Winged Post Volume 18, Issue 5 by Harker Aquila

WINGED POST TUESDAY, FEB. 21, 2017 | THE HARKER UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER, VOL. 18, NO. 5

WHAT’S INSIDE? Watermark A3 Protests A4-A5 Meatless Mondays A8 Dance Show B8

| www.harkeraquila.com

“FIGHT FOR EVERYONE’S RIGHTS” Trump’s first 30 days marked by protests, executive orders

AP Studio Art students display work tomorrow

ART FOR ALL Sarisha Kurup’s (12) collage, charcoal and acyclic on canvas board, “Love Stories,” will be one of the works displayed.

kshithija mulam editor-in-chief

AP Studio Art students will display their artwork in their annual exhibition tomorrow in Nichols Atrium. Students will showcase selections of their artwork specific to the concentration that they have been working on for the past academic year.

SOFIE KASSARAS

Freshmen elect Honor Council representatives

ELECTION TIME Freshmen vote for their new Honor Council representatives in the journalism room on Feb. 6. Honor Counil added two new freshman members.

sofie kassaras reporter

ALL PHOTOS MEILAN STEIMLE

New freshman Honor Council representatives, Jin Tuan and Simar Bajaj, were voted in before the break. “The main role [of Honor Council] is to uphold the Honor Code in every way. Part of that is education and outreach and just maintaining a presence of honor on the campus,” Samuel Lepler, the Honor Council faculty chair, said.

KSHITHIJA MULAM

Admin: throw away your trash, don’t skate here

TRASH TROUBLES Students leave behind trash after lunch in Manzanita. Dean Kevin Williamson sent out a reminder to students to clean up after themselves.

anjay saklecha sports editor

Upper School Dean of Students Kevin Williamson sent out an email to students regarding transportation safety and general cleanliness of the campus before the break. “Skateboards, scooters, bikes and other similar modes of transportation are not permitted to be used on school property,” Williamson wrote in the email. “Please walk alongside or carry them once on campus.” These items should additionally never be left unattended; bikes should be locked at the bike rack and smaller items should be left in lockers or with teachers. Williamson also reminded students to not take utensils and other silverware out of Manzanita Hall unless visiting a teacher.

NO BAN, NO WALL (TOP) Thousands of protestors gathered in the San Francisco UN Plaza to peacefully protest President Trump’s immigration bans. (FAR LEFT) Three generations protest together. (FAR RIGHT) Sumati Wadhwa (11) chants at the protest. (BOTTOM MIDDLE) A woman stands below Yemen’s flag. (BOTTOM RIGHT) Protestors chant in unison, “No ban, no wall, sanctuary for all.”

michael sikand & rose guan Aquila social media editor & copy editor

Protesters across the nation and around the world have gathered to campaign for and against a variety of causes, from gender equality and environmentalism to abortion and immigration, in the weeks since President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. More than five million people worldwide and one million in Washington, D.C., participated in Women’s Marches advocating for gender equality on Jan. 21. The demonstrations were organized to campaign for diversity, inclusion and human rights, according to the Washington rally’s website. “It was this amazing energy. It was infectious—the signs, the hats, everyone crammed into the metro together, people helping each other,” history teacher and FEM Club advisor Donna Gilbert, who participated in the Washington march, said. “It was this incredible, collegial spirit and positive energy. I didn’t get the sense that there was anger or hostility; it was this amazing,

positive outpouring.” Local sister marches took place in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland. FEM Club activities coordinator Neymika Jain (12) attended the march in San Francisco.

“It was this amazing energy. It was infectious -- the signs, the hats, everyone crammed into the Metro together, people helping each other.” DONNA GILBERT HISTORY DEPARTMENT CHAIR, FEM CLUB ADVISOR & PARTICIPANT IN WOMEN’S MARCH ON WASHINGTON “Overall, it was really positive and peaceful,” Neymika said. “While I was leaving, I saw many more people coming, so it was really interesting to me because I realized that this movement is much larger than just myself, and it made me want to

participate even more.” Even since Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election on Nov. 8, citizens on all sides of the many contentious topics up for debate have assembled to demonstrate for their causes. Rallies and protests along with the Women’s Marches include boycotts of the inauguration and those advocating against the likes of the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline site in North Dakota, Trump’s plans to build a wall at the country’s southern border and his temporary ban on immigration for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries. Tuvya Bergson-Michelson, a sophomore at Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco, participated in a walkout at his high school two days after the election and demonstrated at San Francisco International Airport on Jan. 28 and Jan. 29 to protest the detaining of passengers because of Trump’s immigration ban. “A lot of people I know are scared right now. I’m scared right now about what our future holds as a country,” Tuvya said. “To be able to go out and actually do something that feels produc-

tive and respond to and share how we’re feeling feels really empowering, especially because you’re doing it with so many other people. When we walked out of school, people walking down the street were stopping, taking pictures of us, giving us water bottles.” History teacher Andrea Milius both participated in a Women’s March and joined the protest at the airport. “I protested at the Women’s March in SF, so that was actually a night march. It started at 3 and ended at 8,” Milius said. “On Sunday, because I was really upset against that executive order, I went to the protest at the airport.” Seniors Vedaad Shakib and Marina Newman and junior Sumati “Sumi” Wadhwa attended the No Ban, No Wall march in San Francisco on Feb. 4. “I loved listening to the speakers and it wasn’t daunting at all,” Marina said.” If you go to a protest, there’s all this media coverage about people who do anti-protests and violent outbursts, but there was nothing like that. It was peaceful and it was beautiful.” Continued on A4-A5...

NEWS

VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 21, 2017

Capitol Hill:

even part series on American politics

SAHANA SRINIVASAN

Part ﬁve of a seven part series on American politics

TRUMP VS MEDIA: Media’s role shifts in the Trump administration

ing battle. If he picks journalists as the worst people in the world, he’s not cut out to be president.” Trump claimed during a speech at the CIA on Jan. 21 that journalists falsely reported the size of his inauguration crowd, declaring that 1.5 million people had attended his inauguration as opposed to journalists’ and photography analysts’ estimates of at most 900,000 people. Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, backed Trump’s statements in a press briefing on Jan. 23. “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period,” Spicer wrote in the briefing. “This was also the first time that fencing and magnetometers went as far back on the Mall.” Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist and senior counselor, has also made public statements against the press. “The media is the opposition party,” Bannon said in an interview with The New York Times on Jan. 26. “They don’t understand this country. They still don’t understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.” While the relationship between Trump and the press is tense, Chase attributes this to the administration disliking the media’s exploration of certain sensitive topics. “[The relationship between Trump and the press] is a pretty lousy relationship,” Chase said. “It’s supposed to be an adversarial relationship, not a negative one, but it’s the media’s job to ask questions and find out

ashley jiang & nicole chen photo editor & aquila features editor

The role of the press shifts with the inauguration of President Donald Trump as he and his administration have made numerous accusations of the media’s reporting unreliably and releasing fake news. “We are mainly concerned about the way Trump, both as a candidate and now as president along with senior officials and his administration, have been speaking about the press,” said Courtney Radsch, advocacy director for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). “We’ve seen a sharp deterioration in the United States of press freedom, so President Trump and his administration officials have verbally attacked reporters and news outlets and generally continue to vilify the press, which creates the threatening environment for journalists.” Trump announced that he believes reporters to be some of “the most dishonest human beings on earth” during a press conference at the CIA headquarters on Jan. 21. “Of all the stupid things that he’s said the past couple of weeks, that’s not the stupidest; it’s wrong, but it’s relatively harmless,” said Neil Chase, executive editor of the Bay Area News Group, the publishing company for the San Jose Mercury News. “It’s hurt the relationship between journalists and some of their readers, but that’s an ongo-

what the truth is and dig deeper sometimes than the person who they’re talking to wants to go.” Trump has also taken his stance against the press to social media. He tweeted on Jan. 28 that coverage about him in The New York Times and the Washington Post was “false and angry,” claiming that the publications “have not changed course, and never will.” “As a student journalist, it’s kind of depressing how combative [Trump]’s being towards the media, but as a citizen, I think it’s very scary,” Meilan Steimle (12), co-editor-in-chief of the Winged Post, said. “The media traditionally is one of the few major watchdogs that keeps people held accountable; given that the media is responsible for holding people in power accountable for their actions, speaking truth to power, it’s very concerning to have the person who holds the highest office in the land be so openly combative towards them.” Despite Trump’s accusations towards the press, the role of journalists will remain the same throughout the Trump administration. “We’ve got the same job we’ve always had to do. Through the whole campaign, I had people tell me we were too liberal and we were too conservative; on the same day, somebody might think we had too many favorable things about one candidate and not enough negative things about the other,” Chase said. “I’ve had people call up and tell me they’re furious that we printed pictures of how many people were on the mall during Trump’s inauguration. People have their opinions.” Similarly, organizations like the CPJ continue their job of protecting the numerous journalists across the nation even with the new administration. “We are here to focus on protecting journalists and ensuring the environment in which it is created, in which press freedom can thrive,” Radsch said. “We’re going to keep doing what we do best, which is making sure that we’re documenting what is happening, that we’re treating the United States the same as we would treat any other country in which we are documenting these attacks on journalists.”

PERFORMING ARTS

KAITLIN HSU

Capitol What Hill: You You Missed What You What Missed Missed Capitol Hill:

CLUB UPDATE

Spring rehearsals kick off after sold-out dance show

jin tuan

anvi banga

reporter

FPS sells food for literacy charity

RIGHT ROUND Stage crew members Tamar Sasson (10) and Logan Frank (10) spin cheerleading coach Jill Bettencourt on a wheel at the beginning of the teachers’ dance “You Spin Me Right Round.”

Mandatory technical rehearsals for the show will take place from April 10-18. The dates of the shows are April 20, 21 and 22, and there will be a Thursday evening, Friday evening, Saturday matinee, and Saturday evening show.

Green Team tries Meatless Mondays

TU AN

In hopes to promote health and improve the environment, the Harker Green Team put a trial run of Meatless Mondays into effect. On Jan. 30, only the deli bar in the Bistro served meat. If this trial run is a sucVEGGIE TIME A student picks up cess, Meatless Mondays will veggie sticks on Meatless Monday become a permanent part of before the break. Harker lunches. JI

AUDITION A student auditions for a role in the musical, “High School Musical,” in the week following Thanksgiving break.

ERIC FANG

Performers rehearse for High School Musical Musical rehearsals started before the break, and performers will be rehearsing until the shows in April. This year’s show is an adaptation of the Disney movie, High School Musical, which over 70 people auditioned for. Auditions began after Thanksgiving break.

Before February break, members of the Future Problem Solvers club met to participate in the State Qualifiers problem in order to qualify for the state-level competition in April. Club members sold Bundt cakes and chai for FPS’s club week. The money raised was donatCHAI AND CAKE FPS members ed to Room to Read, which sell chai and Bundt cakes during strives to improve child literFPS club week before break. acy rates. N

thacum-Janker (11), Liana Wang (11), David Zhu (12), Hazal Gurcan (12), Sanjana Marce (12), Tamlyn Doll (12), Sravya Cherukuri (12) and Surabhi Rao (12) had the opportunity to choreograph dances for their peers, a unique experience not available in many schools.

The annual upper school dance production, took place on Jan. 27 and 28. This year’s theme was Circus, and 160 dancers participated as well as nine teachers, the greatest number in Harker’s history. There were 24 student dances as well as one teacher dance. Charley Huang (11), Miranda Larsen (11), Gracean Lin-

NICOLE CHEN

Students choreograph dance show

Art Club showcases artwork in Dobbins

CANTILENA Cantilena sings at the Choral Concert two years ago while being directed by Susan Nace.

The Art Club has gained permission to showcase works of art in Dobbins. Artists who want to submit art should contact Art Club officers. Another mural painting session will also be hosted soon. The date is PAINT THE TOWN Art Club is still being determined due to working on a new mural on the entrance of Main Hall. weather. N

tique which sells South Asian clothing; all funds from the boutique go to the Economic Empowerment Programs. The Gala will have performances, dinner and auctions and will take place on Feb. 25 in Crowne Plaza, a hotel in Palo Alto.

Cantilena will be performing at the Maitri Gala for the first time this year. Maitri is a nonprofit organization based in the Bay Area that helps women from southern India facing domestic violence, emotional abuse and other forms of conflict. The organization also runs a bou-

KSHITHIJA MULAM

Cantilena performs in Maitri Gala

NEWS

VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 21, 2017

WOMEN OF WATERMARK

“Just looking around and seeing so many women, around 6,000, gathered in one conference and interested in being knowledgeable about business and advancing in your career is very inspirational.” ROMA GANDHI (9) CONFERENCE ATTENDEE ing your salaries.” For the third workshop, Zahra attended a session about women empowerment by Grace Killelea, CEO of GKC Group. Killelea advocated about confidence in women. “[Grace] talked about what she did in her life, her life story, and what she did to get to the point of where she was. She basically said, ‘Speak up! Suit up! Show up!’” Zahra said. “She talked about tangible ways that you can do things. She said that if somebody interrupted you, and if you feel like being constantly interrupted as a woman, this is

SANDBERG Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg speaks at the Watermark Conference Silicon Valley. Watermark sponsered 17 Harker students to attend the conference.

SAHANA SRINIVASAN

Watermark sponsored 17 students and three teachers to discover more about women’s successes at the annual Watermark Conference Silicon Valley conference, as part of the Young Women’s Program. The conference took place at the San Jose Convention Center on Feb. 1 from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and was organized by CareerConnect. Watermark is a society of women leaders in the Bay Area. Created in 1993, the community impels women to seek out executive and leadership positions with their educational programs. The students who attended the conference were Sneha Bhetanabhotla (12), Zahra Budhwani (12), Riya Chandra (12), May Gao (12), Alexis Gauba (12), Neymika Jain (12), Preethi Kandappan (12), Judy Pan (12), Evani Radiya-Dixit (12), Aliesa Bahri (11), Aria Coalson (11), Amy Jin (11), Maya Kumar (11), Isabella Spradlin (11), Sahana Srinivasan (11), Enya Lu (10), Reiya Das (9) and Roma Gandhi (9). The students attended several break-out sessions, a morning and lunch keynote and three Young Women’s Program breakout session. The morning keynotes were presented by New York Times bestselling author Shawn Achor, with a Ted Talk about happiness; Annie Clark, co-founder of End Rape On Campus, and Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer. Former Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright and Viola Davis, award-winning actress, hosted the lunch session. The first two sessions of the Young Women’s Program introduced topics about ending sexual violence and following a path of success. There were many different topics available for the third sessions.

exactly what you should do: you should talk to them, you should take their name and say, ‘James, stop interrupting me!’” A freshman DECA member, Roma was m o t i v a t e d by the women speakers, especially Viola Davis and her optimistic beliefs of reaching one’s goals. “Just looking around and seeing so many women, around 6000, gathered in one conference and interested in being knowledgeable about business and advancing in your career is very inspirational. It pushed me to go further, and Viola Davis showed that no matter where you come from, you can always reach your goal,” Roma said. There were 44 exhibitors this year, including exhibits from Dell, United Airlines, Yahoo!, BMW and NBC Bay Area. Exhibitors met with a diverse audience to further promote their businesses. One of the speakers, Viola Davis, unfolded a story of her life challenges. Her story embarked with the issues of racism in the society of her parents who grew up in the Jim Crow world in the South. Years later, Davis, facing racism herself, was unsure of her own potential. She mentioned the topics of self-confidence and owning one’s life story. “I know what it means to be sixteen. You feel like, who am I? Gawky? Or overly confident? Not really. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls it the butterfly,” Davis said in her speech. “And as soon as you think your life is ending, like your hair should be longer, you should be skinnier, you should have more weight and more boyfriends, you should have gotten that great car, and that you should have your favorite job, that you are enough.”

MAYA KUMAR

reporter

“There were tools for [our students] as women, but also tools on how to educate and re-educate both men and women, certainly at a younger age,” business and entrepreneurship teacher, Michael Acheatel said. “The breakout sessions for the Young Women’s program was about a couple different women who have gotten a lot of notoriety, which is specifically in the blogging field, and how they got to their positions today and lessons they learned, like for example being successful in negotiat-

COURTESY OF MAY GAO

gloria zhang

SAHANA SRINIV ASAN

Viola Davis, Sheryl Sandberg, Condoleeza Rice address students at annual Watermark Conference Silicon Valley

WATERMARK (TOP) The board depicts statements that students wrote. (MIDDLE) People gather at the San Jose Convention Center to listen to speakers at the Watermark Conference Silicon Valley. (BOTTOM) Sahana Srinivasan (11), Amy Jin (11), May Gao (12) and Judy Pan (12) take a selfie at the conferences. Seventeen students from Harker attended the conference at San Jose Convention Center.

Valentine’s Grams brought back

Students buy flowers and chocolates to send to peers

Honor Council survey reveals nuances of opinion between different grades rose guan copy editor

Honor Council distributed a survey to the student body earlier this month addressing the causes of, types of and remedies for Honor Code violations. The results were separated by grade so each class could be compared. More freshmen, sophomores and seniors say that they strongly disagree with being empowered to address honor problems through Suggestion Ox than through any other venue. . The most-strongly disagreed venue for juniors is the administration. More seniors strongly agree with feeling empowered to address honor issues through their advisors. Other grades feel

most empowered to address them through the advisor relatively through strong agreement. 57.3 percent of freshmen, 46.3 percent of sophomores, 49.5 percent of juniors and 43.9 percent of seniors agree that parents, teachers and students generally have the same academic priorities. According to freshmen, the most agreed-upon causes of academic dishonesty are time constraints or inadequate preparation, peer pressure and unclear teacher or department policy. Sophomores, juniors and seniors, on the other hand, attribute academic dishonesty to time constraints or inadequate preparation, peer pressure and parental pressure.

reporter

Student Council sold Valentine’s Grams in person from Jan. 23 to Feb. 3 to raise money for their individual classes. This year, Valentine’s Grams came in three different options. A single rose could be sent to a person of your choosing for $5, a box of chocolates for $8, and a rose and box of chocolates combo for $10. “You can write your name down and select which gram you want (buying them in person), or you can order them online, which is what everyone’s doing,” freshman class spirit coordinator Adhya Hoskote (9) said. A Google form was sent out to all students on Jan. 23 to expedite the process of buying Valentine’s Grams and was available until Feb. 3. On the Google form, students were required to fill out their email address, first and last name, grade level, recipient’s name, grade level and advisory, a message that they would like to have displayed on the Valentine’s Gram as well as the contents of the gram. The form stressed the importance of keeping the per-

JENNA SADHU

PROVIDED BY HONOR COUNCIL

jenna sadhu

BE MINE Selin Sayiner (11) writes her name, recipient’s name and the type of gram that she wishes to purchase on an order form outside of Manzanita during long lunch. A Google form was sent out to all students on Jan. 23 to expedite the process of buying Valentine’s Grams and was available until Feb. 3.

sonalized messages clean and appropriate. Junior class spirit coordinator Amitej Mehta (11) volunteered to sell Valentine’s Grams and enjoys them more this year as opposed to previous years. “In other years, students just got a rose” he said. “This year, you get the option of buying just a rose, or you can get chocolates, or both. It’s a bit pricier, but way better than other years’ grams.” This year, the prices of the grams were increased, which

caused sales to decrease from last year. “They’re so expensive,” Lauren Napier (11) said. “I used to be able to buy Valentine’s Grams for all of my friends, but because of the jacked-up prices, I can only send them to two or three of my best friends, which is bad because I want to buy everyone one for Valentine’s spirit.” Students will receive their Valentine’s Grams on a date that has not been determined yet.

ONE MONTH OF TRUMP

Protests ignite nation Students, faculty participate in local marches copy editor & social media editor

Continued from front page... The march protested Trump’s immigration ban and his campaign promise to build a wall at the Mexican border. While many have gathered to protest against Trump’s recent actions, not all of the recent demonstrations are aligned against Trump and Vice President Mike Pence’s values. The March on Life, an annual anti-abortion rally in Washington on Jan. 27, featured Pence as a speaker this year. Counter-protesters have also gathered at rallies on both sides to demonstrate for their own opinions. Objectors to protesting argue that it is not the best way to advocate for change in many cases and that demonstrations can quickly turn violent. More than 100 protesters in Washington were arrested on the day of Trump’s inauguration, and recent violent protests at the University of California, Berkeley due to its invitation of far-right journalist Milo Yiannopoulos led to the cancellation of his speech.

Still, many demonstrators, including most Women’s March participants, maintain that they have and will take only peaceful action. “People can organize themselves and rally and protest in a peaceful manner, even with the massive amount of people,” Neymika said. “We will stand up for the rights that we believe are just and, yes, we will continue to do so even in the future.”

“If a person with different political views than you speaks up, you can’t shut that person down or break them down. That’s not how we build communities. Protests can work if you take everyone’s opinions into consideration without trying to demean them.” VIJAY BHARADWAJ

rose guan & michael sikand

of the demonstrations galvanize the U.S.’s citizens into further action, and what does the future hold for these movements? Many activists believe the path lies in continuing to fight for their beliefs and in reaching out to others to change their minds and actions. “Instead of just tweeting out our opinions, I think we need to discuss facts and data. Instead of just attacking each other right away, I think we need to sit down and have mature discussions on opposing views,” said Nina Donovan, whose poem

Despite the individual successes of each rally, the great numbers of people gathering to protest against and for Trump’s actions across the nation have also raised questions for many organizers: how can the force

JADAN MCDERMOTT JUNIOR “Nasty Woman” was performed by actress Ashley Judd at the Women’s March on Washington and who participated in protests in her own hometown of Nashville. Some believe that this level of reaction in the first weeks

of an incoming presidency represents evidence of a change at a deeper level whose long-term repercussions might not yet be evident. “I think there aren’t any long-term effects yet, since this was a spontaneous example of participatory democracy at work,” Gilbert said. “One of the most positive things that happened is that people who had been feeling isolated or alienated started feeling like they were part of a community, so there was a certain community feel. There was a sense that this is what democracy is supposed to look like: people peacefully assembling and having their voices heard and sending a positive message for the future.” But whether they campaign for or against Trump’s policy actions, citizens galvanized by the election will continue to demonstrate in the coming weeks and months of the presidency. “We are fighting. This is not over just because the march happened,” Donovan said. “We’re still going to blow up Twitter with it. We’re still going to continue these marches about it. We’re going to fight for everyone’s rights.” Additional reporting by Meilan Steimle, Prameela Kottapalli, Krishna Bheda and Jenna Sadhu.

VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 21, 2017

“The only solutions we have right now are empathy and open conversations. The feeling of the country coming together right now shows that the country is finding that if you believe in a certain vision of America — as a scientist, an artist, a writer — it becomes your responsibility to become activists. That’s what this time is bringing us together to do. For that, I am hopeful.”

SANJANA MARCÉ (12) WOMEN’S MARCH PARTICIPANT

IMMIGRATION NATION Two women protest against Trump’s immigration ban outside the capitol building in San Francisco on Feb. 4.

ADRIAN CHU

“This happened in history when we barred the Jews from entering the U.S. when they were being persecuted during the Holocaust and we can’t do that again. I thought to go to this protest would be a demonstration of the people’s rights, the democracy, what we want as a people, that we don’t approve of his actions. The United States is supposed to be a welcoming place; it’s supposed to have both arms open. The Statue of Liberty says, ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your [huddled masses].’ We can’t just shut away SUMI WADHWA (11) NO BAN, NO WALL PROTESTER

Immigration ban enacted, protested, restrained

The Ninth Circuit Court of U.S. federal appeals in San Francisco ruled the temporary travel ban will remain intact and the case will be taken to the Supreme Court to issue a final decision on the basis of constitutionality. In the most controversial decision of his then-two-week presidency, President Donald J. Trump ordered on Jan. 27 to indefinitely ban Syrian refugees from entering the United States and to restrict travellers from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the country for three months. In response to Trump’s executive order, James L. Robart, a federal judge in Seattle, halted the new legislation a week into its enforcement on Feb. 3, allowing travel between the countries to continue as normal until further review. The same day, lawmakers also confirmed that at least 60,000 visas had been revoked from their holders without their knowledge.

“It’s a temporary ban. We’re a great country because of our immigrants, but that doesn’t mean [we] have to let everybody in,” said former DECA advisor and current Valley Christian business teacher Chris Thompson. “Immigration to the United States is an extreme privilege. It’s not a right.”

“My parents actually left Iran to escape the Islamic Revolution, so it is tough that we have to go through this kind of thing again.”

sustain our economies, and to our residents.” There has been much debate over whether Trump’s orders have been an appropriate security measure or a violation of American values and the Constitution. Opponents of the ban argue that it disproportionately affects innocent citizens and targets Muslims specifically, while its proponents say that the blocked countries are all terrorism-prone regions and the ban would keep the U.S. safer.

ARYANA FAR SOPHOMORE Some of sophomore Aryana Far’s family members immigrated from Iran, one of the seven countries that Trump’s executive orders have blocked. “My mom, my sister and my dad are all citizens of America, but I know so many people who, if they left the country, they would be stuck and are affected emotionally. It is just unfair that we are being targeted,” Aryana Far (10) said. “My parents actually left Iran to escape the Islamic Revolution, so it is tough that

we have to go through this kind of thing again.” The other countries whose citizens are barred from entry are Iraq, Libya, Somalia, the Sudan, Syria and Yemen. “The banning of refugees and other immigrants from Arab nations is utterly foolish. We are a nation of immigrants, as is emblazoned on the Statue of Liberty, and to close off all legal avenues to citizenship for all the residents of an entire country is to tar them all with the same brush of radical Islamic extremism,” Sumer Kohli (11) said. “How many tech leaders of ours are immigrants? Even Steve Jobs was the son of Syrian immigrants, a country from whom Trump’s executive action has banned immigration entirely.” On Monday, 127 tech companies including Bay Area behemoths Apple, Google, Intel and Tesla signed a brief supporting legal action against the executive order. This unified corporate response can be attributed in part to Silicon Valley’s long-held conviction that immigration drives innovation and progress. The case will be taken to the Supreme Court for further rulings.

“I don’t agree with the policies that Trump is enacting and I wanted to make my voice heard. It’s not about certain people specifically, it’s about the community as a whole, and showing solidarity with everyone who’s affected by these policies. [The protest] was really empowering. I went there with no expectations and just the fact that we all came together with one voice and one message. We all were there for the same cause.” MEILAN STEIMLE

copy editor, social media editor & asst. features editor

While the Trump administration filed a brief stating that Robart’s order puts national security in jeopardy, 15 states filed for a brief supporting the judge’s decision, arguing that restoring the ban would “cause harm to the states, including to state institutions such as public universities, to the businesses that

ROSE GUAN

rose guan, michael sikand & prameela kottapalli

VEDAAD SHAKIB (12) NO BAN, NO WALL PROTESTER

NO BAN, NO WALL Senior Marina Newman and junior Sumati “Sumi” Wadhwa participate in a protest against Trump’s immigration policy in San Francisco ouside the capitol building on Feb. 4.

TRUMP’S FIRST WEEKS Jan. 20 Donald J. Trump inaugurated as the 45th President and signs executive order to expedite repeal of Affordable Care Act. Jan. 21 Over 1 million people protest Trump’s administration in women’s marches across the country.

RIGHT TO PROTEST (TOP LEFT) Protesters hold up signs at the No Ban, No Wall protest in San Francisco on Feb. 4. (BOTTOM LEFT) A protester bears a sign reading ‘I didn’t immigrate here for fascism.’ (RIGHT) A woman displays a protest sign with a caricature of President Trump’s face and ‘nope’ underneath. Protesters participated in the No Ban, No Wall protest in San Francisco outside the capitol building on Feb. 4 in response to Trump’s immigration policies. Protests have taken place around the country in the weeks since Trump’s inauguration.

DeVos confirmed as Education Secretary

Judge Neil Gorsuch nominated to Supreme Court

Trump orders work to start on pipeline projects

With a historic tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence, the Senate voted Feb. 7 to confirm Trump’s education nominee, Betsy DeVos, as Education Secretary. Since her nomination, she received bipartisan criticism. Much of the disapproval came from reactions to DeVos’s first confirmation hearing, where she expressed confusion about the status of key school laws, spoke of guns in public schools as a means of defense against grizzly bears and repeatedly emphasized her primary focus on voucher systems. “It’s not entirely clear what exactly [DeVos] is going to do,” English teacher Ohad Paran, who worked at public schools in Gilroy and San Diego before coming to the upper school, said prior to the final confirmation vote. “[She is] somebody with zero experience working on a public school setting and understanding the dynamics of a public school setting, somebody who is not a local politician such as a school board member or a mayor of a city that understands the demographics involved in running schools.”

President Donald Trump nominated Judge Neil M. Gorsuch on Jan. 27 to the Supreme Court vacancy, fulfilling a campaign promise. “I think [Gorsuch] is a phenomenal pick. He’s a conservative judge who is going to be in the mold of Antonin Scalia and is going to protect and defend the Constitution,” former DECA advisor Thompson said. Democratic leaders have expressed their intent to prolong the confirmation process, angered by Republican lawmakers’ refusal to consider President Barack Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland. “The Republicans were completely disrespectful to Obama in the last year of his presidency for not even having a hearing for Merrick Garland,” history teacher Andrea Milius said. “I do not know if the Democrats really have enough power to pull this [blocking attempt] off, so maybe they have to concentrate their efforts in a different way.” Gorsuch’s confirmation requires 60 Senate votes with a filibuster threat or 50 without one. Republican lawmakers have stated their intent to confirm him by April.

President Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 24 to advance the construction of two key oil pipeline projects, Keystone XL Pipeline from Alberta to Nebraska and the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota. Just weeks after the executive orders, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued an easement to Dakota Access on Feb. 8, allowing construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline to continue under Lake Oahe. Backers of the pipelines say their completion will reduce the U.S.’s energy dependence on the Middle East. “I think [the Keystone XL Pipeline] is putting American interests first by looking at a sensible approach to developing resources that will reach toward energy independence,” former DECA advisor Chris Thompson said. The Standing Rock Sioux and other Native American tribes, along with environmentalists, have opposed the Dakota Access Pipeline because it could contaminate local water supplies. Anti-pipeline protesters have camped for months in Cannon Ball, North Dakota.

Sen. Warren silenced, sparks #ShePersisted

Republican Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, enacted rule XIX, prematurely ending senator Elizabeth Warren’s Senate speech criticizing Jeff Sessions the day before Session’s nomination vote for Attorney General. Warren was silenced when she readg a letter by Coretta Scott Kig, the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. Rule XIX disallows senators from demeaning one another. Warren’s supporters began to publicize the event with the hashtags #ShePersisted” and #LetLizSpeak” on Twitter, believing that she was wrongfully silenced.

#GrabYourWallet boycotts spread

The #GrabYourWallet movement began as a boycott of retailers carrying Trump products, in response to Trump’s inappropriate comments regarding his treatment of women. The movement circles around a list of retailers to avoid in hopes of convincing them to drop Trump products. The movement especially targets products of Trump’s daughter, Ivanka. The current boycott list includes Nordstrom and Macy’s.

Jan. 24 Trump signs executive orders to reinstitute the construction of Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines. Jan. 25 Trump signs executive orders for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Jan. 27 Trump signs executive orders temporarily banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the U.S. Jan. 30 Trump nominates Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill vacant Supreme Court spot. Feb. 3 Seattle judge James Robart temporarily stops Trump’s executive order ban. Feb. 7 Betsy DeVos confirmed as U.S. Secretary of Education. Feb. 8 Jeff Sessions confirmed as U.S. attorney general.

ALL PHOTOS MEILAN STEIMLE

ONE MONTH OF TRUMP • VOLUME 18 ISSUE 5 • FEBRUARY 21, 2017

OPINION

A6 Editors-in-Chief Kshithija Mulam Meilan Steimle

VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 21, 2017

After a month of political actions and peaceable protests, what comes next in our democracy?

Managing Editor Sahana Srinivasan News Editor Meena Gudapati Features Editor Maya Kumar Asst. Features Editor Prameela Kottapalli Opinion Editors Vijay Bharadwaj Adrian Chu STEM Editor Derek Yen Asst. STEM Editor Katherine Zhang

Photo Editor Ashley Jiang Copy Editors Rose Guan Ruhi Sayana Adviser Ellen Austin, MJE Wingspan Editor-in-Chief Kaitlin Hsu Aquila Editors-in-Chief Raveena Kapatkar Tara Parimi Aquila Managing Editor Trisha Dwivedi Aquila Staff Michael Sikand Neil Bai Vijay Bharadwaj Maya Valluru Alex Wang Nicole Chen Tiffany Wong Adrian Chu Derek Yen Zachary Hoffman Katherine Zhang Justin Su

Reporters Anvi Banga Nerine Uyanik Krishna Bheda Anika Rajamani Eric Fang Jenna Sadhu Kathy Fang Nisha Shankar Nina Gee Neal Sidhu Ria Gupta Jin Tuan Rashmi Iyer Anya Weaver Sofia Kassaras Angele Yang Helen Yang Gloria Zhang

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

KAITLIN HSU

Sports Editors Anjay Saklecha Alex Wang WE GO HIGH The trick is to make your own opinions heard impactfully while still being civil. So speak civilly and listen to understand, not to attack. Look for common ground. Talk— and keep the dialogue going.

EDITORIAL THE OFFICIAL OPINION OF THE WINGED POST In last month’s issue, Winged Post provided practical suggestions for those wanting to participate in the planned Women’s Marches across the country on Jan. 21: Arrive early. Follow march organizers’ directions. Wear comfortable shoes. Bring water and snacks. The weekend protests exceeded the expectations of both city officials and march organizers nationwide, with nearly 100,000 demonstrators in San Francisco alone. But advocating for change is a marathon, not a sprint. Since Trump’s recent executive orders, many more citizens have come out to demonstrate discontent with policies, such as the travel ban on seven

Muslim majority nations. The impact of the sweeping immigration ban, which is being contested in the highest courts of the land at the moment, resonates here in Silicon Valley, where the American dream lives large and where the founders of tech companies Google, Yahoo, Reddit, Tesla, Amazon, Ebay and Apple were all born in other countries. Closer to home, more than 90% of our Harker families contain at least one parent who was born in another country, according to a January Winged Post survey. What makes America a community is our diversity. Every voice matters. This country—this community—is centered around acceptance of different religions, different races, different backgrounds, different genders, different sexualities. But don’t expect one march to result in changed laws the next day. Look at the history of protest movements and the commitment they took. The Civil Rights Act passed into law

in 1964, a century after the abolition of slavery. The 19th Amendment granted women’s suffrage in 1920, following decades of protest. Consider a slightly different perspective: that activism is actually promoting solidarity across America. So, what comes next? Here is a short list of actions you can take right now to help drive change. Trust, but verify. Get informed. Do better than “news via Facebook.” Don’t trust everything you read online or everything your friends tell you. Use your Harker brain to find reliable, accurate news sources. We trust New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, and your own Winged Post, to name a few. And here’s a surprise-Teen Vogue has gotten lots of love from mainstream media for its teen-focused savvy reporting on the political scene. Speak up, respectfully. The increased presence of politics in our daily lives is a reality. Even Super Bowl ads were politicized topics of debate.

Having opinions and expressing them is a fundamental right. But it’s not free speech if you’re the only one allowed to speak your mind and be heard respectfully. Peers, friends, and even family members may have political views that differ from your own. The trick is to make your own opinions heard while remaining civil. Listen to understand, not to attack. Look for common ground. Talk— and keep the dialogue going. Put your money where your beliefs are. Use your wallet to amplify your stance. Donations to the ACLU poured in the weekend after the immigration ban was signed. Boycotts by #grabyourwallet put pressure on retailers. Subscriptions to KQED, Mother Jones or the New York Times keep professional journalisms in the fight. Believe that you can make a difference. Keep in mind the words of Aziz Anzari: “Change doesn’t come from the President: it comes from angry people.”

amount of work I had, it was the underlying emotional issues that stopped me from working. I am confident that if I had made my mental health a priority, my second semester would have been fine. My mistake was trying to brute force my way through personal problems and ignoring my emotional state. It’s possible that you’ll breeze through the entirety of high school. But eventually, something will happen that will knock you out of your routine, and suddenly you’ll need slack you don’t have. This is inevitable, because none of us know our limits until we hit them. So to all the non-seniors out there, here are my two cents. I would love to tell you to pull back, but I know that for a lot of you, nothing I can say will con-

vince you to cut yourself some slack, because nothing could have convinced me. So instead, my pseudo-profound advice is this: treat your mental health like an AP class. Put in effort, do your research and take the time to introspect. And like in a class, if you’re struggling, target the problem and go get extra help. That might mean talking to a counselor, or getting a therapist, or meditating, or going on medication, or maybe even just dropping a course. (Trust me when I say that literally no college will care.) Working hard at your mental health will translate to improved work performance, but more importantly, it will translate to happiness. That, I think, is something worth learning.

A perspective on personal wellness

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Staying on track

meilan steimle editor-in-chief

Second semester of senior year has arrived, which means it’s time for me to start writing reflective columns where I look back on my high school journey and wax poetic about the lessons I’ve learned. And hey, I’ve always been a sheep at heart, so why stop now? I’m sure almost every other senior has some pseudo-profound, fairly trite life advice to impart, but here’s mine: My junior year, I loaded up. I had a rigorous course load, I was in club leadership, I had a time-significant editorial position on this very staff and I wasn’t taking a free period. Everyone told me I needed a free. “You’re crazy,” said my friends. “Are you sure about this?” said my advisor. Naturally, I didn’t listen to any of them. I was different. I could handle it. I was totally fine first semester. I used good time management skills and was able to maintain my grades without ever sleeping past 11. I even had time to start running daily 5Ks, and I lost 10 pounds. #humblebrag

Granted, my social life was nonexistent and I studied through lunch, but that didn’t matter. I was #winning. And while I wasn’t sure if I was happy, I definitely wasn’t unhappy. I was content. I could have survived like this forever. In another world, I probably did. But second semester, a series of random events in my personal life catapulted me out of the numbed headspace necessary to maintain my first-semester lifestyle. The same feelings of inferiority that had motivated my work ethic compounded into obstructive unhappiness. After six months of feeling nothing, I felt everything. I vacillated between paralyzing anxiety and overwhelming lethargy, I couldn’t find motivation to work and insignificant events would send me hyperventilating to the bathroom. Unsurprisingly, my grades dropped. It was a bad cycle: lower grades led to more anxiety, which led to even lower grades. While my first semester lifestyle was indeed unsustainable, it wasn’t because of the work. The fact is, I did all the things I was supposed to do to reduce my load when I started having problems. I quit my sport and I stopped taking an hour to exercise every day. None of that helped, and neither would have a free. My problem was never the

MEILAN STEIMLE

The Winged Post is published every four to six weeks except during vacations by the Journalism: Newspaper Concentration and Advanced Journalism: Newspaper Concentration courses at The Harker Upper School, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129. The Winged Post staff will publish features, editorials, news, sports and STEM articles in an unbiased and professional manner and serve as a public forum for the students of The Harker School. Editorials represent the official opinions of The Winged Post. Opinions and letters represent the personal viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions 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 adviser. Letters to the Editor may be submitted to Manzanita 70 or emailed to wingedpost2017@ 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 that call for a disruption of the school day will not be considered for publication. Letters sent to The Winged Post will be published at the discretion of the editorial staff. The Winged Post is the official student newspaper of The Harker School and is distributed free of cost to students.

OPINION

VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 21, 2017

Finding my place Another way to look at dance

kathy fang reporter

The lights shift into a hazy cerulean blue as the music climbs up a sloping crescendo, glazing the stage with an aura reminiscent of sunlight beneath the ocean waves. Dappled lights flicker across the back of my hand like the scales of fish rippling in deep waters, so mesmerizing that I almost forget to lift my eyes and look up at the right count. Below the stage, a sea of students coated in shadow curiously stare at us beneath red and white circus draperies. I had been one of those students watching the upper school dancers with awe. Throughout lower and middle school, I only performed ballet and Chinese folk dance pieces, and I intended to stay in these two genres. Perhaps I was inspired by the vivacious energy of the production, or perhaps I was simply curious to learn more about contemporary dance styles. Nevertheless, I decided to participate in the dance show this year, a choice I have not regretted since. The conservatory at Harker is so unique in that students have a chance to glimpse into the pro-

Stripping ‘quiet’ of its negative connotations

managing editor

One person at a table near the front rises to her feet, and the room follows. The applause is thunderously loud, almost deafening, as claps and cheers intermingle in the massive conference hall. Viola Davis smiles at the front of the room, her deeply personal keynote speech having moved many in the room to tears. It was well over a week ago and I’m still giddy over the fact that I was in the same building as and heard speeches from Sheryl Sandberg, Viola Davis, Condoleeza Rice and Madeleine Albright. Admittedly, it was for only half an hour apiece, I was on the opposite side of that truly massive hall, there were 6,000 others in attendance, and, even squinting with glasses on, I could only discern their vague outlines in the distance. Their presence and their speeches still blew my mind, though, way more than when I said hi to Kevin Jonas at Disne-

other people, especially in public settings (and yes, I do see the irony of writing that in a newspaper printed for the entire campus), but I do speak when I want to and when I have to. Trust me, if I really want to say something, I do. I participate in classes and crack bad jokes until my friends groan and rant to whoever I’m talking to about whatever is on my mind. I talk plenty, but my innate tendency to stay on the quieter side — whether it be in the volume of my voice or the lengthiness of my speech — is not an undesirable characteristic. It’s personality trait, just like any other, and not an inherently bad one, as much as people like to label it as so. To me, it just means that more often than

I know the importance and value of speaking up and voicing your ideas and opinions, but I don’t think being quiet, or even being shy, is necessarily and opposing characteristic. about speaking up, speaking out, the extrovert/introvert divide and how introversion doesn’t equate to shyness. I agree fully with that latter sentiment because for all that I’m an introvert, I’m not terribly shy, and most of the introverts I know

WATERMARK WALL Watermark Conference attendees write about what inspires them in their community.

eart of Harker Facing our past to move to the future anonymous guest writer

Outside the tent, I lie on the ground and gaze at the night sky. The stars are bright and dense. As they weave into a beautiful curtain and enclose onto me, I have never felt so close to the ground. In fact, I have never felt so close to myself. I could hear my heart beating, catch shooting stars diving into the trees far away, and smell the scent of flowers in the wind. I feel alone but fearless, as if I have integrated myself into the nature and could finally observe myself as an outsider. Last summer, I went on a backpacking trip. During the trip,

not, you do what you do with a little less noise. And when I’m not talking, most of the time (and here I’m talking about informal social situations), it’s because I’m genuinely fine with just listening and because I don’t feel a burning need to say anything at all. So here’s a shoutout to all the quiet people: your personality isn’t inferior or undesirable. It makes you work a little more outside your comfort zone, but that doesn’t mean you have to change anything. Often, you can’t, and I know I definitely wouldn’t want to. It’s your story, and as Viola Davis once advised me and a few thousand of my favorite conference attendees, “own your story.”

I joined a group of strangers, put on back pack, and covered six to seven miles per day. In the wilderness, above me were the blue skies, and below me was the solid ground. As I spent time with my new friends, sharing stories, watching stars and singing songs, my mind started reaching an unprecedented clarity. Here is what I learned on the trip. I had given myself so many excuses to surrender and complain because of how hard times could become. But, in reality, a satisfied life does not take much. As I traversed into the wilderness, I crossed out items on a checklist under societal measures. These items suddenly became trivial. In the end, I realized that all it took to lead a happy life was a 35-pound backpack in the wilderness.

Around two years ago, life presented difficult challenges that overwhelmed me. Meanwhile, as a junior at Harker, I was burdened with heavy academic pressure. Then, there were rumors circulating on students attaining good grades by sharing tests, and perhaps, even being accepted by selective colleges. At a difficult time, unfortunately I submitted myself to pressure and temptation. Under stress, I approached a friend for sharing assessment information. After multiple times of this exchange, however, guilt had become too crushing. I then decided to end this scheme and have never trodden near the fine line ever since. I had never before been a cheater, never have been ever since, and I promise myself I never will be. But in those two weeks, I was a cheater. There might have been

pressure, but I volunteered.

It became clear that I could only be at peace if I took actions to remove my stains. So, after a full year, I reported myself to the administration, something that I should have done long ago. The shame has only grown as the time passes on. After my trip and as I return school, I began my introspection. By looking down the road into the future, I came to realize that decisions like such would always remind me who I am as a person. I had

SAHANA SRINIVASAN

sahana srinivasan

yland nearly a decade ago, my previous claim to ever meeting fame. Everything they said resonated deeply with me and the opportunity to meet so many female professionals was unparalleled. After the initial high died down, though, what stuck in my mind more than any of the admittedly inspirational keynote speeches was the message reiterated by the breakout session speakers, by the women manning the company booths and by seemingly everyone everywhere. They all wanted to talk

aren’t either. In reinforcing the disparate natures of introversion and shyness, however, many a speaker from the conference synonymized shyness and quietness and then condemned them both in a way that didn’t sit right with me. I know the importance and value of speaking up and voicing your ideas and opinions, but I don’t think being quiet, or even being shy, is necessarily an opposing characteristic to that. I’m quiet. I don’t like saying it, even though I know it’s objectively true, because it has a fairly negative connotation. Quiet implies I’m a pushover, that I never speak up, that I don’t have anything impactful to say or that I don’t care enough to say it. Sure, I don’t talk as much as

fessional world of performing arts, either in choreographing a piece or participating in one choreographed by a peer rather than a teacher. It really amazes me that such a STEM-oriented school nurtures its conservatory in so supportive a manner that 160 students participate in the annual dance show, that millions of dollars have been invested into building a new performing arts center. This patronage is not without reason, for the arts certainly play a prominent role even in the technology-based community we live in. We depend on the arts to remind us who we are and how far we have come, to bring to light the flaws in our society through comedy and to provide a field of gray where we all can find a place for the artist inside us all to flourish. Technology cannot advance without creativity of artists, and the arts cannot survive without the support of technology. We need each other in order to continue moving forward and mend our faults along the way. This year’s dance production has taught me that the confines of our comfort zones are meant to be broken past so that we find a completely different world outside, a world where there is no black and white answer to everything, a world waiting to be discovered by each and every one of us.

attained a temporary peace in the wilderness by shredding my burden; now it became clear that I could only be at peace if I took actions to remove my stains. So, after a full year, I reported myself to the administration, something that I should have done long ago. Nearing and crossing the line, I realize how fragile humans can be at times when confronting temptations. For that reason, I have humbled myself and become more meticulous about the decisions I make. On the other hand, however, I now truly believe that I am who I choose to be. But, in order to move on into the future, I must first face my past. In this repeating guest column, we encourage all student writers from around the community to share their memorable experiences while at the Upper School. Please email all column ideas to wingedpost2017@gmail.com.

BACK PAGE

VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 21, 2017

going green For a day what you need to know about meatless mondays 1 0z beef

7 g protein 5 g fat 78 calories

Where’s my protein?

1 0z chickpeas

1 0z tempeh

5 g protein 6 g fat 146 calories

5 g protein 3 g fat 56 calories

1 0z quinoa 1 0z Mozzarella

COMMO

WHAT about athletes?

HU AL NE

“Some of my friends can’t eat a lot of soy products and things like that. I feel bad for them because on Mondays, they can’t eat meat either, and they have a very small selection of foods they can eat. I wish they would get rid of Meatless Mondays and instead have more vegetarian options every day.”

Rohit Shah: I eat pasta every other day. Try to balance it out. I have some form of protein, usually from [Fresh Mex], or from the vegetarian area in Manzanita. Today, I had the soy veggie tenders. They usually have good stuff in [Fresh Mex], like beans. Balance it out with fruit—grapes, bananas.

RS: It’s one day out of the week. It’s not that big of a deal. Try to balance out your diet. Get some carbs, proteins and fruit. Pasta, rice [and] pizza are some sources of carbs.

IDH AL S

“I love Meatless Mondays. I think it’s a great idea for the environment [and] for the animals. Kudos to Green Club!”

Gracean LinthacumJanker (11) HU

maya kumar features editor

“I’m not a big fan of Meatless Mondays. I miss my protein.”

fusilli with marinara sauce MAYA KUMAR

ANDREW TIERNO (12)

MAYA KUMAR

orange veggie tenders with edamame

WHY DO IT?

“It’s a program that’s really great for the environment. I frankly don’t understand a lot of the dissent to the entire program, because it’s only one meal out of 21-plus meals you have every week, so it’s not that bad.”

1 MONTH of meatless mondays =1.12 million gallons of water saved

1 year of meatless mondays = 39 cars’ emissions ofF the road

STATISTICS-HARKER GREEN TEAM

CLAIRE NEWMAN (10)

WP: What advice would you give to an athlete to cope with Meatless Mondays?

MAYA KUMAR

SID

Winged Post: As a vegetarian and a varsity soccer player, what do you eat for lunch to maintain a healthy diet?

an assortment of fruit

an assortment of kale salads and coleslaws

Nakul Bajaj (9)

SID

what can i eat?

A DW

A BH AY VIJ

NE AL

The Upper School completed its trial period of Meatless Mondays, an initiative proposed by the Green Team and backed by administration and Student Council aiming to improve community health and reduce Harker’s ecological impact, on Jan. 30. The one-day trial served grilled cheese sandwiches and veggie tenders as the main entree options and included meat at the Bistro. Green Team, the administration, Student Council and the kitchen reviewed the first Meatless Monday and are in the process of making a final decision. “If [the kitchen] had just not had meat on Mondays and they didn’t say anything, I probably wouldn’t have noticed,” Ashwin Reddy (10) said. “Because they have, people are making a big deal out of it.” Dr. Kate Schafer, one of the faculty advisors for Green Team, highlighted the educational value of Meatless Mondays. “Especially as a school, one of of our goals has to be educa-

what do you think?

varsity soccer vegetarian J

SID

opinion editor & Aquila opinion editor

tion about [environmental responsibility],” Dr. Schafer said. “There have been people who suggested: what if we just do Meatless Mondays without saying anything about it? Would anybody even notice? [The students on the Meatless Mondays team] recognize how important it is to have that education piece that goes along with it.” Executive Director of Food Services Steve Martin supports a less meat reliant diet and the benefits it provides, but he preferred an alternate approach to reduce our community’s meat consumption. “If people eat less meat, that’s better than one day,” he said. “My advice is to balance your diet. Eat more vegetables; eat less meat. [People] need to be educated and not feel like they’re being coerced to [eat less meat].” At the time of publication, the final status of Meatless Mondays is unknown as the Green Team and administration are reviewing reactions to the trial. “By going meatless for one day, we can make a difference that goes far beyond the bounds of this campus,” Green Team president Kshithija Mulam (12) said.

reporter

vijay bharadwaj & adrian chu

Rohit shah (11)

WHAT ARE THE FACTS?

neal sidhu

IKIMEDIA

MAYA KUMAR

ALL PHO TOS W

5 g protein 2 g fat 150 calories

7 g protein 5 g fat 72 calories

1 acre of land =74,000 lbs vegetarian food OR 250 lbs meat

FEATURES

TUESDAY, FEB. 21, 2017 | THE HARKER UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER, VOL. 18, NO. 5

reduces

the budget deficit in the

| www.harkeraquila.com

Increses short term healthcare

Makes preventative care free

costs

Taxes

long term

those who opt out

Over

20 million

newly insured Americans

Increases minumum in-

come percent for

No denial of coverage

based on pre-existing conditions

tax exemptions

Forces

healthcare providers to

discontinue existing plans

Trump plans to dump Obamacare reporter & asst. features editor

effect in 2010, over 47 million Americans had no access to any form of health insurance whatsoever, while nearly 30 million were underinsured. The groups affected most by Trump’s proposed repeal include low-income families and businesses, which comprise over

“If everything is cut, and if there’s nothing to replace it with, what will people do without something else to go off of?” JACQUELINE MILLER UCSF HEALTHFORCE CENTER CHIEF RESEARCH ANALYST The Affordable Care Act, one of the Obama administration’s chief policy achievements and the most significant healthcare reform since Lyndon B. Johnson’s implementation of Medicare and Medicaid, provides over 20 million people with universal health coverage. Before the ACA was put into

16 million of those covered under the ACA, and women. Prior to the implementation of the act, the majority of health care plans routinely charged women up to 60 percent more for their monthly insurance premiums. The ACA prohibited insurance companies from financially discriminating against their

PROVIDED BY JULIE WHEELER

President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order titled “Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal” on Jan. 20 to direct members of his administration towards initiating the process of revoking and replacing the legislation. According to the official policy stance published on his website, Trump aims to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), along with the support of the Republican-majority Congress. Confronted with this possibility under the Trump administration, legislators and citizens alike will have to face the major changes the healthcare system will undergo. “An ACA repeal without replacement could cut insurance and job opportunities for mil-

lions of Americans,” Jacqueline Miller, University of California, San Francisco Healthforce Center chief research analyst, said. “Potentially, people could lose coverage nationwide, health insurance would not be mandatory, and a lot of jobs in the health force could be lost.”

RUN FOR FUN (TOP) Julie Wheeler runs a marathon in Napa. (BOTTOM) Wheeler poses with several other Harker Upper School teachers after a 5 kilolmeter run in San Fransisco.

teacher Julie Wheeler MAKE A RUN FOR IT: History discusses her love of running nerine uyanik reporter

Her gray and bright coral sneakers strike the asphalt road, pushing her forward with every step. Julie Wheeler, wearing the number 2610 on her yellow t-shirt, runs the 22nd mile of the 2016 Napa marathon. Wheeler had set a goal to complete a marathon before she turned 30. She purchased a book and followed a rigorous training plan to prepare herself for a marathon. “I got a book of all sorts of different training plans for your first marathon,” Wheeler said.

“[For] the first one I was very disciplined in training and went through and with the short and the long runs because your first time you don’t know what’s going to happen, and it’s a pretty intimidating experience.” After four months of training, in the December before her 30th birthday, Wheeler participated in the Las Vegas marathon. “I felt awful during the first one, absolutely awful. The last few miles [is what] the runners call “hit the wall”. It’s where the lactic acid in your legs and everything hurts. It hurts to walk, it hurts to run, you don’t know

what to do, you just need to finish. But then, half an hour after you’re done, it’s this fabulous sense of fulfillment and accomplishment,” she said. Wheeler soon developed an interest in marathons, and over the next 10 years, she participated in 12 more, including the New York City marathon, the Seattle marathon, the Sacramento marathon and the Las Vegas marathon. “I just kept going because once you did the first one and you’re like ‘Oh, I didn’t die. Wow! That’s nice. I think I can do better,’ so it can suck you in a little bit,” Wheeler said.

clients while also providing 48 million women with access to preventative services. “The affordable care act has helped women the most by providing more with healthcare insurance, and with that healthcare insurance, access the full range of affordable contraceptives,” MiQuel Davies, a health representative of the National Women’s Law Center, said. An important component outlined in the act that stands to be changed or maintained is the regulation that insurance companies cannot charge patients with pre-existing conditions that increase their need for medical care. “People with pre-existing conditions who need healthcare the most might be charged more, which will create a lot of barriers for them,” Miller said. “And it would come as a devastating loss to a lot of kids going to college and who are in school who can’t afford to have a full-time job that gives them benefits.”

While the ACA extends comprehensive, equitable health coverage to a wide range of recipients, it also resulted in higher premiums for many people who had insurance prior to the implementation of the act, as well as fines for the uninsured. Trump has proposed that he would minimized these costs as part of his replacement of the act. “What’s important to know is that the replacement is a big issue- if everything is cut, and if there’s nothing to replace it with, what will people do without something else to go off of?” Miller said.

Tiffany Wong to perform at World Harp Congress as one of five chosen American representatives vijay bharadwaj & gloria zhang opinion editor & reporter

Less than five feet tall, Tiffany Wong (10), with her feet clad in heels, grazes her fingers across her semi-grand harp for eight hours every weekend. Her height, though a small obstacle, does not hinder her, one out of five in the United States, from attending the World Harp Congress this July. “Tiffany’s ‘passion’ for the harp, if you want to call it that, is a matter of dedication, sacrifice and devotion. She works extremely hard, practices diligently and takes her music seriously,” Mrs. Linda Rollo, Tiffany’s harp instructor, said. With a strong endurance, Tiffany worked through physical stress on her fingers and anxiousness of playing in front of an audience. When travelling to Hong Kong this summer, Tiffany will participate in harp conferences,

study, and attend concerts by professional harpists. She will perform in a series of five master concerts in front of evaluators who will note her room for improvement. “The component that I’m participating in is the Focus on Youth concerts, which is basically in every World Harp Congress,” Tiffany said. “They invite around 30 harpists from around the world to participate in a series of five master classes or concerts, and each of the performers gets feedback from not really judges, but people who evaluated your performance, telling you what you could have done better.”

PROVIDED BY TIFFANY WONG

ria gupta & prameela kottapalli

FEATURES

ON THE CLOCK: While many upper school students pursue research positions and internships to grow their professional experience, there is a substantial minority of students who work traditional service industry jobs. The scope of duty for students with jobs in the service industry ranges from preparing food, working a cash register and handling customer service to cleaning and maintaining their workplace. Mitchell Kole (11) and Eric Andrus (11) both work at Lutticken’s, a family-owned counter-serve deli in Menlo Park. “The workers never have one assigned job. Everyone is expected to run the cash register, cook, wait on customers, clean or restock food items,” Mitchell said. While all duties are performed at some time by Lutticken’s employees, most of Eric and Mitchell’s work consists of taking orders and making food. “My job is to take orders both in person as well as over the phone from customers and prepare their food and drinks,” Eric said. “The food ranges from sandwiches to tacos and burritos, and the drinks we make are coffee, teas and smoothies.” Alisa Su (11) works at Teaspoon, a cafe specializing in Taiwanese tea and snow. She rotates between making tea and taking orders during her shifts. “I have to balance school and working because one shift is five hours, and that’s a lot of time, so

“Make sure to seem super interested in the possible job opportunity you may be applying for, and convince employers that you are more than the right fit.”

same thing happening to me.” Students can locate available posts by searching on the web for hiring businesses in one’s area, asking a manager or identifying signs in the windows of businesses. “Finding jobs is only as difficult as you make it. Make sure to seem super interested in the possible job opportunity you may be applying for, and convince employers that you are more than the right fit,” Mitchell said. “One thing you can do to achieve this is building a resume. No matter how serious the job you may be applying for is, employers like to see them because they show your BUSY BEE, SERVING TEA Alisa Su (11) works at Teaspoon, a cafe dedication towards application.” specializing in Taiwanese tea and snow. She rotates between making tea KATHY FANG

social media editor & reporter

I have to work ahead and do my homework ahead of time to plan out my work schedule,” she said. Besides college applications, some students seek work to learn professional skills and earn their own savings.

Students discuss their part-time jobs

and taking orders during her shifts.

MITCHELL KOLE (11) STUDENT EMPLOYEE AT LUTTICKEN’S “I decided to get a job for two reasons: to earn money and to learn valuable skills. I drive around 300 miles a week and spend money on food whenever necessary. Earning a relatively steady paycheck allows me to buy these things,” Mitchell said. “Operating in a chaotic place like [Lutticken’s] forced me to realize how important it is to be hardworking. If I slack off, I let the rest of my coworkers down.” While Mitchell wants to earn money for present affairs, Eric is saving up for future expenses. “I wanted to make some extra money mainly to save for college. My sister had worked for a year before she left for college two years ago, and she quickly ran out of the money she had earned from her job,” Eric said. “I decided to start earning some money early in hopes to avoid the

PROVIDED BY PAWNI PANDEY

features editor

Ever since Pawni Pandey was born, music has been a huge part of her life. She developed a passion for classic Bollywood music due to the influence of her parents, and she quickly became set on singing as a career. When she was 13 and a newspaper advertisement introduced her to “Sa Re Ga

41.2%

have had paid part time jobs

break

6:30 - 8:50 p.m. tea brewing and serving

12.2%

6-6:30 p.m. set up and restocking

I got very good people who got ready to guide me through this struggle of mine,” Pandey said. “It was just like a rollercoaster ride. You have the highs, you have the lows, but that energy, that inertia is still there.” Pandey’s most recently released song, “Laila Mein Laila,” is featured in the recent Bollywood movie “Raees” and is a recreation of a song with the same name from the 1979 film “Abdullah.” Her version of the song’s music video has garnered over 100 million views on YouTube. When Pandey initially recorded the song, she was unaware of what film it would feature in and was shocked to find out that one of her favorite actors, Shah Rukh Khan, would be acting in it. “I really feel that when

“When you see the people dancing in front of you, when you see the people encouraging you, shouting for you, whistling for you, it’s really good. It really takes me to another world.” PAWNI PANDEY BOLLYWOOD SINGER

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MILLION VIEWS ON HER SONG “LAILA MEIN LAILA”

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PLACE ON “SA RE GA MA PA L’IL CHAMPS” IN 2006

Ma Pa Li’l Champs,” a singing competition television show in India, Pandey never expected to become a finalist. “My motive was never to win or to prove anything. It was only to go there, have a good time, sing well, and that’s it, but luckily I got in, I did good and everybody liked me,” Pandey said. “During the auditions, I used to be really nervous—not for the fact that I will win or lose but just for the fact that I’ll be good or not.” After gaining fame through her popularity on “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs,” she found some difficulties in becoming a film musician, as nobody in her family had ever been in the industry. “When you’re not from the film fraternity, the barriers for you increase, but luckily

of students currently have jobs

9:00 - 10:30 p.m. tea brewing and serving

So you want to be a singer?

maya kumar

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you’re recreating something as classic as ‘Laila Mein Laila,’ it is impossible to recreate an exact match because it’s an iconic song,” Pandey said. “It was quite challenging for me actually because it was a huge song, and to recreate it plus to give it your own color and create your own image is very difficult.” Pandey has already recorded several more songs for upcoming films this year, including “Anarkali Ana Wali,” “Julie 2” and “Guns of Banaras.” In addition to playback singing, She performs for live audiences. “The live performances that I do just give me a very different high. When you see the people dancing in front of you, when you see the people encouraging you, shouting for you, whistling for you, it’s really good,” she said. “It really takes me to another world.”

5:40 -6 p.m. Alisa Su (11) walks to work

have had jobs in the food service industry

MAYA KUMAR

michael sikand & kathy fang

VOLUME 18 ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 21, 2017

#OscarsNotSoWhite Oscar nominations include people of color, unlike last year prameela kottapalli asst. features editor

The 2017 Oscar nominations are #NotSoWhiteAnymore, representing a profound reversal of the “diversity drought” that has stirred up controversy in Hollywood for the past two years. This year, the Academy recognized six films that commemorate the black experience of the past and present, from biopics highlighting African-American achievements to powerful documentaries directed by black women. The 2016 and 2015 Oscar nominations– dominated by a lack of diversity in their top four categories– spurred a surge of backlash, including protests and, at the center of it all, the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag. “It’s good to see that the outrage has caused some change, because a lot of people think that when they try to push for something, the progressiveness work and they won’t get their message across,” Jadan McDermott (11) said. “But I think this year shows that, even in such a short span of time, they’re capable of making such big changes, which is kind of inspiring to see.” Amongst the top nominations is the movie “Fences,” a drama directed by and starring Denzel Washington, who won a Tony for his play of the same name. The film revolves around a mid-20th century African-American family. “‘Fences’ is one of the best movies of the year,” boys basketball coach Daniel Pringle said. “[It] told the story of the ‘50s and ‘60s, of the black struggle of this time, of differences within the community and the household. [It is an] outstanding movie.”

And the Oscar goes to... Best Actor

Nominees: Casey Affleck (“Manchester by the Sea”), Denzel Washington (“Fences”), Andrew Garfield (“Hacksaw Ridge”), Viggo Mortensen (“Captain Fantastic”), Ryan Gosling (“La La Land”) Our pick:

Denzel Washington Denzel Washington’s portrayal of the black community inside and outside the household in the ‘50s and ‘60s captures the black struggle precisely.

Best Actress

Nominees: Meryl Streep (“Florence Foster Jenkins”), Ruth Negga (“Loving”), Isabelle Huppert, (“Elle”), Natalie Portman ( “Jackie”), Emma Stone, (“La La Land”) Our pick:

Ruth Negga Irish-Ethiopian actress Ruth Negga brings the Loving vs. Virginia case of 1967 to life in her heartfelt portrayal of Mildred Loving.

Best Supporting Actor

Nominees: Lucas Hedges (“Manchester by the Sea”), Dev Patel (“Lion”), Michael Shannon (“Nocturnal Animals”), Jeff Bridges (“Hell or High Water”), Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight”) Our pick:

Mahershala Ali Ali’s standout performance as a drug dealer and struggling father in the coming-of-age drama “Moonlight” earned him a breakaway award at the SAGs on Jan. 29. ALL PHOTOS FROM ACADEMY AWARDS SITE

FEATURES

VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 21, 2017

Santana Row inspires mixed-use development Layout offers taste of pedestrian-friendly design, less dependent on vehicular transportation derek yen

Strung lights glint over cobbled paths. Storefronts gleam in the darkness. A suited waiter sets a table accompanied by the strains of an Andalusian ostinato on classical guitar. One might almost mistake these stately streets and open piazzas for a European promenade. But this simulation is none other than our local Santana Row, but two miles away from campus. Santana Row, opened in 2002, has attracted attention for its unique mixed-use development, which encompasses residential, commercial, recreational and business amenities all within the same space of just several blocks. It stands in sharp opposition to the traditional enclosed mall—and yet, in an era where malls flounder, Santana Row flourishes. Hoping to capture Santana Row’s success, designers have created similar mixed-use development projects in other cities. For instance, Main Street in Cupertino, completed early last year, advertises itself as an “innovative mixed-use neighborhood that pairs the amenity-rich convenience of a new downtown with the welcoming atmosphere of a local town square” on its website. But what distinguishes Santana Row from the common mall? Santana Row’s mixed-use development and combined store-apartment architecture echoes a European paradigm uncommon in America. The firm that planned Santana Row, Cooper Carry, states on its website that Santana Row was inspired by European promenades such as “[La] Ramb[la] in Barcelona and Plaza Mayor in Madrid.” Collette Navarrette, Santana Row’s West Coast director of marketing, believes that a major component of this effect is in Santana Row’s streets. “Santana Row’s success is based on a lot of things. First is the location, the right street/ retail mix—we had to nail that. Once we’d accomplished that, we pushed forward with adding residential and office units,” Navarrette said. Santana Row’s designers

PROMINENT PROMENADE A shot of Santana Row’s main street and plaza, highlighting its walkable spaces and open storefronts and restaurants. Santana Row’s design was inspired by the street La Rambla in Barcelona, Spain, a shopping area dominated by pedestrians.

seek to bring it beyond a mere shopping center to become a nexus of the community. Navarrette believes that Santana Row’s open-air structure creates a unique culture and atmosphere that distinguishes it from traditional enclosed malls. “Our whole layout and design is about creating a place where people can connect, a place where they live, they work, they play, they can make memories at. That’s really how we wanted to design Santana Row,” Navarrette said. “So we have large unique storefronts, all of our restaurants have outdoor patio seating, we have parks, plazas—it’s such a walkable, vibrant destination.” This culture manifests particularly in Santana Row’s use of public spaces. “A great example is what we do with Harker. For our tree lighting ceremony, we bring in your school and we have performances,” Navarrette said. “We have these public spaces for the community to use and embrace, and I think that’s a very important part of nailing it with the

mixed-use shopping center. You can come here to shop and eat, but you also have this platform, these parks and plazas that the community can get involved in.”

“[Santana Row] reduces the amount that people drive [and] creates those kinds of public spaces where we can interact.” BENJAMIN GRANT URBAN DESIGN POLICY DIRECTOR OF SPUR Moreover, Santana Row stands out as a functional and flourishing example of a neighborhood in the New Urbanist style. The philosophy of New Urbanism first emerged in the early 1980s as a repudiation of 20th-century suburbia. It rejected the sprawling roads and neighborhoods of the suburbs in

INSIDE SANTANA ROW WITH RIYA CHANDRA (12)

PROVIDED BY RIYA CHANDRA

Take a walk with Riya Chandra (12), a resident of Santana Row, as she embarks on a trip around the neighborhood to show the Winged Post some of her favorite spots.

1. Eat at delicious restaurants

“When I think of why my friends want to visit me in Santana Row, the typical answer is food. If I had to recommend two restaurants out of the many, it would be Pizza Antica and Straits. Pizza Antica’s restaurant ambience is nice and very vintage, and my personal favorite pizza is the heirloom potato pizza.”

2. Shop around (or window shop)

“Santana Row is famous for its amazing high-end shops. My personal favorites include Urban Outfitters, Lululemon, H&M, Kate Spade and Ted Baker. There are so many other stores, though, that I know people enjoy, like Oakley, Free People, Madewell, Gucci, Kendra Scott, Tommy Bahamas and more.”

3. Enjoy Park Valencia

“Park Valencia is a newly renovated area next to The Counter. This is a perfect place to just relax and eat some yummy, quick food! Oftentimes in the evening, there will be some live music playing which is always fun to watch while devouring some Smitten ice cream.”

4. Visit the infamous wall in Santana Row

“There’s a beautiful wall full of colors blended together to the left of Anthropologie. It’s famous to people who live in this area, and it’s fun to take pictures there. It’s definitely a place where I recommend people to stop and snap a pic so they can have a picture against the renowned wall of Santana Row.”

favor of more compact communities where housing, work and shopping are all within walking distance. Benjamin Grant, urban design policy director of SPUR, a nonprofit advocacy organization that publishes articles and holds conferences on urban planning, believes that Santana Row represents a pedestrian-focused design ethos from before the age of the automobile. “Santana Row is an example of an attempt to go back to a type of place that was much more common before World War II, before the car was king, and that works very, very well in certain respects,” Grant said. “It reduces the amount that people drive, it creates those kinds of public spaces where we can interact, it accommodates more stuff in less space—and we are short on space in the Bay Area. There’s a lot of efficiencies in that way of building.” While New Urbanism has yet to become widespread, it promises potential environmental impacts by drastically reducing carbon emissions associated

with automobiles. Even electric vehicles and public transportation require fossil fuels, but a pedestrian-based community offers a way to obviate the need for fossil fuel use without disrupting conventional domestic life. “One of the very common arguments that the planners make about these kinds of dense mixed-use environments and walkable environments is that they help get people out of their cars,” Grant said. “If we’re going to try to deal with our climate, we’re going to try to have less impact on the environment, we have to stop driving everywhere, and one of the key ways of doing is to go places that are denser.” Santana Row may represent much more than just a place to socialize—it may herald a new kind of urban design that is compacter, more neighborly, more walkable and more environmentally friendly. And as mixed-use centers spring up in other cities, inspired by Santana Row, society may again return to a new, forgotten era: the age of the pedestrian and the dense city center.

What do you check out when you are in Santana Row? “Pinkberry is probably my favorite place. It’s the only place I’ve been.” -Shasvat Jawahar (12)

“Lululemon is my favorite place because that’s where I love to buy all my dance clothes that I wear every day.” -Dance teacher Karl Kuehn

“I like Urban Outfitters ... there are lots of nice clothes there.” -Alycia Cary (10)

“Forever 21 is my favorite because I like shopping there.” -Aria Coalson (11)

“I don’t go to Santana Row very often, but I like Left Bank because they have delicious food.” -Spanish teacher Diana Moss “I think I like the performing arts place [Park Valencia] because of the nice performances there.” -Linda Wang (10)

DEREK YEN

STEM editor

GLOBAL RESET

VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 21, 2017

AS WASHINGTON HEATS UP,

IN 131 YEARS, THE GLOBAL CLIMATE HAS VARIED DRASTICALLY AS THE EARTH’S TEMPERATURE HAS RISEN TO CRITICAL LEVELS.

White House rejects climate change as issue neil bai & maya valluru

Aquila copy editor & Aquila news editor

The day of President Donald J. Trump’s inauguration, all references to climate change initiatives were scrubbed from the White House website. Since then, environmental conservation has not been addressed, and the future of climate change under Trump remains unclear. In January 2014, Trump tweeted that climate change was “an expensive hoax” and has stood by this initial opinion throughout his presidential campaign. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated in its 2013 report that there was a 95 percent chance that human activity is the main cause of climate change. However, 51 percent of all Americans believe that natural patterns are responsible to climate change or that there is not evidence for climate change, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center dur-

ing the summer of 2016. “Americans are increasingly convinced global warming is happening and are more worried about it,” Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, wrote in a Jan. 18 press statement. “This indicates that on this issue, there is a growing gap between the views of the American public and the incoming Trump administration.” On Jan. 23, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) sent an internal memo to its employees stating that press releases and policy statements would be required to undergo review by the Office of Secretary prior to being published. Initially, many were concerned with the notion of potentially censoring scientists, but USDA deputy administrator Michael Young later explained that it is standard procedure and similar to a memo sent out when Barack Obama swore into office. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was also affected by Trump’s inauguration, with its grants and

contracts frozen for a week as it underwent review. Obama often turned to the EPA to bring forth several initiatives regarding climate concerns that Congress decided to forgo, including the Clean Power Rule, a policy aimed at combating global warming through modified power plants, and the Water Rule, regarding management of water sources and pollution. However, Trump’s administration will have a different relationship with the EPA. With Trump’s nomination of Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt as the EPA head, some fear that the Trump administration will potentially reallocate the EPA’s funding because Pruitt has previously sued the EPA. “I think there are a lot of issues because all the members of the cabinet he is choosing are thinking the same way, which makes it very difficult to get things done,” AP Environmental Science teacher and Green Team advisor Jeff Sutton said. “The things that are getting done are facing very little opposition to make [Trump] think about how [matters] might play out long

term. Scott Pruitt fits that suit. He is in agreement with lots of things that the rest of Trump’s cabinet is going to support.”

“On [climate change], there is a growing gap between the views of the American public and the incoming Trump administration.” ANTHONY LEISEROWITZ DIRECTOR OF YALE PROJECT ON CLIMATE CHANGE COMMUNICATION Anti-environmentalist Myron Ebell, who headed the transition team for the EPA, has made it known that Trump plans to pull out of the Paris Agreement, an United Nations agreement over cutting down greenhouse gas emissions, much to the dismay of American and European environmentalists.

Another incident over climate change since Trump’s inauguration was an unofficial Twitter account of the Badlands National Park posted about climate change on Jan. 24 in protest of Trump’s dismissal of climate change concerns and gag orders on federal environmental agencies. The tweets were soon deleted, and the National Park Service said that the tweets had been by a former employee. Since then, the park’s Twitter account has returned to posting photos and other park-related text. Last week, Senate Republicans confirmed Pruitt’s nomination, and is now awaiting approval from the full Senate. After the election, Trump pulled back on his comments during his presidential run and said that he will look more into how he will confront the topic of climate change. Only three weeks into Trump’s presidency, it is still unclear what actions he will take towards energy regulation and climate change.

ROGUE TWEETS katherine zhang asst. STEM editor

Five days into Trump’s presidency, the president ordered several federal agencies, including the National Park Service, to not communicate with the press or the public. Despite this order, several branches of the National Park Service did not comply. On January 24, the Twitter account for South Dakota’s Badlands National Park, a subsidiary of the National Park Service, began tweeting facts about climate change, violating Trump’s order. The tweets were retweeted thousands of times before they were deleted later that day. The National Park Service (NPS) and other departments were ordered to stop tweeting after it retweeted two side-by-side photos on January 20 comparing the size of Obama’s inauguration crowds in 2009 to the number that turned out for Trump. Trump’s team later stated that they gave the order to stop tweeting out of fear that the account had been hacked. The NPS has since deleted the retweet and issued a statement apologizing for it the next day.

FACING OUR FUTURE

ICE CAPS MELT

TALK AROUND CAMPUS gloria zhang & helen yang

THE COOLEST FAST FACTS = When the Larsen C Shelf breaks away, it will be the largest iceberg every recorded

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There have been two Larsen rift breaks before this, Larsen A and B

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Dr. Gary Blickenstaff Biology Teacher “We have indications that sea levels have changed dramatically in the past — that they’ve been significantly higher, that they’ve been lower — that’s a phenomenon that does kind of go on a cyclic basis. The biggest concern that scientists have right now is the speed at which the change is happening. That seems to be something that’s rather unprecedented — how rapidly global temperatures are going up right now. It seems to be a clear-cut consequence of predominantly burning fossil fuels.”

Climate change scientists predict the iceberg will split from the shelf

in 2016

Rift develops in Antarctic Larsen C ice shelf

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cont r o versial stances against climate change, the importance of seriously addressing the growth of these rifts in ice shelfs is growing. “I think that this is an absolutely critical age to share this information because this generation is going to be really facing the consequences of climate change,” Dr. James B. McClintock, a professor of marine biology and, said on the melting ice shelfs two years ago after a keynote lecture at the annual science research symposium. “I’m hoping that [these] students [that attended my lecture] will share what they learned today with their parents, that they’ll think about things that they can build into their own lives or people that should be voted into positions of power that make decisions that affect the future.”

“There’s this positive feedback loop where, when the ice melts, since the white color of the ice tends to reflect the sun and that reflects the heat back into the atmosphere, when that white ice gets replaced with dark blue water, all of a sudden more heat is being absorbed into the earth and it kind of enters this positive feedback loop, it’s this vicious cycle of continued warming.”

causes it to go so fast.” The unusually fast collapsing events in the Larsen Ice Shelves have been attributed to rising temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula due to global warming caused by human activity. The presence of meltwater on the glaciers, which seeps into cracks in the ice and drives it apart, also quickens the collapse of ice shelves. Though calving in the Larsen C Ice Shelf will not cause a significant rise in sea level rise

David Zhu (12) Arctic trip participant

ANTHONY LEISEROWITZ DIRECTOR OF YALE PROJECT ON CLIMATE CHANGE COMMUNICATION

cause the iceberg is already floating on water, it will leave the rest of the shelf vulnerable to future collapse. Some scientists have proposed that the calving event will speed up glacial movement and increase the flow of ice towards the sea. The degradation of the ice shelf also endangers polar habitats, which are difficult to rebuild “[New ice for habitats] have to form early enough, it has to be thick and complex, and it has to last late enough into the summer,” polar explorer and naturalist Brent Houston said. “If you don’t have that, after 4 or 5 years of bad ice, you start losing your penguins.” However, others have suggested that consequences may not be so drastic because the ice that would be lost is “passive ice,” or ice that does not play a key role in holding glaciers behind the shelf in place. Though only time can tell what the exact consequences of the calving event in the Larsen C Ice Shelf will be, this growing rift points to a trend in the melting of polar ice both in the Antarctic Peninsula and elsewhere. With the rising issue of climate change in politics, specifically following the election of American president Donald J. Trump, who has taken several

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“On [climate change], there is a growing gap between the views of the American public and the incoming Trump administration.”

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An iceberg the size of Delaware is in danger of breaking off from Antarctica, due to a rift in the Larsen C Ice Shelf that continues to grow and expand. The shelf is cut by a growing rift that is over 109 miles long, according to new satellite data. Since the startbeginning of the year2017, the rift has grown by 6.2 miles. According to Project MIDAS, a U.K.nited Kingdom-based research effort on the Antarctic, only 12.4 miles of ice continue to anchor this iceberg to the shelf. According to researchers, the iceberg is poised to break off from the shelf this year. When the iceberg does break off from the shelf, the shelf will lose between nine to 12 percent 9% and 12% of its area, and the iceberg will be among the largest ever recorded. The Larsen C Ice Shelf is part of the larger Larsen Ice Shelf, a series of shelves along the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The shelf has seen several collapsing events since the mid1990s, with the disintegration of the Larsen A and B shelves in 1995 and 2002, respectively. While the breaking of ice from glaciers in a process known as “calving” is not uncommon, what alarms scientists is the speed at which the ice shelves are disintegrating. When the Larsen B Ice Sshelf collapsed, creating an iceberg about the size of Rhode Island, only three weeks passed before

“One of the main reasons why sea ice is so important is because it provides the foundation of antarctic maritime ecosystems in that it supports a huge number of species and the ice itself also plays important functions in regulating ocean density and things like that that have significant relevance to global current systems and so on. So ultimately losses in sea ice or breaks in sea ice will lead to potentially detrimental effects in these areas.”

asst. STEM editor & editor-in-chief

it disintegrated completely. Likewise, the rift in the Larsen C Ice Shelf has grown rapidly since NASA began documenting its growth lastin November. “It seems to me that it’s a positive feedback loop. Where as it begins to melt [when] puddles of water form,” AP Environmental Science teacher & Green Team advisor Jeff Sutton said. “Puddles of water have less reflectivity that the snow, that then absorbs heat which causes more melting…. The water can then go down into the crevasse, into the cracks, freeze, expand, and that’s what

Venkat Sankar (12) Regeneron Talent Search Semifinalist

katherine zhang & kshithija mulam

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The iceberg split endagers polar animals like penguins.

VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 21, 2017

Sharanya Balaji (‘16) Arctic trip participant “One reason why we [were] not able to see as many polar bears as we did was because there was not enough ice out for them to rest at.”

STEM

VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 21, 2017

Rise of Smart Homes Google and Amazon release home virtual assistants

“Some people have bought houses that are configured to use [smart home systems] -- they are built that way.” LAREN CRIDDLE ELECTRICAL ASSOCIATE playlists and podcasts from the cloud. Another new feature helps remind the user where items like car keys and passports are. Both Google Home and Amazon Echo act like search engines in that they allow the user to ask for music, weather, news and information. While Echo connects you to Alexa, which answers basic questions like what the weather is, Google Home connects you directly to the vast knowledge of Google and can an-

swer specific questions and even the follow up questions to those inquires. They also monitor their users’ daily schedules and can adjust them on command. “My favorite feature is just learning new things. You can ask it a question, and then it’ll just start telling you about something and that kind of intrigues you to ask more questions,” Mahi said. Alexa can also access music from the cloud as well as Kindle e-books and Audible. Alexa also allows the user to order things off of Amazon.com and it can assist in tracking down a lost phone. A recently added feature allows the user to pre order

coffee or food via the Starbucks Mobile Order and Pay feature. Alexa is also is the only artificial intelligence that allows the user to change its “wake word”, a phrase that Alexa is programed to respond to. Smart home systems often connect to a phone app, which contains most of their settings and can connect to other smart home companies’ apps, such as Nest. Concerns have also recently been brought up about the safety of these devices, as Google Home and Echo are constantly on and record everything their microphones can pick up. Cus-

KATHERINE ZHANG

reporters

Google released a smart home system in November 2016 by the name of Google Home, just one example in the myriad of options available for the development of smart home systems and one step closer to hightech homes of the future. Google Home is a voice-activated speaker system featuring Google’s artificial intelligence assistant and works as a center of control for smart home systems. “Some customers are really excited about it. Some customers know nothing about them and just want to buy them to have them,” said Laren Criddle, an electrical associate at the Home Depot in San Jose. “Some people have bought houses that are configured to use [smart home systems]—they are built that way.” In 2014, Amazon released its intelligent personal assistant feature, Alexa, which was popularized by smart home device hub Amazon Echo and microconsole Amazon Fire TV. Google too announced in January 2016 a home system named Google Home, featuring Google assistant, which is Google’s intelligent personal assistant announced May 2016. “I think it really presents a tool that can be used daily,” Mahi Kolla (9), who owns a Google Home, said. “There was a release video for the Google Home, and it showed how a family used Google Home in

the morning getting ready, and each individual member asked different questions, but Google Home was able to answer all of them…. I’ve never actually tried this, but you can set up a calendar and you can link it to your Google calendar.” Some of Google Home’s features include a touchpad surface for total control of the device, precise faraway voice recognition, high-definition speakers, a mute button for privacy and customizable modular design. It can also stream the likes of songs,

KATHERINE ZHANG

nina gee & nisha shankar

tomers worry that hackers might be able to listen in on them through Echo or Google Home. Only the words spoken after the “wake word,” however, are documented. Still, Google and Amazon have also taken precautionary measures by implementing a mute button which cuts off the mic completely. While the systems still do have some technical flaws and are constantly being updated, the advent of these devices provide a way for the creation of more efficient home systems. ture.

What’s new in the STEM scene A quick overview outside the classroom

March for science supported to protest Trump administration nicole chen

aquila features editor

Multiple scientists and science organizations have announced their support for a march for science, particularly to raise awareness regarding the Trump administration’s proposed plans regarding climate change and energy. Reddit users proposed the idea of a march for science in a discussion about the effect of Trump’s administration on science. A Facebook page supporting the cause was launched on Jan. 24, and it has since reached more than 300,000 likes. “Mr. Trump has dismissed it as a hoax and a conspiracy engineered by the Chinese in order to diminish US economic competitiveness. That is simply wrong and dangerously so. He has called for ‘cancelling the Paris Climate Agreement’, and if that happened, it would send the wrong message to the rest of the world,” said Benjamin Santer, climate researcher at the Lawrence Livermore National University. “It would tell them ‘This is not a serious problem. We don’t care about it in the United States, and you should not care about it either.’ That would impede, in my opinion, effective solutions to the problem of human caused climate change.” The march’s Twitter account

announced that it will be held on Earth Day, April 22. Marches will be held in multiple cities throughout the nation, including San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Organizers of the events say that the main purpose of these events is to fight the Trump administration’s stance against science research. The events on April 22 in the Washington march will include a march as well as a teach-in at the National Mall. Many members of Trump’s administration and cabinet have publicly stated that they deny the legitimacy of human-caused climate change. Trump’s nominee for Department of Energy head, Rick Perry, said in 2011 at a breakfast event in New Hampshire that he does not believe in global warming and suggested that scientists were manipulating statistics for financial benefits. “Your entire life’s work, and then someone comes along, who’s perhaps read a few blogs on the Internet and dismisses everything that you’ve done and everything that the scientific community has done as a hoax or a conspiracy,” Santer said. “How would you feel about that? Not very good, probably. The San Francisco sister march is planned to take place from 9 a.m. to noon on April 22.

MEILAN STEIMLE

rashmi iyer reporter

School:

Students in Robotics are currently in their build season, preparing their robot for competitions. Their first competition takes place March 8-11 and another will take place later that month.

NOT-SO-MAD SCIENTISTS From left to right, Regeneron Science Finalists Manan Shah, Evani Radia-Dixit and Arjun Subramaniam smile together.

Three Harker seniors, Evani Radiya-Dixit, Manan Shah and Arjun Subramaniam, were named national finalists of the Regeneron Science Talent Search on Jan. 24. The finalists will travel to Washington D.C. from March 9 to 15 for the finals, and winner will be announced March 14. Prizes for the top 10 finalists range from $40,000 to $250,000. Ayush Pancholy (10), Neelesh Ramachandran (11), Ashwin Rammohan (10), Selin Sayiner (11) and Manan Shah (12) traveled to the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia to participate in the 10th annual US Invitational Young Physicists Tournament from Jan 28 to 29.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Scientists plan April march

MR. ROBOT Karthik Sundaram (12) works on the mechanical body of Team 1072’s robot.

ROSE GUAN

ZACHARY HOFFMAN

Global:

On the day of the inauguration, Jan 20, the official white house website removed the page covering climate change issues. The climate change website that existed during the Obama administration is still available at President Obama’s National Archives website. On Jan 24, President Trump signed executive orders to revive the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines which have been a source of tension for environmental activists and Native American groups for fear of oil spills, carbon emissions and desecrating sacred ground. An 110-mile rift is close to causing the Larsen C ice shelf, one of Antarctica’s largest ice shelf around the size of Delaware, to break off with only 12 miles left connecting it to the land mass. The break could happen within a few months, and scientist fear that without the ice shelf as a barrier, land based glaciers will have an easier time moving into the ocean and increase sea levels.

THE RIFTS BETWEEN US The Larsen C ice shelf, photographed from above in 2016, continues to break away from Antarctica.

Research: University of Manchester researchers have created the tightest knot ever using a “rope” just 192 atoms long. The molecular weaving could allow for the creation new materials with different properties than seen before. Japan’s Proximate Object Close Flyby with Optical Nav-

igation (PROCYON) has been lost in space since 2014 when its thrusters blew out, orbiting the sun ever since. A team of researchers recently published a study about how they used the spacecraft’s telescope to observe Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the same one the Rosetta spacecraft observed last year. Using the telescope, the researchers had a better view of the comet than Rosett and were able to measure the water discharge on the comet which could allow for scientists to better understand the origins of water on Earth.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

On February 5, the Bay Area youth chapter of the international Society for Neuroscience Organization hosted SfN Wonder, a speaker series about the diversity and interdisciplinary character of neuroscience.

HEAVY METAL Metallic hydrogen theoretically appears in large quantities at the centers of gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn.

Thomas D. Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences Isaac Silvera and postdoctoral fellow Ranga Dias of Harvard University report that they succeeded in creating atomic metallic hydrogen, a material that scientists have theorized for nearly a century, using a diamond anvil cell. Scientists theorize that atomic metallic hydrogen could possess capabilities of being a room-temperature superconductor, providing energy storage and giving spacecrafts longer-lasting fuel. Many scientists, however, question the veracity of the material because Silvera and Dias have only conducted one experiment so far and because they based their discovery on one measurement of the reflectivity of the material. Researchers at Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, California have managed to create pig embryos with signs of human cells, an important step in finding how to grow humans organs in host animals for transplants.

SPORTS

VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 21, 2017

Winter Sports

Soccer players sign letters of intent

ALEX WANG

HEAD IN THE GAME Junior Eric Jeong dribbles the ball.

JIA NG

ASHLEY JIANG

The varsity boys basketball team’s overall record is 6-13 with their league record as 1-8. The boys had their senior night Feb. 3. against Crystal Springs Uplands, where they honored five seniors, Abhay Varmaraja, Jonathan Liu, Justin Jia, Jordan Goheen and team manager, Alex Youn. “I’ve been on the team for three years now with these guys, at Harker and outside, and now next year to see them not on the court with me is just going to be a weird sensation,” Eric Jeong (11) said. “We’re brothers. We’re a family.”

GIRLS BASKETBALL

ASHLEY JIANG

JUSTIN SU

PROVIDED BY NOOR SINGH

Seniors Kailee Gifford, Joelle Anderson and Lyndsey Mitchell each signed official contracts to play for college soccer programs Feb 1. Kailee signed to University of California Berkeley and will play for the Bears this fall. “I fell in love with [soccer] 14 years ago, and not once have I regretted it, not even for a second,” she said in a Facebook post this afternoon. “Thank you to everyone who has helped me turn this dream into reality, I am blessed beyond measure.” Also staying in California, Joelle will play at Pepperdine University. She has played on the girls soccer team for the Upper School the past four years and looks forward to continue building her soccer skills. Outside of Harker, she has trained and played for an outside club. “I’m very excited to start a new journey in the fall at Pepperdine, and I’m really excited to meet my new teammates and get to know them,” Joelle said. She sees college soccer as the next step in her soccer career. “I hope to maybe play professional soccer when I’m done with college, so that’s my main goal, but if not, I just hope I can continue to play soccer after college,” she said. Lyndsey will play at Nebraska Wesleyan University as a Prairie Wolf this fall. She has also played for Harker for the past four years, and additionally,

BOYS BASKETBALL

plays outside club soccer too. “I hope to have a lot of fun and meet new friends in college through soccer and I want to learn new skills. I think I can develop new skills in college soccer because it is a whole new level,” Lindsey said. She hopes her college coaching staff will facilitate her development. “I’m really excited because the coaching is really specific to your position, and I’m really excited for that because I like developing my defending skills and my attacking skills separately and really focusing in separately on them,” she said. All three players will play their first college seasons this upcoming fall.

LE Y

sports editors

sports editor

AS H

alex wang & anjay saklecha

anjay salecha

SOCCER SIGNING (TOP) Lyndsey Mitchell (12) lines up for a goal kick in last year’s Kicks Against Cancer game. (LEFT) Kaillee Gifford (12), Lindsey and Joelle Anderson (12) sign their college contracts. (TOP RIGHT) Kailee dodges around a defender. (BOTTOM RIGHT) Joelle dribbles the ball in pre-game practice.

Head Girls’ Lacrosse Coach makes her debut

SHE SHOOTS Senior Jordan Thompson attempts a layup.

The varsity girls basketball team’s overall record is 10-9 with their league record as 3-4. The girls held their senior night against Crystal Springs Uplands on Feb. 17 at Blackford at 5:30p.m. As they are nearing an end to their season, CCS championships start today.

repoter

Alyssa Dunlap became head coach of the upper school girls lacrosse team this spring, replacing Danae Rodriguez. Andrew Newmark and chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine serve as assistant coaches this year. Dunlap has played lacrosse since fifth grade. She led her high school team to three consecutive Pennsylvania state championships and was a twotime High School All-American. She was a four-year starter and the captain of Vanderbilt University’s lacrosse team. Before coming to the upper

school, Dunlap coached and directed Treelax Lacrosse Club, a

“What makes a good lacrosse team is teammates and a team that’s playing for one another.” ALYSSA DUNLAP HEAD LACROSSE COAH national level travel team from Palo Alto, and coached the Stanford University women’s lacrosse program. The upper

JUST RELAX (LEFT) Senior Anuva Mittal runs with the ball as she tries to get past a Mitty defender during the girls’ first lacrosse match of last year’s season. (RIGHT) Freshman Elise Mayer catches the ball and runs during the girls’ first lacrosse match of last season. Alyssa Dunlap became head coach of the girls’ team for the upcoming spring season.

school’s will be her first high school team. “What makes a good lacrosse team is teammates and a team that’s playing for one another and playing for a common goal,” she said. “It’s less about the individual play and more about working hard for one another. I think grit—it’s one of my favorite words—has a lot to do with the success of a team overall.” Dunlap looks forward to not only coaching the lacrosse team but also teaching her athletes technique. “The thing I look forward to most is teaching—not just

TRISHA DWIVEDI

Patriots beat Falcons in upset

BOYS SOCCER

eric fang reporter

The New England Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34 - 28 at Super bowl LI, winning them their fifth title on Feb. 5. The Patriots came back from a 3-28 deficit to win the game in overtime 34-28 off of a 3 yard touchdown dive by James White in the first ever overtime game and largest comeback in super bowl history. The Falcons were comfort-

coaching but teaching the actual technique and helping kids realize their potential and their potential as athletes but more specifically lacrosse players,” she said. “Be a sponge. Soak it all up. Learn as much as you can, and do your best to practice outside of what we do here if you want to be successful.” Team tryouts started on Jan. 30 and will continue until Feb. 10. Their first scrimmage will be held on Feb. 21 at Woodside High School, and their first game will be held on Davis Field on March 1 against Newark High School. ably ahead by 25 points after the Falcon’s quarterback Matt Ryan threw 2 touchdowns and Robert Alford, the Falcon’s cornerback, completed an 82 yard pick six after intercepting Tom Brady. The Patriots miraculously managed to score 25 points to tie up the game with just a minute left in the quarter. Julian Edelman, the Patriot’s receiver, caught an extremely impressive ball pushing the Falcons back further.

ANJAY SAKLECHA

angele yang

The varsity girls soccer team’s overall record is 9-3-1, with a league record of 6-2. The Eagles look for a chance to place into CCS starting today. Their senior night was held on Feb. 15 against Eastside College Prep.

KICK CANCER Rohit Shah (11) kicks the ball past defenders for an attempt to score. The varsity boys soccer team has an overall record of 6-6-1, and a league record of 2-3-1. The boys’ senior night was on Feb. 8 against Sacred Heart.

WRESTLING

JUSTIN SU

TRISHA DWIVEDI

SHE SCORES Sophomore Lilia Gonzales dribbles the ball.

KSHITHIJA MULAM

GIRLS SOCCER

WRESTLEMANIA Danny Reidenbach (12) holds his opponent down on the mat. Wrestling participated in the SCVAL Tournament on Feb. 10 and Feb. 11 at Fremont High School. CCS Championships are held Feb. 24 to 25. The Eagles had their senior night on Jan. 31, honoring three seniors this year — Davis Howard, Diego Figueroa and Danny Reidenbach.

Scores and records reflect the date the paper was sent for printing. For updated results, visit harkeraquila.com

BACK PAGE

VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 21, 2017

WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS! kshithija mulam editor-in-chief

Ringmasters. Clowns. Acrobats. Over 160 dancers participated in the annual upper school dance production from Jan. 28 to Jan. 29. The “circus”-themed show featured the largest dance show cast in school history and completely sold out of tickets by Jan. 26. The production featured 24 dance numbers and one interlude from a variety of different genres including hip hop, jazz, tap, lyrical and ballet choreographed by members of the Harker dance faculty, guest choreographers and student choreographers. This year’s student choreographers were Charley Huang (11), Liana Wang (11), Miranda Larsen (11), Gracean Linthacum-Janker (11), Sanjana Marcé (12), Tamlyn Doll (12), Hazal Gurcan (12), Surabhi Rao (12), Sravya Cherukuri (12) and David Zhu (12). This year’s cast of dancers was dominated by the seniors, who were the largest class of dancers in this year’s show. In addition to the normal student dances, the faculty also performed a number in the second half of the show called “Right Round,” and Riya Chandra (12) and Timothy Wang (10) performed a jive interlude to the song “Great Balls of Fire.” “I asked Mr. Kuehn if I could do a ballroom solo, because I do ballroom dancing out of school and I wanted to see if I could showcase

those skills in this dance show, so he agreed to let me do a one to two minute interlude, which worked out well since most ballroom routines are one to two minutes,” Riya said. “I was lucky that there happened to be a guy in school who also did ballroom.” All of the tickets to this year’s dance show were sold out by Wednesday of the week of the show. In order to accommodate the increased demand for tickets, seats were added later, and additional tickets were put on sale on Jan. 28 after the afternoon show. The dance show was held over two days with all performances at the Blackford theatre. Before each of the shows, the cast gathered together for a brief moment to get pumped up, and before the Saturday night show, which was the final show, the varsity dance team seniors gave speeches to thank production director Karl Kuehn and assistant production director Rachelle Haun for helping them grow as dancers throughout high school. “It was fun [to do the dance show] because a lot of my friends were choreographers this year, but it was also bittersweet since it was my last dance show, and I’ve been dancing since I started at Harker in fifth grade,” Emmie Malyugina (12) said. Dance production videos were made available for purchase on Feb. 7 and can be found on the Harker website.

CAPTIONS SENIOR SENDOFF Surabhi Rao (12), Noor Singh (12), Tamlyn Doll (12) and Hazal Gurcan (12) perform in the annual, senior-only routine.

ALL TOGETHER NOW Kismet Singh (9) strikes a pose in her dance as she performs in the seventh act of the show.

EVERYBODY LOVES A CIRCUS SHOW Emma Yu (11) reaches for the ceiling as she performs in the fifth act of the show.

TIME TO JIVE Riya Chandra (12) and Timothy Wang (10) engage the crowd with a duet jive routine, bringing ballroom dancing to the stage.

LEAP FOR THE STARS Dancers leap together to kick off the first dance of the second half of the show.

HIGH KICK Varsity dance captain Tamlyn Doll (12) kicks high during the senior-only performance, “Glitter in the Air.”

ON POINT Varsity and junior varsity dancers dance in sync in the final routine of the show before the finale.

ALL PHOTOS NICOLE CHEN