Winged Post Volume 16, Issue 5 by Harker Aquila

Winged Post friday, March 13, 2015

THE HARKER UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER, VOL. 16, NO. 5

harkeraquila.com harkeraquila.com Multimedia WHAT’S INSIDE A3 AP STUDIO ART EXHIBIT A5 NOCHE CULTURAL A6 EDITORIAL A9 ST. PATTY’S DAY FASHION A12 GENTRIFICATION

500 SARATOGA AVE. SAN JOSE, CA 95129

coverage of tomorrow’s Holi at Harker fundraiser

Sadies dance tomorrow

INTEL SCIENCE TALENT SEARCH

FINDS HARKER SENIOR

maya jeyendran & jackie gao Aquila lifestyle editor & reporter

Senior takes top prize at national science competition

OPEN CAMPUS sahana srinivasan reporter

tara parimi

Aquila copy editor California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) held its biennial teacher in-service day on March 9 at the Head-Royce school in Oakland, California, with an approximate participation of 2,500 educators. CAIS teacher in-service day is a conference in which teachers from the private schools of Northern California converge to attend the approximately 240 lectures and workshops, and network with fellow educators. “It is a great day for the entire Harker faculty to show our collective commitment to professional growth,” Gargano said. As a result of the conference, administration added March 9 as a vacation day for the community. Faculty speakers included Upper School teachers Damon Halback, Evan Barth, Jane Keller, Katy Rees, Kelly Horan, Mark Janda, Monica Colletti, Meredith Cranston, Nicholas Manjoine, Ray Fowler, Ruth Meyer, Samuel Lepler, Scott Pflaumer, Smriti Koodanjeri, Susan Smith, Tim Case and Victor Adler. AP Economics teacher Lepler presented with fellow economics teacher Halback on teaching the more complex areas of economics. “The conference...was helpful for sharing teaching ideas, setting up interscholastic competitions and collaboration, and making friends,” Lepler said.

apoorva rangan & riya godbole editor in chief & lifestyle editor

hat have you done that illustrates scientific attitude, curiosity, inventiveness, initiative?” asks the 2015 Intel Science Talent Search (STS) application. “What benefits do you think your research will bring to the world?” Many 17-year-olds would struggle with those questions. For Andrew Jin, who took the nation’s top prize in high school science research at the Intel STS this year, the answer came easily, centered around figuring out how the human genome responds to stress. “In a sense, I time-traveled tens of thousands of years into the past to observe how our ancestors responded to selective pressures such as infectious disease and diet change,” Andrew said. “We face many of the same challenges today.” Andrew received the First Place Medal of Distinction for the Greater Good and $150,000 at a gala in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, the second Californian and first Harker student in the competition’s history to win the top prize. “There was such a shock factor and surprise,” Andrew said. “After all the 40 finalists walked on stage, they were calling third place, second place, and then they called my name.” He worked with Dr. Pardis Sabeti of the Broad Institute’s Sabeti Lab and Harvard postdoctoral student Joseph Vitti to develop a sophisticated machine-learning algorithm to identify evolutionarily significant variants in genes that may have been important for human survival.

Cont. on A3 D.C. ADVENTURES (Inset) President Obama meets with the Intel Science Talent Search finalists, including Andrew Jin (12), Rohith Kuditipudi (12), and Steven Wang (12), at the White House on Wednesday. (Above) Andrew Jin (12) celebrates his first place victory and $150,000 award at Tuesday’s gala celebration for the finalists. “There was such a shock factor and surprise,” Jin said of his reaction.

WILD WEST SADIES Students dance at the 2013 Wild Westthemed Sadies dance.

TEDx: Speaker series links notables and students kavya ramakrishnan & meena gudapati copy editor & reporter Harker’s annual TEDx event, a speaker series for high school and college students, will take place in Nichols Hall on March 21, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Speakers for this year’s event will include entrepreneur and author of “Secrets of Silicon Valley” Deborah Piscione, executive vice president of sales & marketing for Nintendo Cammie Dunaway, Nobel Laureate in Physics David Gross, student Samantha Madala (12) and Ajay Shah, founder of Technology Solutions Business of Solectron and Smart Modular Technologies. The event is run by a group of 11 students who curate the event and manage public relations and market-

AP STUDIO ART EXHIBITION, A3

ing, with support from Juston Glass, director of the Business and Entrepreneurship program, and Upper School club coordinator Eric Kallbrier. “We [the students] handle inviting all the speakers, the booths, talking to administration about it, PR, marketing, operations -- we handle almost everything,” Shannon Hong (11) said. General student tickets will be sold for $9.99 and VIP access tickets for $18.00. Attendees will receive a free T-shirt and Uber ride. “If you sign up for TEDx early, you actually will be saving money off of it,” Glass said. “It’s because of a special offering from a big sponsor.” This year, TEDx will again feature a mentor luncheon, with over 30 professionals across many fields. “I’m excited for the mentor luncheon,” Lucas Wang (10) said. By meeting with different mentors, I will be able to gain a better idea of what I

will pursue after college.” This year’s TEDx event will be serving breakfast at a mingling session from 8 to 8:45 a.m. and will include an activities session, where students can browse the various booths, play icebreakers and network. The booths will be manned by a variety of organizations, including Uber, the NAACP, Song Abbey, ACTON Rocketskates and Change.org. “It’s going to be bigger, better, and stronger than last year for sure,” Glass said. “We have a great team. This team, now in their senior year, was the original TEDx team, so it’s very exciting to see them in a culminating event for their high school experience.” Past speakers at the event have included Charles Huang, founder of Guitar Hero; Guy Kawasaki, former Chief Evangelist of Apple; and Jeff Jordan, former President and CEO of OpenTable.

VACCINATION OPINION, A7

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

CAIS CONFERENCE

OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BY PETE SOUZA

SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE AND THE PUBLIC

The Class of 2015 has earned its senior privileges, with open campus rules coming into effect on Monday. After returning a permission slip signed by their parents, seniors will be able to leave campus during free periods, lunch or extra help, even if they have academic classes later in the day. Before leaving campus, seniors must sign out at the attendance office and show their Open Campus Pass (Red ID) to the attendance office staff and the campus guard. After returning, seniors must sign in at the attendance office with the Red ID. Violations such as a senior taking a non-senior off campus or leaving school instead of attending an academic class will result in having open campus privileges revoked and disciplinary action. Dean of Students Kevin Williamson commented on why the seniors earned the privilege. “They’ve done a good job this year representing their class and mentoring the younger students of the school, so they are entitled to having their privileges,” Williamson said.

Junior Classical League ( JCL) and Key Club will host the annual Sadie Hawkins dance with a superhero theme in the gym from 8-11 p.m. tomorrow. “We wanted [a theme that would be] tangible and recognizable by everyone who attended,” JCL Officer Elisabeth Siegel (11) said. Every year, JCL chooses a club to host Sadies with, partnering up with Key Club this year to prepare for the event. Event planning began in January, and this year’s event will feature a photo booth for the first time, sponsored by Multimedia Club. “We’re hoping for a larger turnout this year,” Key Club President Madison Tomihiro (11) said. “We’re providing pizza and a candy bar, so hopefully that will get more people to come.” This annual event is named after a cartoon character Sadie Hawkins, created by cartoonist Al Capp. In the comic strip published on Nov. 15, 1937, Sadie Hawkins Day involved unmarried women chasing bachelors. The first Sadie Hawkins dance took place on Nov. 9, 1938. The fact that Sadies presents a standalone opportunity for females to ask males to a dance has caused controversy among students. Some students believe that it emphasizes gender roles in society with the untraditional event. “To allocate a dance for the girls to ask [boys] indirectly discriminates,” Jin Kim (9) said. Others welcome the reversal of traditional gender roles. “It gives the guys a break for once. It’s nice to have a little bit of variation,” freshman Mitchell Kole said. Key Club and JCL sold tickets during lunch throughout the week, but they can also be purchased at the door for $15 for one and $30 for two.

KAVYA RAMAKRISHNAN - WINGED POST

the

NO PODIUM TedX members Jeton Gutierrez-Bujari (12) and Shannon Hong (11) introduce last year’s speaker series. This year’s speakers include Nobel laureate David Gross and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.

SILICON VALLEY GENTRIFICATION, A12

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 13, 2015

NEWS

Student researchers present at Synopsys Upper School projects featured range from magnetism to mind-controlled recognition STEM editor & Aquila multmedia editor Showcasing their months of hard work, students will present their findings at the Santa Clara Science and Engineering Fair (Synopsys) on March 11. From investigating magnetic fields on plant growth to creating a mind-controlled letter recognition system, Upper School students will spend the day at the fair introducing their work to judges and the public. The event is the culmination of months of research.

Arjun Subramanian (10) conducted a project to determine what letter of the alphabet test subjects were thinking of using electrodes to measure brain activity. “It’s mostly for the purpose of helping patients with lockedin syndrome, [or] full paralysis. They’re not able to communicate properly,” Arjun said. At the time of publication, his results indicated a 70 to 75 percent accuracy in mapping letters to brain electroencephalograph (EEG) patterns. The competitors include both seasoned veterans and new

participants in the Upper School research program. Freshmen Nastya Grebin and Anoosheree Sengupta conducted a machine learning project to identify malignant genes. “It is very hard to navigate publicly available databases. The project taught us to collect data much more efficiently,” Nastya said. She reports spending six to seven months on the project from start to finish. Her research partner Anoosheree added that the project taught her algorithm-writing skills.

The Synopsys science fair allows middle school and high school students to conduct investigative science projects in fields ranging from neurobiology to engineering. The event will also feature projects submitted for the Siemens and Intel competitions. Jonathan Ma (11) will present a project that he initially used to become a Siemens Talent search semifinalist. “It’s taught me that the research process is becoming more accessible to youngsters,” Jonathan said. The awards ceremony will take place on March 29.

VIVEK BHARADWAJ - WINGED POST

vivek bharadwaj & kaity gee

FAST FACTS Grand prize winners will attend the International Intel Science Talent Search fair.

VIVEK BHARADWAJ - WINGED POST

More than 50 companies will present individual awards to participants at the fair.

MEET & TEACH Michael Sikand (9) talks with his math teacher Jeanette Fernandez. Fernandez looks forward to meeting him and his parents during the second round of parent-teacher conferences.

New parent-teacher conferences added in March justin su reporter

A second round of parent-teacher conferences is scheduled to take place at the Upper School on March 26. This is the first year that there are two instead of one parent-teacher conferences, as there were requests to have another conference by parents. “Parents asked for more one-onone time with teachers,” Upper School Dean of Students Kevin Williamson said. “I think it’s great that we are set-

ting aside time to say that this is important enough that we are going to take away time from the school day.” Sophomore Kailee Gifford likes the idea of having another parent teacher conference. “I think it’s a great opportunity now that my teachers know me better,” Kailee said. “They can provide better advice to my parents on how to help me continue to do well at school.” During this round of conferences, students will be allowed to attend, but some may choose not to.

“I don’t think I will be attending because I feel like [teachers] will be less inclined to talk about the real matters like how I’m actually doing,” Anthony Luo (11) said. “If I’m there, they’ll probably sugarcoat it a bit and that’s not what I want.” With many parents and teachers looking forward to this meeting, parents should prepare to start signing up for time slots with their student’s teachers.

of students report that their parent or guardian plans on attending the conferences.

17.7 percent

of students plan to attend the parent-teacher conferences. Out of 150 responses in a Winged Post survey

On a scale of 1 to 5, how useful are parent-teacher conferences? 40% 30% 20% 10%

vijay bharadwaj reporter

The Afiara String Quartet will perform with the Upper School’s string quartet today at 8 p.m. in Nichols Hall. The performance marks the third in Harker’s concert series, following The Taylor Eigsti Trio and Frank Almond with the famous 1715 Lipinski Stradivarius. The Afiara quartet currently resides at the Royal Conservatory of Toronto. They are a well-known quartet that has won the Young Canadian Musician’s Award, Concert Artist Guild, Munich ARD and Banff International String Quartet competitions. They have performed all over the country, including Harker. “I’ve known them really well since 2008 when they came to do a

PARTI(TA) ON The Aﬁara Quartet is currently in residency at Toronto, Canada. They will perform at the Upper School on March 13.

master class at San Jose State University,” Florio said. “They came out here in their 2012 season, so this is actually their third trip to Harker.” This concert is the first collaborative performance between Harker and Afiara. Together, they will play the first movement of the Mendelssohn Octet Op. 20. Afiara will perform Haydn String Quartet Op. 50 No. 2 and Mendelssohn String Quartet Op. 13.

Racist incidents reported in Oklahoma, Ferguson elisabeth siegel & kavya ramakrishnan news editor & copy editor

SURVEY RESULTS

74.3 percent

Aﬁara String Quartet to perform at the Upper School

PROVIDED BY AFIARA QUARTET

JUSTIN SU - WINGED POST

MAD SCIENCE (TOP RIGHT) Huge coils of wire surround plants in the Open Lab as part of Trisha Dwivedi (10) and Kshithija Mulam’s (10) experiment to determine the effect of electromagnetic ﬁelds on plants. (LEFT) Arjun Subramanian (10) works to identify what letter of the alphabet volunteer Matthew Huang (12) is thinking about using electrodes attached to his head beneath the swim cap. At the time of writing, Arjun stated that his machine learning algorithm had achieved 75 percent accuracy in ﬁnding out which letter subjects were concentrating on. (RIGHT) Neymika Jain (10) peers at C. Elegans nematodes through a microscope as part of her Synopsys research.

The University of Oklahoma expelled two students Tuesday morning for apparently leading a racist chant on a bus full of fraternity men two days after a video of the act surfaced. The nine-second clip showed men from the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity wearing tuxedos on a bus, pumping their fists and chanting to a pounded beat. The University of Oklahoma SAE chapter was closed Sunday and university president David Boren promised that the school’s attachment with the fraternity was over. Hundreds of students have protested the fraternity’s actions, arriving

on campus Monday morning with tape over their mouths, while the university football team and Coach Bob Stoops walked through campus arm in arm instead of practicing. One of the two students expelled, Parker Rice, issued an apology acknowledging that though “the song was taught to us [SAE], [...] that doesn’t work as an explanation.” The University of Oklahoma incident is one of many recent occurrences that coincide approximately with the 50th anniversary of Selma’s infamous Bloody Sunday. A U.S. Department of Justice report mentioned that nearly every branch of Ferguson, Missouri government had specifically targeted African-American residents for tickets and fines.

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 NEWS • MARCH 13, 2015

ashi gautam

SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE AND THE PUBLIC

HEART OF ARTNESS (TOP) Shannon Richardson (11) was inspired by the movement waves to make sculptures displayed in Nichols. (MIDDLE) Doreene Kang’s (11) drawing portfolio portrayed the human anatomy in different scenarios. (LOWER MIDDLE) Rachel Wu (12) explored the connection between humans and data in her portfolio. (BOTTOM) Artists, students, faculty and family celebrated the exhibition with cake and refreshments.

show date is invaluable to their process.” In the process of creating their AP Studio Art students presentportfolios, AP Studio Art students ed their portfolios in the AP Studio first have to think of a comprehensive Art Exhibition on Feb. 26. theme that their portfolio will repreIn the AP Studio Art course, sent. Then, these students begin to fostudents can focus on 2D Design, 3D cus on one aspect of their three portDesign, or Drawing. Their portfolios folios to complete and include works focused on use different materials breadth, concentration, and to create their artworks. quality. Seeing [the “I am exploring The exhibition featured pieces] on the relationship beeach student’s concentratween humans and anition portfolio and included the wall, mals,” Kelly Wang (12), a range of pieces including thinking who used digital media sculptures and drawings. 12 to make most of her art works are required for the about pieces, said. 2D and Drawing portfolios sequencing While there were and 12 digital images for the 12 APSA students last Digital section. Sculptors and titles, year, 23 students signed turn in 8 works due to the and writing up for the AP Studio increased time put into creArt class this year and ating sculptures. statements three teachers are teachAlthough the students with a ing the course this year. presented half of their conUnlike in past years, the centration portfolios in the definitive advertising poster for exhibition, their final portshow date is the exhibition was crefolios will include up to 25 ated by an Upper school works of art depending on invaluable to student, Ramzi Jashan which art topic the students [the artists’] (12). Jaap Bongers, the choose. 3D Design teacher, no“It is very important process. ticed a change in this for an AP student to study year’s exhibition. how their work serves as the JOSHUA “One huge differvisible edge of their underMARTINEZ ence is that last year we lying concept that links the had one sculptor and works,” Joshua Martinez, this year we have six,” one of the APSA teachers, Bongers said. “In a way said. “Seeing them on the wall, thinkfor the students it is easier because ing about sequencing and titles, and when you do AP Studio Art 3D, you writing statements with a definitive

TALK SCIENCE TO ME Andrew Jin (12) presents his project on computational genetics. Jin developed a method to determine areas of recent genetic adaptation using public genome sequences.

Cont’d

First place Intel STS

“I call Andrew a wunderkind, one of the young, amazing, brilliant students that get you excited about science,” said Dr. Sabeti, with whom Andrew conducted his research in computational genetics. “What he accomplished in 6 weeks in the lab rivaled what a graduate student or post-doctorate could do, let alone anyone that young. He’s a natural scientist.” His tests are more effective than current computational genetics methods, not just targeting single diseases but attempting to understand the way that disease affects humans. “One of the biggest challenges in interpreting the thousands of human genome sequences in public databases today is how to convert this data into actionable knowledge,” said Dr. Claire Fraser, STS judge and Director at Institute for Genome Sciences at University of Maryland School of Medicine. “Andrew Jin’s new algorithm moves us a significant step closer to this goal.” Harker sent three finalists; Andrew, Rohith Kuditipudi (12), and Steven Wang (12); to the national finals in Washington D.C, comprising 7.5 percent of all the finalists nationally. While there, judges interviewed the three over multiple days. “The judges purposely ask you these really open-ended questions,

not just about your research area but about any topic at all,” Andrew said. “But sitting in the hallways and talking to the other researchers about why certain natural phenomena are the way they are was definitely my favorite part of the trip.” Andrew, the co-president of Harker’s Research Club, began his journey with Harker research at a young age. “When Andrew was starting his research he actually went to the Research Symposium when he was in 8th grade and learned from the seniors,” said Andrew’s father Shu Jin. “He basically followed their footsteps. We’re very grateful to the community.” Harker’s science department and research programs aim to facilitate students’ research experience by providing feedback on projects and presentations. “I think there’s been a lot of help fine-tuning what he’s done,” Upper School biology teacher Mike Pistacchi said, who reviewed Andrew’s paper before it was submitted. “But that being said, I think that due credit needs to go to him for all of his hard work--he earned this.” And what’s he doing to celebrate? This weekend, he’ll be canoeing and camping with his Boy Scout troop.

learn from each other.” Shannon Richardson (11) was inspired by the movement and power of a wave to create 3D designs of waves in her portfolio. Her concentration at the exhibition included a hanging wave made with square shapes. “I thought about waves because I had been in a surfing accident in the summer,” Shannon said. “In my life, things go up and down and I thought waves would be perfect because I like the way they look and they have a lot of power behind them.” Many Upper School students attended the exhibition during long lunch to view the portfolios. Refreshments such as lemonade and cake were also offered at the exhibition. “I thought the exhibition was inspiring and I really enjoyed the subject topics,” Natasha Santhanam (11) said. “The art pieces are things you don’t normally see everyday.” When asked about what he would want to change about the exhibition for next year, Martinez expressed his desire to allow the students to have a bigger role in the planning process. “Specifically, I am interested in the students having as much ownership of the exhibition as possible,” Martinez said. “I am planning on removing myself from some parts of the process next year to give control to the artists.” The AP Studio Art students will submit their completed portfolios to the CollegeBoard on May 8.

CONCENTRATIONS Jai Ahuja (12) observes a piece created by drawing student Sophia Luo (11) at the AP Studio Art exhibit. The exhibit featured 23 students’ work.

Student performs at regional Shakespeare competition priscilla pan features editor

Maxwell (MC) Smitherman (11) performed his own interpretation of Shakespeare’s Berowne’s monologue and Sonnet 65 at the Regional Shakespeare Competition in Archbishop Riordan High School last Saturday. After a round of school-wide competition between 12 performers, MC was chosen to represent the Upper School’s first participation at the regional competition. He auditioned with the same Berowne’s monologue from “Love’s Labor’s Lost” that he performed at the actual competition. While he did not place in the regional competition, MC said that he was able to learn from other performers while he was there. T h e Shakespeare competition brought together a dozen students who auditioned for the regional match. “It was great to see [the students] step up on their own time and create a mini piece of theater and to use their body, their voice, their heart, and their minds MAXWELL so fully,” PerSMITHERMAN (11) forming Arts teacher Jeffrey Draper said. MC regularly practiced his monologue and sonnet with Draper during his Shakespeare in Performance Class and extra help sessions. “What’s great is that what he’s working on applies directly to the [Shakespeare in Performance Class], so the class gets to work with him together as he prepares,” Draper said. While MC has previously per-

I want to learn as much from the other people who have gotten into this as I can. I want to figure out how I can become better from it.

PRISCILLA PAN - WINGED POST

ASHI GAUTAM - WINGED POST

Aquila social media editor

ELISABETH SIEGEL - WINGED POST

AP Studio Art Exhibit

Exhibit features more student artists than ever in variety of styles, disciplines

MC’S LABORS WON MC Smitherman (11) practices his monologue with his Shakespeare in Performance teacher, Jeffrey Draper. MC performed a monologue and sonnet the Regional Shakespeare Competition in Archbishop Riordan High School last Saturday.

formed in several plays, this was his first time performing solo. “It’s more personal [and] individual[ly] focused on how I can put myself into these single positions in a play rather than a whole play,” MC said. “I prefer shows because I like interactions with other people on stage and the chemistry between two characters as opposed to something where it’s just me talking.” Students from the region, all who have passed through school wide competitions, gather together to witness unique approaches to performing as well as a “celebration of Shakespeare,” according to Draper. “I don’t enjoy having artists compete; it’s an interesting choice,” Draper said. “But, I like the idea of a bunch of artists getting together and watching each other play.” Before the competition, MC mentioned his main objective was to see his

fellow actors’ interpretations of Shakespeare. “Hopefully, I get to interact with everyone else that’s there, and I can watch their performances,” MC said. “I want to learn as much from the other people who have gotten into this as I can. I want to figure out how I can become better from it.” Charles Shuttleworth initially brought the competition to the Upper School this year after participating in its judging in his former New York school. “I really enjoy the competition,” Shuttleworth said. “It improves students’ understanding and appreciation for Shakespeare. Between their talent and their drive, I thought they were likely to do well. I think the momentum will build [in the years to come].” Shuttleworth hopes to make the Shakespeare competition into an annual competition in the future.

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 13, 2015

Spanish National Honor Society hosts seventh annual Spanish Cultural Night Aquila features editor & photo editor

Spanish National Honor Society (SNHS) hosted the seventh annual Spanish Cultural Night, La Noche Cultural, on Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. in the Saratoga Gym. Donning sombreros and surrounded by brightly colored posters and flags, students and faculty alike enjoyed Spanish performances, dancing and food throughout the evening. “I think [La Noche Cultural] taps into [students’] own passion for the culture,” Spanish teacher and SNHS advisor Abel Olivas said. “Bringing them all together and watching all of the performances [...] just plugs us all into the community and the culture, and it’s really good for everybody.” Students helped cook traditional Spanish food, including the Valencian regional rice dish paella, while watching other attendees perform on stage. Some of the acts included Vedant Thyagaraj (12) and Nathan Dalal (12) singing a duet, Sahana Narayanan (11) singing a solo and Sandip Nirmel (10) performing a small skit with puppets. Other acts ranged from dancing to reciting poetry, and Spanish NHS president Sachin Peddada (12) introduced each act between performances. Upper School math teacher Jeanette Fernandez and her son Jacob continued their annual tradition of performing a traditional dance together. The night’s performances concluded with a 10-person instrumental ensemble.

“I think [the performances] just help us to bond as a community of people who love speaking Spanish and who really enjoy the culture, immersing us all in the arts and poetry and dancing a bit is a really collective experience of joy and bonding,” Sahana said. After the performances, students and faculty moved to the back of the gym for a salsa competition. Spanish teachers Olivas and Diana Moss taught students how to salsa dance in pairs before the competition began with Spanish teachers acting as judges. As the competition proceeded, students were eliminated from the competition and left the dance floor to watch from the sidelines. When the pairs of Andrew Jin (12) and

Matthew Huang (12), and Kailee Gifford (10) and Mahlet Demissachew (10) were the only four students left on the dance floor, the winners of the competition were judged by applause. Andrew and Matthew won the competition with Kailee and Mahlet in second place. Following the dance competition, students mingled in the gym briefly before assisting teachers in cleaning up the tables and stacking chairs, bringing a close to the night. “By creating a medium in which students can appreciate the culture of Latin America and Spain better, Spanish Cultural Night is usually always successful in exposing us to the rest of the world for a single night,” Rahul Jayaraman (12) said. KJ MULAM - WINGED POST

ria gandhi & kshithija mulam

SALSA SLAM Aaron Huang (12) and Nathan Dalal (12) dance in the salsa competition. Students enjoyed musical performances, ethnic food, and group activities to celebrate the seventh annual Spanish Cultural Night.

THE WHITE HOUSE

GLOBAL

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 13, 2015

TALKING HEADS President Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in October of 2014 to discuss Iran’s nuclear program.

U.S. and Iran approach nuclear deal for reduction in sanctions shay lari-hosain design editor

As the March 24 deadline inches closer, the coalition of Western states and Iran continues to negotiate a deal that would constrain Tehran’s nuclear program. The P5+1 (U.N. Security Council members and Germany) wants limits on Iran’s centrifuges, the elimination of its fuel and the permission to conduct routine inspections — in return for an attenuation of sanctions. Tehran would like to see sanctions lifted, affirming it does not seek nuclear energy for military purposes. “They must reach an agreement with Iran within the framework of logic and international law,” President Hassan Rouhani of Iran said at a March 4 cabinet meeting, according to a government transcript. “Or else they will continue with sanctions, in which scenario they will witness the progress of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.” Dr. Matthew Bunn shared his insights on the deal in a phone interview with the Winged Post. Bunn served for three years as an adviser to the Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he played a major role in U. S. policies related to the disposition of nuclear weapons materials in the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. For President Clinton, he directed a clandestine report on security for Russian nuclear materials. “Netanyahu is exactly wrong,” he said. “There would be technical constraints that would make it difficult for Iran to race to the bomb; it would be noticed and facilities would be bombed

before they would get there.” He is referring to Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu’s blowhard campaign for the West to drop negotiations. Israel seeks an indefinite moratorium on Tehran’s construction of nuclear infrastructure, predicting that Iran would capitulate with tightened sanctions. Dr. Bunn explained why Israel’s proposition would fail, noting that if a deal was clinched, the Iranian government would not surrender benefits solely for a bomb. “Politically, [the deal] would create benefits to powerful players within Iran [who] would not want to cut [those] off,” he said. “I think as a result of Netanyahu’s visit, Obama probably has a better chance of sustain[ing] a veto [of further sanctions that would scupper the deal].” Even CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, not often a vehement critic of U.S. government policy, declared that Netanyahu had “entered never-never land” after the prime minister spoke on March 3 before a joint session of Congress — a rare, provocative gesture by any foreign leader. Netanyahu ventured to galvanize Republicans against the deal. On March 5, Secretary of State John Kerry stopped in Riyadh to reassure Saudi officials that their interests will be protected in the face of a deal with Shia Iran. Sunni leaders worry that loosened sanctions will enable Iran to supply aid to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria in the conflict against IS, and to Hizbollah. According to the State Department, negotiations will resume on March 15 in Geneva after an interim.

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 13, 2015

Editors-in-Chief Apoorva Rangan & Sheridan Tobin Managing Editor Kacey Fang Copy Editor Kavya Ramakrishnan Design Editor Shay Lari-Hosain News Editor Elisabeth Siegel Opinion Editor Meilan Steimle Features Editor Priscilla Pan Lifestyle Editor Riya Godbole Global Editor Anokhi Saklecha Sports Editor Roshni Pankhaniya STEM Editor Vivek Bharadwaj Business Manager Trisha Dwivedi Photo Editor KJ Mulam Wingspan Editor-in-Chief Sindhu Ravuri Wingspan Assistant Editor-in-Chief Shay Lari-Hosain Aquila Editor-in-Chiefs Alyssa Amick & Vasudha Rengarajan Adviser Ellen Austin, MJE Aquila Contributors Megy Appalaraju Maya Jeyendran Sharanya Balaji Raveena Kapatkar Tiara Bhatacharya Vineet Kosaraju Ria Gandhi Tara Parimi Ashi Gautam Shannon Su Kaity Gee Vedant Thyagaraj Vivian Isenberg Reporters Sanjana Avula Melina Nakos Neil Bai Alix Robinson-Guy Praveen Batra Lauren Russell Vijay Bharadwaj Jenna Sadhu Adrian Chu Sahana Srinivasan Jackie Gao Justin Su Meena Gudapati Aditya Varshney Kaitlin Hsu Derek Yen Ashley Jiang Emma Yu Maya Kumar Stanley Zhao

The dark side of Silicon Valley:

OPINION

Casual bigotry:

Ge ing past the bystander eﬀect

Understanding our privilege EDITORIAL THE OFFICIAL OPINION OF THE WINGED POST Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Growing up in Silicon Valley, we’ve become accustomed to its nationwide halo of publicity. Silicon Valley is a center of innovation. Silicon Valley is the fastest growing area in the world. There is no poverty in Silicon Valley. And why would anyone, including ourselves, think otherwise? We grow up watching bright young minds make millions right after college. Startups bloom and grow in our backyards, and Google and Apple hum along a few streets down. Silicon Valley is a new land of opportunity, unchecked growth without consequence, right? But like in physics, Silicon Valley’s newfound wealth has an equal and opposite downside. With rapid growth, real estate prices soar and residents not involved in the software industry must leave. For every bright, young engineer moving to Silicon Valley from the East coast, someone loses their home, or has

to consider moving to a less expensive area. In history, we learn about displacement, about the Dust Bowl and Western Expansion as the population grows. We learn about Native Americans pushed out their lands by new settlers. Like it or not, Silicon Valley’s gentrification is a very similar process. There are no wars, no purges, but the end result is the same: people have to leave their homes. We are the lucky ones, the greatest beneficiaries

We are the lucky ones, the greatest beneﬁciaries of Silicon Valley’s chages. We are a generation that will grow up surrounded by wealth.

of Silicon Valley’s changes. We are a generation that will grow up surrounded by wealth and will reap the rewards of the country’s fastest growing job market. We are no more responsible for the changing face of Silicon Valley than those who must leave, but we are responsible to understand how lucky we are.

APOORVA APPROVED apoorva rangan editor in chief

For me, being an ally of sexual minorities comes without question. Someone’s sexual orientation doesn’t really come into the picture when I talk to my friends, or change my respect for the person. And thus I don’t see why institutions attempt to curtail or control what, in my experience, isn’t even conversationally relevant on a dayto-day basis. GSA week gave me and other allies the the chance to bring that alliance into our conversations, to wear our hearts on our sticker-covered sleeves. But it also brought to the surface one of my acquaintance’s discomfort with LGBT advocacy. The individual whispered after school meeting — “why do we have to have so many assemblies on gay rights? It’s not something that we should be talking about at school,” a comment which took me aback. The approach to bigotry is clear-cut in theory. Address the individual, attempt to offer some sort of educational reproach, stand up for your beliefs. If all else fails, cut off the relationship. But this was a strange, new breed of casual bigotry for me. It wasn’t the politicized, loud, extremist views I was familiar with from television, the Westboro Baptist Church members who were so easy to shut down from a point of empathy. It was the same views packaged in a well-read, cosmopolitan friend, someone who’s shared the same privileges of education and exposure to Stonewall and DOMA in history classes. And maybe because I’ve been privileged enough to support

LGBTQ rights internally, or maybe because I saw the cumulative fond memories of our friendship flash before my eyes, I didn’t respond immediately. The comment languished in the air. I’ve thought about that moment a lot. I’m satisfied that we’re intolerant of bigotry as a community to the point where the person’s words had to be said in hushed tones. And I also respect that I’m not expected to agree with everyone’s approach to our shared humanity, that free speech doesn’t ensure friendly speech. However, vocal microaggressions can’t exist unquestioned. Is it my place to voice my concerns? I say yes. Because who’s to guarantee that anyone else will? The recent expulsion of at the University of Oklahoma for leading racist chants and the university president’s vocal denouncement of racism on campus (see page A3) were refreshingly strong institutional stances against the misuse of free speech in educational settings. Especially on campuses where we’re surrounded by many people who are ideologically liberal in theory, it’s easy to let the “bystander effect” reduce our motivations to speak up as individuals. If you’re self-conscious about confronting microaggressions or overt bigotry (or dealing with your own), here’s some of the favorite things I’ve read about the subject to pass along to the person you’re addressing, from one of Tim Urban’s posts on WaitbutWhy.com. “Think big,” Urban says. “Go read about the universe. Nothing makes bigotry seem more ridiculous than internalizing for a minute how vast time and space are— doing so makes you want to turn to anyone who will listen and hug them and say, “We both exist! On the same tiny planet at the same exact time! Hi!””

Visit The Winged Post Online at www.harkeraquila.com Follow us on social media with the handle /harkeraquila

The Winged Post is published every four to six weeks except during vacations by the Journalism and Advanced Journalism Newspaper Concentration courses of Harker Upper School, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129. The Winged Post staff will publish features, editorials, news, and sports in an unbiased and professional manner and serve as a public forum for the students of The Harker School. Editorials are the official opinions of The Winged Post. Opinions and letters are the personal viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Winged Post. All content decisions are made by student editors, and the content of The Winged Post in no way reflects the official policy of The Harker School. The opinions expressed in this publication reflect those of the student writers and not the Harker board, administration, faculty, or advisor. Advertisements are accepted in the Post. However, The Winged Post reserves the right to deny any ad. Letters to the Editor may be submitted to Manzanita 70 or emailed to wingedpost@harker.org and must be signed, legible, and concise. The staff reserves the right to edit letters to conform to Post style. Baseless accusations, insults, libelous statements, obscenities, and letters which call for a disruption of the school day will not be considered for publication. Letters sent to the Post will be published at the discretion of the editorial staff. Mast eagle courtesy of photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen. The Winged Post is the official student newspaper, and it is distributed free of cost to students. 2012-2013 Silver Crown-winning publication 2010-2011 Gold Crown-winning publication 2009-2010 Silver Crown-winning publication 2007-2008 Pacemaker Award-winning publication 2010-2011 Silver Crown-winning www.talonwp.com 2009-2010 Gold Crown-winning www.talonwp.com

Second Semester: Stopping to smell the roses

Straight Talk sheridan tobin

editor in chief The bleachers rattled, the gym echoed, and colorful poster boards waved through the air. The electric atmosphere became a backdrop for one of the most memorable nights of high school, and it all happened on a Tuesday night. The day of the week may seem trivial, but after spending almost all of our weeknights for

the last three and a half years finishing homework assignments or cramming for the next day’s exams, being a part of senior nights, and other quintessential high school moments, suddenly outweighed losing a couple hours of work time. And it was a direct result of second semester seniorhood. As a class we’ve notoriously flooded ourselves with academic competition, both in and out of the classroom. But over the course of the last couple of months, we’ve finally taken the time to step back and enjoy the moments of high school we’ll actually remember. Easily the most rewarding part of finally being a second semester is not the (theoretical) decrease in workload and academic pressure,

but the result of those changes. As we’re checking out of classes, we’re checking into each others’ lives. We’re spending our time after school attending games and performances and just enjoying each other’s company. Some people are making up for lost time, while others are just savoring last chances, but regardless of motive, we, more than ever, are supporting one another, engaging outside of the classroom, and solidifying relationships we could maintain for years after graduation. On top of that, we’re coming together to do so. The walls between friend groups are coming down and we’re moving away from being just parts of a whole toward becoming an actual col-

lective whole. We’re finally experiencing the class bond that we’ve admired in so many graduating classes before us. Realistically, May 23 will be the last time we’re all together as a class. Sure, we’ll keep in touch with close friends but there will certainly be people we never see again. We’ll more than likely never get the same vibe we have when we’re all in the auditorium laughing about our fifth grade show or in shah hanging out before class. This may all be just side effects of subconsciously donning our rose-colored goggles, but with 70 days till graduation reveling in nostalgia is definitely justified. We should be taking advantage of all the last moments we have to enjoy being high school students.

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 OPINION • MARCH 13, 2015

WIK

IME

The case for universal vaccination In 2000, the United States removed measles from the endemic disease pool category. Because so many people were immune to it due to vaccinations, measles did not infect enough people to continue to circulate through the American population. In other words, as long as newborns kept receiving vaccines, measles was fated to disappear, and join the grave of smallpox. Other diseases experienced declines as well. The ever-present fear of illness and ultimately death that had terrorized human society appeared ready to become a concern of the past. But there was a problem. As of around 2003, rumors against vaccination began circulating, such as that vaccines caused autism and a slew of other afflictions; that deadly quantities of mercury and other “toxins” hid in vaccines; that vaccines were an artificial construct, and natural exposures could better train a stronger immune system; and that vaccines are unnecessary since their target diseases had become the stuff of legend. These concerns were brought to fruition when celebrities such as former Playboy model Jenny McCarthy publicly denounced vaccines as the cause of her son’s autism. Enough families gave credence to these thoughts that, over the past ~11 years, vaccination rates have decreased noticeably. These parents who choose not to immunize their children are known colloquially as the Anti-Vaccine Movement. The ramifications of the movement are evident and impactful. Previously dormant lethal diseases have resurged. During the Spring of 2014, California experienced an outbreak of pertussis (whooping cough), which as of last June had 3,458 reported cases. Additionally, at least 50 vacationers

at Disneyland have contracted measles in the past two months. This hasn’t come without a body count: between June 3, 2007 and Feb. 7, 2015, the CDC has attributed at least 8,961 deaths to vaccine-preventable diseases and at least 146,046 illnesses. Some anti-vaccine parents have decided to take their child’s inevitable contraction of measles not as a time for grievance, but celebration. They invite their friends to a “pox party”, where partygoers’ children can mingle with the diseased child in the hopes of contracting the illness. The logic behind it is pretty sound. The point of a vaccine is to expose the child to the disease and thus build an immunity: Since you can’t have a vaccine, why not go the natural way, and get bona fide immunity? In a similar vein, parents have organized communities on social networking sites where you can purchase lollipops covered in saliva for your child to lick. While I myself have not been able to find a vendor (they’re exactly like drugs: they are illegal to distribute and don’t seem obtainable unless you’re in the know) there are anecdotal accounts from once-anti-vaccine parents regarding their existence. In all seriousness, these measles parties can and do lead to pediatric deaths. In addition, the imprecision of pox parties leads to children contacting more diseases and deadlier diseases, than intended, such as hepatitis A. The combination of multiple diseases simultaneously can overwhelm anyone’s immune system, especially children’s, far more than any natural conditions: or a vaccine: might render. While such parties were fashionable during the 19th century, when vaccines were scarce and

derek yen reporter

there was an equitable risk of death from not going to a pox party, there is no reason to today choose a party over a vaccine. The risk of death from vaccines is infinitesimal compared to that of death by pox party. The CDC reports that about 0.00033% of MMR vaccinations result in febrile seizures, and less than 0.0000001% result in allergic reactions that can lead to brain damage. In other words, you are more likely to be struck by lightning (National Geographic reports a 1 in 3,000 chance to be struck in your lifetime, and 70% of strikes lead to

The worst part of all is that unvaccinated children are powerless to prevent the spread of the disease. permanent damage- or 0.000233%) than to receive complications from the MMR vaccine. The worst part of this all is that unvaccinated children are powerless to prevent the spread of disease. While children can be educated not to bully, it is their parents who choose whether or not to vaccinate. If a child infects their friends, it is a preventable tragedy: but not one preventable by the child themself. There are many children who cannot receive vaccines for whatever reason, be it cancer, allergies or else. These children and their families are forced to live in constant fear that they may catch a preventable disease, and be unable to defend themselves. However, if enough people vaccinate, the entire population will develop herd immunity: the state where enough

people are immune that the disease cannot find enough carriers to spread. This way, we are able to give the benefits of vaccination to those medically unable to vaccinate. But herd immunity is a delicate equilibrium, and as it stands currently, there are not enough immunized to create the effect. The most practical solution is to mandate vaccination. This is obviously not an original idea. Many have tried this before, but it is constantly shot down by people claiming that it restricts their rights. And that’s true. It does oppress on your rights. But you should have no more right to spread disease than you have the right to drive drunk. Both acts can result in the death of innocents. While we as a society enjoy going on witch hunts after negligent drivers, a crusade on anti-vaxxers seems less exciting: deaths by disease are more difficult to vilify. A similar situation can be seen in “peanut-free school” policies. If you aren’t allergic to peanut butter, you have probably been in a situation where your palate has been inhibited due to a “peanut-free zone.” Why? Because peanut products carelessly put the lives of peanut-allergic students at danger. That’s a perfectly reasonable and valid reason to ban peanut products. So why is it unreasonable to mandate vaccination? Non-vaccinated students also jeopardize human lives. Despite the irrational seeming views of anti-vaccine parents, they truly only wish for their children’s safety. I can understand why they might believe it is better not to vaccinate, but their concern for their own families harms the families of others. When a preventable fear leads to preventable deaths, something needs to change.

59.6%

of Harker students believe in universal vaccination of 116 total responses

89.4%

of Californians immunized

95%

immunization for herd immunity

STATISTICS FROM MERCURY NEWS

Shots ﬁred

DIA

Not OK:: Oklahoma APUSH law censors American history t.b.h.

1.9%

NATINAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION

of schools are in Oklahoma

455

Oklahoma public schools in America

3226

Oklahoma students took APUSH in 2013

tiara bhatacharya Aquila opinion editor

Lawmakers in Oklahoma passed a piece of legislation on Feb. 16 stopping all public funding for AP U.S. History, essentially banning the course in Oklahoma public schools on the grounds that it emphasized “what is bad about America.” Ever since the introduction of a revised curriculum in 2012, APUSH has borne the brunt of extensive conservative backlash. Politicians continue to voice concerns about the course’s focus on civil disobedience and oppression.

There are a lot of words I could use to describe my experiences in APUSH -- frustrating, exhausting, filled with oblique references to the United States flexing its muscles. But overwhelmingly, U.S. History was probably one of the most important courses I took in high school because it opened my eyes. At certain points, the curriculum felt like a string of injustices incomprehensibly ratified by the government. After learning about the Trail of Tears, I couldn’t believe Andrew Jackson’s face was still printed on our money. In suggesting APUSH’s lack of patriotism, conservatives actually somewhat stumbled into the truth. History classes shouldn’t be about pride or shame, just the truth. And honestly, there are a lot of things in the United States’ histo-

ry that we shouldn’t be proud of -- this country’s successes should come hand in hand with its failures. When we celebrate 1791’s promise of free speech, we should also remember it was really only given to land-owning white men. The same constitution that established democracy wasn’t amended to include women’s suffrage until less than 100 years ago. Especially in the wake of Bloody Sunday’s 50th anniversary, it’s important to realize that we haven’t reached a finish line. “Our march is not yet finished,” President Obama said. The point of studying history is so that we can grow from it; so that we can look up in the middle of history class and realize how far we’ve come, along with how much further we still can go.

“That’s what education is,” Donna Gilbert, History and Social Sciences Department Chair, said. “You can’t just decide that we’re only going to look at the exceptional part and not look at the dark underbelly of society.” Rewriting history is archaic. It’s the stuff of dystopian young adult novels or stories of far-off communist dictatorships we were taught to be suspicious of in elementary school. Ignoring the oppression this country was built upon won’t erase it, and it’s critical that schools don’t isolate students from reality. APUSH helped me interpret current events in the context of the past and understand their underlying consequences. Censoring history because it’s “unpatriotic” is propaganda.

talk around campus What is your favorite thing about spring? “I like that it becomes planting season, because I’m like a botanist so I’m totally into planting.” Dipam Acharrya (12)

“Normally winter is really cold and I’m freezing, so spring’s a nice break from that.” Patrick Lin (12)

vineet kosaraju

Aquila asst. tech editor

“My favorite thing is spring soccer at high school.” Mason Menaker (9) “I like spring because it warms up.” Olivia Long (9) “There’s a lot of rain in spring and I really like the smell in the air afterward.” Shalini Arimilli (11)

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 13, 2015

#feminism & #meninsm Decrying meninism

Deﬁning feminism sahana srinivasan Feminism (n.): the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social and economic equality to men. It seems like a simple concept at first glance, but the ways that we can interpret what feminism entail are endless. To some, like Shailene Woodley, who has stated that she doesn’t identify as a feminist, it means replacing the patriarchy with a matriarchy. To others, it’s mainly a movement for equality for heterosexual, middle-class, able-bodied Caucasian women, rather than all females. To many, however, including myself, feminism is just what the definition suggests: the support of equality. Disagreements arise mostly in the periphery of the movement, like when people called out Emma Watson on her speech to the UN about feminism, pointing out that she didn’t speak for the advocacy of women’s equal responsibilities and claiming that the idea that more men should support feminism is naive. Others may say that feminism is obsolete and women are equal enough, but that still isn’t true. Although my AP Computer Science class has four boys and three girls, there is still a pay gap in that field; our country has yet to have a female president, and ratings for Agent Carter, the Marvel Universe’s first female-led project, were dropping significantly as each episode aired.

tara parimi

Harker students’ opinions out of 116 total responses

reporter

Derogatory names like “feminazi” are sometimes used for those who take feminist ideology to the extreme. In arguments between feminists themselves, anyone who doesn’t advocate equality as passionately can be labeled as “not a real feminist.” I, like many others, fall prey to the need to argue when someone’s view of feminism doesn’t match up with my own. Sometimes it’s even intimidating to open up about my opinions regarding feminism because I’m too afraid of being criticized for what I say; even the smallest of generalizations can be analyzed and commented upon. And although sometimes correction is necessary if people simply misunderstand the denotation of feminism, I have to remember that everyone, male or female, is entitled to their own connotations. When I see celebrities like Shailene Woodley speaking up, however, celebrities whose movies I’ve spent hours watching, and their opinions don’t coincide with mine, it forces me to realize that I can’t base my opinions of people off of my opinions of their beliefs - whether it’s concerning feminism or not. It also forces me to realize that equality of the sexes is more important than the intricacies of how we perceive feminism as a movement.

Q: Do you identify as feminist?

Q: Should “meninism” be a word in the dictionary?

Aquila copy editor Originating as purely satirical to supposedly counter radical feminism and the double standards of society, “Meninism,” is a new movement that since emergence has incited debate on Twitter and in the digital world. By definition, meninists are individuals who seek for males the rights and opportunities afforded to females. However, of late, numbers of these “activists” have deviated from seeking gender equality and taken to posting shocking and derogatory messages concerning females. The meninist movement has expanded through a series of social media platforms, most notably @Meninisttweet, an account thats feed is laced with denigratory and often expletive-filled tweets. On the account, meninists congregate and post misogynistic comments using the hashtags #MeninistTwitter and #Meninism for the purported purpose of promoting gender equality. On the now-growing number of accounts, the writers trivialize and deride sensitive issues such as domestic violence and female body image, among a host of other controversial topics. Furor has arisen from the offensive posts and certain Twitter accounts have been suspended multiple times. Though the accounts are supposedly satirical and certain authors have

Becoming a global citizen sindhu ravuri

SINDHU RAVURI - WINGED POST

Wingspan editor-in-chief

SPEAKING OUT Pulitzer Prize winning Nick Kristof speaks about his novel “A Path Appears.”

“Didi (sister), another ladki (girl) was sold off to marriage today.” Prachi’s dulcet voice crackled over my home phone’s speaker. “I know, jaan (love). I’m so sorry.” “No, didi. Don’t be. If not for you, I could have been one of those girls.” Throughout the past eight months, that girl on the other end of the line, Prachi, was my focus, purpose, and motivation. Prachi, abandoned by her stepfather, was inches away from being sex trafficked. After meeting her through Emmy-award winning activist Ruchira Gupta, I became able to financially support and protect Prachi with my monthly earnings from teaching dance. I’m 18. My life’s trajectory is still buried underneath the next four undergraduate years, an imminent driver’s license test, and adulthood. But saving a child 7,729 miles across the world was never part of the game plan. Meeting Pulitzer-Prize-winning New York Times journalist Nick Kristof and reading his co-authored novel, “A Path Appears,” upended my game plan. I used to believe becoming a global citizen meant becoming one of two extremes: an entrepreneur with the affluence to donate. I am beyond glad I saw Mr. Kristof speak because immersing in his worldwide humanitarian adventure was like dissecting a self-directed roadmap of global evolution. Hearing his stories of giving back to destitute communities, I understood I could bookend every string left loose half-

way across the world by travesties like trafficking. Like him, I could rely on the tools I have here and now rather than wait for some distant future. I could emulate the integration of personal passion and activism of MIT Development economist Esther Duflo, who used her engineering prowess to prevent the death of children from excessive smoke by developing efficient cookstoves; or epidemiologist Gary Slutkin, MD, who used his medical perspective to fight domestic violence. In diving, there are four positions – straight, tuck, pike, and free. They all share a single common process – the diver enters face down into the water, shattering its flat crystalline surface with an acceleration that slices clarity and blurs perspective. Diving daily into the manic hodgepodge of life, we are just that – face down, moving at such a high speed that we lose peripheral vision, unable to fathom the ripples our dive has the potential to cause. Meeting Nick Kristof was that diving moment of clarity for me. He wore his years of insight and growth in his appearance. Even his hands appeared kind, intelligent, and gracefully worn. Later, I even found out that he was connected to my role model Ruchira Gupta, whose organization Apne Aap led me to Prachi. Every single one of these people were connected through a cause, and now I was finally a part - though tiny - of that whirlwind of trail blazers. I wasn’t just saving Prachi. I was saving her daughter, and her granddaughters, and her great-granddaughters from a consuming global plague.

Meianderings

meilan steimle opinion editor

The other day (month), something momentous happened: I turned sixteen. Is there anything there is to say about turning sixteen that has not already been said? Supposedly, this is the year that I become a woman, learn to drive, etc. But when I turned sixteen, I was resolute in my cynicism: this year would be no different than any other. However, I was pleasantly surprised to receive, on my birthday, an email from myself on the day of my fifteenth birthday using the website futureme.org. “Well,” I thought. “Let’s see what the younger me thought.” As I read through the letter, the bemused smile I had when first opening the email slowly slid off my face. My fifteen-year-old self, in all her naivete, had written me a list of all the things she expected to have happened by the time I turned sixteen. You ran for student council, right? No, I submitted my name, but I was so scared that I woke up at 5:30 the next morning to withdraw myself from the race. Did you make friends with people you’re scared of? No, if anything, I’m scared of more people now. Did you perform in HOSCARs? Not a chance. Looking through the email was like looking through a comprehensive list of my failures. My fifteen-year-old self had complete and utter faith that I would grow into the kind of per-

claimed their posts are facetious, some posts have gone too far, overstepped too many boundaries. Many have started using meninism as an excuse for misogyny and for entertainment. Our society has made leaps and bounds from the patriarchal paradigm it once was, we’ve progressed too far for a bunch of misogynists to tell women “they belong in the kitchen” while ridiculing the logic and stamina of women and joking about domestic violence. We’re in the 21st century and it’s absolutely ludicrous for people to be posting such unintelligible drivel. I’m blessed to have been in born in a time and age in which I enjoy equal opportunities to my male counterparts, and I certainly don’t want to hear and read such disconcerting posts. That being said, I do acknowledge that some (a few) meninists are championing issues that do matter, such as domestic violence against men. Others still have grown to find forms of meninism as objectionable. A (male) twitter reply to @Meninisttweet “This account was so much better when it made funny jokes about double standards. This...is just chauvinist.” If any meninists are earnestly considering bridging the gender gap, they should consider redirecting their efforts into rallying for gender equality as a whole.

Conversation with my younger self

son who would have the courage to run for student council, to make new friends. Somehow, I had expected that in a year, I would transform into a new person, the kind of person I wanted to be. Sitting in front of the email that embodied all the dashed hopes of my younger self, I realized that I was the same person I had been when I was fifteen. We have a tendency to think of our future selves as divorced from

Looking through the email was like looking through a comprehensive list of my failures. who we are today. Perhaps it’s a form of wishful thinking; day-to-day life is easier when we live on the assumption that sometime in the next few years, we’ll somehow metamorphosize into the people we want to be. I’ve decided that if I want to improve myself, I cannot take the passive approach of my fifteen-year-old self. If I want to be a better person when I turn seventeen, I need to work on myself today. Cynical or not, the outcome of my year as a sixteen-year-old is yet to be decided. Maybe it will be the year I become a woman. Maybe it will be just another year. Either way, it’s up to me.

LIFESTYLE

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 13, 2015

gr een M A C H I N E MEET JAY PARANJPE, A sophomore WHO ONLY WEARS the color GREEN jenna sadhu

your favorite holiday? JP: Well yeah probably just because of the sure amount of people wearing green. But usually as a joke I try not to wear green on Saint Patrick’s Day. WP: Do you think you will stop wearing all green in the future? JP: I don’t really predict getting a sudden change of personality in the future but maybe, probably not though. WP: Are there any occasions

reporter

Winged Post: When did you start wearing all green? JP: 7th grade, I was around 13. WP: Why did you start wearing all green? JP: I don’t know. I just really like green, so why not? I was buying clothes for the new school year and since I like green I got green polos. WP: Is Saint Patrick’s Day

ED RIYA GODBOLE- WING

RIYA GODBOLE -W

POST

JENNA SADHU - WIN

lifestyle editor

polo

FOOTWEAR

GED PO

Sneakerheads and flats lovers can rejoice—comfortable kicks are back in style, making an appearance on the catwalks of Peter Som. Pair green flats, slides, or sneakers with neutral-colored pieces to add a vibrant pop of green to your outfit.

Gluten-free zone maya kumar reporter

The new Gluten-Free Zone, located in Manzanita, was recently introduced into the mix of lunch options for students. The lunch menu already included many gluten-free items, such as salad, granola and gluten-free pizza, but the kitchen staff received many requests to provide more options. After the Presidents Week break, they consolidated all the gluten-free items into the already gluten-free salad bar. It has now become the designated Gluten-Free Zone, expanding to include gluten-free sauces, pasta salad, chips and breads. This week, some of the new options have been gluten-free English muffins, cookies and fruit tarts. For kitchen staff member Connie Valenzuela, the most time consum-

ing part of assembling the Gluten-Free Zone is shopping for the items that will be served each week. “It maybe takes about an hour and a half of prep outside of what I normally do to make the salads and the extra snacks,” she said. Kate Chow (9) does not eat foods with gluten in them due to allergies, so she especially appreciates the addition of the Gluten-Free Zone. “I really like it because it gives me other options on days that do not provide as many choices of safe food for me.” Chef Steve has heard positive feedback from students who have eaten foods from the Gluten-Free Zone, but feels that most people don’t even know that it has been introduced. “We make our own gluten-free croutons now, so we are just experimenting and expanding every week,” he said.

DO YOU EAT GLUTEN-FREE FOOD REGULARLY? YES, FOR ALLERGY/ HEALTH REASONS

1.7%

YES, BY CHOICE 9.6%

NO 88.7%

HAVE YOU TRIED FOOD FROM THE GLUTEN-FREE ZONE?

NO 50.4%

YES 49.5%

BASED ON 115 RESPONSES

salad with croutons

english muffin with jam

ALL PHOTOS MAYA KUMAR - WINGED POST

OUT OF 150 responses

gluten-free sauces

NGED POST

INGED POST

Sporty chic made a comeback during New York Fashion Week as models donned in polos walked the runways of J.Crew and Hugo Boss. Rock your polo in anything from chartreuse to olive this St. Patrick’s Day for a dress-code appropriate ensemble.

New dishes introduced in cafeteria

WP: What is the best green-related nickname you have received? JP: I like “The Green Knight” because I’m a sophomore and we did that for our reading. WP: What kinds of reactions have you received from friends and family regarding your attire? JP: It’s usually people other than my friends that bring it up. A lot of my relatives think it’s really weird, but my parents and friends have pretty much gotten used to it.

RIYA GODBOLEW

SHERIDAN TOBIN- WI

INGED POST

trendy ways to add green to YOUR ST. PATRICK’S DAY outfit

riya godbole

that you don’t wear green? JP: Not really. Even when I go to debate tournaments I wear a green suit. WP: Do you have any tips on incorporating green into your wardrobe? JP: Hmm. When you go for light shades of green try to pair them with lighter shades too. Dark shades pair them with other dark shades and if you have a jacket you can pair them with that too.

EYELINER

Graphic, colorful eyes are all the rage this spring, as eyeliner adorned the eyes of models from Elie Saab and Fendi. Eyeliner is a subtle way to add green to a St. Patrick’s Day ensemble, coming with the added benefit of bringing out your eyes.

HEADGEAR

Headgear in all silhouettes and sizes floated down the runways of New York Fashion Week, from Rebecca Minkoff ’s floppy hats to Yves Saint Laurent’s boater hats. Don a green snapback, beanie, or headscarf to add a stylish touch to your outfit.

A10

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 13, 2015

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STEM

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CONTEST PREP Computer science teacher Susan King talks to members of the Programming Club about the upcoming ProCo contest. The club organizes the annual programming competition by gathering sponsor funding for the event.

praveen batra & ashley jiang reporters The Upper School’s Programming Club will host its annual Harker Programming Invitational [HPI], which will include competitions, a college fair, and keynote speeches, this Sunday in Nichols Hall from 7:30 a.m. to 2:10 p.m.

The Invitational

The two-hour main round will begin at 8:45 a.m. Each team of up to three people will use a single laptop computer to solve programming problems on the Programming Club’s website. Competitors can submit code using Python, Java or C++. A half-hour challenge round will begin at 11:20 a.m. HPI will feature both novice and advanced divisions, which allow programming students of different levels to participate and compete with others on the same level as them. “The reason why we have these two divisions is to allow competitors and people interested in computer programming who have a year or less of computer experience to not be intimidated by those who have been programming for a while,” David Zhu (10) said. “They have their own separate division and they can be comfortable knowing that the problems will not be incredibly difficult for them.” In addition to the competition, HPI will feature a keynote address by Anna Patterson. “This year we’ve having Dr. Anna Patterson, and [...] she’s very involved in the creative side of Google,” Programming Club President Sadhika Malladi (11) said. “We thought that it would be cool to have someone who does both computer science and design, and she was involved with creating the first original search engine for Google.”

The road to HPI

Behind the scenes, Harker’s Programming Club works to prepare for HPI. The process involves activities ranging from obtaining funding to writing the competition questions. “The biggest thing we have to work on is getting sponsors to fund the event, and so we contact a lot of companies that would be interested in helping high school computer science education,” Sadhika said. This year, HPI’s sponsors include Make School, Pebble,

Our college fair is really geared towards helping students learn what their opportunities are. We have a bunch of local colleges, as well as CMU, coming. SADHIKA MALLADI (11)

and ACEprep. Sophomores David Zhu and Manan Shah help write problems for the invitational. “The problem set writing process involves an initial discussion about the level of difficulty of the set, after which the writers work individually on their respective problems,” Manan said. “After thorough vetting is completed, the problems are ready to be released.” For competitors, the first step to competing was registering. Registration was available until March 1, but by Feb. 28, the Programming Club sent out an email notification that the maximum number of teams had registered and new teams could register only for the waitlist.

After registration closed, more than 20 teams had been waitlisted, including freshman Jimmy Lin’s team. “When we were trying to wait for the deadline, seeing who would participate on our team, we ended up waiting too long,” Jimmy said. “That’s how we ended up being on the waitlist.”

College Fair, ProCo and beyond

At the Programming Invitational, students will have an opportunity to meet college professors at the college fair during lunch. “Our college fair is really geared towards helping students learn what their opportunities are,” Sadhika said. “We have a bunch of local colleges as well as CMU coming.” After the Invitational has finished, eager programmers will have more opportunities to compete and learn. “Of course there’s the USA Computer Olympiad [problems], and those are by far the most popular problems to train with,” David said. Programmers can also attend hackathons, where they work with a team to build an application in a few days. “Other [students] who are more interested in the development process should register in Hackathons for hands-on building experience,” Manan said. Another programming contest after the Invitational is Stanford University’s ProCo. “ProCo [...] is the Stanford programming competition, and this is what our Harker programming invitational is modeled after, so that’s also a really good competition to attend,” David said. ProCo also has novice and advanced divisions. Registration for ProCo will be open from March 18 to April 17, and the competition will be on May 17.

ASHLEY JIANG - WINGED POST

Harker Programming Invitational rolls into third year

Technology student alliance gears up to tackle state competition

TSA club prepares to take on spring conference reporter

Students are preparing for the state-level Technology Student Association (TSA) conference on March 20 to 21, where they will compete with projects they have been working on throughout the year. The 35 high school events in the competition range from debating about technology to music production to Computer-Aided Design (CAD) events. TSA president Sophia Luo (11), who founded the Harker TSA club last year, discussed what makes the program stand out. “The unique thing about TSA is that it is more [about] career exploration and [more] interdisciplinary than just pure any STEM field,” Sophia said. Mathematics Department Chair

Anthony Silk is the TSA club advisor and also coaches students in the TEAMS competition. “[TEAMS] allows students to think about problems they may not have thought about before,” Silk said. “[TSA and TEAMS] both play to students’ strengths and allow them to study

FAST FACTS TSA was known as the American Industrial arts Association until 1988 (AIASA). more about what they’re interested in outside of the classroom. Even though it’s a competition, the truth is you’re doing this because you find it enjoyable, not because you’re hoping to win some competition.”

An early version of TSA was formed in 1958 under the name American Industrial Arts Student Association (AIASA) as part of the American Industrial Arts Association (AIAA). In 1978, it became a separate non-profit. In 1988, the name changed to TSA. In the 2014 California state competition, Harker took 14 first place finishes, 10 second place finishes and two third places finishes. Six Harker teams also participated in the affiliated TEAMS state competition. In the 9th and 10th grade division, two Harker teams ranked first and second, and in the 11th and 12th grade division, three Harker teams respectively placed first, sixth, and tenth. The TSA state conference will take place March 20 to 21 at CSU Bakersfield. Nationals for both will be held from June 28 to July 2 in Dallas, Texas.

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A11

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 STEM • MARCH 13, 2015

SCIENCE behind

BODY LANGUAGE roshni pankhaniya

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION - VIVEK BHARADWAJ

sports editor

In her TED talk, Amy Cuddy discusses body postures that can boost conﬁdence during times of stress. Here are a few.

POWER POSING Body language plays an essential role in our interactions with others. Connor O’ Neal (11) demonstrates a dominant pose, maintaining a straight posture and constant eye contact. Kurtis Schwartz (11) displays a less powerful stance with downturned eyes and hunched shoulders.

Cutting corners Undo email mistakes, change Athena, and sync ﬁles from your computer with these tech tips praveen batra & derek yen reporters

1 CANCEL A SENT EMAIL

3 USE THE GOOGLE DRIVE DESKTOP CLIENT

This feature puts a delay on sending emails, allowing users to cancel the sending of an email. To activate Undo Send, click on the gear on the upper right hand corner of the Gmail website. Next, select “Settings,” and then click on “Labs,” which is the farthest header to the right. Enable “Undo send” and save.

The Google Drive desktop client allows users to sync files of any type from your computer to the Google Drive cloud. It can be downloaded from the browser Google Drive viewer by clicking on “Install Drive for your computer” on the left.

2 CUSTOMIZE ATHENA2

4 USE WEBPRINT

This feature allows Athena2 users to add and rearrange the “blocks” of the Athena2 webpage. When logged in, click the “Customize this page” button in the upper-right corner to access the customization interface. Users can also select from twenty different cosmetic Athena2 themes in “Edit profile” under “My settings.”

WebPrint is an online client which allows students to print from any school printer. It can be accessed by logging on at “webprint.harker.org” in a browser. Warning: adding “www.” will break the link. Webprint can only be accessed whilst on a Harker WiFi network.

Rumors of Apple automobile surface SHAY LARI-HOSAIN - WINGED POST

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

POWER POSES

vineet kosaraju

Aquilla asst. STEM editor Environmentalists, Apple fanboys and fangirls, and connoisseurs of electric cars, rejoice: the latest in innovation might literally be rolling around the corner within five years. Apple is reportedly hoping to add a new flagship project to its list of phones and personal computers within five years: an electric car. Although Apple has made no such official statement to the public revealing its intentions, Bloomberg cited several unidentified sources that claim to have knowledge of the project. According to these sources, the team working on the electric car has around 200 em-

ployees including people from Tesla, car battery maker A123 Systems, and several other automobile makers and supply firms. The project is reportedly under development near the Cupertino headquarters under the codename “Project Titan.” Rumors and unidentified sources disagree about the existence of self-driving technology and the actual car’s design but generally agree that Apple Vice President of Product Design Steve Zadesky is leading the project. At this point, the Internet has publicized rumors galore. One particular rumor reported by the Wall Street Journal indicates that “according to people familiar with the matter [...] Titan initially is working on the design of a ve-

hicle that resembles a minivan.” People should first be reminded that a company made famous by its innovative design would not stick to a minivan. Currently, the details on the project remain highly ambiguous and unclear. Reputable news sources have been debating left, right, and center about the potential success of the electric car based on unnamed sources and facts created on the Internet. Until the company officially comes out with more information about Project Titan, it might be prudent for Apple aficionados to look out for the Apple Watch, set to release in April.

GRAPHICS - PRAVEEN BATRA

The

ith Tedx around the corner and seniors having just experienced the process of college interviews, Upper School students are increasingly thinking about how to portray themselves in public. Nonverbal signals of emotion have been used since the days of cavemen and continue to be a significant aspect of modern communication and relationships. American social psychologist Amy Cuddy has conducted experimental research studying the origins of how people judge others. Her TEDGlobal 2012 TedTalk, “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are,” ranks second among the most watched TedTalks and How a person acts, explores how we can change their posture, their others’ perceptions of ourselves gestures, are vital in simply by changing body positions. how we ﬁrst “Amy Cuddy’s points help perceive them. It viewers gain the psychological upper hand in any stressful was a vital tool to situation, be it a job interview our ancestors and or a heated argument with a continues to be friend,” Rahul Jayaraman (12) said. “She gives relevant, useful important in our advice to people from all walks day-to-day of life.” Cuddy advises that everyinteractions. one adopt a power pose, such KELLY HORAN, as lifting the hands up in the PSYCHOLOGY TEACHER air, leaning back in a chair with legs crossed or leaning over a table with the fists clenched on the surface, for two minutes prior to any stressful situation. By practicing a power pose, a person experiences increasing testosterone levels, decreasing levels of the stress hormone cortisol, elevated feelings of power and tolerance for risk. Beyond increasing our sense of power, body language is a matter of applied social science that begins and ends with impression management, a conscious attempt to control your behavior to make the impression you want to make. In addition to controlling your own behavior, impression management stresses gauging your peer’s response to influence your future actions. Impression management is especially important in how we first perceive individuals. “Your body language influences the way other people perceive you, so depending on how you present yourself, people very much form an opinion and an assessment of who you are and how confident you are,” psychology teacher Kelly Horan said. “I think body language influences a lot on people’s perceptions of confidence and security in a situation.” Body language plays a much broader role in our interactions with others than does our speech. While speech is limited by an individual’s limit to speak and understand a certain dialect, body postures are nearly universal across the globe.

A12

BACK PAGE

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 13, 2015

The Cost Of Growth

Trafﬁc surges on Highway I-280 on a Tuesday evening. For some, the growth that causes the increasing volume of trafﬁc also makes affordable Bay Area housing unattatinable.

”

— SUSAN SMITH, LIBRARy director

AT A GLANCE

OAKLAND

SOURCE: 2014 SILICON VALLEY INDEX

MILLION PEOPLE in 2014

KACEY FANG

WORK IN PROGRESS Construction for new shopping centers taking place in Santana Row is one of the many exmaples of the Silicon Valley’s expansion.

FREMONT

23.3

copy editor & reporter

CREATIVE COMMONS

Google, along with six other companies, submitted a proposal to Mountain View City Council to build a new Mountain View headquarters on Feb. 27, marking the company’s first attempt to build and design new office space from scratch. Google’s proposal revealed to the public a first glimpse of the company’s envisioning of its own futuristic headquarters. It consists of a series of lightweight blocklike structures covered by large translucent glass canopies, whose interior workspaces

WORK SPACE Google envisions its new headquarters in this drawing which includes trees and a glass canopy.

$107,395

Palo Alto

average student commute time

AVERAGE ANNUAL EARNINGS

SUNNYVALE Harker

out of 121 responses in a Winged Post survey

+19,194

NET FOREIGN IMMIGRATION

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google plans for new headquarters can be reconfigured on a massive scale according to the company’s needs. The concept would add about 2.5 million square feet to Google’s existing four million square-foot campus in Mountain View and is expected to take at least a year to be approved by Mountain View City Council. The additional space would accommodate an additional 10,000 employees on top of the 20,000 who work at the headquarters now. Mountain View City Manager Dan Rich explained in a phone interview with The Winged Post how current traffic difficulties prevent the present development of the headquarters in North Bayshore. “Literally zero square feet of new building, office building, can be built in that part of town until there are traffic improvements,” Rich said. “So all of these applications are dependent on [applicants] showing us what they can do to make traffic better. Nothing can get built until there’s data that shows that the traffic is better than it is today.”

JOBS

MINUTES

2006

kavya ramakrishnan & emma yu

1,423,491

Silicon Valley has grown, for better or for worse. Suburbia overran sprawling farm fields, and urban life now threatens to overrun that suburbia. Silicon Valley’s recent expansion stems from a number of sources, but most of them point back to the area’s status as a technologically superpowered area. According to siliconvalley.com, an estimated 1,317,791 people were employed at the top 150 Bay Area high tech companies in 2014. Major tech companies that call Silicon Valley their home base include Google, Facebook and Apple. The resulting inflow of workers over the past five to ten years has significantly altered the demographics and outlook of housing for residents old and new. “I never thought I’d see the day that every last bit of empty space is developed with high density housing,” Library Director Susan Smith said. “It’s going to change the face of [Sunnyvale].” According to the 2014 Silicon Valley Index by the Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies, home sales in California have increased 30 percent since 2007, but median prices have also risen 10 percent. Homeowners in the Silicon Valley are struggling with a housing market whose rising prices eliminate affordability and accessibility for increasingly larger parts of the population who are not employed in

MILLION PEOPLE in 2004

co m mu

news editor

high tech industries. The Index stresses that “a lack of affordable housing results in longer commutes, diminished productivity, curtailment of family time and increased traffic congestion.” Photography teacher Joshua Martinez, who moved to San Francisco’s Mission District in 2007 and commutes on a daily basis to the Upper School, commented on the changes that he has perceived as Silicon Valley’s tech enterprises have grown tremendously. “There has been a significant shift in the type of person living in the neighborhood,” Martinez said. “I’m seeing younger people coming into the neighborhood and replacing families who have been there for a long time. Some of them just see the area as this kind of extension of their company where they’re not so much invested in the success of that community as an ecosystem.” As a result of heavy expansion, the volume of traffic throughout Silicon Valley has increased acutely over the past years. Student driver Maya Nandakumar (12), who lives in south San Jose, expressed her distaste for commuting to and from school. “I’ve started leaving my house in San Jose before 7 a.m. in order to reach there around 7:30,” she said. “My commute has been almost doubled by the traffic on highway 280. I don’t remember it being this bad while I was in middle school. “ For valley residents of lower socioeconomic status, the changes in housing availability and pricing caused by Silicon Valley’s have spelled out disaster. According to an MIT Technology Review article in Oct. 2014, the poverty rate in Santa Clara housing is 19 percent when factoring in issues with expensive housing. In total, the affluence of the tech elite in Silicon Valley only grows, while around them, others, especially minorities, struggle to scrape by.

SQ. MILES

2.92 2.39

San Francisco

Rise of Tech industry displaces residents elisabeth siegel

1,854

ut e

“

It’s sad because I see the impact on my little town of Sunnyvale, which heretofore had a broad variety of socioeconomic diversity.

Silicon Valley

THE

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

OG D G I

Facebook

Value: $200+ billion Headquarters in Menlo Park since 2012 Employees: 9,199 as of 2014

Apple

Value: $700+ billion Second Cupertino campus opens in 2016 Employees: 80,000 as of 2013

2014

$3,200/mo as of 2014

2015

Q&A, JOSHUA MARTINEZ Winged Post: How long have you lived in San Francisco? Joshua Martinez: I moved to the Mission Distrist from NYC in Location: SF August 2007. WP: What kind of neighborhoodrelated changes have you perceived? JM: When I first moved there, that side of Mission was predominantly either residential or medium-sized creative business.All of the high end luxury commerce that the Mission is known for, like fancy clothing stores and barbershops and restaurants and all of that stuff, was all on the other side of the Mission. WP: What about demographic changes? JM: In terms of the long term residents looking at all of these twentysomething kids moving into the neighborhood and conducting themselves in a louder and more entitled way in public, there has been a certain tension created.

SHAY LARI-HOSAIN - WINGED POST

THROUGH THE CHAIN LINK FENCE

WHAT’S INSIDE B2 DOORDASH INTERVIEW B3 FACULTY CHANGES B6 SENIOR NIGHTS B8 HOSCARS

B5 SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW

Friday, March 13, 2015

FEATURES

COURTESY OF CHRISTOPHER FLORIO

Orchestra wins ﬁrst place in Portland

BRAVO The Upper School Orchestra won ﬁrst place in the Northwest Orchestra Festival in Portland last weekend. They will be performing at the Mexican Heritage Theater on April 10.

Aquila social media editor & Aquila lifestyle editor The Upper School Orchestra won first place in the Full Orchestra Division at the Northwest Orchestra Festival held in Portland last weekend. Despite being the smallest group in the division, the Orchestra was awarded first place without having to participate in the final round. “It is the biggest orchestra festival they have in Oregon throughout the year,” director and conductor Christo-

“Making music with my friends and peers made an inspiring experience, and winning [the] festival was the cherry on top.” HELEN WU (12)

pher Florio said. “I thought it’d be a good thing for us to do, and we worked really hard preparing for it.” Last year, the Orchestra traveled to Chicago to participate in the Chicago International Music Festival. At this festival, the group became the first high school orchestra to debut a new piece, which was composed by Jeremy Van Buskirk.

The orchestra has also performed at the Los Angeles Festival of Gold and the London New Years

Parade Festival. The orchestra learned various compositions to prepare, such as “Huapango” by Jose Pablo Moncayo, “Danse Macabre” by Camille Saint-Saëns and “Ronde des Princesses” by Igor Stravinsky. For the competition, they used one of the pieces that was played at the

winter concert: “Profanation” by Bernstein. Violinist Helen Wu commented about her experience on the trip as a senior. “The Portland orchestra trip was remarkable for all the orchestra members. As a senior, I really enjoyed the trip, which was my last one with this orchestra,” Helen said. “Coming together and making music with my friends and peers made for an extremely enjoyable and inspiring experience, and winning [the] festival was the cherry on top.” Faculty members also attended the trip to either supervise or watch the performance itself. One of the teachers, Jane Keller, commented on her chance

S P ROBLEM E O R U L T V U ERS F

vivek bharadwaj & raveena kapatkar

STEM editor & Aquila copy editor Processed foods, performance-enhancing drugs and ever-present propaganda – the generations of the future will square off against these problems and many more. Today’s students, however, will have a head start as the Future Problem Solvers (FPS) club prepares to attend the California State Bowl in San Diego on April 25 and 26. Three students from the Upper

School, Lisa Liu, Shannon Hong, and Rishabh Gargeya, qualified as individuals for the state bowl. Additionally, teams of Meghana Karinthi (9), Stephanie Swanson (9), Jessica Wang (9) and Rahul Bhetanabotla (9), as well as Madhu Nori (12), Sindhu Ravuri (12), Juhi Muthal (12), and Ankita Pannu (12) qualified as teams for the state bowl. The challenge is “enhancing human potential.”

FPS challenges involve participants to brainstorm and find creative solutions for problems society faces. As part of the problem-solving process, competitors mine information to familiarize themselves with the problem and come up with a solution. “It’s mainly a lot of research on the topic, which [was] propaganda this time,” Assistant Research Coordinator Angela Kim (10) said.

SI N DH UR AV UR I -W IN G SP AN

JUD

A-maze

to watch the students perform. “Mr. Keller and I have traveled to every event [and] festival that the students have gone to, so several states and countries, and it is always fun to watch people experience the harker orchestra for the first time,” Keller said. “We got to watch the other orchestras perform and it was just incredible just how much we blew them out of the water.” The orchestra’s next and final performance of the year will be their Spring Concert, which will take place at the Mexican Heritage Theater in San Jose on April 10. Additional reporting by: Shannon Su, Raveena Kapatkar and Kaitlin Hsu

FPS participants span both the middle and upper school and are advised by middle school U.S. History teacher Cyrus Merrill. The club has been preparing for the state bowl since the middle of the first semester. “We do two practice problems based on future scenarios. One of them was on the topic of social media, and the other one was on processed foods,” FPS President Madhu Nori (11) said. In addition to fostering a problem-solving mentality, the competition style promotes teamwork and cooperation to achieve a common goal. “It was one of the most memorable experiences I’ve had so far at Harker; I became friends with a lot of people I’d never otherwise expect myself to talk to,” May Gao (10) said. May and her fellow team members, Trisha Dwivedi (10) and Alexis Gauba (10), qualified for the state bowl last year. The California affiliate for future problem-solving international hopes to cultivate problem-solving skills and the study of the future in students. During last year’s state bowl, students had to address the issue of traffic and transportation in the future. At the event, May and her team wrote 16 challenges and corresponding solutions in response to a prompt. The FPS club will host a formal practice for the contest on April 19th before competing in the Southern California State bowl on April 25.

SOLVING THE BRAIN MAZE Juniors Jonathan Ma and Rishabh Chandra discuss problems to practice for the State and International Bowls. Students will compete in the Southern California State Bowl on April 25 and 26.

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

ashi gautam & maya jeyendran

? VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 13, 2015

FEATURES

Comedic timing: Community suggests new satirical anchors tiara bhatacharya Aquila opinion editor

“Someone with the likeability and natural ability for comedy of Jimmy Kimmel mixed in with Anderson Cooper.”

“I love Rachel Maddow, but I don’t know if she’s as funny as Jon Stewart.”

Robbie Korin, Chemistry teacher

Sahana Rangarajan (12)

IA ED

The Harker Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) held their club week last week to raise awareness and money for Outlet, a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQQ) youth empowerment group. The club played a video at the Monday morning meeting showing a compilation of interviews from four gay and lesbian teachers. On Wednesday, they held a salsa dance lesson during long lunch, and handed out rainbow stickers. “At first there were only a few kids and then more trickled in, so we had a really good group and it was a lot of

“I think Samantha Bee would be a really good choice [to replace Stewart].”

“Amy Schumer. I think she’d be funny. He’s irreplaceable, but she’d have a good shot.”

IM WIK

reporter

Kate Schafer, Environmental Science teacher

EMMA YU - WINGED POST

meena gudapati

fun,” GSA Advisor Abel Olivas said. For $1.00 each, they sold rainbow bracelets and coffee cakes from the restaurant, Hobee’s, on Tuesday and Friday. “Hobee’s restaurant is gay owned locally so they made a donation to us,” Olivas said. From the fundraiser, GSA made a profit of a few hundred dollars to go to Outlet. The company provides confidential counseling sessions in San Mateo, Mountain View, and Palo Alto for people from the ages of 10-25. “We gave out rainbow stickers just so that folks could show their support of the LGBT[QQ] community, especially to [the] youth,” Olivas said. The video from the meeting has been posted on the student portal.

“I’m not sure anyone can replace Colbert.”

Nikhil Reddy (12)

Donna Gilbert, History Department Chair

RAINBOW STICKERS (Top) Tamyln Doll (10) and Medha Shah (10) learn to salsa during the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) club week. (Bottom left) Jerrica Liao (9), Jenna Sanders (9) and GSA advisor Abel Olivas hands out rainbow stickers during lunch last week in front of Manzanita Hall to raise awareness and fundraise for Outlet.

nine years in order to host The Late Show after David Letterman’s departure; Larry Wilmore’s The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore took over Colbert’s time slot. The question of who will replace either of them, however, still lingers.

JESSICA WANG - TALON

Following his Comedy Central peer Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart recently announced that he would leave The Daily

Show later thisa year after almost twenty years of broadcasts. Both The Colbert Report and The Daily Show were fan-favorites, offering searing satirical commentary on political and social news. Colbert ended his show towards the end of December after

M CO

Gay Straight Alliance raises awareness and funds during club week

PRISCILLA PAN - WINGED POST

megy appalaraju & maya kumar

Aquila sports editor & reporter In 45 minutes or less, technology can bring food from hundreds of local eateries to homes across California, Boston and Chicago. In January 2013, a group of Stanford students, including Harker Alumnus Andy Fang (‘10), created a food delivery service app called DoorDash,

for restaurants that don’t provide food transportation. The service allows customers to electronically order food from local restaurants with a $5.99 delivery fee that is waved for the first selected order. Since its start, the company has raised 19.7 million dollars in venture-backed money and has expanded across the country. “DoorDash is a technology company that enables on-demand

delivery to empower local economies,” the website’s mission statement reads. “We help small businesses grow, give underemployed people flexible work, and offer affordable convenience to consumers.” Andy was recently listed in Forbes’ 30 under 30: Consumer Technology along with co-founder Stanley Tang. Andy Fang conducted a brief interview with the Winged Post about his involvement with DoorDash and what he hopes to see in the future. “DoorDash is a technology company that enables on-demand delivery to empower local economies,” the website’s mission statement reads. “We help small businesses grow, give underemployed people flexible work, and offer affordable convenience to consumers.” Andy was recently listed in Forbes’ 30 under 30: Consumer Technology along with co-founder Stanley Tang. The service allows customers to electronically order food from local restaurants with a $5.99 delivery fee that is waved for the first selected order. Andy Fang conducted a brief interview with the Winged Post about his involvement with DoorDash and what he hopes to see in the future.

The Winged Post: Did you feel that your experiences at Harker have influenced your interests that led to your involvement with DoorDash? Andy Fang: I wouldn’t say any one thing or combination of things I did in high school directly affected my eventual involvement with DoorDash. I’ll say that Harker did a great job of preparing me for life after high school. WP: What did you major in at Stanford/ how does that relate to the work you are doing or plan on doing? AF: I studied computer science. Given that I work at a technology company, it comes in handy quite a lot.

WP: You and Stanley Tang have recently been featured in Forbes magazine, how did that feel to be nationally recognized? AF: It’s definitely an honor to be recognized in that way. To be honest, I never really expected that it would happen. WP: What do you hope to see in the company’s future? AF: We have great ambitions for DoorDash. We hope to establish DoorDash as a national brand and expand our on-demand logistics platform beyond restaurants. WP: Can you speak about the company’s emphasis on helping local

PROVIDED BY ANDY FANG

Q&A with the alumni co-founder of DoorDash

economies? AF: For us it always started out with helping out small businesses. We went out and interviewed over a hundred small business owners ourselves to figure out the kinds of challenges they dealt with. Since then, it’s been extremely rewarding for us to see how we’ve empowered merchants trying to increase their business, drivers looking for flexible pay, and customers who seek the convenience we offer. The positive stories we hear from our merchants, drivers, and customers help remind us of why what we’re doing is important. WP: Anything else to add? AF: Not really, It’s always nice to get back in touch with the Harker community. Go Eagles!

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 FEATURES • MARCH 13, 2015

1925 July 21

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May 12

October 5

January 15

The Scopes Trial (accused of violatArizona Law bans ethnic MexiChanges in AP history trigger culing Tennessee’s Butler Act) made it un- can-American studies because classes ture clash in Colorado, high schoolers lawful to teach human evolution were “divisive.” protest against the school board’s decision to establish a review committee for the AP framework. March 12 Texas Board of Education puts a more conservative stamp on social studies curriculum.

West Virginia watered down an educational curriculum that questioned the existence of man-made global warming.

February 16

Oklahoma legislative committee overwhelmingly voted to ban APUSH class.

Oklahoma cuts APUSH funding Students push back against the education bill

HISTORICAL POSE AP U.S. History (APUSH) teacher Damon Halback explains historical concepts to his students during Extra Help. APUSH funding in Oklahoma was cut by the legislative commitee.

SHAY LARI-HOSAIN - WINGED POST

vineet kosaraju

at a legislative committee hearing last Tuesday. “In essence, we have a new Aquila asst. tech editor emphasis on what is bad about America.” Oklahoma’s legislative comThe bill, mittee for education in an 11-4 vote called HB “What [the APUSH] 1380, is curdecided to pass a bill that cuts funding for Advanced Placement U.S. curriculum does is rently being History (APUSH) classes due to it enables teach- revised after arguments that the current curricheavy criters to be able to icism from ulum has an overly heavy focus on America’s shortcomings. focus on some of teachers and Introduced by Republican the challenges that students alike. Representative Dan Fisher, the bill r r e n t l y, many populations itC ustates singles out specific primary sourcthat in the US have ex- funding will es as part of the new curriculum in an effort to draw less attention to not be reperienced.” America’s “blemishes.” voked if the “[It] trades an emphasis on DAMON HALBACK state uses the America’s founding principles of old AP curConstitutional government in favor riculum, and of [...] where the emphasis on inRep. Fisher struction is of America as a nation of said that he will be making the bill less oppressors and exploiters,” Fisher said “ambiguous.”

APUSH teacher Damon Halback believes that the bill ultimately will harm students in Oklahoma. “I think the main issue for this bill is of course the people who would be most hurt by it would be the students of Oklahoma,” he said. “They would not be able to take a test and prepare for a test that is a nationwide assessment tool and that is not what the politicians I think are endeavoring to do.” He added that the curriculum is less strict about the specific material taught, and that it gives teachers the opportunity to focus on specific aspects of American history. “The bill in Oklahoma is a political representation of the feelings of the people in Oklahoma that American history should promote a positive and an exceptionalist view of US history,” he said. “What [the APUSH] curriculum does is it enables schools to do that, while [allowing] teachers to be

able to focus on some of the challenges that many populations in the US have experienced.” Junior Johnny Trinh who is currently taking APUSH believes that there is no reason to cut funding from the current framework and course material. “I think the bill is pretty silly,” he said. It’s better that way to focus on the bad. We can’t necessarily always paint the U.S. in a good light.” Naman Jindal (11) agrees, and believes that America’s blemishes and positives should be covered by the curriculum equally. “Well I don’t think that APUSH needs to be patriotic,” he said. “The class shouldn’t just be ‘go America’, but rather a more objective view of our history. If they want to cut funding, they should find a better reason than it not being patriotic enough.”

Teachers, faculty leave and change positions

meilan steimle & shay lari-hosain

opinion editor & design editor From Disneyland to Illinois, recent measles outbreaks reignited a nationwide debate on vaccination: who needs it, when to get it, and whether or not it should be compulsory. Locally, Harker follows the same vaccination policy as the rest of public and private schools in the county, according to Upper School Nurse Clare Elchert. All I think a lot Upper School of the issue students are is ignorance, required to have themdistrust of selves immumedical nized for poprofession, lio, diphtheria, tetanus, perand more tussis, measles, generally of mumps, rubella (MMR), science. hepatitis B3 and varicella. In othDR. MATTHEW er parts of HARLEY the state and country, vaccination is not compulsory. Some families choose to go unvaccinated because of worries that vaccinations cause autism or are otherwise harmful. Diseases like measles have not been seen in large numbers since the 1950s. Many pointed to “anti-vaxxing” families, as vaccination’s critics have come to be known, as the source of the resurgence, citing the compromise of herd immunity. The question of whether or not vaccination should be required by law is an ethical one — a constant push and pull between public safety and

personal choice. Across the Harker community, students and faculty shared their opinions. “It’s a no brainer; children should get vaccinated,” said Biology teacher Dr. Matthew Harley. “I think a lot of the issue is ignorance, distrust of medical profession and more generally of science.” A study originally published in 1998 in a British medical journal, The Lancet, seemed to correlate the measles/mumps/rubella vaccine and autism. The report was later retracted by the journal and the doctor who spearheaded its creation was stripped of his title a little under five years ago, according to a New York Times article written in May of 2010. In the U.S., all states have medical exemptions for students not healthy enough for immunization, according to Debra Nott, Director of Nursing at the Bucknall campus. Locally, further exceptions exist for certain students. “California also allows two other exemptions: religious and personal beliefs. On average, 80 percent of the parents who opt not to vaccinate use the personal beliefs option,” she said in an email interview. “In 2012, California changed the exemption law to require parents opting out of immunizations to first discuss their decision with a nurse, nurse practitioner or doctor.” Nott said that she personally feels it is best for every healthy child to be fully immunized. “We should have laws for vaccination,” Dr. Harley said. “If you believe in the individual making those choices, I’m okay with having no vaccination laws, but then we should get rid of seatbelts and bike helmet laws.”

Alexandra Rosenboom: Deciding to fight it out all the way up to a week before her delivery date, Upper School English teacher since 2002, Alexandra Rosenboom will leave for maternity leave on March 27 only a week before her expected delivery date of her baby girl on April 7. Carol Green: Current debate teacher Carol Green, after 10 years teaching in Communications Study department and traveling with the speech and debate team has decided to teach history next year. “It’s a new way to challenge students to academically engage in a different background,” she said.

ON LEAVE (Left) Alexandra Rosenboom will leave for maternity leave and (middle) Carol Green plans to teach history next year. (Right) Emily Manigo, who has been the security and traffic officer at the Upper School since July 2004, plans to retire from her position. She will be fondly remembered by fellow faculty members. “What I love most is her smile,” said Manigo’s friend and Upper School receptionist Luanne Stanley. “She’s always smiling and laughing and making everyone feel welcomed.” In an interview from last October, Manigo said, “I really love the traffic and talking students because I do communicate with students [and] parents. I’m a people person, and I love talking with people.”

Ray Fowler

Mary Mortlock

AP Statistics teacher Mary Mortlock, who began teaching in the Upper School in 2007, plans to retire at the end of the school year so she can visit her grandchildren who live in San Diego. Mortlock still plans to be connected to the Harker school through substituting. Mortlock’s prior teaching experience prepared her for teaching at Harker . “I had been teaching for 28 years before I came to Harker, in England, on the East Coast of America and at Cal Poly so I was fairly practiced at teaching before Harker,” she said. “However, I found that the friendliness of the faculty and students to be very high at Harker.” Some of Mortlock’s favorite memories at Harker included spending quality time with students and being able to bond with them. “I have just chaperoned the orchestra trip to Portland, and [another experience] will be hard to top that,” she said. She also said that there were “too many [good memories] to mention”. When she leaves Harker, Mortlock says that she will miss everybody at Harker, including faculty and students. After retiring, Mortlock hopes her current students will leave her class with larger knowledge of Statistics and always remember the “fond memories of the class; stories (all educational, of course), eating candy and having a good time.”

After explaining America’s stance in universally historical moments and marking plays for both the football and softball teams for eight years, Upper School teacher and coach, Ray Fowler decided to take on a new turn on life and will be leaving Harker. Fowler’s past careers have allowed him to bring new and unique perspectives into the classroom. “I am the only former Navy pilot and the only former police officer to teach at Harker,” he said. Teaching the Upper School has allowed him to play a role in the lives of students as they prepare for college. Fowler usually begins his classes with a discussion on the significance of community service - one of the days he described “Project Smile”, an organization responsible for funding cleft palate surgeries for children living in poverty overseas. Later, his period two class surprised him with a check to pay for two of these surgeries. “They didn’t do it to record community service hours or for any special recognition,” Fowler said. “They did it because they wanted to help change, maybe even save, a child’s life. That’s huge. I am so proud of them.” Fowler plans to explore other opportunities as an educator. But before that, he plans to hop on his motorcycle that has taken him from San Francisco to the Chesapeake, from the Mexican border to Canada, and thousands of other miles. “Maybe I’ll just toss a dart on the map and go,” he said.

VIVEK BHARADWAJ - WINGED POST

Recent measles outbreaks cause concern

PROVIDED BY RAY FOWLER

ON POINT A vaccine sits on a cotton swab ready for deployment. Recent measles outbreaks extending from Disneyland to Illinois have caused increased concern over the risk of infection and the ethics of compulsory vaccinations.

SANJANA AVULA

SHAY LARI-HOSAIN - WINGED POST

Aquila asst. multimedia editor & reporter

This article is the first in the series of profiles on faculty members who won’t be returning next year to their positions. This series will be continued until the end of the year. PROVIDED BY ALEXANDRA ROSENBOOM

sharanya balaji & sanjana avula

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 13, 2015

Tamer Shabani Photography

Commute to Stanford this summer. Attend world-class programs while living at home. High School Summer College Stanford’s High School Summer College is an academically selective program that provides highachieving high school students the ability to attend Stanford University in the summer. The program runs 8 weeks and participants enrolls as visiting undergraduates students in Stanford’s Summer Quarter and take the same courses as Stanford undergraduates. Summer College students can choose from 145 courses across 30 university departments. Live at home and attend Stanford for as low as $3,400.

 AGES

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 DATES

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Youth Orchestra The Stanford Youth Orchestra brings the finest young musicians from around the world to participate in a three-week intensive orchestral and academic program. Under the direction of conductor Jin Dong Cai, the Stanford Youth Orchestra provides participants with exceptional orchestral training in the new state-of-theart Bing Concert Hall, and includes academic workshops in music & cognition, physics & acoustic science, composition, and the art of recording. Experience music and science in perfect harmony.

 GRADES  DATES

Current 8 – 12 July 12 – August 1

 Applications are open! For more information, visit:

spcs.stanford.edu/harker

SPORTS

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 13, 2015

MARCH INTO SPRING SPORTS trisha dwivedi & aditya varshney business manager & reporter

Girl’s Lacrosse

Varsity lacrosse comes off a 3-13 loss against Gunn High School on March 5 after losing 20-3 in its season-opener against Mercy-Burlingame on Feb. 24. Varsity lacrosse team captain Hannah Bollar (12) goal for this season is to build a strong team for the upcoming seasons after she and the other five seniors on the roster graduate. In spite of the team’s having lost veteran players and gained younger players, Hannah is confident that the team will compete this season.

Track and Field

Track and field had its first meet on Saturday, Feb. 28. Alexandra Dellar (11), Calvin Kocienda (11), Niki Iyer (10), Aadi Ghildiyal (9) and Grace Koonmen (9) set stadium records in their respective events. According to Katy Rees, first year assistant coach and Upper School history teacher, many more students are participating in track and field this season. “We definitely had a stronger turnout during February vacation than we’ve had in the past, which is great,” Rees said. Due to the larger turnout this season, Rees expects the team to steadily improve overall.

Swimming PITCH PERFECT Junior Marita Del Alto pitches to a batter from Harbor High during a home game last Thursday. Varsity Girls Softball will play Alvarez High School at Blackford today at 4 pm.

The Upper School swim team had its first meet on March 11 against Crystal Springs and Mercy-Burlingame at Saratoga. Coach Andrew Booth, who used to coach Lower School swimming, started coaching varsity swimming this season. Captain Delaney Martin (12) believes that participation has increased for the sport from an effort standpoint. “Overall, I think a lot of people last year were casual about coming to practice every day but this year, people have been coming to practice every day and really working hard to swim for all of practice,” Delaney said. “With the change in coaches, we’ve had a more focused approach to commitment and coming to practice,” she said. Their next meet is on March 25 at Sacred Heart Prep.

Boy’s Volleyball The varsity boy’s volleyball played its season-opening game against Oak Grove High School at Blackford on Wednesday. Sophomore Andrew Gu has noticed major differences between his two seasons on the high school team. “This year we lost a lot of seniors, so we have to improve,” he said. “We have a lot of new freshmen who have never played before, a couple sophomores who haven’t played before.” Apart from the changes in the roster, new varsity head coach Tristan Burton brings a different coaching style to the team. “[Coach Burton is] really technical and empha-

Boy’s Golf

Varsity golf earned a 192-202 away victory against Sacred Heart Prep on March 4 at the Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club. The team hopes to build on last year’s season, during which the team reached the second round of CCS and placed fifth overall in the tournament. “My goals [for the team] are to get past CCS, win NorCals, and make it to states,” Colt McNealy (10) said. This year, the team has fresh talent with nine new freshman golfers, so it has the potential to continue improving over the upcoming seasons as players gain experience.

Boy’s Baseball

Varsity baseball started its season with a 12-1 home victory against North Valley Baptist at Blackford on Feb. 27. Varun Haltore (10) is excited for the baseball program’s expansion this year. “Last year we had 12 to 13 guys. Now it’s up to 24. If we didn’t have to cut anyone, we could even have a JV. That’s a long way from last year,” Varun said. “We’re pretty hyped for this season,” Varun said. “We have a lot of good guys and we have young guys so we are going to keep on growing.”

Girl’s Softball

The varsity girl’s softball team won its season opener 18-8 against Gunderson High School at Gunderson on March 3. Sarah Bean (12), who plays third base and is one of three captains of the softball team, believes that the team has improved significantly since the last spring season, which the team finished with just one win overall. “We are definitely ahead of last year’s team,” Sarah said. “I think this team has solid potential.” The team has seen significant growth to their size and look forward to a successful season.

Boy’s Tennis

The varsity boys’ tennis team faced its first set of matches at King’s Academy on Tuesday, March 3. Michael Zhao (11) believes that the large number of freshmen and sophomores playing varsity tennis this year will allow the program to continue growing. “Our team this year is filled with freshmen and sophomores, which bodes well for the future of the program,” he said in an email interview. “Though this year, we have less people than previous years, we are excited by the interest of the underclassmen.” Michael believes that the coaching staff, which now only has one team to concentrate on, will improve the players individually, lending to improvement for the team.

ROSHNI PANKHANIYA - WINGED POST

sizes the fundamentals, making sure everyone has the right form and making sure we don’t learn anything wrong,” Andrew said.

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COURTESY OF IE-CHEN CHENG

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ADI VARSHNEY - WINGED POST

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SPRINGIN’ INTO ACTION (1) Leon Chin (12) practices the butterfly stroke during laps at the Singh Aquatics Center during practice after school. The varsity swimming team had its first game against Crystal Springs and Mercy-Burlingame on Wednesday. (2) The varsity baseball team practices at Blackford. The team started its season with a 12-1 victory against North Valley Baptist at Blackford on Feb. 27. (3) Kurt Schwartz (11) prepares to serve the ball during a game. Boys varsity volleyball played Oak Grove High School in the team’s season-opener on Wednesday. After losing several seniors last year, the team had to significantly adjust its roster. (4) Sohil Singh (12) serves a tennis ball in a match last year. The varsity boys’ tennis team played its first matches on Tuesday against The King’s Academy. (5) Meilan Steimle (10), the goalie for Varsity Lacrosse, cradles the ball away from the Gunn High opponent in Varsity’s first home game. The team lost that game 3-13. (6) Anthony Luo (11) sprints across the timer at the track at the Middle School. The team was practicing 30m sprints in preparation for their meet this Saturday. (7) Sandip Nirmel (10) takes a swing at the golf ball.

TRISHA DWIVEDI - WINGED POST

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 SPORTS • MARCH 13, 2015

WHAT’S IN MY BAG?

Graduating athletes honored Senior night honors 31 members of the Class of 2015 sheridan tobin, kaitlin hsu & lauren russell editor in chief & reporters

EXTRA T-SHIRT “That’s for after practice because the weather outside is cold. The main way that I get sick is when I come out sweaty and my hot skin makes contact with the cold weather, and it’s bad because the two are conﬂicting. So I put on a t-shirt so I don’t walk out in a sweaty jersey and also don’t get my school clothes sweaty.”

SANDALS “Sandals are swag.”

TIDE PEN “That’s my best friend. I’m not the best eater, so when I’m just chilling before the game in my white jersey, those things are fresh. You gotta keep it clean.”

CCS TICKETS “Those are the tickets that we had to buy to go into our CCS game against Paciﬁc Grove.”

HEADPHONES “I’m usually listening to music or talking to my friends [before the game]. Nerves are a big part of the game. I don’t know which works better for me, it just depends on what kind of mood I’m in.”

OLD SPICE FIJI DEODORANT “Thats my scent. It has a really bright, manly smell. When you smell it you think energy.”

NIKE KOBE 10 “ALL STAR’S” “There’s a requirement on our team where we have to have shoes that are primarily dark-colored and kind of green. It’s hard to ﬁnd because that’s not a color that’s very popular, so you have to customize it or you have to spend time looking.”

ATHLETES OF THE MONTH

ria gandhi

DRIBBLE IT Gabi runs the ball across the ﬁeld in a game against Notre Dame High School. Gabi is an intregal part of the team’s defense.

NEIL BAI - WINGED POST

Aquila sports editor Varsity girls’ soccer player captain Gabi Gupta (12) has been an integral part of the team this season. Gabi plays center back for the Eagles, a key defensive position in the game of soccer. Anuva Mittal (10), a member of the Varsity team, reflects on Gabi’s skills in the sport. “She was an integral part of our defense,” Anuva said. “If our goal was China, she was our Great Wall.” Gabi’s personality shines among her teammates, making a huge impact on those around her both on and off the field. “Gabi’s charisma and vitality, both on and off the field, is contagious and permeates the entire team atmosphere,” teammate Safia Khouja (12) said. The Varsity girls’ soccer team’s season came to an end with a 2-3 loss to King’s Academy on Feb. 12.

CCS qualiﬁer in highest weight class jackie gao & emma yu reporters

CCS QUALIFIER Last year, Davis became the third Harker freshmen to make wrestling CCS. He qualiﬁed for CCS this year as well.

COURTESY OF KARRIEM STINSON

Center back key defensive player

Varsity Wrestling’s Davis Howard (10) has made significant contributions to his team this season. Davis has been wrestling since 6th grade, longer than anyone else on the team. In addition to practicing for his events, he also helps newer team members with specific moves they have not learned yet. In the heavyweight category, Davis made CCS for wrestling as well as undefeated in dual matches. He took 4th place at the Wilcox tournament and 5th place at League Finals. Davis’ personality also impacted the players in the team. “He brings a great sense of humor into the training atmosphere,” teammate Justin Su (9) said. Davis calls himself the “biggest man on the team,” and is in the heaviest weight class of 285 pounds. Wrestling ended their season with an 0-6 team record in league.

SHAY LARI-HOSAIN - WINGED POST

COURTESY OF JASON JEONG COURTESY OF JULIA WANG COURTESY OF ALYSSA AMICK MEGY APPALARAJU - HARKER AQUILA COURTESY OF KARRIEM STINSON

Wrestling Seniors Anni Ankola, Ransher Dhaliwal and Ryan Palmer were honored before the wrestling team’s match against Homestead on Jan. 27. Although the Eagles fell 19-55 to the Mustangs, Ryan won by pin. The boys ended their season with an 0-6 team league record.

The Winged Post sat down with Varsity boys’ basketball starting guard Justin Yen (12) to talk about his forays into sports fashion and trends. Read below for his trusty game-day essentials.

NS ATIO UNIC OMM OF C

Varsity Girl’s Basketball Seniors Lekha Chirala, Shreya Basu, Mishi Vachev, Tiara Bhattacharya and Nikita Mittal were honored on Feb. 10. The team was scheduled to play Crystal Springs Uplands, but due to a shortage of players, the Gryphons had to forfeit and the girls held an inter squad scrimmage instead. Due to a schedule conflict, Savi Joshi was honored before the Feb. 6 game against Priory. The girls ended their season 12-12 overall, 6-7 in league and a third place league finish.

lifestyle editor

E OFFIC

Varsity Girl’s Soccer Seniors Alyssa Amick, Gabi Gupta, Safia Khouja and Nikita Parulkar were honored before the Feb. 5 Varsity girl’s soccer game against Priory. Joelle Anderson (10) had three goals, Nikita had two, and Alyssa and Safia each had one contributing to the 7-1 victory. The girls ended their season 7-8-1 overall and 3-7-0 in league.

riya godbole

Y OF

Varsity Boy’s Basketball The varsity boy’s basketball team honored seniors Arjun Ashok, Ajay Chitkara, Vamsi Gadiraju, Eric Holt, Srivinay Irrinki, Nick Nguyen, Dylan Patel, Kevin Su and Justin Yen before the Feb. 17 game against Woodside Priory. The Eagles won 8454 in front of a large crowd of enthusiastic fans. The boys ended their season with a 16-10 overall record, an 8-6 league record, and a fourth place league finish.

RTES COU

Varsity Boy’s Soccer The varsity boy’s soccer team honored seniors Jason Jeong, Eric Roxlo, Vishal Vaidya, Felix Wu, Jeremiah Anderson, Ramzi Jahshan, Brandon Aguilar, Chirag Aswani, Nikhil Kishore and Alan Guo on Feb. 4 before their game against Menlo. The team defeated Menlo by a wscore of 3-1 for the second time in history. The boys ended their season with a 10-4-2 overall record and 7-4-1 league record.

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 13, 2015

IN THE T H G I L T O SP tara parimi & lauren russell

Aquila copy editor & reporter

years of HOSCARS

~17

final acts

30 auditions this year

The Upper School’s annual talent show, dubbed HOSCARS, will be held on March 25 and will feature performances from students across all grade levels. Student council invited all students to sign up to audition for a spot in this year’s HOSCARS via a google form. The audition process is currently ongoing for both performers and the MCs, and student council hopes to incorporate an increased number of acts into the show to match the influx of audition sign-ups. Maya Rai (10) and her friends will be continuing the Bollywood tradition in an all-sophomore number. “I am mostly looking forward to seeing people's reactions to our routine, because it is really funny,” Maya said. “I thought it would a great way to spend time with my friends.” Another act this year includes students from across grade levels, with freshmen Darren Gu, Marcus Chen, and Maxwell Woehrmann, junior Lev Sepetov and seniors Alex Thomas, Vivek Sriram and Jai Ahuja. They will be dancing to the K-pop song “Roly Poly,” by the all-girl group T-ara. “I am most excited to show all my friends how much heart I have put into this dance, as I have been working on this for a long time already,” Darren Gu said. “I definitely would like to participate next year; it's really exciting to prepare for, and a nice way to hang out with your friends when you're practicing.” Student council has formed three committees to prepare for HOSCARS: tech, auditions and decorations/publicity.

LASTING GLORY raveena kapatkar Aquila copy editor

“The faculty dance last year was really funny and it was my favorite act in the show.” Haley Tran (10)

“Eric Anderson’s juggling was amazing.” Leon Chin (12)

“The k-pop group, when they danced to a bunch of k-pop songs. That was my favorite Hoscars moment.” Kristen ko (10)

LOOKING BACK (1) Varun Cherukuri (‘14) dances to Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.” (2) Lydia Werthen (‘13) sings a Simon & Garfunkel song while accompanying herself on the guitar during Hoscars 2013. (3) Riya Godbole (12) beats out a rhythm with a plastic cup while singing a medley of pop tunes, including “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore. (4) Andrew Zhang (12) busts out flips and dance moves, showcasing his agility during Hoscars 2013. (5) Erik Andersen (‘13) juggles his way to a Hoscars prize in 2013. (6) Vincent Lin (‘14) bobs up and down to a k-pop song during Hoscars 2013.

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preview

BACK PAGE HALL OF FAME

ALL PHOTOS - WINGED POST ARCHIVES

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 13, 2015

AUDITIONS (Top Left) Hannah Bollar (12) and Leeza Kuo (12) sing as Glinda and Elphaba from the musical Wicked for their audition. (Bottom Left) Thyne Boonmark (12) accompanies the act on piano. (Middle) Vivian Jou (12) and Harry Xu (12) play violin and clarinet to Wicked’s “Popular.” (Right) Lev Sepetov (11), Alex Thomas (12), Vivek Sriram (12), Darren Gu (9), Maxwell Woehrmann (9) and Marcus Chen (9) dance to “Roly-Poly,” a K-pop song.