ELECTIONS WEDNESDAY, NOV. 16, 2016 | THE HARKER UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER, VOL. 18, NO. 3
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Pulse of the People: Election Memories
NICOLE CHEN
ALEX WANG
aquila features editor
Pulse of the people is part three of a seven-part repeater on social justice or other issues currently relevant to the Harker community. This issue, reporters asked students what they thought the most memorable image or speech this election season was.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
“I think [Clinton’s concession] was the best speech she has ever given, and it was by far the most power and passionate speech of the entire election. She was still able to thank everyone while treating Donald Trump as someone who did win the election but not someone who stands for her beliefs. She still emphasized the idea that we must continue fighting for what we believe is right .” “[I’ll remember] the entire nation screaming yelling, the sight of the Canadian immigration site crashing and everyone trying to move out of the United States.”
ROSE GUAN
NICOLE CHEN
EMILY CHEN JUNIOR
nicole chen
LIZHI “NEMO” YANG SOPHOMORE
“When the Javits Center had a glass ceiling and it was all happy and crowded inside, and then as the day went on more and more people started leaving, it seemed like a very apt metaphor for everything.”
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
SAHANA SRINIVSASAN
Students reflect on memorable moments of the election
NIKHIL MANGLIK SENIOR
“I’ll remember the first map that shows up when you Google search the word ‘polls’ because that’s what I was refreshing off of throughout the night and that’s definitely the image I’ll remember, when I realized that Pennsylvania was turning red.” KELSEY WU SOPHOMORE
ELECTION NIGHT (TOP) Hillary Clinton speaks at the Democratic National Convention. (SECOND) The Canadian immigration website, cic.gc.ca, crashed on election night. (THIRD) The states on this map are colored to represent the winning candidate. (BOTTOM) An election night party for Clinton took place at the Javits Center.
Choosing neither of the above adrian chu
opinion editor
In the 1968 election, George C. Wallace, an American Independent, won five Southern states with his platform of racial segregation. No third-party candidate since has won a state in the presidential election. The two-party system defines the U.S.’s modern democratic fabric. “Third parties have been around for a hundred, two hundred years; very rarely do they get anywhere,” Gary Jacobson, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at UC San Diego, said. “The last time a third party became a second party was in the 1850s, when the Republicans replaced the Whigs. Donald Trump has shown why, and that is if you want to mount an insurgency, it’s easier to take over an existing party than it is to start one on your own.” Third parties gain support by advocating for a platform combining different Democratic and Republican viewpoints or by focusing on issues that the two main parties often neglect. “With Hillary, so many people feel like they know her and if they don’t like her, they already know that, they feel strongly about that,” Surya Yalamanchili, former contestant on The Apprentice and 2010 congressional
candidate, said. “With Trump, it feels like every week, there’s another story or he’s saying something that gives a lot of people more ammunition to dislike him, and as a result of that third party candidates like Jill Stein are getting picked up [and] they’re getting a lot of support.”
“If you want to mount an insurgency, it’s easier to take over an existing party than it is to start one on your own.” GARY JACOBSON PROFESSOR EMIRITIUS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AT THE UNIVESRITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO Gary Johnson, nominee of the Libertarian Party, and Jill Stein, nominee of the Green Party, both competed in the 2012 presidential election. With less than 1.5 percent of the popular vote combined, their influence on the election result was negligible, but due to the increasing disapproval of the two main parties’ presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump,
more people seriously considered third parties at the polls. In the 2016 election, Johns garnered 3% of the popular vote, or over four million votes, and Stein 1%, more than a million votes. In the contentious state of Pennsylvania, with its 20 electoral votes, Johnson earned 2% of the popular vote and Stein 0.9%, according to the Associated Press. Trump won Pennsylvania by a narrow margin of approximately 70 thousand votes, a smaller share of votes than the third party candidates earned. Similarly, in Florida, which was also a closely-fought swing state, Johnson won 2% of the popular vote and Stein 0.7%, according to the Associated Press. The state’s 28 electoral votes went to Trump, who won 49% of the vote compared to Clinton’s 48%. Johnson, former governor of New Mexico, advocates for the legalization of marijuana and is fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Peaking at a popularity of 9.8 percent in June, he lost support while gaining media coverage after asking “What is Aleppo?” in an MSNBC interview. Stein advocates for the elimination of pesticides and genetically modified organisms in agriculture and shares many of the liberal views of the Democratic Party.
KAITLIN HSU
Millions of voters turn to third-party candidates in heated election
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NEWS
VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER 16, 2016
Capitol Hill:
KAILTIN HSU
What You Missed Part three of a seven part series on American politics
The 114th Congress
rose guan & katherine zhang copy editor & asst. STEM edior
Besides the presidential elections, a lesser-known political race on Election Day this year was the election of the Representative of California’s 17th congressional district. California uses a nonpartisan blanket primary, also known as a top-two primary, to elect representatives and senators. This means that all candidates run against each other in the primary no matter their parties, and the top two finishers proceed to the general election. This year, Mike Honda, incumbent since 2001, and Ro Khanna, who ran against and narrowly lost to Honda in 2014, advanced to the general election for representative of the 17th district, which encompasses most of Silicon Valley. Khanna defeated Honda 59.4 percent to 40.6 percent according to SF Gate. Khanna lost by 3.6 percent to Honda in 2014 and garnered more votes than Honda in the primary this year. “The thing about Ro Khanna that I like is he’s extremely qualified, and he seems to be working for the people,” said Alycia Cary (10), a canvasser for Khanna’s campaign. “His grassroots movement really seeks to get major community outreach. He offers a lot of internship opportunities for high school students my age.” Proponents for Honda often cite his long past in Congress, as Khanna has never held a position in the House of Representatives. “The biggest differentiator is that [Honda] has actually served in Congress. He actually
has a track record of legislative accomplishments and legislative priorities,“ said Vedant Patel, the communications director at Honda for Congress. “He’s been an incredibly effective legislator and has a track record of getting things done even in the face of Republican obstructionism.” Although both Honda and Khanna are Democratic, elections for the House of Representatives in more contested districts could influence which party has control of Congress. Congressional control is especially important this election cycle because it could influence the selection of the ninth Supreme Court justice after the death of Antonin Scalia. A majority of the Senate must approve the president’s choice for a new justice after the justice is approved by the 20-member Senate Judiciary Committee. The Republican Party will control the House until January 2017, when the newly elected members this Election Day will be sworn in. The Democratic Party controls 39 of 53 Californian House seats until then. Voters also elected one of two California senators on Nov. 8, following the retirement of junior senator Barbara Boxer of the Democratic Party. The senior senator, Democrat Dianne Feinstein, will remain in office. Senatorial elections in California use the same procedures as representative elections. State attorney general Kamala Harris and Orange County Rep. Loretta Sanchez, both Democratic, advanced to the general election after the primary on June 7, and Harris won. The candidates debated on Oct. 5. “I think people should also
understand that it’s their senators and their representatives that they elect to Congress who are going to have more of a say in what happens in their district, because they control a much smaller portion of the country, and they affect much more of what happens in our daily lives,” Alycia said. Also at stake on Election Day were Propositions 51 through 67, referendums and initiative measures that could lead to actions altering the Constitution of California. California is the only state that uses such ballot propositions. One controversial bill was Proposition 64, which, if ratified, would legalize marijuana for people 21 or older and establish laws and taxes on the cultivation and sale of marijuana. The proposition would allow people over the age of 21 to smoke marijuana in their private homes as well as in businesses that are licensed for on-site marijuana consumption. The bill would not allow people to smoke marijuana in public places or while driving. It also places laws and regulations on the cultivation and possession of marijuana. According to Patel, Honda supports Proposition 64. Khanna has not publicly stated his stance on drug issues. Sanchez has considered implementing a “pilot program” for marijuana reform in California, and Proposition 64 did pass. Although they may not garner as much of a spotlight as the presidential election, local political elections also often prove important, in ways we may least expect.
246 Republicans, and 186 Democrats vacancies 3 88 Women 344 Men
53
California seats in the House
MEENA GUDAPATI
Local races play significant role in American politics
ALL PHOTOS WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Local races play important role in national politics
KHANNGRESS Ro Khanna (pictured above) was one of the candidates competing for for the position of the Representative of California’s 17th congressional district.
HONDA-17 Mike Honda (pictured above) was the other candidate competing for for the position of the Representative of California’s 17th congressional district.
After the election A timeline to the Presidential inauguration
neal sidhu & nerine uyanik reporters
Dec. 13
Nov. 8
In order to ensure legitimacy of the electoral votes they will give to Congress, states must resolve any controversies over recounts or the chosen electors by this date. Otherwise, the electoral votes of that state will not be deemed valid.
Each state’s appointed electors meet and vote on their choices for president and vice president. Many states do not have to follow the popular vote of their state by law but are ex-
ALL PHOTOS WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
This date is national Election Day. Registered voters casted their votes for president and vice president of the United States. Voting also determined if the electors who are chosen to represent each state in the Electoral College system have more liberal or conservative views.
Dec. 19
Dec. 28 The vice president and the archivist are expected to receive the electoral votes a maximum of nine days after the electors meet. If states refuse to share the results of their voting, no legal action will be taken against them.
Jan. 6
Jan. 20 Once the president and vice president have been determined, the oath of office is administered to the vice president-elect and then to the president-elect. Both the president and the vice president begin their terms at noon.
Congress meets in a joint session to count the electoral votes the states have presented. Current vice president Joe Biden, who is also the president of the Senate, presides over the counting and announces the result of the electoral vote. If no presidential candidate receives an absolute majority, or 270 electoral votes, the House of Representatives will choose the president from among the three highest-voted candidates by a majority vote, according to the 12th Amendment.
Jan. 3 The secretary of the Senate and the clerk of the House meet with the archivist and representatives from the Office of Federal Register. This is more of a ceremonial meeting than an official one. Other, informal meetings are usually organized beforehand, to discuss certain arrangements.
OPINION
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Our shared future trumps the past
Talk
Around
Whatever our political opinions, we need unity and communicating going forward
Campus
eric fang reporter
Jay Paranjpe (12)
ERIC FANG
“I think it would be nice to lower 15 percent national vote bar to be in the debates because debates show a lot about the candidates, so if we saw more third party candidates, there will be a cause and effect where with enough exposure, third party candidates will have a larger pull on the election.”
Lauren Russell (11)
ERIC FANG
“I think that what’s important is for everyone to follow the process because this system has worked in this country for quite a while now and I don’t think that there is a huge problem with it. I think that it is important that it is just followed and treated with respect.”
Clifford Hull World History and Latin teacher
ERIC FANG
“I think a problem would be how during the nominating process, superdelegates have two votes whereas people like you and I only have one vote, the fact that these superdelegates get to vote twice, is in my opinion, extremely unfair.”
Nakul Bajaj (9)
ERIC FANG
Miriam Allersma Physics Teacher “I think the electoral process should not last as long. We should be more like countries such as England where it is only 2 months and it’s over.”
“I would change the fact that just because a state gets the majority of electoral votes going to a specific candidate doesn’t mean that all the electoral votes should go to that one candidate.”
EDITORIAL THE OFFICIAL OPINION OF THE WINGED POST Tuesday night, the majority of our editorial staff stood around a television in the journalism room and watched in shock and disbelief as CNN projected that Donald Trump would be our next president. It’s an overgeneralization to say that our community is completely Democratic, or completely against Trump. But, the majority of our population is comprised of people of
color, children of immigrants and LGBTQIA+ folks, all of whom have at one point or another been on the receiving end of Trump’s outspoken rhetoric policy positions. For many of us, this is a hard time to feel hopeful about the future. For many of us, this is a hard time to feel safe. The vast majority of the students at this school didn’t have the opportunity to vote, but we’re the ones who will live longest with the consequences of this election. But here’s the thing Donald Trump will be our president for the next four years, whether that’s cause for celebration or fear. There’s nothing we can do
to change that now. For a lot of our community, this is a time to grieve, and that’s valid. There’s a lot to be said for the importance of safe spaces for marginalized groups. At the same time, this is, more than ever, a time
“Anger and outrage on either side is unproductive. We couldn’t vote in this election, but we do have a say in what happens next. The only way forward is together. ”
VIJAY BHARADWAJ
ECHO OUTRAGE After a divisive result to the election, it’s tempting to retreat to the media echo chambers that created this division. Whether we are grieving or celebrating this result, the time is now to communicate with those who don’t share our beliefs.
There’s a fine line between a safe space and an echo chamber, and it is a lack of exposure to others’ views that primarily caused the hateful rhetoric and virulent polarization of this election cycle. Donald Trump will be our president for the next four years. The results of this election are our reality now, and anger and outrage and accusations on either side are unproductive. We couldn’t vote in this election, but we do have a say in what happens next. The only way forward is together.
to reach out to and communicate with those who don’t share our views.
Decoding the political lying game Voters and politicians must check the bias of their own experiences with evidence
maya kumar features editor
As someone who has the opportunity to voice my opinions on the election publicly, I have a moral responsibility to not let my gut reaction overpower my world view and to hold all candidates to the same standard. Unfortunately, throughout this election season, candidates have spread lies to support their points of view. Completely unsubstantiated claims often become commonly held notions just based on the sheer number of times that candidates and their surrogates repeat them in interviews and speeches. This phenomenon calls into question the validity of actual facts and statistics. For example, despite the fact that the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the current unemployment rate across the country is five percent, Trump has claimed a variety of numbers ranging from 28 to 42 percent. It can be hard to differentiate between fact and feeling when politicians themselves carelessly use the words “I feel” when stating mere hopeful speculations. We cannot base our decisions off of what we feel to be true because this country is too large and diverse to generalize into one experience, and in many ways that’s the beauty of it. Fake statistics may be reassuring, but we must look beyond our own limited points of view. I can’t pretend to understand the plight of every single American, so instead of assuming that how I feel and what I see around me translates into
reality, I have to use facts as the underpinning of my opinions. Examining your biases is one huge step towards maintaining this base of truth. Consider the reasons that people supporting a different candidate than you support that candidate. It can be easy to dismiss them as “deplorables,” but reality is never that simple. Candidates garner support by addressing real problems that people face. While we may not agree with the solutions
“I can’t pretend to understand the plight of every single American, so instead of assuming that how I feel and what I see around me translates into reality, I have to use facts as the underpinning of my opinions.” given, dismissing those problems altogether is counterproductive. We also need to be able to call candidates out on their lies, especially when we support them. Candidates need to know that voters expect them to be
STATS FROM POLITIFACT.COM
honest, but if we allow lying to benefit them, then they will keep doing it. We can’t truly blame a candidate for doing something that we allow them to do. Throughout the election season, Fact checkers have been frequently criticized for being too partisan, purely because people don’t want to believe that their candidate is flawed. Ultimately, facts are not like opinions. They literally cannot be biased because then they would no longer be factual. With only two realistic options, it’s highly unlikely that everyone will truly agree with everything that either candidate says. It is important to recognize where your opinions differ with the candidate you support so that you aren’t under the illusion that they are infallible, because no candidate is. It’s easy to fall for the politician who tells us what we want to hear and reinforces our existing biases, but we voters need to do more than expect charisma and relatability. We must demand accuracy because now that the election is over, Donald Trump doesn’t get to deal with a world of convenient inaccuracies. He has to deal with reality.
MEENA GUDAPATI
YESON62.COM
ERIC FANG
What is one thing you would change in the electoral process?
Proposition talk: Time to abolish the death penalty
justin su sports editor
This election cycle, the death penalty was on the ballot for fellow Californians to vote on. While is seems like a good idea on the surface level to save this as an option for mass murderers, the death penalty is unviable and complicated on many levels. Pro-death penalty supporters would make the argument that it saves money, however the death penalty actually wastes a lot more money than it saves. First, those sentenced to the death penalty will usually be on death row for at least twenty years. Many inmates die in death row rather than actually be executed. During those years, the lawyers of those inmates will be filing for many appeals to try and get them out of death row, which wastes a lot of the court’s time and ends up costing more money than just keeping them in life in prison. Finally, executing innocent people has occurred in the past. Someone in life for prison can eventually be pardoned or paroled if found innocent, which sucks, but at least they’re still alive. An innocent dead man is still a dead man. The death penalty is outdated and inefficient as the DMV and no place in our criminal justice system.
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in the
Third-party votes: free expression or spoiler candidates? rose guan
REARVIEW MIRROR
Voter breakdown by demographic
M is s ed lennials
Men
White
Latino
Women
Black
Asian
What are politicians leaving out that matters to you?
“College” “climate change” “not being imperialist” “corruption in politics”
Political youth movements spring up on either side of the aisle neil bai aquila copy editor
The youth vote has greatly influenced the election through raising concerns on several issues, and their opinions have gained more exposure than past years due to the growing prevalence of social media. The youth consists of adults ages 18-24 and compose 18 percent of the electorate. They have participated in elections since the ratification of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. With social media becoming more prevalent in the election, candidates increasingly try to reach out to millennials to gain their vote. “I think [social media is] kind of valuable so everyone knows what’s going on,” Jack Dawson (10) said. “In this era, social media is people’s lives, so it’s checked daily and everyone knows what’s happening.” Social media has also publicized groups like the Bernie Bros and the alt-right who use sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Reddit to attack other candidates and attract attention, often starting online debates in comment sections. “[Bernie’s] policies seem very radical to some, but in my opinion those are needed in this society, especially on education reform and the environment,” Sumi Wadhwa (11) said. “He embraces them and that spoke to a lot of millennials and are living in this era, where the economy is kind of screwed up, and I kind of think that he kind of spoke to us and found a message in us that was really impressive.” The term “Bernie Bros” describes a section of young white males supporting Bernie Sanders who make hostile and sexist
remarks about Hillary Clinton online. Online news websites criticized Bernie Bros for greatly damaging Sanders’ campaign such as in a Washington Post article titled “The Bernie Bros are out in full force harassing female reporters.” Sanders himself condemned Bernie Bros saying that they did not reflect his campaign’s ideals. On the Republican side, the alt-right, a segment of conservatives that do not follow typical and generally accepted conservative values, have mainly supported Trump this election and have similarly been accused of making offensive remarks online attacking Clinton. Though not exclusively comprised of youth voters, the group associates itself with ideology such as Islamophobia, nativism, antifeminism and white supremacy and attracted many young white males. alt-right users often use memes such as “Pepe the Frog” to express their beliefs, some of which have attracted media attention. “Disregarding and attacking millions of supporters is not the way to win this election,” Jay Paranjpe(12) said. “The alt-right and Bernie Bros just trolling online may be making themselves feel better, but in the end [I think] they’re gonna be the reason their candidates lose.” While Bernie Bros and the Alt-right are more extreme examples of the youth’s negativity towards the election, according to Child Trends, a nonprofit research organization, voting turnout of youth ages 18-24 declined from 44% to 38% in between 2008 and 2012 and is expected to continue trending downwards this election because many believe that their votes don’t make a noticeable difference in politics.
“cybersecurity”
STATS FROM CNN
“wealth gap” SHOCK TO THE WORLD Trump’s victory was a massive upset in part because almost every predictive outlet pre-election presented favorable odds for Clinton. This graph, compiled with data from fivethirtyeight.com, shows how unlikely a Trump presidency seemed throughout the
“LGBTQIA+ issues” “everything” “technology”
Election process sparks disillusionment MEILAN
MILLENNIAL BREAKDOWN The voter base that won Trump the election was overwhelmingly older. As seen in the map to the left, the vast majority of millennials voted for Clinton. Having to live the longest with the consequences of a president who was so unpopular in their demographic has left many millennials feeling disenfranchised.
STEIMLE
What do you think?
OUT OF 161 RESPONSES
the harker community’s political OPINIONs IF YOU COULD VOTE IN THE 2016 ELECTION, WHO WOULD YOU HAVE VOTED FOR?
ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW PRESIDENTIAL DO YOU THINK clinton’s conduct was?
How do you feel about the current political system? Do you feel that the current presidential candidates accurately reflect the interests of your generation?
what is your party affiliation?
Would you or did you protest vote?
ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW PRESIDENTIAL DO YOU THINK trump’s conduct was?
nicole chen & michael sikand aquila features editor & social media editor
In an upset of almost every preliminary forecast, Donald Trump was elected president last Tuesday, in completion to a long and contentious election season. According to a CBS/New York Times poll, both Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump had the highest unfavorability percentages of 52 and 57 percent, respectively, since 1984, when CBS began polling voters. Robert Varich, vice chair of the the executive committee of the Santa Clara Republican Party, believes that the disillusionment and low approval ratings come from a sense of frustration. “On one hand, the Democratic candidate was crowned early, and it was the only choice the democrats really had,” he said. “On the Republican side, people were just frustrated by all the things that were being implemented without compromise.” The disillusionment that may have caused such low approval ratings extends even more to youth. An article in the Portland Press Herald mentioned that a poll of people ages 18 to 30 showed that 90 percent felt the American political system was “broken.” This feeling of a political disillusionment among youth reached its crux in July, when anti-institution, democratic millennial favorite Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont dropped out of the race in the wake of controversy regarding the Democratic National Committee (DNC). “I think it’s probably going to lead to be an uprising of [millennials]. There will be a Sanders candidate in four years, and there better not be any collusion of any political parties to make that person be squashed,” Varich said. “I think it changed some of the things that Secretary Clinton was talking about because
she saw how important it was to Sanders voters.” After emails were leaked and published from officials in the DNC revealing bias against Sanders and his campaign, it led to the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Schultz from the chair of the committee. “Sure [Bernie Sander’s] policies seemed very radical to some, but in my opinion those are needed in this society, especially on education reform and the environmental issue, those were things that some other politicians drew away from, but he instead embraced them and that spoke to a lot of millennials,” Bernie Sanders supporter, Sumi Wadhwa (11) said. “I think it was really unfortunate the way that everything turned out, especially with the DNC and everything that happened, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, this whole thing against him from the beginning, I thought this was a horrible way, because its democracy its for the people it’s by
“If you are just cynical without knowing anything, I don’t think that disillusionment is the right word, so that many young American supprters have engaged during the primaries is unusual actually.” DAMON HALBACK MODERN WORLD AFFAIRS AND ECONOMICS TEACHER the people but by doing this they proved otherwise.” The controversy that surrounded the DNC affair over the summer led many millennials to evaluate the election system’s effectiveness and integrity, contributing even more to existing
disillusioned feelings of a dysfunctional, in transparent government. “I think this election is proof that our system is far from perfect and very flawed and can really have bias and tendencies to sway in the wrong direction,” Clinton campaign member Haris Hosseini (10) said. “This election has been an enormous disappointment, in terms of [Sanders] supporters, [Clinton] supporters and probably even Trump supporters too. I think it’s the most exhausting election cycle in American history.” The growing emphasis on the relationship between candidates and their supporters also creates opportunity for a pessimistic campaigning system. “While young people were motivated and are still motivated for some campaigns, I think that the way the politics have turned to become so personal and less policy-oriented has lifted a veil for a lot of our youth,” AP U.S. Government and Politics teacher Carol Green said. “[Students] immediately go to hating on personalities or go to thinking that it’s such a broken system that can’t be fixed, so I think in looking at all the negative campaigning on both sides, it’s just something negative and nasty, and people just don’t want to embrace that.” Even in the midst of disillusionment and dissatisfaction, young people have shown a higher degree of engagement than ever before in this election cycle, contributing to a more widespread and shared political experience among all ages. “I would say that this group is more engaged, disillusionment implies that there was illusionment at one point, and what I mean by that is that you would have to have been engaged at some point to be disillusioned,” said modern world affairs and AP economics and history teacher Damon Halback. “If you are just cynical without knowing anything, I don’t think that disil-
THE DAILY TIMES
Montgomery, Alabama
THE MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER
Who chose the White House?
With historically low approval ratings for both the Democratic and the Republican presidential candidates this election, many voters dissatisfied with both candidates turned to protest voting as a way to express their malcontent with the current political system. Protest voters deliberately vote for candidates with very low chances of winning, for ineligible candidates or for no one at all. In the U.S., the first category usually includes most third-party candidates. Enough people protest voting can create a statistically significant result that could alert others to their estrangement from the political system or from the candidates more likely to win, but since 1972, the first year that state primaries in the U.S. became widespread, no third-party presidential candidate has received more than one electoral vote. “Third parties have, while winning votes in some elections, have never really succeeded,” said Gary Jacobson, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at UC San Diego. “Donald Trump has shown why, and that is if you want to mount an insurgency, it’s easier to take over an existing party than it is to start one on your own.” It is difficult to distinguish between abstention from voting as protest and abstention from voting due to apathy towards the election, but despite this seeming lack of impact, protest voting can tip the balance in swing states by drawing support away from mostly one candidate. “Some people would contend that George Bush was elected in 2000 by virtue of many people taking their votes over to Ralph Nader,” history teacher Mark Janda said. “That obviously has had an impact on American history.”
Missoula, Montana
THE MISSOULIAN
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
copy editor
On the road to the White House, some get left behind
“civility”
Salisbury, Maryland
Albuquerque, New Mexico
lusionment is the right word, so that many young American supporters have engaged in during the primaries is unusual actually, and points to a higher degree of interest in political affairs than previous voting cohorts, where there is apathy, I think disillusion is quite different from apathy.”
“I think the best way for young people who can’t vote yet to influence voting is just to keep talking, keep researching, keep making sure you’re informed.”
THE ALBURQUERQUE JOURNAL
VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER 16, 2016
Casper, Wyoming
SHANNON HONG (‘16) CLINTON CAMPAIGN CORRESPONDENCE INTERN Even though young voters may feel misrepresented and disillusioned, there are ways in which young people can contribute to the political process that do not involve voting. “I was like ‘I’m going to speak even though I can’t vote,’ so I think that’s the best way for young people who can’t vote yet to influence voting, is just to keep talking, keep researching, making sure you’re informed, I think that’s the most important thing because it’s about making informed decisions,” Clinton campaign correspondence intern Shannon Hong (‘16) said. “You [also] can’t let the facts get in the way of your humanity. Even if you believe you are right, you can’t convince people unless you understand that they too are human, and they too believe in the facts that they see, and the only way to convince people or to create compromise or to create change is to bring people together.”
THE CASPER STAR TRIBUNE
DOUBLETRUCK
Medford, Oregon
THE MAIL TRIBUNE
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FEATURES
VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER 16, 2016
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Current students and alumni focus efforts on local and national campaigns nicole chen Aquila features editor
Behind every great candidate is a crowd of volunteers. Many upper school students came out during the 2016 elections to take on leadership roles in political campaigns ranging from the local to the national level. Students and alumni participated in organizing and campaigning for candidates, calling potential voters and knocking on doors to raise awareness.
YOU KHANNA DO IT Alycia Cary (10) helped with Ro Khanna’s campaign for California’s 17th Congressional District Seat, which encompasses Silicon Valley. Ro Khanna defeated incumbent Mike Honda and will take office on Jan 3.
PROVIDED BY ALYCIA CARY
Alycia Cary
Alycia Cary (10) started volunteering for Ro Khanna’s campaign in the summer. Alycia is involved with educating the community on what Khanna supports and believes in. As a volunteer student, she also knocks on doors and calls local numbers. “I’ve taken a leadership role in the campaign, and I try to get people out volunteering or canvassing, which is where we try to knock on people’s doors and try to get the word out about his campaign,” Alycia said. Alycia volunteers for cam-
paigns because she wants to benefit the community by publicly representing candidates that she believes will create positive change. “I think it’s really great to be able to make a difference in my community even though I can’t vote yet,” Alycia said. “Just by getting the ideas out of the candidate who I support and whose ideals I align with [and] whose issues I support, that’s been really helpful. Also, learning how to get a message in order to convince people of it has been really great.”
Shannon Hong (‘16) serves as a correspondents intern for the Clinton campaign. Her job entailed her categorizing and responding to the correspondents that visit the campaign. “We finally have the option to elect the first woman president ever [and] in my perspective, someone who’s amazing [and] who is the most qualified person to run,” Shannon said prior to the election. Shannon officially became part of the campaign in late May of this year and spent her summer
in Philadelphia as a special projects intern for supporter housing, working to provide staff with respective housing. She recently decided to defer a semester at University of California, Berkeley to become a correspondents intern for the campaign in New York. Prior to her participation in the Clinton campaign, her involvement in political campaigns included making phone calls on behalf of the Obama campaign when president Barack Obama was running for reelection.
STRONGER TOGETHER Shannon Hong (‘16) deferred a semester at UC Berkeley to work as a correspondents intern for Clinton’s campaign in New York. Shannon also participated in Obama’s campaign.
PROVIDED BY SHANNON HONG
Shannon Hong
I’M WITH HER Haris Hosseini (10) poses next to a cardboard cutout of Clinton. Haris worked for Clinton’s campaign for about three months.
PROVIDED BY HARIS HOSSEINI
Haris Hosseini
Haris Hosseini (10) actively campaigned on behalf of the Clinton campaign. Haris started working for Clinton through exploring her campaign’s website and talking to family and friends who have been previously involved. He has been aiding the campaign for approximately three months; however, he only continued to be more involved the past few weeks, with the approaching presidential election. He attended a fundraiser for Clinton in Palo Alto and called local numbers to gain support for Clinton.
Haris enjoys involvement in campaigns because he has learned a lot about the government and general election process. “[I did it] just to know more about the way our government works and just how important it is to vote and how important it is to make your voice heard,” Haris said. Haris admires Clinton’s policies in terms of minority rights and education as well as her previous work in the government. “I think she’s always fought for what’s right in terms of women, children [and] education,” Haris said prior to the election.
Propositions Demystified: what are you voting on? ALL PHOTOS WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
nisha shankar reporter
The Nov. 8 ballot for the Santa Clara County contained 17 propositions numbered 51 through 67, and the voters selected yes or no to approve or reject the respective proposition.
PROPS IN CALIFORNIA THAT PASSED
Californians voted: • YES on Prop 51 • YES on Prop 52 • YES on Prop 54 • YES on Prop 55 • YES on Prop 56 • YES on Prop 57 • YES on Prop 58 • YES on Prop 59 • YES on Prop 63 • YES on Prop 64 • YES on Prop 66 • YES on Prop 67
Proposition 56 suggests increasing the cost of cigarettes by $2 per pack. The tax will yield $1 to $1.4 billion in the 2017-18 financial year. The money will go to funding health care, preventing of tobacco use, research and law enforcement. “I am hoping that increasing the cost of a pack of cigarettes will make those people who are just wanting to start or the casual smokers say “Hey, it is not worth it”, Clare Elchert, upper school nurse, said. “Hopefully there will be education and cessation programs to help those who are already smokers.”
Proposition 67 will uphold the ban of single-use plastic bags. Currently, grocery stores and pharmacies can only issue recycled paper bags and reusable bags at a charge of 10 cents per bag. Customers can bring their own reusable bag if they wish. “Personally in our store, we give you five cents off for every reusable bag that you do bring. So, you can even pay for a bag that is paper and then bring it back two times,” said Devin Mitchell, Guest Service Team Lead (GSTL) at Target in Cupertino. “I would vote to keep it just because in my opinion, it just does not make that much of a difference in our community.”
Proposition 62 replaces the death penalty with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. This will decrease the criminal justice cost by around $150 million annually. “I do not disagree with it, only because [there have been] a lot of people who have been sentenced to death penalty, and a lot of those sentences have never been actually taken to the full extent of seeing it through,” upper school history teacher Roxana Pianko said. Another proposition also passed addresses the death penalty. Proposition 66 requires changes to the existing process for appeals such as time limits on those appeals.
The state has passed Proposition 64 on the Nov. 8 ballot, which legalizes marijuana for recreational use for adults 21 or older. Now the state can tax businesses that would then be allowed to grow non-medical marijuana, resulting in tax revenues of over $1 billion. This money would be used for law enforcement, environmental production and youth programs. “My opinion is that [marijuana] should be legal,” said Tiffany Gelineau, substitute nurse for the lower, middle and upper school campuses. “That way it should be legal for people who are 21 and older who can use it, hopefully responsibly.”
STEM
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VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER 16, 2016
UNEARTHING THE ROOTS OF CHANGE Clinton and Trump take different stances on STEM issues and climate change during campaigns ruhi sayana & tiffany wong Winged Post copy editor & Aquila copy editor
President-elect Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have maintained significantly different views on a number of topics this election, including climate change and energy usage in the United States. While countries worldwide have relied on fossil fuels to provide power for their people since the 18th century, climate change has only recently become a major topic of discussion for political leaders around the world. Trump and Clinton did not analyze climate change’s impacts on the welfare of the planet in this year’s three presidential debates and did not address either the United States’ increasing energy usage or the country’s growing dependence on foreign sources of oil. Such lack of focus on climate change and its impacts on both national and international interests worries members of the scientific community. Dr. Benjamin Santer, climate researcher at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and a 1998 recipient of
the MacArthur Fellowship for his research about human activity and its relation to global warming, believes the absence of discussion between Trump and Clinton about climate change may lead to more serious problems for the world in the future. “Given the stark difference in the positions [of climate change] of the two candidates, it was very disappointing that no specific question on the economic and policy responses to this very serious problem was posed to them,” Dr. Santer said in a phone interview. “It’s imperative that we do something about [climate change] because there’s a narrow window of opportunity to nudge societies onto a more sustainable pathway.” Although they did not address global warming in the three presidential debates, both Trump and Clinton have taken stances on global warming. Trump, echoing the sentiment of his party, supports the reopening of coal mines to put coal miners back into business. The president-elect has also expressed his opposition to the Paris Agreement, a treaty aimed at addressing the impacts of climate change on the global environment that
was ratified by 84 countries at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Dr. Santer believes Trump’s resistance towards an international effort to resolving problems related to climate change, as well as his labelling of global warming as a “hoax” and a “conspiracy,” can influence Americans’ views of climate change.
“If they use intemperate language to incorrectly describe scientific understanding of human effects on climate and climate science in general, they poison the well.” DR. BENJAMIN SANTER CLIMATE RESEARCHER AT THE LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY
“In my opinion, politicians have a privileged position. They are capable of making decisions that affect millions of people—arguably, billions of people when it comes to
Atmospheric C02 levels globally increased by 40.2 parts per million in September 2016.
OTHER ISSUES IN CONTENTION DURING CAMPAIGNS VACCINES
In 2008, Clinton was one of the many Americans speculating about a possible link between vaccines and autism. In response to a questionnaire from the online newspaper the Age of Autism, Clinton stated that she is “committed to make investments to find the causes of autism, including possible environmental causes like vaccines.” Since then, she has pledged to fund research into child brain development.
The U.S. has consumed 40,392 BTU of energy across the residential, commercial, industrial and transportation sectors this year.
Trump’s stance on vaccination, especially for children, historically has categorized him into both the pro- and anti- groups relating to the issue. However, Trump believes he should not be labelled as a person opposed to vaccinations, stated that he is not anti-vaccine, but is “against shooting massive doses into tiny children.” He plans to support vaccination as President of the United States.
dealing with climate change and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases,” Dr. Santer said. “If they use intemperate language to incorrectly describe scientific understanding of human effects on climate and climate science in general, they poison the well.” Similarly to Trump, Clinton believes the United States should continue using fossil fuels as a source of power, but she also wants to increase the country’s reliance on sources of renewable energy, a development she sees as an opportunity to create “millions of new jobs and businesses” for Americans. Had she won the election, Clinton pledged to install half a billion solar panels to power U.S. homes by the end of her first term as President. In response to the need to reduce both the country’s energy usage and impacts on climate change, cities across the United States have begun to implement policies aimed towards improving the state of the environment.Among Bay Area cities, Fremont has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020 and Palo Alto purchases electricity only from renewable energy sources.
Amount of ice in the Arctic Sea has decreased by 13.3 percent in the past decade.
STEM EDUCATION
Clinton has vocalized her support of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs for K-12 schools and considers exposing young children to computer science and coding to be the most important part of raising a new generation of tech-savvy adults. An extension of President Obama’s “Computer Science for All” initiative, the Clinton campaign pledges to “provide every public school
student with access to education in computer science.” President-elect Donald Trump states that there are “a host of STEM programs already in existence” and plans to reduce funding for the Department of Education. Trump has stated that the Common Core Standards Initiative, an educational program designed to set standards for K-12 reading and math, is a “total disaster.”
PUBLIC HEALTH *All information from NASA and EIA
Trump has firmly asserted his disapproval of Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, a healthcare policy enacted by President Obama in March 2010. Citing “greater rationing of care, higher premiums, less competition and fewer choices [for patients],” Trump plans to repeal Obamacare completely and institute a new health plan that
will “broaden healthcare access, make healthcare more affordable and improve the quality of the care available to all Americans.” “Obamacare is a total disaster. Hillary Clinton wants to save it by making it even more expensive. Doesn’t work, I will REPEAL AND REPLACE!” Trump tweeted on Nov. 3.
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BACK PAGE
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VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER 16, 2016
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AT THE POLLS editor-in-chief
A car horn blares in the parking lot, shattering the silence of the crisp, cool morning air as a BMW fails to start. The parking lot of Southwest YMCA in Saratoga is filled, more crowded than it usually is at 6:45 a.m. on a Tuesday. Moving past the gates to the facility, the sounds of cars on their way to school die down. The smell of wet grass permeates the air. All the windows on the journey into the gym are dark, the outlines of elliptical machines and treadmills barely visible behind the glass. Plastered over every navy blue pole, leading the way for future voters, are signs in different languages, all repeating the same word: “Vote.” Slowly, as the clock edges closer to 7 o’clock, the barely existent line of people trickling through the gate becomes a steady stream. They gather outside a door with peeling white paint next to the basketball court, forming a line wrapping
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I VOTED! Alex Youn (12) walks out of the building after voting for the first time.
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STEPPING PAST THE GATES Alex walks into the Southwest YMCA of Saratoga, where voting is held.
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FOCUS A woman votes at a voting booth in the last few hours before the polls closed.
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STAR SPANGLED BANNER Alex ruminates upon the voting process, an American flag in the background.
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ALMOST THERE Alex and another voter wait outside the voting room.
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around the beaten-up white hoop. The two people at the front of the line, a middle-aged Caucasian man in a blue shirt and an Indian woman in a pink dress, stand silently, occasionally rifling through the documents in their hands. In the next five minutes, the line of five becomes a line of thirteen, all middle-aged adults except for an Asian teenage male standing with arms crossed at the end of the line. Alex Youn (12), a Harker student who just turned 18 this summer, stands in pensive silence, staring straight ahead before looking down to check his phone as he waits to cast his vote for the first time. Two young women spot each other, their greetings echoing across the silent court as they join the silent line behind Alex. The dull murmur of voices fades away again. Everyone waits. At exactly 7 o’clock, a voice calls from the dimly lit room. Everyone, including Alex, turns to face the door. “The polls are now open.”
VOTING STARTS HERE A voting sign displays instructions in eight languages – English, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Hindi, Thai, Korean, and Japanese.
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VOTER VERIFICATION Volunteers at Westmont High School sign in voters.
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A BREAK IN TENSION A voter at Westmont High School talks to other voters as he fills out forms to prepare to vote.
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7 ALL PHOTOS HEIDI ZHANG AND KSHITHIJA MULAM
kshithija mulam