned pretty significantly to the left. After another hour of damage control, during which I desperately placed strawberries and candied photo by hayoung park/falconer

I’m no stranger to food videos; I am an avid viewer and I have recently become more interested in cooking. I’m into them now more than ever, though, especially since they’ve have become a staple across social media, and the BuzzFeed brand Tasty is the jewel in the crown. If only they were as easy to

replicate as they are to watch.

While recreating Tasty’s “Five-cheese Mac and Cheese,” I found it to be easy to cook, use and modify to preference. Out of the maybe 75 minutes it took to make, there were about 65 minutes of downtime between waiting for water to boil, pasta to cook and the mac and cheese to bake. Honestly, my only disappointment was that my top layer of cheddar didn’t brown in the oven, but I know I can be a perfectionist when I’m trying a recipe for the first time. Overall, I found this to be a pretty straight-up recipe and one that I could imagine myself recreating on a lazy weeknight, despite my normal reluctance to cook anything more complicated than a quesadilla. In terms of modification, I felt like most of the ingredients could be substituted, especially the cheese — as long as there is some type of cheese, obviously. For me, having a sister and a good friend who both not only enjoy baking, but also have amazing mac ‘n’ cheese recipes, made this recipe average overall, in terms of taste. To be fair, it was more than enough to satisfy my growling stomach. The combination of cheeses and a whole stick of butter created a very, well, cheesy dish, but it lacked the creamy texture I was used to, only achieved by a thick cheese sauce — unlike this recipe.

The “Strawberry Lemonade Cake,” however, seemed to be disaster after disaster until it vaguely resembled an okayish, slightly-tilted cake. To say the least, this was an experience.

I suppose my first problem was not knowing my own kitchen, as I could not find any round cake pans to begin with. I eventually found two eight-inch pans and two nine-inch pans — although the recipe called for three eight-inch pans — but only after preparing a square pan, which became another addition to a frighteningly large and ever-growing pile of dishes. By the time we took out the sifter, I realized just how much equipment this recipe called for, which I certainly wouldn’t own if my family didn’t bake regularly. This is not the kind of recipe an average Joe could pick up and make as a weekend project.

Mixing the cake batter was easy enough, although it was awkwardly liquidy for me at first, especially considering my whole life my parents taught me to mix dry ingredients first, then wet. I’d like to clarify that there is a lot more work than what can be seen in the Tasty videos, where all the ingredients are prepared and waiting in clear bowls of various sizes. I don’t normally make a fuss about how long it takes to cook, especially because I’m a fairly slow cook, but between my cooking buddy pressuring me and the fact that this recipe took three hours to make, the bottom line is this: the prepwork is awful. The half cup of lemon juice and tablespoon of lemon zest they throw in 20 seconds into their video? That alone probably took me 5 to 10 minutes — though I may not have been using an efficient grater.

The whipped cream frosting, if that’s what you call it, was much simpler to make — only two steps. I had never made whipped cream from scratch, and I would’ve liked it if Tasty had informed me of how long it would take to make “soft peaks.”

lemons all over the cake, it looked almost presentable.

The cake tasted surprisingly good and the olive oil in the batter made for a very moist consistency.

I think that the flavors of the cake delivered well on the strawberry lemonade label, and there was a good balance of photo by hayoung park/falconer sweet and tart between the cake and the frosting.

The “Five-cheese Mac and Cheese” seemed simple enough with literally three total steps: boil pasta, mix in butter and cheese and bake in a casserole. Even though this appeared to be one of the simplest mac ‘n’ cheese recipes produced by Tasty and it only took around an hour and 15 minutes to make (including the 45-minute bake time), the biggest problem with this recipe was the lack of actual measurements for some of the base ingredients, including how much pasta to include. While the pasta was cooking, I worked out my arm muscles by grating five cups of cheese and measuring out the butter. Even though I followed the recipe as precisely as I could, my pasta looked significantly oilier than the pasta in the video.

After baking, the pasta was extremely heavy and too salty, but I couldn’t tell if it was because my proportions were incorrect or if the recipe was intended to be that salty. I think in the future, I would add some herbs or spices to the pasta to balance out the heaviness of the carbs and cheese.

With all of the hype around Tasty, my expectations for food quality were too high. Even though I’m not sure if the results were due to my own mediocrity, the whole point is that even average home cooks can replicate them; frankly, I’m not sure if Tasty delivers on this promise. If you’re not confident in your existing cooking skills, I would suggest just kindly asking your parents to cook you dinner or sticking to meals from the Trader Joe’s frozen food section.

by Sumin Hwang

The worst catastrophe of all was when the cakes broke coming out of the pans.

Between our sudden caution taking the cakes out and trying to make them circles again, this part took the longest. After we started to photo by christy lam/falconer stack them, glue some crumbs together with the whipped cream and trim the sides so each layer was the same size, it didn’t look half bad — although it was a little lopsided.

We took some liberty with the decoration, but the cake was surprisingly good and surpassed my dismal expectations. It was much more lemony than I expected, which was good because I had doubts when we only added a half cup of lemon juice, which, even then, was less than what the recipe called for for three cakes. The whipped cream was sweeter than I thought it would be, especially because there was no added sugar, and complemented the fresh strawberries well.

While this cake was most definitely good enough for me to call my father back into the room and have him apologize for laughing at our crumbling cakes falling out of their pans, it wasn’t good enough for me to want to spend another three hours of my life baking — although this dish may have been just good enough to convince my mother to do just that in the future. photo by ellie ahles/falconer I suppose my understanding of Tasty was that the recipes were easy enough for just about anyone to recreate, but I guess that really depends on the recipe you choose — although they certainly are tasty.

by Ellie Ahles

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entertainment

When Renee Bennett (Amy Schumer) opened SoulCycle’s door and self-consciously made her way to the front desk after getting through a crowd of slim girls, it was clear that “I Feel Pretty” was going to grapple with body image issues, if the title of the movie hadn’t already addressed it. And when Bennett tried to discreetly ask for extra wide shoes only for the attendant to announce it as loudly as she could to everybody in the establishment, it was clear that this movie was not going to be as heavy as I’d originally thought.

“I Feel Pretty” follows Bennett’s journey to becoming beautiful, which takes her from working in makeup empire, Lily LeClaire’s, online sector to working with heiress Avery LeClaire (Michelle Williams) with the support of her love interest Ethan (Rory Scovel), who sees her for who she is, while living under the impression that she has switched bodies and is no longer the “unattractive” woman she was at the beginning of the movie.

“I Feel Pretty” follows the typical “Mean Girls” storyline, just transplanted out of the stereotypical high school setting and into the real world. Gone are the high school hallways and classroom gossip, replaced by elevators at work and job interviews with some added cheesiness and unintentional cringe. The advertising for the movie makes it very clear that Bennett undergoes a major attitude change when it comes to her view of herself and her body, but when she goes running to a fountain in the middle of a thunderstorm to throw a coin in and wish to become beautiful, my heart sank. Though this clearly showcased her desperation, I didn’t want this to be the scene that the entire storyline was hinged upon; in my mind, “I Feel Pretty” was supposed to promote body positivity with a story that could truly happen in real life, not through a fantasy plot of wishes and fairy dust.

The true turning point in her thinking was only slightly more plausible, but still fairly unrealistic. But this was where the movie truly shone. Bennett was now beyond confident in her own skin, and the comedy increased three-fold. It feels a little weird and borderline disrespectful to say that Bennett’s

rotten

34%

Tomatometer

april 27, 2018

newfound respect for herself made the movie that much funnier, but Schumer’s performance was just the right balance of comical and empowering.

But, at times, Schumer’s acting fell short. She is mainly known for her career in comedy, but while even fellow comedian Scovel gave a consistently convincing performance, some of Schumer’s lines felt scripted.

There were actually quite a few moments in the film that were very obviously meant to be heartfelt but fell flat. A hug between family members that was meant to convey a reconciled relationship seemed forced and unnatural because of how undeveloped the relationship was in the film. Such fluctuations in acting or gaps in plots can be overlooked in teen movies for a variety of reasons: younger actors, flimsy or overused plotlines, the very fact that they are typical high school movies. But “I Feel Pretty” was supposed to be sophisticated and funny, and although the film delivered on the comedy it promised, it really did not do anything to progress beyond the same tired “climbing the social ladder” storyline used in countless movies.

What the film does right, even with its many flaws and setbacks, is promote body positivity, and it does that well. People who believe they have fallen victim to body shaming have aggressively attacked the issue in recent years, and rightfully so, but through Bennett, “I Feel Pretty” presents the stigma around having different body types as a more lighthearted matter, a problem to be addressed and resolved when both sides are not vehemently defensive. Bennett’s new confidence, though it leads her to make some decisions based on questionable morality, as expected from the high school storyline, is honestly infectious. Bennett is quirky, weird and honestly believes she has switched bodies with someone more beautiful, but it was liberating and empowering to see Bennett embrace her body the way she did, even if it was under some odd circumstances and slightly backwards thinking.

“I Feel Pretty” was pretty disappointing in certain aspects, but it certainly delivered its message with a surprising amount of hilarity, whether it was an unnaturally high-pitched voice or Bennett forcing someone to take her phone number while waiting in line at the dry cleaner. It’s a feel-good movie with some rocky aspects, but plenty of comedy to tide the film over it, and, although there were quite a few things that missed the mark, “I Feel Pretty” got the body positivity right.

by Anvitha Soordelu

made $16 million opening weekend

Information from Rotten Tomatoes, Internet Movie Database photo from internet movie database

s p o rts corner

By Graham Rice STAFF WRITER

Baseball downs the Lancers 6-3

By Michael Nirula and Luke Modugno SPORTS EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER Baseball (18-5) earned a vital 6-3 win over Carlsbad (8-13) on April 21 in the home stretch of league play and before post-season play begins.

“I thought our approach at the plate was good, we’re still having some defensive lapses, which is putting us into some challenging positions, but overall I thought the guys played really well, pitched well, hit well, we just have to catch and throw a bit better than we have been,” head coach McCaskill said.

Campbell Holt (11) opened the game on the mound, but had a rocky first inning.

Despite forcing the first Lancer to ground out, errors from Ty Mcguire (12) and Ryan Rice (12) put men on first and third base with two outs. The Falcons were able to escape though, after Kevin Sim (10) switched positions with Holt and forced a double play on his first pitch.

Team captains Mac Bingham (11) and McGuire batted first and second in the order for the Falcons, but both grounded out, bringing the first inning to a swift end.

Despite the Falcons’ unsuccessful first inning, Holt had a 3-up, 3-down inning on ground outs and a K to start the second.

Following that, the Falcons would carry their momentum to the plate.

First, Joe Magrisi (12) and Jackie Plashkes (12) got on base, then Jack Johnston (9) executed a stellar bunt to load the bases for Matthew Schlesener (11).

Although Schlesener barreled a ball toward the leftfield fence, the Lancers were able to track it down, but not before Magrisi scored on a sac fly to put the Falcons up 1-0. Another hit allowed Plashkes to dive to home plate in what would be the last score of the inning for the Falcons.

Holt took the mound again at the top of the third inning, and again found success.

Even though a Lancer found his way to second base, Holt brought the Lancers’ hopes to an end with a strikeout to end the inning.

The Falcons’ hitting spree would continue into the bottom of the third inning, with Mcguire roping the ball into center field for a single and then with Holt catapulting the ball over the back fence for a two-run home run. The inning would come to an end after a fly out, but not before the Falcons had jumped in front 4-0.

“In a pretty emotional game, we had some clutch hits that helped us pull it off,” Falcons’ first baseman Matthew Cheverton (12) said Holt’s success would continue into the

fourth inning as all of the Lancers’ hits were snagged for outs in the outfield. It looked like the Falcons were in a position to capitalize on Holt’s success after hits by Nathan Smolinski (11) and Bingham set up men on first and third with two outs, but Mcguire’s shot into the outfield was snagged for the last out.

While Holt had been enjoying a nearperfect day on the mound in the first four innings, his success would finally come to an end in the fifth. After allowing a lead-off single and a walk, Holt soon found himself in a mess with the bases loaded and no outs. On the next at bat, the Lancers would get their first score after the hitter hit one straight up the middle back at Holt, who couldn’t make the grab. While the Lancers did get a few more hits and runs, the Falcons were eventually able to stop the bleeding and maintain a 4-3 lead.

McCaskill says he told his squad to stay in the moment during the game’s rough patches.

“When we come together, I told the guys to stay in the moment, so I am usually trying to calm the guys down and get them focused,” McCaskill said.

The Falcons seemed unconcerned as they opened up the bottom of the fifth inning with two doubles, including one by Magrisi, that fired off the centerfield wall, and a series of hits afterwards, allowed the Falcons to jump on top 6-3.

Magrisi said the double made up for a questionable call by the umpires earlier in the game. Although Magrisi’s hit had appeared to be a home run when it cleared the fence, it was ruled a foul ball.

After an uneventful sixth inning, the Lancers gave the Falcons one last scare in the seventh. The Lancers opened with a

photo by christy lam/falconer

NO MERCY: Joe Magrisi (20) slides to second base after firing a ball off the back fence (TOP). Campbell Holt (15) attempts to make contact with the ball.

Holt would hit a two-run homer later in the game (MIDDLE). Holt readies to pitch before dialing up a curveball. Apart from a slight hiccup, the left-handed pitcher found success from the mound (ABOVE). deep double, but followed with two ground outs. A single gave the Lancers a final chance with men on first and third base, but a pop fly brought the game to an end.

McCaskill was pleased with the win because it was important at this juncture in the season. He said the team hopes to win the Avocado West Conference and then a CIF Championship.

The Falcons play at San Dieguito High School Academy Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

As the college basketball National Championship drew to a close at the beginning of this month, the sports world enters nearly a five-month lull without college basketball or college football. Despite the presence of college baseball to hold fans over until August, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will see a large drop in revenue following March Madness which allocates nearly $820 million dollars in television and marketing rights, according to the NCAA. The income that college athletes bring for both the NCAA and the colleges the athletes represent is astronomical, yet the salary for players is stuck at zero.

The discussion on payment for college athletes is a controversial one, but financial support for athletes is a necessity. The FBI’s involvement in a February investigation of an underground recruiting operation uncovered numerous student-athletes who had received incentives to commit to play college basketball at a number of prestigious athletic schools including the University of Southern California, the University of Texas and the University of Louisville, among other schools.

Of the 10 players revealed in the investigation, three were suspended for taking money during recruitment.

Through a system to pay salaries to college athletes,the NCAA could drop worries about illegal payments to players as well as a support system for college athletes who have no time or ability to work for a salary. With the NCAA’s over $1 billion income every year, there is no reason why a salary couldn’t be provided to college athletes for their performance.

Every year, high school athletes pledge a large proportion of their college lives away to participate in sports. Although the exchange of free education for athletic talent seems reasonable, the NCAA needs to make a greater push to improve support to student-athletes in order for them to succeed with a schedule comprised of sleep, class, and practice. By providing a source of income to student-athletes, scandals involving payment of recruits during the recruiting process are less valuable to high school athletes as they would be receiving a livable salary during the season.

Cleveland Cavaliers NBA star, LeBron James, recently addressed the “corrupt” NCAA and pushed for preprofessional amateur leagues which enables talented basketball start to develop their game before the NBA, while not having to worry about classes or empty bank accounts. James, who skipped college and entered straight into the NBA after high school, is proof that 18-year-olds have the talent to compete with fully developed adults. The increasing trend of oneand-done for college basketball stars has transitioned college basketball into a pipeline for the NBA. With the proposed idea by LeBron and many others advocating for the rights of student-athletes, individuals either overqualified for or not interested in college basketball could avoid the NCAA. The monopoly the NCAA has established on collegiate sports has formed a corrupt business exploiting the athletic abilities of thousands of student-athletes across the nation. It is time for the NCAA to focus less on their income and more on the well-being of the athletes they are supposed to serve.

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Jaden Whitmarsh (12) traces her father’s footsteps by playing volleyball, a sport she will continue to play beyond high school.

At the age of 13, Jaden Whitmarsh (12) faced possibly the greatest dilemma of her life. She had anticipated it from the beginning, but was nevertheless unprepared on the day she had to choose between playing soccer or volleyball competitively.

Whitmarsh found the decision particularly difficult to make because she was equally skilled in both sports.

To this day, Whitmarsh, who learned how to play beach volleyball “before she could ever remember,” largely credits her success as a volleyball player to her dad, who was her constant coach, mentor and role model.

“My interest in volleyball just started with family barbecues and my dad’s side of the family playing volleyball at the Del Mar beach and just bumping [the ball] around,” Whitmarsh said.

As a toddler, she was a silent spectator on the sidelines, admiring the ease with which her dad and relatives gracefully passed and moved the ball over the net.

But as Whitmarsh matured, she became increasingly fascinated with volleyball and “fell in love with it.” Around age 11, she began to notice a significant improvement in her volleyball abilities after taking lessons from Coach Matt Olson, with whom she continues to work.

Since then, Whitmarsh has captured impressive national titles and satisfied a number of her childhood dreams.

“I was 16 or so when I won National Junior Olympics with my partner, which was basically my biggest volleyball tournament of the summer,” Whitmarsh said. “Also, a couple of months ago, I was chosen to play at the 2017 Under Armour High School All-American match at Kansas City. Both of those events are things that I’m really proud of and honored to have played in.”

Summer, for many athletes, is a crucial time for honing their skills and competing in important matches. Through intense training sessions during past summers, Whitmarsh knows all too well how taxing it can be to play a sport.

One particular occasion that tested Whitmarsh’s dedication

to volleyball was when she fractured her back two summers ago due to overuse, which kept her from competing during the entire break. Following the injury, Whitmarsh, who was impatient to get back on the court, underwent frequent physical therapy sessions to help her fully recover.

“It’s hard because I’m very critical of myself, and I always want to get better, though it doesn’t always work that way,” Whitmarsh said. “I just don’t want to stay the same. I like the challenge of finding something to improve on and pursuing it.”

Despite the mountain of challenges she continues to climb as a volleyball player, Whitmarsh still manages to handle her packed schedule; she trains three days a week, two of which she travels to Los Angeles. Whenever she feels discouraged or tired after a long day of training, Whitmarsh searches for ways to motivate herself. Currently, she is taking extra time to practice and improve her serving technique, which she claims to be “a weak spot in [her] game.”

“Playing volleyball can be kind of tiring but it’s definitely worth it,” Whitmarsh said. “My big thing is that hard work pays off, so it’s necessary to give everything your 100 percent, even if you’re tired. During practice, it’s especially easy to slack off, but that is actually the time [when] you can improve a lot.”

This fall, Whitmarsh will be taking her talents to the Division I beach volleyball team at the University of California, Los Angeles. But the road does not end there for Whitmarsh. After college, she plans to become a professional volleyball player.

“My main goal right now is to prepare for UCLA and to do really well there,” Whitmarsh said. “Then, I‘ll hopefully plan the [Association of Volleyball Professionals], tour and compete in places all over the world.”

Somewhere near the top of her ambitious to-do list, written in bold print, is a line describing Whitmarsh’s “long-term dream”: competing in the Summer Olympics.

by Annie Cheng and Kahyun Koh

photo by david vapnek/falconer

of children from families who make at least $100,000 have played a club team sport.

of children from families who make between $50,000 and $74,999 have played a club team sport.

of children from families who make less than $25,000 have played a club team sport.

information from aspen institute, sports and fitness industry association and time magazine photo by alexei serguienko/falconer infographic by sumin hwang

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Boys tennis beats CCA 2nd time this season, 10-8

By Daniel Kim STAFF WRITER Boys tennis (11-0) traveled to Canyon Crest Academy (8-2) and came out on top in a close, heated matchup 10-8 on April 17.

In the matchup, TPHS won all nine of its singles matches against the Ravens, played

by Nik Speshilov (12), Jerry Huang (10) and Eric Silberman (10).

“I played pretty decent. My backhands and forehands were really consistent. I didn’t miss a lot of shots, so I was able to win all three of my matches,” Huang said.

Speshilov, in his first set, hit a powerful serve, forcing his opponent to return with a lob. The high lob was a difficult shot, so Speshilov returned a lob and both sides set up for a rally. Speshilov secured the point when he hit a deep top-spin shot that was too difficult to return.

Early in the second set, Huang returned a weak serve with a powerful cross-court shot that is incredibly low and tough to return.

CCA dove for the shot and was forced to return a weak slice, so Huang was ready for the slice and won the point with a strong volley.

During the second set, Silberman was in a long rally that was over 10 return shots, but CCA was forced to return a high lob.

Immediately taking the chance, Silberman moved up to the net to end the point and ends the rally with a powerful volley to the corner.

While the singles players excelled against the Ravens, the doubles players struggled more, going 1-8 overall with the pairs of Max Pogorelov (9) and Alex Stafford (9); Matteo Shafar (10) and Raman Panchal (11); Zach Brumm (11) and James Singer (11). However, the doubles players were able to come back and take one set to win the entire match.

In the third final set, Pogorelov hit a fast serve down the middle of the court, and Stafford prepared to lob. However, the other team was unable to recover and

TPHS scored a quick point off the serve.

Pogorelov and Stafford won the only set among the doubles teams which allowed the Falcons to come out on top.

After the second set began, Shafar serves incredibly hard on consecutive points, and CCA is unable to recover on both shots. The second point ends with a volley from Panchal, which the opposing team returns out of bounds.

Brumm and Singer had the 5-4 advantage in the third set with a tough, low slice shot by Singer and fierce volley from Brumm. However, Brumm and Singer got excessively hyped and began to celebrate every point which caused CCA’s coach, Larry Belinsky, to penalize a point and flag them for “taunting”, making the set 5-4 deuce.

Unsatisfied with the coach’s call, Brumm and Singer began to argue against Belinsky about the point penalty.

After minutes of talking between TPHS coach Skip Strode, Belinsky and the CCA Athletic Director, Singer realized that his teammates Pogorelov and Stafford won, cementing the Falcons’ victory, so he yelled a comment at Belinsky about their performance as second place.

Belinsky stormed back onto the court, claiming the comments deserved a game penalty, meaning that TPHS would be down 5-6 in the set.

“Our guys were getting a little pumped up. I went over there, and they weren’t in their face or saying anything,” Strode said. “The whole etiquette on tennis was low-key until college tennis got a lot louder. If someone yells “Come on!” then I can’t penalize him. I’m not a fan of those guys, but it’s legal. The first point penalty, they didn’t deserve.”

Although TPHS ended up losing the set and Belinsky got Brumm and Singer suspended, the Falcons still defeated the CCA Ravens 10-8 and ended their season undefeated with a win against La Costa Canyon High School on April 24.

photos by anna jeong/falconer

Behind the service line: After a powerful serve, Nik Speshilov (12) prepares to hit the ball with a top-spin forehand. Hoping to end the point immediately, Alex Stafford (9) volleys the shot up high with his teammate Max Pogorelov (9) watching.

Softball girls put on hitting clinic in win over CCA

By Dhathry Doppalapudi STAFF WRITER TPHS Softball (12-7) defeated Canyon Crest Academy (10-8) 11-0 in a home game on April 20.

“We had a lot of difficulties this season,” head coach Jonathan Moore said. “We didn’t have our No. 1, 2 or 3 catchers for the first 15 games so we had to train people to catch. We had to bring a girl in from JV, an infielder, and make her a catcher.”

Despite the tough losses, TPHS gave it their all in a dominant win against CCA.In the top half of the first inning, CCA failed to score, leaving the door open for the Falcons to take over. The Falcon offense started out with strong hitting, loading the bases and scoring Katie Walling (9) and Kaili Aqui (9), bringing the score to 2-0 by the end of the first.

Haley White (11), later named the “Torrey Pines Softball Player of the Game,” easily struck out two CCA batters to start the second. The next hitter walked, but White quickly redeemed herself by striking out the next batter, to end the Falcon half of the inning.

“We don’t ever give up, we just keep going,” White said.

In the second inning, the Falcons increased the gap between the two teams with great hitting and base running. Once again, the Falcons quickly loaded the bases and Ava Fargo (11) scored on a Chloe Balsiger single. Walling hit a double and Camryn Ramseyer (12) scored, but Rivera was thrown out at third. Baliger scored on Aqui’s hit, making it 5-0. Captain Valentina Perrone (11) singled and scored

Walling and Aqui, making the score 7-0.

Paige Boyes (10) pinch-ran for Perrone at first base.

Still in the second inning, Makena Macias (11) stepped up to the plate and hit a home run, adding two more runs to the Falcons’s tally. With a dominant 7-run performance in the second inning, TPHS was leading 9-0.

In the third inning White struggled with control as she hit a CCA batter in the leg, putting her on first. Although CCA did not score in the inning, White was displeased with her performance, especially the hitthe-pitch.

“Today’s game was a little rough for me,” White said. “I didn’t do my best.”

Neither team scored in the third inning due to good fielding and tough pitching.

However, in the fourth inning, White struck out three consecutive CCA hitters.

In the bottom of the fourth, the CCA pitcher, who was hit by White in the top half of the inning, hit White when she was at the plate. White took first, but was replaced by pinch runner Kaiya Vandemark (10). TPHS scored another two runs in the inning, ending the fourth inning with a 11-0 lead.

In the fifth inning, the game ended when the CCA coach called for the mercy rule, and the game ended with 11-0 Falcons.

“I don’t think we really had any weaknesses [today],” Fargo said.

The team played La Costa Canyon High School at home on April 25 after the Falconer went to press.

“We’re improving every game,” Coach Moore said. “They’re a really hard-working group.”

photos by alexei serguienko/falconer

SLUG FEST: Kaili Aqui (1) slaps a single, scoring Chloe Balsiger (TOP). Ava Fargo (14) swings the bat. She later scored on a Chloe Balsiger single (BOTTOM).

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nik speshilov varsity boys tennis april 19 15:47:32

camera: canon eos rebel sl2 lens: canon EF-S 18-55 mm iso: 800 exp: 1/1000 seconds f/stop: f/8.0 by anna jeong

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Havana, ooh na-na (ay)

Overheard at TPHS

THE FOLLOWING QUOTES WERE OVERHEARD

BY FALCONER STAFFERS.*

“He literally has no standards. The only requirement is that you’re female.”

WALKING UP THE RAMP, BEFORE SCHOOL

“Prom is going to be so stressful. I’m not ready to fit into my dress yet.”

LEARNING COMMONS, THIRD PERIOD

“I’m only taking 5 APs. It’s not that many.”

THE LUNCH LINE, LUNCH

“Do you have tortellini today?”

CLASSROOM, FIRST PERIOD

***snorting noise***

GIRLS BATHROOM STALL, FIFTH PERIOD

“I wonder what’s after death. More calculus?”

CLASSROOM, SECOND PERIOD

“Oh yeah, Bob. The guy who rides around in the golf cart rolling kids.”

PARKING LOT, BREAK

“I don’t need drugs or alcohol, sleep deprivation helps me achieve the same high.”

THE PARKING LOT, BEFORE SCHOOL

“MICHAELLLLLLLLLLLLL!” THE PUB, FALCONER LAYOUT

*THESES QUOTES ARE ANYTHING BUT THE TRUTH.

photo from the grazia daily

Caitlynn Johnson (11): Cabo and ‘Chella Recap Falcons!!! Long time no blog. Sorry, junior year has proven to be more stressful than I had planned. Between becoming a Sand Cloud Ambassador (use my code CJOHNSON10 for 10% off your first order!) and partying, I have had just no time to blog, but I’m back and ready to recap my spring break for you. As Falcons, we take pride in taking the most exotic and Instagram-worthy photos while away from campus for a week. This year, I decided to take this as a challenge, so I visited two of the most popular spring break destinations: Cabo and Coachella Weekend 1.

The Friday before break (sorry to my 2-3-4-6 teachers), I flew down to Cabo with five of my closest besties, to soak up the sun and attempt to pass as 18 to legally drink on the beach! Each day we woke up to the beautiful views of the ocean in our rooftop apartment (well, it’s actually a timeshare, but we’re like the only ones who use it. I swear, it’s always so clean!) before heading down to the beach with tanning oil and Ray-Bans in hand. We practiced our Spanish saying “No, gracias” to each local walking by, but usually caved and ended up buying a colorful headband that didn’t match each of our L*SPACE bikinis; but it’s fine, we were in Mexico. One night, the girls and I headed down to El Squid Roe to eat authentic Mexican food and listen to the mariachi band play. Five days, great tan lines and lots of chips and guac later, the girls and I packed our bags for the flight home, ready for the best weekend of our lives to follow at Coachella.

Sun-kissed and refreshed from our Mexican adventure, we packed up the Jeep and road-tripped out to the desert! With body glitter packed and outfits laid out for two weekends (just in case, you never know when you’re going to have a fashion emergency), we pulled into Indian Wells, surprised not to have heard about any pool parties just yet, but headed toward the house blasting Eminem and Beyoncé to prepare for the raging weekend ahead. Each day we arrived at Empire Polo Fields just as the gates opened, to get perfect Instagram pictures in front of the abstract art (which totally matched my Day Two outfit). We ate whole watermelons, jumped up and down in the Do LaB and had an amazing time.

I hope your spring break was as amazing as mine was. With senior year (#ClassOf2019) right around the corner, we better enjoy these last few months and our first prom coming up soon. I can’t wait to spend more days laying out in the sun, once the weather heats up. Have an amazing rest of the year Falcons!

XOXO, Caitlynn

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