Issue 2 2015-16

The Eagle George Washington High School 600 32nd Ave, San Francisco, CA 94121 Issue ii. January 12th, 2016 Website: gwhs.co Instagram: gwhsofficial Twitter: gwhs_official

Homework Blackout at Washington Aims to Ease Stress for Seniors

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BY JOYCE MA

ost students experience the typical four seasons in a year-fall, winter, summer, and spring. But, for seniors, they get a little something extra, the college application season. From September to early January, many seniors are overwhelmed with the stress of college applications on top of the workload from school. In order to alleviate this stress, the Washington Challenge Success Team implemented Homework Blackout for the first time this year during the days leading up to Thanksgiving break.

The Challenge Success Team was created in 2011 when Washington was selected to participate in Stanford University’s project, Challenge Success. As a committee of parents, teachers, administrators, and

students, they aimed to develop and implement plans to focus on engagement with learning, academic integrity, and student well-being with the assistance of a consultant from Stanford’s School of Education.

High school students often experience high pressure from the expectations to succeed both academically and socially. Although this pressure is in essence an integral part of high school, it can lead to more serious concerns such as cheating, truancies, depression, and self-harm, to name a few. As a result, the Challenge Success Team seeks to support the student body by alleviating some of this stress.

The current Challenge Success Team at Washington is comprised of Principal Ericka Lovrin, counselor Jay M. Kozak, representatives from the Wellness Center, the Beacon, and student representatives like Olivia Ramos.

“My goal for being on the Challenge Success Team is to support the rest of the George Washington High School students by means of making the high school experience easier for them, so that they will thrive while remembering that their regular lives and personal health are just as important as their education,” says Ramos, a senior.

Last spring, the team passed out surveys to sophomore and junior homerooms asking for their thoughts on homework. They found that students are often overstressed from homework and even sacrifice sleep and other activities to complete their homework. And so, they decided that a homework blackout would be beneficial to the student body. After getting majority approval from counseling, faculty, leadership team, and departments, the plan was approved. As a part of the Homework Blackout project, the team encouraged teachers not to assign homework the week prior to the University of California and California State University deadlines to allow students more time to spend on the applications and with their friends and family.

For many seniors, the Homework Blackout provided them with a much needed relief. 109 seniors were surveyed and 57% felt the Homework Blackout did help reduce their stress with college applications.

“I felt appreciated. Homework Blackout helped a lot because I felt that there was less pressure on me, and I could finally focus on my college apps. Like how am I supposed to work on my apps when I finish my homework at midnight. People need to understand this is all new to us, and many seniors are overwhelmed when trying to balance school, college prep, jobs, sports, clubs, SAT, ACT, etc... So shout out to my homies who help put Homework Blackout together!” commented one senior.

The Homework Blackout gave many a break to focus on their future and to work on their personal statements. But, in addition, it also gave many a chance to simply take care of themselves, go for a run or get some sleep without the stress of additional assignments. The Challenge Success Team hope to execute Homework Blackout in the upcoming years as well, making it not just a one time event for Washington but a tradition that tries to lessen the craziness of balancing both school and a student’s well-being.

What’s Inside What Makes You Happy?

In this issue, we explore the meaning of happiness from the perspective of our student body. for more, see page 8

Study Hard...

Twerk Harder

Dances are the rare nights where you get to have fun, and dance the night away. However, it is no secret that dances are bombarded with regulations. As the endless cycle of rules continue, what was once supposed to be a memorable night has turned into a snooze fest. for more, see page 12

Golden Age of the Golden State Warriors

The Warriors’ historic season has been the talk of the town.

Everyone knows they’re good, but why? David Scolari shares his thoughts. for more, see page15

2 News

The Eagle

Certain Colleges Remove SAT/ACT Requirement

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BY JOYCE MA

tudy for the SAT. Sign up for the SAT. Take the SAT. Send in SAT scores. Study for the ACT. Sign up for the ACT. Take the ACT. Send in ACT scores. Repeat as necessary.

As college applications approach, this list of tasks essentially becomes engrained into a student’s mind. The importance of one’s SAT/ ACT score has long been stressed and emphasized. But, imagine if it was no longer a concern. Many colleges require students to have taken either the SAT or the ACT. However, recently, some schools have opted out of this criteria. According to the National Center for Fair and Open testing, over 850 colleges and universities, including Bowdoin College and Wake Forest University, have adopted the test optional policy. If students choose the test optional path, they may submit AP scores or SAT subject scores in lieu of the standard ACT/

SAT scores.

Proponents of the optional SAT/ACT score requirement argue that the scores are not true indicators of a student’s abilities.

“Some students really struggle with standardized testing, and scores don’t reflect their abilities,” states Ithaca College’s President, Thomas R. Rochon.

Similarly, others argue that the tests are a reflection of one’s family income rather than one’s ability, for those who are able to pay for tutoring and workbooks are likely to perform better than those who are not able to afford these expenses. As a result, low-income students and minorities are left at a disadvantage.

“There is a socioeconomic bias in standardized testing, and test-optional may be eliminating that,” argues William N. Black, senior academic administrator of Temple University.

Studies have also shown the minute significance of test scores. A study conducted by Bates College discovered that the difference in

January 12th, 2016

graduation rates between test score submitters and non-submitters was only 0.1%. Furthermore, they found that the difference in average undergraduate GPA differed by only 0.05.

Despite the potential benefits of this new policy, people have also stated that colleges and universities may be adopting it for less altruistic reasons. According to Stephen Burd from the Hechinger Report, by going testoptional, schools receive more applicants, allowing them to reject more students, and thus increasing their selectivity on national rankings. In addition, he points out that only students with high scores would submit their scores thus inflating a college’s average SAT/ ACT score.

Conventionally, SAT and ACT scores have always been a part of the college application process. However, the beginnings of the testoptional policy offers a new perspective and insight into what truly measures and reflects a student’s abilities.

Top 5 Things You Need to Know

BY KEVIN LI

Migrant Crisis

Since summer 2015, increasing numbers of refugees are fleeing from conflict in the Middle East and North Africa into the Balkans. Many are hoping to reach Western Europe, creating an immigration crisis for many European nations. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) projected that 3,000 people a day would attempt to cross the Balkans to reach Western Europe in the coming months. The disproportionate burden faced by “border states”, particularly Greece, Italy, and Hungary, has caused tension within the European Union. In August, Germany announced that it will prepare to take in 800,000 refugees for the year but imposed temporary border controls a few days later. Hungary responded to the crisis by building a 109 foot razor wire fence along its border with Serbia to shut off immigrants.

San Bernardino Shooting

On December 2, fourteen people were killed in a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center, a service facility for people with disabilities in San Bernardino, CA. The suspects, husband and wife Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, were killed in a shootout with police shortly after. FBI Director James Comey said that the perpetrators were “homegrown violent extremists” inspired by foreign Islamic terrorism. After the shooting, President Obama and some Democrats called for tighter gun control on a federal level. On December 5, the New York Times ran an editorial on the front page, for the first time in 95 years, demanding stricter gun regulations, writing, “It is a moral outrage and a national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency.”

Paris Attacks On the night of Friday, November 13, a series of coordinated attacks occurred in Paris, killing 130 people. Attackers struck at the Bataclan music venue, restaurants and bars, and at a soccer stadium almost simultaneously. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks. French President François Hollande called the attacks “an act of war” by ISIS, and sent airstrikes to Raqqa, Syria, where ISIS is based.

UN Climate Talks The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference was held between November 30 and December 12 2015, near Paris. In one of the largest gatherings of world leaders in history, delegates from around the world achieved a global agreement to address climate change, which was addressed by 195 countries. Governments have agreed to limit warming to below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, and to aim to curb emissions as soon as possible. The deal also includes transparency measures to assure that countries are actually restraining their emissions.

However, the agreement is not legally binding, and does not include specific plans on how to reach those targets.

Fisher v. Texas Affirmative Action Case On December 9, the Supreme Court heard arguments for Fisher v.

Texas, which could potentially eliminate race-based affirmative action at US universities. Abigail Fisher, a white Texas undergraduate who wasn’t admitted to the University of Texas, Austin, sued because she claimed that the University of Texas was discriminating based on her race. This is the second time the Supreme Court has heard the case, as the justices sent the case back to a lower court in 2012. Fisher lost the case in the Fifth Circuit court, and appealed again to the Supreme Court. This is despite the Court’s ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), where the Court said that affirmative action would probably be needed for another 25 years.

January 12th, 2016

The Eagle

Student Teacher Mentorships

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BY BITOTA MPOLO

Teachers teach us subject matter like math and science. But, for some students, the impact teachers have on their lives extends beyond education. We went out and asked students which teachers have had a big influence on them during their high school years. This has helped us uncover some outstanding teachers who have gone far above their teaching duties and changed students life at Washington. Here are two of the responses we received:

“[Tunzi] is like a friend. Sometimes I go to his room at lunch and I do my homework. He kind of peeks and asks me, ‘Oh, What are you doing? Do you need help?’ Even though math is not his best subject, he still asks. I only had him freshman year and last year, but I still visit him. One time I just went to him when I was really mad and I told him about it, so he gave me a good cheering up and advice on what to do. After college, he is definitely someone I can go to for help and advice on life.” ~ Elaine Mei

“Instead of giving me a textbook and telling me to learn from it, Morikawa sensei is one of the rare teachers who takes time and makes lessons into presentations so that students can understand it better. I noticed that he is really focused on his students rather than just academic life. He’s [also] focused somewhat on personal life so he knows what’s up and he tries to help all of his students to get caught up in class, no matter who you are or what kind of background you come from. One time when I was feeling down and unwell in class, he checked in with me after class to make sure I was feeling alright. This made me happy because it shows that he truly cares about his students.

Especially now, since it’s my senior year, I can go to him for help with things other than Japanese.

He has college representatives come over and talk about their colleges. I talk to him about college and he advises me on things like how to convince parents [about] some stuff that I want to do. He’s been giving me really good advice. Morikawa sensei ALWAYS comes into class with a positive attitude and it makes students more motivated to learn. I think what I’m most thankful to him for is that he is always present, even if he has any personal issues going on in his life.” ~ Carla Chan

4 Features

January 12th, 2016

The Eagle

Benjamin Toledo: The Yoga Master

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BY JENNIFER YIP

enior Benjamin Toledo is full of surprises. As a member of Junior State of America, an actor in the Washington’s drama productions, a writer for Journalism, and an ex-employee of Starbucks, his interests are neverending. During his summer break last year, he decided to add another title to his list of activities: certified yoga instructor.

Toledo had worked at Starbucks for a year before he quit to dedicate his summer to yoga. “I started doing yoga last year in [Sophia] Corbett’s second period yoga class. At first, I wasn’t really into it. But since I was weight lifting pretty consistently, I saw yoga as something I could use to add to that. When the year ended, I realized that I was pretty good at yoga. I knew a lot of poses, and I could even do difficult ones,” he admits.

He decided to use the money he saved up from Starbucks to enroll in a teacher certification class at Yoga Tree. After 200 hours in the course and a test, Toledo became a certified yoga teacher. The certification is proof that he has the trained skills to teach a basic class.

“The thing about being a yoga teacher is that the certification is just a piece of paper; it’s really

about what you know and how you connect with people. There are plenty of yogis out there who aren’t certified but can teach better than me,” he elaborates.

Before the school year started, Toledo got permission from Susan Saunders, the assistant principal, to be a teacher’s assistant for Washington’s yoga class. Because Corbett is still on maternity leave, a substitute has taken her place this semester.

Toledo says, “The first few days of dressing for class, [the substitute] tried to teach the students. He didn’t exactly know what he was doing, so I asked him if he wanted me to take over the next day.”

From then on, Toledo put his teaching certificate to use and now leads the yoga class everyday. It is not often a Washington student gets to take on the role of an instructor, and Toledo has found that he really enjoys it. “It really puts what teachers do on a daily basis into perspective.

Yoga makes me feel at peace with myself and my body, so it makes me happy that I can help spread that to other people,” he expresses. While it is a cool experience, it is not always easy teaching his peers.

“I’m instructing people that I’m also in other classes with, so I’m like a fellow student but a teacher at the same time. So it’s weird trying to get the respect of being a teacher while being a student. Especially when I’m trying to get people to stop talking, I feel old,” Toledo jokes.

As all teachers do, Toledo does his best to incorporate variety into the class. From teaching fast paced Vinyasa yoga to relaxed, restorative yoga, he tries to expose his students to all types of yoga without forcing the interest onto them. “I don’t really believe in trying to push people to believe in anything. I just show them what yoga has to offer, and the rest is up to them,” he explains.

Having finished his college applications, Toledo plans to get a job at a studio this semester.

“Being an instructor pays well, and it’s a really fun job,” he says.

Although his future career plans do not relate to yoga, the skills he gains from being a certified teacher will stay with him forever.

From relieving his stresses to helping him keep a positive mindset, his newfound passion for yoga has helped him through a lot. When overwhelmed by tests, school work, his relationships with people, or his future, yoga acts as his escape. “Yoga is all about becoming at peace with yourself, realizing who you truly are, and how we’re all connected… [It] teaches me that I already have everything I need, so I can just be happy,” he states in appreciation.

Teacher of the Issue: Señora Ellis

Ellis Seeks to Teach More Than Just Spanish

BY KATIE WHITMIRE When you have the same teacher for two years, you would assume that you know them pretty well.

You understand the way they grade, the amount of homework they assign, and how easy or difficult their tests are. What more is there to know about them? This was my state of mind until this year, when I was thrown multiple curveballs.

For one, my Spanish teacher of two years, Kimberly Ellis, told our class that she had not originally been a teacher; she actually started her life in the workforce as a financer.

Ellis is originally from the state of Minnesota, but, after high school, she decided to attend Santa Clara University.

“I’m from Minnesota and it gets really cold there and I was tired of it. So I did my undergrad out here at Santa Clara University. It has very lovely plam trees and it’s also a good school.

And, at the end of the day, I wanted a change of scenery and a change of weather, so yeah I went 2000 miles from home which was great,” says Ellis.

Although Ellis was focused on finance during college, she was always learning Spanish, a subject she had been studying since middle school.

She also began working with children.

“I studied in Spain during college so I was always taking Spanish. I spent a semester in Madrid, but I wanted to graduate on time so I didn’t switch majors or anything and I did volunteer work at a [school for the deaf]… Well actually it was a regular elementary school but I was in the hard of hearing class. I also worked at a battered women’s shelter with kids so I knew that I liked working with kids but [becoming a teacher] didn’t come together at that point,” Ellis explained.

Ellis got her first job in San Francisco after college and moved to the city. However, after selling mutual funds for a couple of years, Ellis realized that finance wasn’t for her.

“I didn’t like my job, and it wasn’t like I was saying I didn’t want to be a business person, I just didn’t like that particular job,” states Ellis.

Then came the next curveball. After having her

realization, Ellis got the opportunity of a lifetime, a trip to Costa Rica. From Croatia to Mexico, Ellis loves all places that she travels to. But out of all her adventures, one of her coolest experiences was during her trip to Costa Rica. For three months, Ellis learned more Spanish and volunteered at a turtle conservation project.

“I was volunteering for a turtle conservation project, and my job was to the protect the eggs.

to figure out what I wanted to do with my life… I applied to the master’s program in education at the University of Minnesota. In my mind, I still [didn’t know] that I would go into teaching,” says Ellis.

For a year, Ellis had to work different jobs that involved education before she could apply to master’s program in education at the University of Minnesota.

The turtles would come onto the beach, and we would patrol the beach at night because they have poachers down there. The turtle would come and lay her eggs, like 100 of them. We’d take the eggs and rebury them in a spot that had a fence around it to protect the eggs from poachers because they use the eggs for some fancy soup. So that was a really cool experience. We would walk on the beach and these guys had rifles (I did not have a rifle). We had to stay up all night because that’s when [both] the poachers [and] the turtles would come,” said Ellis.

It wasn’t until she came back from Costa Rica that she realized her passion for teaching.

“I was 24 or something like that and I needed

“I worked at a school tutoring someone in Spanish; I worked at a Chicano cultural center with women who were new [Spanish speaking] immigrants. So I was doing all of these things and then I applied to the [education program at the University of Minnesota],” she commented.

But the most surprising curveball was when I found out that our class would be dancing every Friday in an activity called “Bailar Viernes”, which translates to “To Dance Fridays”. Like most students, I was confused, until Ellis revealed her intentions. ”I stole the Bailar Viernes idea from a Spanish teacher whose blog I follow. I think learning a language should be fun, and I think dancing is fun

(although I’m terrible). In addition, music is a huge part of learning about a new culture. So I thought, “Why not get some exposure to culture while at the same time moving our bodies and not taking ourselves so seriously?!” School is stressful enough. I want students to leave class on Friday cracking up at themselves and enjoying a moment in their life.

I know some kids hate it and secretly hope we’ll run out of time to do it, but maybe watching their teacher make a fool of herself is worth the torture,” said Ellis.

Bailar Viernes is part of Ellis’s emphasis on brain health and stress relief.

“I read two books over the summer: Teaching with the Brain in Mind and The MindUp Curriculum: Brain-Focused Strategies for Learning and Living; and I wanted to incorporate these strategies into my curriculum this year. As I said before, students are really stressed out about a lot of things going on in their lives and I don’t think they always have the tools to help them deal with the stress they feel and be able to stay focused. We do a variety of activities (breathing and quieting techniques, focus activities like listening for sounds, sights, word associations etc.) that I am hoping students can use in other classes or when they are feeling stressed out. The nice thing about it is that oftentimes I can tailor it to relate to something we are studying in Spanish. But, even if we just take a moment to breathe and listen to the seagulls squawking outside, it’s worth it to me if it helps quiet a student’s mind before we get down to our agenda for that day. That is, as long as I can wake them up after their moment of quiet!” explained Ellis.

As it turns out, I don’t know Ellis as well as I thought I did. She has so many curve balls up her sleeve that I have trust issues. Ellis is not only passionate about teaching Spanish but also baking.

She is an avid chocolate chip cookie-maker. However, when I asked for her secret, she replied with, “ [My cookies are] just a regular recipe and I do have secrets but I will not reveal them. I have a way that I bake them.. you may try them but that’s it.”

January 12th, 2016

The Eagle

Features 5

Student of the Issue: Cosimo Faieta

The Man in the Colorful Poncho

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BY JOYCE MA

trolling down the hallways of Washington High School, you might just spot a tan, wool poncho with red lines around the edge and a brown felt hat with a blue, orange and red ribbon around it—the two items that have seemingly become signature to senior Cosimo Faieta.

Turns out, Faieta’s life has been as unique as his attire.

The story behind his poncho and hat stems from his vacation to Peru this past summer. While visiting his family in Peru, Faieta took part in one of the key aspects of Peruvian culture: bargaining at flea markets. Of the plethora of bargaining markets, one in particular caught Faieta’s attention. The merchant kept going on about the fine quality of the poncho and the hat and its previous owner, a witch doctor, also known as “curandero” in Spanish. The unique story compelled Cosimo to purchase the items, but what sparked his continuous use was the reaction it prompted from the Peruvian natives.

“When I was wearing the poncho, I got a lot of respect from the people there; a lot of the older folks and the merchants, they recognized the quality of the poncho and they’d go up to me and just start grabbing my jacket and start saying ‘hey this is a really nice jacket.’ The culture there is so friendly and so respectful that I just kept wearing the hat and the poncho because that’s the feeling that stuck with it, the respect,” explains Faieta.

His time spent outside of the U.S. extends beyond South America. Faieta has lived in three different countries since he was born. His life drastically changed when he was four years old. Not only was he moving, but he was moving from the U.S. to a whole other country, Ecuador. And, shortly after, it was time to say goodbye to Ecuador and hello to Belgium.

Starting over again, speaking a whole different language, and changing schools seemed to be a never-ending cycle for Faieta. At the age of four, he was finally getting the hang of reading in English. Then, suddenly, at the same time, he had to learn how to read in Spanish and Dutch.

“In first grade, when they had reading time, I remember seeing everyone looking at their books, and I just opened the book and started looking at the pictures and was like ‘Alright, I’m done with this one. Give me the next one’,” Faieta recalls from his time in Belgium.

For Faieta, it was not the difference in country or language that struck him most but all the subtle differences between the U.S. and Belgium.

“When moving to a different country, I think it’s the small details that really get you. Of course there’s the big changes like living in a new house, going to different schools or speaking a different language. While those aspects do affect you, it’s the small differences that really make you realize that this isn’t the world you’re used to, like how I never see anyone [in San Francisco] wearing winter clothes or raincoats, not that there’s any need for them. But, on the other hand, as soon as it starts drizzling a little, people act like a flood is happening,” says Faieta.

Furthermore, he’s noticed that the people in Belgium are a lot less open than the people in the U.S. “People are very friendly and vocal in the U.S. They walk up and say ‘hi,’ but, in Belgium, everyone’s a bit more solitary and [they] respect privacy a lot. I remember there was this one time in the park, where this kid was playing, and I was playing with my brother and my neighbor friend. We asked the kid if he wanted to play with us, but the mom just pulled him away and said ‘Don’t play with strangers’,” Faieta says.

Europe and America also differ in their education systems.

“Here, it’s more focused on a lot of work, while in Belgium, I almost never received homework. We were mostly worried about the end of year exam,” explains Faieta.

From the U.S. to Ecuador to Belgium and back to the U.S., one thing that remains a constant in Faieta’s life is his family.

“Moving has taught me that it doesn’t matter where you are, as long as you are with people who care about you,” says Faieta.

Faieta’s family—his brother, dad, and mom—have each influenced him in a different way. Most siblings fight and bicker, but this isn’t the case for Cosimo and his younger brother.

“Moving from place to place, my brother’s always been there with me. It’s like your best friend but he lives with you and sleeps in the same room as you and is always there to annoy you. And, looking back, I realize that he’s basically been my biggest fan and greatest companion,” comments Faieta.

While his brother has acted as his support system, his parents have acted as his teachers and inspirations. His mom, who works in alternative medicine, has taught Faieta the value of hard work and his dad sparked his curiosity in science.

“A lot of people think that the knowledge I have is just me, that I’m just really smart but it’s really my dad. In Belgium, my dad would teach me stuff like molecular physics. All of a sudden, I knew all these things that you wouldn’t know until

middle school or later in elementary school. And all my classmates would be like ‘oh you’re so smart,’ but really it’s my dad who has been so generous with his knowledge,” says Faieta.

Although Faieta grew up in a science-based family, he never received any pressure to pursue a career in the science field.

Instead, he has received an enormous amount of support for his passion, drawing. Whether it be in class or at lunch, you’ll always find Faieta sketching and doodling on the sides of his papers and notebooks. In addition to his parents and his brother, art is one of the most important aspects of his life. It has provided Faieta with an escape and the ability to express himself creatively.

“Art is a freedom, an escape. I’ve always been more academically focused, so it’s an escape; it’s a side thing that helps me clear my mind,” explains Faieta.

Besides art, Faieta is also passionate about rock climbing.

He began rock climbing in Belgium when he was ten years old. Initially, it was his father who pushed him to try it out, but, eventually, Faieta began developing an interest in it as well. Every Tuesday and Thursday, he would spend hours at a rock climbing gym to practice. And, when Faieta moved back to the U.S., he continued his rock climbing at Planet Granite.

“It’s like puzzles with your body; like here’s a whole bunch of footholds and handholds and you just gotta get to the top and you have to know how to balance and which moves to do first and it’s surprisingly a lot of exercise of the mind and the body,” describes Faieta.

Unfortunately, as high school progressed, Faieta quit rock climbing due to the time he had to dedicate to school. But, the skills he has acquired from the activity remains prominent in his daily life. For one, he’s scaled down the mural from the esplanade to the football field.

“I used to carry one of those messenger bags. I hated that backpack because it always put weight onto one shoulder and I would walk like lopsided. So I got pissed off at the backpack so I just threw it onto the football field. Then, Emilia Vedar was like ‘Oh my god, I thought someone jumped off.’ That gave me the idea. I don’t know what I was thinking; I don’t think I was thinking. Then, I was like ‘you know what, I think I can climb down this,’ so I jumped over, and, as soon as I jumped over, people were like, ‘What the f*ck is this guy doing?’ and ‘Holy sh*t, this guy is suicidal.’ So I started climbing down, no big deal. I got about more than halfway down and then just jumped down,” Faieta explains.

6 Features

The Eagle

Where Are They Now?

January 12th, 2016

BY DAVID SCOLARI

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a few of the school’s favorite teachers move on from Washington and embark on bold adventures, fresh career phases, and new stages in their lives. Here are two of their stories.

RACHAEL BRUTTIG After teaching Spanish at Washington for three years, Rachael Bruttig decided to take a leap of faith and travel around the world. She visited several countries, including Egypt, Thailand, China, and Japan. However, merely traveling around the world was not a big enough for Bruttig. While on the road, she was offered a teaching job at an international school in Seoul, South Korea. “I love adventure and decided to take the leap and accept the job,” explains Bruttig. She currently teaches high school Spanish at Seoul International School (SIS) and will remain there for at least the next two years.

Seoul is different from San Francisco in many ways, and, though she doesn’t speak Korean, Bruttig has not found it hard to feel at home in the city or with her new students.

“At SIS, 99% of the students are Korean, but they have all also spent some of their lives in the United States, Canada, or England so they are fluent in English,” says Bruttig.

“They are a blend of Korean and American culture that reminds me of some of the students at GWHS who were also bicultural.” Still, Bruttig misses some of what San Francisco offered. “I do miss Mexican food a lot. It’s hard and sometimes impossible to find corn tortillas, cilantro, and mangos. Plus the avocados and limes are insanely expensive here!” Bruttig says. She has yet to decide what her next move will be after her two years at SIS, but, after accepting a job in a foreign country while traveling the world, it is pretty safe to say that anything is possible. “I will wait and see what opportunities arise in 2017!” says Bruttig.

JOHN PROPSTER After 19 years at Washington, John Propster retired from teaching at the end of the 2014-15 school year. He had been teaching at Washington since 1996 and retired as the school’s VAPA (Visual and Performing Arts) director and its longest tenured teacher. “I was brought over after 10 years at Balboa High School,” says Propster. During his career, he has taught various VAPA classes, including Drama, Stage Tech, and Video Production, as well as English classes, and has become a student favorite along the way. “I put a lot of years in, juggling many different activities as well as teaching,” explains Propster, who, in addition to teaching, also directed school plays and coached the speech and debate team. However, his many years of hard work took a toll on his mind and his body. His high energy style of teaching that demanded students to be creative was taxing on him. Furthermore, in early 2015, Propster had surgery to repair a worn down knee. It seemed like a good time to say goodbye. “I needed a change and I needed to be ‘John’ again instead of ‘Mr. Propster’,” he said. Propster is now living in Flagstaff, Arizona where he works at a community theater. He enjoys being involved in community activities, such as writing workshops, and being close to the Grand Canyon. “I feel better and more relaxed than I have in years,” exclaims Propster.

ALS: Internet’s Biggest Lemonade Stand

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BY MAX BORMANN

ith the popularization of social media and internet trends, fundraisers have changed. Most students are aware of the challenge, but what they don’t know is that the internet fad in part led to an important research breakthrough.

An excellent example of this is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The challenge entailed recording oneself dumping cold water on one’s head or donating money to raise awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease (named after a baseball player who had ALS), is an incurable, untreatable, and lifelong disease that results in the victim’s inability to breathe, speak, and or think. Think Stephen Hawkings. The Ice Bucket Challenge raised $220,000 for research, but a large question is how did this phenomenon start? It all started out with a man named Chris Kennedy. He decided to do the Ice Bucket Challenge, which, at first, wasn’t associated with any charities. He dedicated it to his wife’s cousin, who struggled with ALS. In the video, he stated that his friends had to donate to the ALS foundation if they didn’t do it. The posting of the video not only compelled people to complete the challenge, but it also helped raise awareness for the disease. This sparked a sensation of completions and uploads.

In addition to raising awareness for ALS, the challenge was also fun to do. Posting the challenge can make one seem like a celebrity. Videos were posted all over social media, making it spread even faster, thus leading to more awareness.

Celebrities did it too, including Oprah, Justin Timberlake, Selena Gomez, and Niall Horan.

Those who were nominated but did not complete the challenge were not forced to donate since donations are based on the honor system.Thus, where did all of the money come from? The answer is simple: the videos. Many people watched them, and thought ‘Hey, that’s pretty cool. Maybe I should donate.’ The collective support from donors and sponsors made up the funds.

Many skeptics on social media and forum pages will try to tell you that the money would not be used for research. But, I’m happy to say that these claims are false.

Earlier this year, there was the first breakthrough in ALS research since 2009. It was the finding of the protein SOD1, a protein that, when tweaked, can help rebuild muscle and connect fibers. Although amazing, it is by no means a cure. It is simply a start in the treatment of ALS. And where did the funding for all these lab rats come from? You guessed it, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

As demonstrated by the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the internet is more than just cat videos. It is a place for funding, research, and development of fundraisers for causes in dire need of support.

January 12th, 2016

Teen Stress

BY WINNIE ZHANG

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ur list of what causes stress is never ending.

We have all heard a great deal of different complaints about how stressed out everyone is, but have you ever looked into what stress can lead to? As a teenager, stress is often caused by school pressure, extracurricular activities, friendships, family, and more.

These overwhelming events in your life that cause stress are called

stressors. Stress can create a series of problems and not only does it lead to poor health and a shorter life span, but it can also lead to severe mental illness in adulthood.

What is stress? According to the social service, stress is your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand or threat. It can be caused by both good and bad experiences. When people feel stressed by something going on around them, their bodies react by releasing chemicals into their blood.

These chemicals give people more energy and strength, which can be a good thing if their stress is caused by physical danger. However, this can also be a bad thing; if their stress is in response to something emotional, there is no outlet for this extra energy and strength.

“Some amount of good stress and tension can bring out the best in a teenager. Bad stress can cause headache, nightmares, irritability and fatigue,” researchers from the University of Minnesota say.

Some would even say that

Happiness Special 7

The Eagle

American teenagers are more stressed out than adults. “Teens routinely say that their school-year stress levels are far higher than they think is healthy, and their average reported stress exceeds that of adults”, according to an annual survey published by the American Psychological Association.

According to Medical Daily, teenage stress can alter genes and lead to severe mental illness in adulthood. Researcher Dr. Akira Sawa and his team at Johns Hopkins University have discovered a mechanism, stress hormones, that can affect the brain’s physiology and create mental illness. “We’ve shown in mice that stress in adolescence can affect the expression of a gene that codes for a key neurotransmitter related to mental function and psychiatric illness,” states Dr. Akira Sawa. Concluding that alterations caused by stress add a chemical group like methyl that can affect the function of the DNA. Studies show that the damage of DNA can increase our chance of a shorter lifespan.

The study showed that stress can shorten telomeres, the protective edges that hold the ends of DNA strands together. The shortening and damage of these mechanisms can shorten your lifespan by four to eight years, depending on how you handle it.

Managing your stress can be a huge benefit. Exercise and movement is a beneficial stress reliever.

It pumps up your endorphins and it improves your mood. Whether it is going out for a 15-20 minute walk around the neighborhood or a five mile run, any form of exercise can help release your stress. Another way to relieve stress is to talk to a friend or family member about your problems. Often letting things out will help release and lower stress. Most importantly, MAKE SOME TIME FOR YOURSELF!

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Weather Affects Our Mood

BY CARMEN ZHEN

n a study published by Emotion, researchers evaluated the moods of over a thousand adult men and women with daily questionnaires that cross-referenced the weather. They found that factors like temperature, sunlight, and wind had a notable effect on people’s moods. The day-to-day weather can affect your mood and happiness, but even more so if you’re already feeling unhappy. When the temperature is freezing and there’s nothing but grey clouds in the sky, this can easily make someone’s bad day become even more worse.

Exposure to the sunlight has proven to improve people’s mood, especially during the winter time. It is even more important to get sun in the early hours of the morning.

Research has shown that humidity and burning weather, along with other factors, can have a negative effect on people as well. The suffocating heat often irritates people and many tire quickly, which causes them to be snappy and annoyed.

A 2011 report from the National Wildlife Federation estimates that about two hundred million American are at risk for psychological distress due to the climate. Extreme weather such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and heat waves can lead to mental health symptoms if left untreated, such as depression and anxiety.

When temperatures are warmer in the winter and lower in the summer, people tend to have an increase of happiness. Even something as simple as waking up early to see the sunrise or taking a long walk in the park can lower your stress levels and lift up your mood.

Sleep Deprivation: Whose Fault Is It Anyway?

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BY WINNIE ZHANG

leep deprivation--it’s every teenager’s enemy.

But why is it that so many students are sleep deprived? Teenagers are recommended to get a minimum of 9-10 hours of sleep per night, but with loads of homework, extra-curricular activities, and social media at hand, almost all teenage students are sleep deprived. Many blame sleep deprivation on teachers for assigning too much homework or extracurriculars getting in the way of their schedule. But with modern technology, we actually get distracted and spend time going on our phones or watching TV rather than doing homework.

Modern technology, such as cell phones and iPads, have strongly impacted our lives. Studies have shown that teenagers who spend more than four hours per day on their electronic devices are three and a half times likelier to sleep fewer than five hours at night. We often go home and go on our phones for hours just to check our social media apps. From Snapchat to Instagram or Facebook to Twitter, it’s a never ending list. This consumption of media causes us to lose track of time and procrastinate, and we often put off doing our homework because of it.

Having handled three honors classes and playing a sport, my experience with sleep deprivation was not pretty. I would arrive to school every day running on two to five hours of sleep, which caused me to notice a significant change in my mood, eating habits, and academic skills. I would get home from practice, which drained all of my energy. Feeling sleepy and tired, I would then have to begin my

hours of homework. One thing that I would always do was check my phone, which would take up at least an hour of the time that I could have been doing homework. Now, as a junior, I’ve decided to direct all my focus on school. I decided to go on a “social media cleanse” by deleting my social media apps so that I wouldn’t get distracted. I have already noticed a significant difference with my sleep pattern, mood, and grades. I get my work done in a relative amount of time and once in awhile have free time. I usually get about 2-5 hours of homework done daily and still manage to get at least 6 hours of sleep a night.

Sleep is food for the brain. With lack of sleep we limit our ability to learn, which can cause memory loss and even weight gain, as well as our general health to be endangered. Everyone complains about how little sleep they get and how tired they are because of the amount of homework that is assigned by teachers. But do we really lose sleep because of our vast amount of homework, or is it because we procrastinate? Try to not go on your cell phone or any electronics for one night and direct your focus on what needs to be done, such as your homework. Examine how much time it takes you to complete all your assignments.

You will notice a significant change in the amount of time you spend on homework vs. the time it normally takes you on a regular day.

Sleep deprivation can be caused by overwhelming amounts of homework, but it’s also because of the personal choices people make. Being sleep deprived is actually a choice, since one can choose whether they want to procrastinate or not. Procrastination is the thief of time, and it’s up to each individual how they choose to spend that time.

Chris’ Guide to Happiness

BY CHRISTOPHER RAMOS

Being truly happy is one of the hardest things anyone can ever do, and you can never be completely happy 100% of the time. There will be rough times in your life, but here’s the good news-YOU WILL GET THROUGH IT. If you’re in a tough spot right now, hopefully this guide will be helpful. Here are my three simple mantras: BE KIND This is my first piece of advice for those who want to become a happier person. Be kind, be kind, be kind. There is nothing wrong with being kind. There are no pitfalls, there are no drawbacks. You aren’t weak if you’re too kind, the same way you aren’t strong if you’re the opposite. Being kind is one of the most fulfilling things you can do. Here are some examples: tell your mom you love her, tell a teacher that they taught you something, help a kid in the hallway who dropped their books, smile at someone you pass in the hall, tell someone that they are rockin’ that top they’re wearing--the list goes on and on. And if you’re feeling tentative before you’re about to do any of those things or are second guessing whether it even matters, keep this in mind: you are being kind. You are giving something positive to the world, and that is something you should take immense pride in!

BE CONFIDENT Here’s a thing to remember with this one: just because you think you’re the coolest kid on the block doesn’t mean the other kids on the block are less cool. Confidence comes with repetition: it won’t happen overnight. Confidence comes with putting your best foot forward. It comes with taking chances, with believing that it will turn out okay. When you think of yourself, it shouldn’t be negative. You know yourself better than anyone else so there’s no reason for you not to think that you’re gosh darn amazing. When faced with the many obstacles that you’ve experienced, you’ve come out on top. You have beat the odds my friend. The world deserves a person like you, a person who knows just what they’re capable of. Someone with confidence and swagger. I think you’ve got the potential bud and I’ll bet my bottom dollar you do too. So cultivate that confidence! Be bold and have comfort knowing that you’re your number one fan.

DO WHAT YOU WANT This one takes a whole lot of practice. And what I mean by “do what you want” of course differs from person to person. There is one main theme to keep in mind though. I want you to apply this to only self-discovering things that aren’t directly negative. When an opportunity presents itself, an opportunity that will help you grow in a positive way, take it. Trust your gut. Believe in the best and I promise you that you’ll come out the other side. Doing what you want will be difficult, and you’ll have your self-doubts. Here’s a disclaimer: things will not go according to plan.

But remember though that no matter what happens, you did what you wanted to do. No one told you. No one directed you. You are the master of your own destiny. Forge it how you want and stay true to your heart.

Be kind, be confident, and remember that you do you. No one can tell you differently and no one can bring you down. It may sound a bit corny, but if you believe in yourself, then you WILL succeed.

8 Happiness

The E Researchers at Cornell analyzed the tweets of 2.4 million people across the globe and found that people were happier in the morning, but as the day passed by, their mood grew more negative.

WhatMakesYou

HAPPY?

Amidst the tests and homework, it can be easy to forget the little things that make you happy. Happiness can be present in the most minute form, yet it can also have the most prominent impact. In this issue, we sought to highlight the things that make our student body happy, their definition of happiness, and the different aspects that can influence happiness.

To children aged 10-15, close friends, sports, and a stable home life are considered more important than how wealthy their parents are according to a study by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex.

Happiness 9

Eagle 117 GWHS students were asked: Happy-(adj.) characterized by or indicative of pleasure, contentment, or joy. (defined by dictionary.com) Are you truly happy?

64% responded Yes. 36% responded No.

Compared to male and female teenagers who are not sexually active, teens who are sexually active are less likely to be happy and are more likely to feel depressed. (The Heritage Foundation)

According to a study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology, upbeat music had a positive effect on people and put them in a better mood.

January 12th, 2016

The Eagle

Experiment: No Phone for a Day

BY JOEL HO

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n this day and age, almost every teenager in the United States has a smart phone. Smartphones themselves aren’t a bad thing. They give us instant access to information in a matter of seconds, allow us to communicate with family and friends, notify others on what’s going on in our lives through Facebook or Twitter, and even play with apps/games on our phones.

According to a study done by Pew Research Center, 92% of teens report going online daily, including 24% who say they go on constantly. In this report, which included teens of ages 13-17, it stated that 56% of teens go online several times a day. I am one of those teens who check Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and basically any other social media constantly to keep up with what’s going on. In today’s “tech boom”, phones have become such a huge part of everyone’s lives that some feel like they can’t live without it. And so, I decided to give up my phone for a whole day to see how it would affect me.

I’ll admit, giving up my phone for a day wasn’t easy. Not being in the loop of what was going on with my friends, sports, or anything in general was hard. I guess you could say I felt “naked” in a way; not having one of the most used devices in your life for a whole day was weird. Although giving up my phone wasn’t easy, it had its benefits. I felt a lot more productive throughout the school day. I wasn’t constantly checking my social media or checking the time every couple minutes to see how much time was left in class. I was more focused on taking notes and trying to learn the new material in class. I wasn’t distracted by the constant text messages I would normally get during class from friends either. Being phoneless for the day also forced me to become more social with the people around me since I wasn’t able to look up things on my phone; it forced me to rely on people instead. I also felt more relaxed, and I had more time in the morning to get ready due to the time I saved from not being on my phone. At night, I didn’t have my phone so I wasn’t able to have Netflix or Youtube distract me while I tried to sleep. I was in bed at 10:30 and asleep by 10:45.

On the flip side, not having my phone the whole day was also problem-

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atic. As someone who hates being late, I had to rely on my younger brother to wake me up that morning, but he is usually the one waking up late, so I was worried the night before. And back to text messages, it was like a double-edged sword. Even though I was able to concentrate on my classwork and the teachings, I wasn’t able to stay updated on things that happened with my friends or in the sports world, which are both very important to me. When I was outside of class, I never knew the time, because I’ve never owned a wrist watch so I had to ask people for the time on several occasions. Also, without my phone, it was hard to find where my friends were at and where to meet them up at after school which made things difficult. I was forced to think about the most likely places my friends would be and had to run around school searching for them. I searched the hallways to see if they had met up at one of my friend’s locker, Mr. Cary’s room, the music wing, and then eventually found them in the library. If I had my phone, I could have just texted our group chat and asked “where y’all at?”, but I didn’t so it was hell trying to find my friends at school.

In today’s world, smart phones are a huge part of almost everyone’s lives.

They are extremely helpful and make our lives so much easier, whether it’s looking up info, giving you reminders, or just waking you up on time for school. Although smartphones are very handy, people today get too wrapped up in technology and fail to connect with others as they rely on their phone for socializing and basically everything you could ever need. Not having my phone for a day made me appreciate having a phone even more. But it also made gave me a newfound appreciation for my friends and family. So, sometimes, it might be a good thing to leave your phone at home and experience what it’s like to not have such a small object take up such a huge portion of your day.

Netflix & Chill: What Does It Mean to You?

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BY CHRIS RAMOS

hen asked what they thought about “Netflix & chill,” most students just treated it as a joke. There are expectations that follow that phrase; and a lot of people are embarrassed to even talk about it. The idea of “Netflix & chilling” has a kind of stigma around it.

People’s experiences really differ depending on what their expectations are with the person they are “chilling” with. Some aim to create something less platonic than “chiller” has in mind. Simply mentioning the idea of more than just “chilling” seems to lead to red cheeks and downward gazes. They want to “get” with the person they’re chilling with. It’s the first thing they have in mind, and it’s something that they are trying to work towards with each episode passed on the Netflix roster. You could call these people a bit brash, folk that some might label as dreamers. There are certain expectations associated with the act of netflix & chill. As I said before, it differs from person to person, but on the extreme end of the spectrum lies the implication that it’s more than just “chilling” and that Netflix is playing the role of matchmaker.

At the same time, there are people whose expectations of “netflix & chill” are exactly as it sounds. For some, when asked if they “Netflix & chill,” they didn’t even realize that there were associations beyond merely catching up on T.V. shows. To them, it’s a late night at another friend’s house marathoning a series that they both meant to catch up on and nothing more.

They are there to enjoy binge watching a series with a close friend; anything else is lost to them. When asked about the “implications” behind Netflix & chill, I was met with blank stares and questions on whether I finished watching Breaking Bad or not. I think maybe it’s a good thing these people aren’t in on the stigma of the act; let them have their fun. There’s nothing wrong with having a nice, clean, hopefully eyes-glued-to-the-screen, good time.

Lastly, there is the type of people who actually just love chilling with people. These people are those who are in it for the experience. If more comes out of it, then more comes out of it-no expectations, no intense shushing if a word is spoken between a scene. These people are there to really “chill”. For them, it’s more about the sense of closeness that comes with being comfy in their jammies with a bowl of popcorn in their lap and being with someone whose company they enjoy. Maybe one thing leads to another and they get lucky and that leads to something more. But, these people aren’t going be the ones to initiate the act. But then again, they aren’t totally against it.

Trying to use “netflix and chill” as an excuse to try and get with someone is a recipe for disappointment. Unless you’re honest with what you want from the start, you won’t go anywhere. Try to be transparent about it; people appreciate honesty. If you want something from someone, be upfront about it! It’ll make things clear and help you to avoid any awkward situations. It helps if you both know what is gonna happen, if you catch my drift.

12 Opinion

January 12th, 2016

The Eagle

Study Hard... And Twerk Harder

BY CHRIS RAMOS

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t Washington, with school dances come regulations, and the rules get in the way of people having a good time. The music is regulated, the dancing is regulated. This is usually plenty reason for people not to go.

What is a dance without good music? Not a dance that’s for sure. Regulating what is played during school dances may help ease the mind of parents and other adults who aren’t attending the dance, but, for the high schoolers who are there, it makes for a snooze fest. Music played at school dances is usually censored and you can hear the displeasure of the crowd right when the song lyric is missed.

Most of the people there have already heard worse music than what’s being played. It reinforces stereotypes on music that already has a bad rap, such as that it represents a bad part of society.

When the administration places restrictions on music, they are basically saying that the music is negative. But, music is meant to foster self expression. Delving into the lyrics is something meant for an English class, not a school dance. Furthermore, if

the people at the dance don’t enjoy the music, why hold the dance in the first place.

The rules of the dance should be decided by the attendees. If they’re not enjoying themselves, then they’re just wasting their time and money. The administration should allow for a free range of music. All that the regulations are doing are making for are grumpy attendees.

What’s even worse than the music regulations are the dance regulations.

I can see why the administration puts up the rules for dancing. They see “twerking” as bad; it doesn’t align with what they deem appropriate to be at a school dance. But, here’s a counterpoint; the dance is not meant for them, it’s meant for us. If they were the ones attending the dances, then go right on ahead and put up all the rules, but they aren’t. We are the ones wanting to have a good time so there’s

Turn Up for What?

Turn Down for What?

BY DAVID SCOLARI

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ne day, during my freshman year of high school, I came home from baseball practice to find my mom, puffy eyed and crying, looking through old family photo albums. When I asked her what was wrong, she informed me that my uncle had died earlier that day. It was just one day after he had been released from prison and his body, weak from years of addiction, had given out. He was just 50 years old, but his body was frail beyond his years. However, my uncle was not always so frail and weak. In high school, he was an outstanding student athlete, achieving highly in the classroom and starring on both the basketball and baseball teams. As an invincible teenager, his habits of recreational marijuana and alcohol use did not put a damper on his high school success. But, as he grew older, his high school habits persisted, tarnishing many relationships throughout his life and, ultimately, cut his life short. My uncle didn’t ruin his life with high school substance use, but having the mindset that what he was doing was just harmless fun left him vulnerable to his habits having a lasting effect on his life.

Today, though schools have become more active in providing information about the dangers involved with using these substances, the attitude about drugs and alcohol amongst high schoolers has not changed much since my uncle was in high school. There still remains this general mindset that the dangers involved with substance use do not apply to high school recreational users. It’s not drug abuse, it’s “turning up”. It’s a party, not alcoholism. To many high schoolers, there’s a distinction between the “harmless fun” type of substance use and the “lasting effect on a person’s life” type of substance use.

Looking at what the school system tries to teach students about drugs and alcohol, it makes sense that a lot of high school students have this mindset. The information students are given is focused on a lot of the long term effects of drugs and alcohol use. High school students are experts on lung cancer, liver disease, and addiction, but it isn’t common for people in high school to actually have to deal with these conditions.

Because the risks of substance use seem so distant to the typical high school student, it’s easy for high schoolers to fall into the mindset that the choices they make as a teenager will not be detrimental to their futures.

Ironically, while this sense of safety surrounding “turning up” may have a lot of merit to it-- very few people ruin their lives with high school partying--, it is having this mindset that actually makes underaged substance use so potentially dangerous. Though it is true that participating in the occasional high school “turn up” does not qualify someone as an alcoholic, not acknowledging the risk involved with such activities leaves people vulnerable to developing persisting habits that are detrimental to their lives. It isn’t necessarily lung cancer or addiction that threaten high school partiers, but rather the sense of invincibility involved with it that leaves them vulnerable to issues with drugs and alcohol in the future.

no reason to get in the way of it. The types of dancing they are banning aren’t inappropriate; it’s a matter of perspective. What adults see as disrespectful, we see as a normality. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s all in good fun. It happens through all generations.

At their school dances, there were probably the same regulations and just as many protests. There is no reason to continue the cycle. I’d say it’d be a good thing if the administration were to pull back on the rules during the next dance. In fact, I’d go far enough to say that a lot of the students would not only appreciate the administration more, but they would also be more likely to follow the rules they do end up enforcing.

School dances are for the students. The fact that the students don’t have more of a say when it comes to the rules is something that should be changed.

BY BENJAMIN TOLEDO

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urning up gets a bad rap. For one thing, at least you’re going up, not down.

For you teachers who don’t know, turning up means partying. “Let’s turn up!” - “Let’s party!” Both mean the same thing.

But, we aren’t talking about the type of partying at school, the kind with cold fried rice and chips. We are talking about the type of parties where parents are out of town for the weekend and you have a fridge full of beer--the types of parties where you get high, drunk, and meet strangers.

Turning up isn’t detrimental for you future IF you know how to do it in moderation.

Anything without moderation can be bad. For example, if you’re always on your phone, that can be pretty detrimental to your future. You’re not aware of your surroundings. You don’t talk to those around you. You waste hella time. At worst, you can become addicted to it.

But, to say that “all phone usage is bad for your future” is absurd; what about the people who don’t use it every 5 seconds? The people who use flip phones? These people aren’t suffering from the effects of a phone addiction. They use them reasonably and in moderation. They understand the benefits of having a phone, but they don’t let it take over their lives.

The same logic applies to turning up. If you’re out partying every weekend, trying to get high and maybe get lucky, that’s pretty bad. I’d say that’s really detrimental to your future. It’ll get in the way of your school work; and you probably won’t end up with the best crowd. But, in moderation, you can balance doing well in school, exploring new passions and interests, and, once in awhile, going out with your friends. That’s not detrimental to your future. There are few, if any, negative consequences to partying once in awhile, and with moderation you get the best of both worlds. You can go out, have fun, meet new people, and make memories while doing well with the rest of your life if you understand that you have to have a balance.

I’m not encouraging anyone to do anything. I’m not saying that I do turn up myself and that everyone should do it. All I am trying to point out is that to say that turning up is detrimental to your future is not true because, if you do it responsibly, turning up isn’t bad enough to hurt your future. It can even be positive for you, through the experiences you make and the new people you meet.

January 12th, 2016

Opinion 13

The Eagle

Happiness is Your Choice Happiness Can’t Be Forced

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BY SAMANTHA SACKS

appiness: It’s something we all strive for. We want to be happy.

We want the simple pleasure, plain and simple.

Even so, it’s hard for some of us to achieve our happiness. We get in the way of our own happiness.

But do any of us actually know what happiness is? It’s when you can’t wipe the smile off your face or when you start laughing for no reason. It’s when the world around you seems brighter or when the simplest of things seem like so much more. Happiness means many different things to many different people, but the official dictionary definition is “a state of well-being and contentment”.

Many things can affect our happiness: our home life, school or work, the people we hang around with, to name a few. They all contribute to our happiness. Sometimes, things in our life will go downhill. We’ll get in a fight with our family, we’ll fail a test, or someone will call us a mean name.

But it’s part of life. It’s going to happen. We can’t prevent it or stop it from happening. However, we can choose how we let the things in our life affect us.

We can choose whether bad things around take away our happiness. We can choose whether people take away our happiness. We can choose whether the things that piss us off take away our happiness. It is our choice.

We can either get caught up in all the bad things going on around us or we can let ourselves get sucked into the despair and anger that is pulling at us at every corner.

We can fall into that pit of sadness and just let all our problems wrap around us and get lost in all the wrongs that have been done to us. Or, we can let all our problems slide off our back. We can let the despair and anger go, move on, and stop living in the past.

We can move past our sadness.

It’s not easy. It’s so much easier to just let all the problems spinning

around us to win and to just give to the sadness and anger. It’s so, so much easier. But it won’t bring us the happiness we want.

We can choose to let all the things around us bring us down, or we can choose to be happy.

Happiness is a choice. We get to choose if we’re happy or not.

It is our choice.

This leaves one question: What choice are you going to make?

I

told my dad to make an appointment with my doctor because “my knee had been hurting.” He did and within the week I went to go see her. I walked in and she asked me about my knee. I told her I didn’t come in because my knee was hurting; I told her that I was depressed and wanted help.

She followed up to see if I was suicidal or had thoughts of suicide. I did, but I didn’t tell her that, because I didn’t want to go and stay at some mental health clinic, so I said “No.” We talked for a while about how long I was feeling this way etc., and by the end of that appointment she had prescribed me with anti-depressants, Xanax, and set me up with a therapist that I would have to meet. (This was a part of the deal, I would take anti-depressants but I would also have to meet with the therapist.) I got a doctor’s note that excused me from being in school for two weeks. I had a therapist in school also.

Honestly, when I look back and think of it now, the only days I would show up to school were the days I would have to meet with her because I knew I’d be pulled out of class anyways. I think I saw her two times a week from what I can remember. I also saw my therapist outside of school about once a week.

None of those things seemed to be helping me. With the school counselor, I had gotten comfortable and enjoyed talking to her. I had never talked about my problems so much; they were always just casual conversation. I had always been bad with talking about my feelings, my life situation, and never knew how to answer questions they had about that. I would sometimes slowly discuss it but never in full detail. I guess that’s my fault in some part because I had never opened up, but that’s just hard for me to do.

I so desperately wanted to be happy. I wanted to enjoy the things I used to enjoy. I wanted to go to school and actually be a part of the class. I wanted to be able to be there with my friends. I was sick of being sick. I thought the solutions to my problem would be seeing a therapist, taking medication, and doing all these things Google links had directed me to. But they weren’t. I eventually stopped taking the medication and going to therapy because I had seen no change in me after awhile. I thought that I would just be the way that I was for the rest of my life.

I used to think you could just choose to be happy and that was that. I couldn’t understand why people were depressed or sad. Happiness is simple, just choose it. But, it wasn’t until I was in a situation where being happy wasn’t that easy that I finally understood that you couldn’t so easily just be happy.

Everytime I tried to think happy thoughts and to be more optimistic, I just couldn’t seem to do it. I’d try to convince myself, “Okay I’m good, I’m happy, nothing’s wrong.” But then there would be these negative thoughts that would come crawling back into my mind.

It was like someone else thinking for me. It felt like I could never win. I thought if I just chose to be happy, I would be, but I wasn’t.

It’s because when you’re sad, you’re sad. And I know being sad and being depressed are two completely different things. There isn’t anything wrong with feeling down.

There isn’t anything wrong with letting things get to you, because, at the end of the day, you’re human. It’s hard to go through tough sh*t and take it all in without feeling sad.

The influences that our surroundings and circumstances have on our mood are inevitable; that’s why it’s so hard to just choose happiness. Some things are simply out of your control. But, slowly, everyone does get better, whether you go to therapy, take medication or develop an alternative way to cope. For me, it was time. I just needed time, and of course that time I took came at a cost, but I’m okay with that now because I see where I am, and who I have become, and not only am I happy with that, I just am happy.

It’s Okay to Treat Yo’self

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BY JERRICK ZHU

s much as we hate to say it, money is one of the biggest factors in aiding our own happiness. This doesn’t mean that money can buy happiness itself, but money does allow us to pay for life’s necessities: water, food, clothes, shelter, etc. In addition, it can provide us with some luxuries i n life, such as cars and entertainment. If there is something that you really want to buy, and you can figure out a way to earn the money for it, you should go for it. You shouldn’t always sacrifice now for the future. For me, I have found that having a little bit of money has made me a happier person.

This is not to say that I just splurge on whatever I find that is nice, but if I ever feel the want to buy something, money gives me the ability to do so. It’s important to understand that although the happiness you get from buying something at that moment may be temporary, it is also necessary. We can’t all wait our entire lives

BY ANONYMOUS

just to be happy; sometimes we just need to go and grab it.

We all have had that moment where we’re just window shopping or looking online and something catches our eye, but the problem is, we don’t have the money to afford it. This has happened to me over and over in the past, and it got to the point where I just thought to myself that I should just get a job.

Eventually, I landed a job at Peet’s Coffee and Tea and began earning money for myself. During the time, I was looking at cars to buy and was trying to come up with the money to buy one. When I finally

bought the car, the feeling of just having it and not having to endlessly look up cars on the internet was one of the best feelings in the world. But it wasn’t just the fact I had some money to buy the car that made me happy; there were other factors that came with having money that made me happy as well.

Along with money comes responsibility. It’s easy to splurge and buy whatever you see on a whim, but being responsible about it and not going all out when you have money is a big thing to keep in mind. For me, the responsibility also means independence, that I can do whatever I want with my money but

I need to know how to use it wisely. It’s not like having a parent giving you allowance where you’re limited on what you can do with it. These feelings of independence and responsibility that have stemmed from having money also give me happiness.

In addition, having money around gives me security. I don’t need to fear about not having enough money to buy food, to go to the movies, or to go shopping. Having the money there whenever I need it keeps my mind at ease.

We all yearn for the better and more luxurious things in life, be it cars, nice clothes, or food.

There’s no doubt that those things make us happy; and the only way to get those things is to use money and purchase them. Everyone in some point in their lives deserves to spoil themselves a bit, and if not themselves, then perhaps others. If you were in a serious relationship, buying something thoughtful and nice for your significant other can bring them happiness, and ultimately bring you happiness, then why not? Obviously money shouldn’t be thrown left and right, but it’s okay to let loose once in awhile for your sake and for others as well.

14 Opinion

The Eagle

January 12th, 2016

Planned Parenthood Should Not Be Defunded

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BY MELODY YAN

t has been seven months since the controversy in July involving Planned Parenthood (PP), and the decision to defund the nonprofit is still in the air. There were heavily edited videos released by the Center for Medical Progress that showed a business conversation between Dr. Deborah Nucatola, the Senior Director of Medical Services for PP, and actors who were posed as buyers.

With different parts of the two hour conversation pieced together, the video makes it seem like Dr. Nucatola is talking about selling baby parts from aborted fetuses, but that is not the case. In actuality, she is talking about donated tissue, and nowhere in the video does she say that she is selling it. PP is reimbursed for the expenses of handling and transporting the tissue for medical research, and they do not gain

profit from it. But, in October, Cecile Richards, the President of PP, announced that they would no longer accept reimbursements for the costs of transporting donated fetal tissue. And while there were multiple state investigations--such as in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Florida--that proved that PP did not illegally sell fetal tissue, the organization is still under attack.

PP has been a controversial organization even before the videos were released, but the fact that it’s so close to being defunded by the federal government--which would threaten both men and women’s access to affordable healthcare--is something that we should all be concerned about.

Over the years, PP has been associated with abortion, and they have gotten backlash for it. Abortion is stigmatized as being morally wrong and unacceptable, which puts women into a position of helplessness and makes them feel ashamed if they do choose to have an abortion. I think that every person should have a choice, and that no person should be forced to go through with a pregnancy that was unintended. The first thing that needs to be done is for this stigma about abortion to be broken, and for people to be correctly educated about it. If the stigma is broken, then I honestly don’t think PP would be as controversial as it is to some people.

We have had many breakthroughs in the 21st century, but one thing that seems to be placed on the backburner of progression is women’s rights, especially their right to make decisions about their own body. And when it comes

to women’s health, the only people that should be making decisions for their bodies are the women themselves.

Abortion makes up only 3% of the services that PP provides. The majority are STD testing and treatment and contraception, as well as cancer screening and other women’s health services. If PP is defunded, then you’re looking at healthcare services being taken away from millions of men and women. They have provided over 5 million men, women, and adolescents with sexual and reproductive health care, and with 700 health clinics across the country, defunding the nonprofit would leave those who rely on their resources at a disadvantage.

But what PP provides is not just limited to healthcare-they have created a network for youth activists. Even though the purpose of going to school is to prepare us for the outside world, we are rarely

PP is some kind of gift to humanity, neglecting the fact that PP provides things like mammograms and cancer screenings is just really ignorant. Should your views be above the needs of other people?

I am a full believer in the freedom of speech, but there is a fine line between having an opinion and committing a hate crime--a line that many seem to pass. Everyone has the right to an opinion, but it’s not an opinion when “abortion is murder” is being spray painted on sidewalks near schools, or when women who are only looking for birth control or getting a pregnancy test are terrified to even walk into a clinic.

taught how to even live in it. Let’s be honest--teenagers are a mess. We don’t have our lives together, and most of us don’t know what we’re going to be doing after high school and probably even college. What we need is guidance and a helpful shove into the adult world, and, while school tries its best to prepare us for that, we need a lot more help than just a semester of college and health classes. PP’s Generation Action Network serves youth activists across the country who are committed to fight for issues they believe in-reproductive freedom and even civil issues like immigration to name a few. It connects students from different states to fight for what they believe in, and that is something that you would never be able to do in a classroom. Another thing they don’t tell you in school, you’re not going to have some rights, and you’re going to have to fight for them, and you’re going to need support for that. If Congress were to defund PP, the youth activists committed to changing the country would be at a loss without PP providing them the resources to do so.

But, I think this issue of defunding PP runs deeper than abortions or the viral videos they were accused of. The problem that certain lawmakers have with PP is the fact that it’s another organization that supports and helps women.

Those in the government often put their beliefs before the people--in this case, some like to argue that an unborn fetus should have more rights than an actual living being. There’s a quote by a Catholic Nun, Sister Joan Chittister, that sums up how hypocritical those beliefs can be. “I do not believe that just because you’re opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don’t? Because you don’t want any tax money to go there. That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth.”

When people are so wrapped up in something they think is right, they refuse to acknowledge anything else.

It’s too bad, because while some might think defunding

And I get it, abortion is touchy and has always been controversial. But it is unfortunate that so many people pin PP as just this organization whose sole purpose is to provide abortions, when it only makes up 3%. You can support this organization and not use their resources, because even if you may not need it, someone else might, and shouldn’t that be enough?

The Eagle Editors-in-Chief: Nicole Bergelson, Carolyn Hanson Lee, Joyce Ma Magazine Editors-in-Chief: Jhoselene Alvarado, Marie Baker, Katie Whitmire Website Editors-in-Chief: Annie Lei, Jennifer Yip Page Editors/Designers: Jhoselene Alvarado, Marie Baker, Annie Lei, Hanaki Sato, Katie Whitmire, Melody Yan Photographer: Mandy Yu Graphic Designer: Allison Wu Staff Writers: Anna Bernick, Maximillian Bormann, Dulce Fuentesleyva, Joel Ho, Kevin Li, Andrew Liu, Bitota Mpolo, Christopher Ramos, Jesse Matthews, Samantha Sacks, David Scolari, Deavon Smith, Tobias Sunshine, Benjamin Toledo, Kevin Truong, Winnie Zhang, Carmen Zhen, Jerrick Zhu Advisor: David Cary

January 12th, 2016

Sports 15

The Eagle

THE GOLDEN AGE OF GOLDEN STATE

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BY DAVID SCOLARI

ith the 7th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors selected Stephen Curry out of Davidson College. Two years later, Golden State drafted Klay Thompson with the 11th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Near the end of the 201112 season, to the dismay of many fans, the team made a trade that sent the former face of the team, Monta Ellis, to the Milwaukee Bucks in return for former number one overall pick Andrew Bogut. Then, with the 7th and 35th picks of the 2012 NBA draft, the Warriors selected Harrison Barnes out of North Carolina and Draymond Green out of Michigan State. And so went the birth of the starting five Curry, Thompson, Barnes, Green, and Bogut that would lead the Golden State Warriors to an NBA championship and the best start to a season in NBA history.

The Warriors finished the 2014-15 season having won 67 of their 82 regular season games, a franchise best. They then went on a successful playoff run that lead them to the NBA Finals, where they defeated Cleveland Cavaliers to win the team’s first NBA championship since 1975. This season, the Warriors have continued their winning ways, claiming 24 straight victories to start the season, the longest winning streak to start a season in NBA history. Over the past season and a half, the Warriors have undoubtedly been the most dominant team in the NBA, and this recent explosion of success has sparked the question: what is it that has made the Warriors so good the past few years?

For the answer to this question, there are a lot of places you could look. You could look to their deep pool of bench players, including Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, who are always ready to fill in when the starters are out with injuries or in need a rest. You could look to their head coaches: Steve Kerr, who brought the team’s play to a championship level last season, and Luke Walton, who has assumed the role of head coach in Kerr’s absence and has continued Golden State’s winning ways. You could even look to their Bay Area fan base, who always seem to rock Oracle arena to the ground. But for the best answer to this question, you don’t need to look much further than the starting five that I discussed earlier, so let’s take a deeper look into what has become one of the strongest core of players of any team in the NBA. Let’s begin with starting forward Draymond Green.

Sometimes called the “heartbeat of the team”, Green has emerged as one of Golden State’s leaders over the past few seasons. However, when his career began back in 2012, very few people predicted he’d have the kind of impact he’s had on the team during the their championship run and their start to the 2015-16 season. Before beginning his NBA career, Green played four years of NCAA college basketball for Michigan State, where he also earned a college degree. While it has become common for the best college basketball players to enter the NBA after playing just one year in college, Green, who

has been able to draw on the experience and maturity he gained in college to help him grow into the NBA star he is today, is a prime example of how valuable playing four years of college can be to a player’s development both on and off the court.

Next, we’ll go to starting center Andrew Bogut.

Since being drafted first overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2005, Andrew Bogut’s career has been riddled with injuries. In fact, when he first came to the Warriors in 2012, he was unable to play for several months because of a broken ankle. His story is one of battling through pain and willing himself through several setbacks that might have deterred a less determined player. Bogut is now one of the top defensive big men in the NBA and an excellent offensive facilitator.

Onto Klay Thompson. One thing that sticks out about Thompson, aside from his occasional tendency to drop 37 points in a quarter, is the way he demands perfection out of himself. In postgame interviews, even after Warrior wins and great personal performances, Thompson often mentions ways he and his team need to improve. Even with the team on top of the NBA, his ability to stay humble and always find ways to better his game has helped the Warriors stay hungry for more success.

Up next is Harrison Barnes. Listening to Barnes speak tells the whole story. In interviews and press conferences, Barnes comes off as one of the most eloquent, humble people in the NBA. His high quality character and hard work ethic paired with his ability to throw down a posterizing dunk makes him one of the team’s biggest assets.

Lastly, we’ll discuss the reigning Most Valuable Player, Stephen Curry. Coming out of college, Stephen Curry was projected to be one of the NBA’s best shooters, however, many analysts doubted that his size and athletic ability would ever allow him to be mentioned amongst the NBA’s elite. He also suffered a recurring ankle injury early in his career that plagued his 2011-12 season, only allowing him to appear in 26 of the team’s 82 games. Before his third year in the league, there was some uncertainty about whether the Warriors should sign Curry to a contract extension or not. After two seasons, one of which eclipsed by injuries, it wasn’t clear whether or not Curry had the potential to be an NBA great, but the Warriors took a chance, signing him to a $44 million contract extension. Golden State’s Gamble paid off. In the 2014-15 season, Curry established himself as one of the best scorers in league and lead the Warriors to a first place finish heading into the playoffs.

He was named the NBA’s most valuable player and the Warriors went on the win an NBA championship. Curry is undoubtedly the biggest factor in Golden State’s success. What makes him such as special player is not his arsenal of skills that won him the MVP last season, but his drive that enabled him to go from being a prospective rookie with questionable athletic ability to one of the most undefensible players in the NBA.

WARRIORS 2015-16 RECORD *

33-2 *As

of 01/07/16

KEY PPG - Points/game APG - Assists/game RBG - Rebounds/game FTM - Free throws made/game 3P% - 3 point shooting %

HOW ARE THEY RANKED ACROSS THE NBA? Ranked 1st in assists with 28.8/game Ranked 1st in PPG with 113.9/game Ranked 1st in 3P% - 42.2% Ranked 1st in shooting % -48.5% Ranked 4th with 54.5 RPG

STEPHEN CURRY #30

PPG: APG: RPG: FTM: 3P%:

29.7 6.3 5.5 5.5 .444

DRYAMOND GREEN #23

PPG: APG: RPG: FTM: 3P%:

15.0 7.5 9.5 2.8 .415

KLAY THOMPSON #11

PPG: APG: RPG: FTM: 3P%:

20.4 2.3 3.8 2.4 .432

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any high school students have preconceived notions of whether golf is a sport or not. However, for senior Allison Wu, golf is not only a sport; it’s a passion.

Wu was introduced to golf by her dad, who has been playing since the age of 35. “My dad knew how to golf and he always brought me along on his tournaments,” she says.

After getting third place at a tournament, Wu realized she had the potential to be very good and decided to continue playing.

“One of the reasons I like golf so much is [because] it’s something that me and my dad share, which has brought us closer,” Wu explains. While most young athletes have a professional player they consider their idol, Wu’s idol is her dad. “My dad plays in tournaments around the country, and his ability to succeed in the sport is very cool, and motivates me to do well.”

“Once [I] get the right swing, I honestly feel like I can conquer anything,” she says. She describes being able to hit the golf ball 200 yards away down the middle of the fairway as “the best feeling in the world.”

Wu became captain of the Washington Golf team when she was a sophomore. As captain, Wu helps pick the starters for each match, and leads the team while on the course.

Being a captain also means setting a good example for her teammates and representing the golf team well off the course. “I try to show up to practice everyday, keep good grades and stay out of trouble,” said Wu. Wu considers her teammates to be “fast learners,” and “positive players.”

“My teammate Keller encourages me to keep going no matter how I’m playing,” she says.

Since joining the golf team, Wu led Washington’s team to the 2014 City Championship, qualified for NorCal Individual State Championship, an end of the season tournament featuring the best players from each region of Northern California, and placed second in All City during her sophomore and junior year.

Winning the 2014 City Championship was a momentous time for Wu and the entire team because it was the first time in 14 years that Washington had won a championship. Going to NorCal was “very intimidating because there were so many girls who are from the suburbs and get private lessons all the time,” said Wu. When she isn’t playing for the Wash Golf team, Wu participates in individual tournaments on the weekends.

This means that during the season, Wu plays golf every

BY JESSE MATTHEWS

day. Her dedication to golf often means she doesn’t get to spend much time with her friends, and often skips social events for practice or a match.

In addition to being an excellent golfer, Wu also excels in the classroom. She currently takes three AP classes which is a challenge in of itself, but combining that with her crazy golf schedule makes the challenge grow exponentially. “Sometimes I have to skip practices because with three AP classes, school is so hectic and it’s hard to divide time and energy between school and golf.”

Aside from taking challenging classes, Wu is also the graphic designer for The Eagle, and The Eagle Eye, our school’s newspaper and magazine. Drawing one graphic from scratch often takes hours on end, and Wu has to do this for every publication in the class.

Similar to doing well in school, golf requires a tremendous amount of discipline and focus. Wu said that applying her skills from the classroom when playing golf gives her a lot of confidence in her abilities. “As a golfer I’m very persistent and optimistic, so, I don’t get too negative when things aren’t going well for me,” said Wu. She explained that golf is one of the hardest sports to play and making a lot of mistakes is something that happens to all golfers.

“Success in golf often hinges on how you handle and respond from making mistakes,” said Wu. Although golf is considered an individual sport, there is very much a team aspect to it. Having supportive teammates is crucial to success in any sport, especially to one as difficult as golf. “I think having your teammate next to you and playing with you really helps you keep a strong mentality to make sure you don’t let any mistake affect the rest of your round.”

“She’s such a natural golfer, and never ceases to amaze me with her golf skills. She’s never let anything get her down and I’ll never forget playing the last four years with her as a teammate,” said senior Keller Xiao.

Now that the season is over, Wu finds herself missing the close bond the team shared during the season. “I’ll definitely miss the feeling of nervousness and excitement I felt before playing our matches. We were able to rely on each other to play our best,” she says.

Although Wu has been a star golfer throughout high school, she doesn’t know if she’ll continue playing competitively while in college. “Playing in college would be very challenging because college itself is hard,” said Wu. However, this doesn’t mean that Wu will stop playing the sport all together. “I’ll definitely still play for fun, and still go play with my dad,” she concludes.

Athlete of the Issue: Allison Wu

January 12th, 2016

The Eagle Sports 16