Winged Post Volume 17 Issue 5 by Harker Aquila

WINGED POST GLOBAL WARNING Dr. Holmes speaks about the science and dangers of climate change in Nichols Auditorium.

KSHITHIJA MULAM

WEDNESDAY MARCH 2, 2016 | THE HARKER UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER, VOL. 17, NO. 5

| www.harkeraquila.com

DIVIDED WE STAND?

Issues split nation, parties, community during elections

Scientist gives climate change talk

VOTE • 2016

meena gudapati copy editor

Dr. Robert Max Holmes, a senior scientist at environmental research institute Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC), spoke to students and faculty about climate change during lunch and class periods in the Nichols Auditorium on Thursday. Biology teacher Dr. Kate Schafer, who previously worked with Dr. Holmes at WHRC, organized the event. Biology student Marina Newman (11) attended the talk. “I think it increased the awareness of climate change for all the students who attended, and we also learned a little bit about the political situation surrounding it,” Marina said Earlier in the school year, the Green Team hosted Dr. Holmes through a Skype call while he was attending the United Nations Framework on Climate Change in Paris.

Martin O’Malley Bernie Sanders Hillary Clinton Lincoln Chaffee

Ted Cruz Marco Rubio Donald Trump Ben Carson John Kasich Chris Christie Carly Fiorina Et al.

KSHITHIJA MULAM

FEM club week raises awareness, funds

EMPOWERMENT Seniors Nikita Ramoji and Ayla Ekici sell Pinkberry and other baked goods to raise funds for the Kenya Center for Excellence.

ELISABETH SIEGEL

maya kumar & prameela kottapalli asst. features editor & reporter

The Female Empowerment (FEM) club held its club week last week, selling baked goods and Pinkberry to raise money for the Kenya Center for Excellence last week outside Manzanita. The Kakenya School for Excellence is an organization that provides education for young women and protects them from social threats such as forced marriage. “We figured out the money could be put in good hands and put to good use. These girls really do need a place where they can learn,” Aliesa Bahri (10) Activities Coordinator for the club said. Additionally they hosted a screening of “The Hunting Ground,” a documentary regarding sexual assault on college campuses, and they created a petition in support of Kesha, a musician who was sexually assaulted by her producer, to be able to independently record music.

Orchestra travels, A3

UNITING OR FIGHTING With two candidates left in the Democratic party, five in the Republican party and many primary results still up in the air, communities remain ideologically fractured as they face a nation and parties divided on many important issues for 2016.

nicole chen & derek yen & adrian chu reporters

Thirteen states participated in “Super Tuesday” yesterday as parties nominated their choice to run for president. As of press time, the results of Super Tuesday were not available. The Nevada Democratic caucus and the South Carolina Republican primary both concluded on Feb. 20 with Hillary Clinton in the lead with 52.6 percent of the votes over Bernie Sander’s 47.3 percent. In South Carolina, Donald Trump took all 50 delegates with 32.5 percent of the votes. After the Republican primary, Jeb Bush suspended his campaign due to disappointing results in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

A polarized nation, A6

“I’m proud of the campaign that we’ve run to unify our country,” Bush said in the departure video posted to his official website. “But the people of Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken, and I really respect their decision.” Primary caucuses for the Democratic and Republican

“The people of Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken, and I really respect their decision.” JEB BUSH FORMER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

Media Echo-Chamber, A8

presidential candidates began with the Iowa caucus on Feb. 1 and the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 9. The Iowa caucus resulted in victories for Clinton and Ted Cruz with 49.9 percent of the Democratic and 27.6 percent of the Republican votes, respectively. Clinton’s victory was slim with Bernie Sanders close behind at 49.7 percent. In New Hampshire’s primary on Feb. 9, Sanders won with 60 percent of the Democratic vote while Trump won with 35.3 percent of the Republican votes. “[Iowa and New Hampshire] are the first two states, which means we pay more attention to them, and we give them so much coverage even though it’s not necessarily due,” Issues Discussion Club President Shannon Hong

Boys basketball to CCS, A10

(12) said. “I still think that [they] influence the general and primary election season in that it establishes momentum; Sanders, right now, having only lost to Clinton in Iowa by 0.2 percent and and then actually winning in New Hampshire, I think that gives him a lot of momentum.” Continued page A6-A7

FAST FACTS Next primaries: March 5: Kansas, Kentucky (R), Louisiana, Maine (R) , Nebraska (D) March 6: Maine (D), Puerto Rico (R) March 8: Hawaii (R), Idaho (R), Michigan, Mississippi

Immigration, A12

NEWS

VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

AP Studio Art students exhibit portfolios reporter

ALL PHOTOS ASHLEY JIANG

Students in the AP Studio Art classes held an exhibition in the Nichols Atrium on Feb. 24 during long lunch. Students, faculty and parents were allowed to come observe the artworks done by the

25 students who are taking the AP course, the greatest number of students yet. The students displayed a selection of works that were part of their concentration portfolios, which were all based on a single idea that each student was exploring. They then creat-

ART EXHIBITION (TOP) Kevina Xiao (12), who is part of the 2D digital group, prepares to stick a piece of velcro onto the back of one part of her art piece. (BOTTOM LEFT) Ankur Karwal (12) carries his art compositions that he created for his concentration portfolio. (BOTTOM RIGHT) Madison Tomihiro (12) hangs up one of her pieces that she drew for her portfolio. The exhibition featured art works from a total of 25 students taking the AP course.

ed a series of artworks that investigated that certain idea. This reception serves as a halfway mark for the students in their concentration portfolios and it helps them get critique from the larger community and to see what’s working. Joshua Martinez, the photography teacher and the instructor for the 2D digital group, commented on how this e hibit benefits the students and how it serves as a good opportunity for them to learn and come up with new ideas. “I think it’s exciting for the students to do the AP show because they’re just starting to figure out what their concentrations are going to be and this is the first time for them to be able to show it off and to get feedback from the larger community about it so everybody is a little nervous and a little excited and just sort of waiting to see how it turns out,” he said. “They’ve all been working so hard, it’s going to be really exciting to see it.” All of the works were composed using a variety of different mediums, which include painting and drawing, photography and graphic design, as well as sculpture. The required number of pieces differed for each class; for the 2D and drawing portfolios, students needed to complete a total of 12 works, while for 3D portfolios, a total of eight works were necessary. Doreene Kang (12), who is in 2D wet media, expressed her opinions about the art show and how she enjoyed the end product of her work. “ t s pretty fulfilling because working on 12 pieces over the course of the year that are connected, it’s pretty hard because of all the deadlines, and eventually, you start running out of ideas,” she said. “Just letting the rest of the school see what you’ve been working on

and [to] be able to see everything together compiled in an art show is nice as an artist.” When the e hibit was first held in 2005, the reception took place in Shah, but it was later moved to the Nichols Atrium after the construction of the building, which helped display the artworks better and served as a more spacious community space for students and faculty to gather in. Another one of the AP Studio Art instructors, Pilar Aguero-Esparza, explained her perspective of the art exhibit and how for some students, it serves as a motivational source to get their work done. “For me, I really see it as a celebration because it’s a lot of work, it’s very personal; it’s kind of scary for some students; it’s showing and sharing something that can be very personal to a student; it can be a little bit intimidating, but find it to be very e citing find it to be celebratory,” she said. “I think another thing is that having the deadline of an exhibit, [for] some students, it really inspires them and gets them fired up to do more work, to commit to it.” For many of the students, time was an issue in the whole process of preparing for the exhibition. Kevina Xiao (12), who is part of the 2D design class taught by Martinez, discussed some of the hardships she faced while assembling her works. “My class started late so we definitely had that time crunch because it was pretty hard to turn out one concentration piece per week, and we’re not even halfway through so I predict that’s going to be pretty hard in the future,” she said. The end of the year exhibit for all students taking an art course will take place on April 27.

NEIL BAI

ashley jiang

SNOWFLAKE Connie Xiao (9) helps with the preparations for N CE s now ake all. he ball s proceeds went towards the Syrian refugee crisis.

UNICEF holds fundraising ball neil bai reporter

Harker’s UNICEF club along with other schools’ hosted the nowfla e all on eb at Piedmont Hills High School. Other than Harker, Silver Creek High School, Independence High School, Milpitas High School and the host, Piedmont Hills High School, also participated in the event. The tickets cost 15 dollars, and all the proceeds will go to UNICEF’s initiatives towards the Syrian refugee crisis such as supplying new clothes and shelter to families. UNICEF Global Citizenship Fellow Chandni Jain began the event by giving a speech on the current state of the organization and how many ways they will continue to help refugees. Harker members worked on the media portion of the event and held club meetings over brea at officer and media team member Andrew Chang’s (9) house. “We have to make backdrops and plan for all the media, but otherwise the venue is relatively small so setting up the actual physical event shouldn’t be that bad,” Andrew said.

Concert series hits all the right notes Violinist Jessica Lee performs in Nichols Auditorium on Feb. 19 ruhi sayana

STUDY SESSION DECA holds a study session in the Innovation Center afterschool on Feb. 19. DECA will travel to compete in a San Diego Conference today.

DECA prepares for conference michael sikand reporter

Eighty-nine upper school students will attend the DECA State Career Development Conference (SCDC) in San Diego today. Upwards of 2,000 students from 40 California high schools will come together to bring their business, leadership and finance skills to competition. In addition to competing, students will attend a dance, take advantage of networking opportunities and visit the San Diego Zoo. Juston Glass, director of business and entrepreneurial programs at the Upper School, described the preparation of the Harker DECA chapter. “I truly feel that our chapter has been more than dedicated to this year’s SCDC DECA conference, he said “ ur officer team, Mr. Thompson, and myself, have been diligently preparing each individual member to perform at the highest level possible. I can’t wait to see all of their hard work come to fruition.” The group will head south and leave campus today at 1:00 p.m. before returning on Sunday.

“She played different pieces from lots of different time periods, so it was super interesting to watch. She has a really good stage presence. It’s fun to watch her and fun to hear her.” CONSTANCE HORNG (9) UPPER SCHOOL ORCHESTRA VIOLINIST She has played at the Rudolfinum, a famous concert hall in the Czech Republic and the seat of the Czech Philharmonic, in Prague and performed a solo

SAHANA SRINIVASAN

“BYE, BYE BIRDIE” Jeton Gutierrez-Bujari (‘15) and Rishabh Chandra (12) perform in last year’s musical. The cast for this year’s musical was set in January, and rehearsals started last month.

Spring musical rehearsals start kshithija mulam news editor

Rehearsals for this year’s pring usical, “ ye ye irdie, started the week after February break. The cast list was released in late January; 47 students have been casted by the directors of the show after callbacks. ALL PHOTOS KAITLIN HSU

MICHAEL SIKAND

reporter

A collection of members of the Harker community stayed late on Friday night to watch violinist Jessica Lee’s performance at 8 p.m. on Feb. 19 as a part of Harker’s Concert Series Exhibition in Nichols Auditorium. Lee performed pieces including “Ciaccona in G Major” by Vitali, “Five Melodies, p a by ro ofier, “ eau oir and “ a fille au cheveu de lin” by Debussy, “Introduction and Tarantella” by Sarasate and sonatas by Janácek and renowned composer eethoven She was accompanied on the piano by Reiko Uchida. Jessica began playing the violin at three. At a young age, she gained national attention after being featured in the LIFE magazine. At 14, she was accepted at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music and obtained a Master’s degree in Music from the Juilliard School.

FIRST STRING (TOP) Jessica Lee performs a piece while accompanied by pianist Reiko Uchida. (BOTTOM) Jessica Lee hits a high note during one of her pieces. The violinist performed as part of Harker’s Concert Series Exhibition in Nichols Auditorium on Feb. 19.

piece with the Malaysian Festival Orchestra at the Sultan of Malaysia’s birthday gala. Lee has been a friend of middle school orchestra teacher Dr. David Hart and Chris Florio for a number of years. She and Dr. Hart performed in a tour together in Asia before he joined Harker. “She’s a really dynamic performer to watch,” said Chris Florio, director of the upper school orchestra. “She’s very engaged in the performance, very passionate, and just really energetic.” Constance Horng (9), a violinist in the orchestra, attended the performance on Feb. 19.

“Her performance was super super good and exciting,” Constance said. ”She played different pieces from lots of different time periods, so it was super interesting to watch. She has a really good stage presence. It’s fun to watch her and fun to hear her.” “She’s a petite person, yet when she plays she has this dominating sound that just makes her seem like she’s eightfeet tall,” Florio said about Lee’s dynamic while performing. he ne t and final performance in this year’s Harker’s Concert Series will be on March 11, where the Aeolus Quartet will perform.

Investment Club receives $5,000 alex wang reporter

The Investment Club received $5,000 in December from a private donation as part of the Harker Endowment to invest in the real stock market. The club hopes to use the donation to allow members to expand their experience from a virtual stock market to the actual stock market. “[The money] will allow for the Investment Club members to learn about investment through hands-on learning,” Ameek Singh (11), one of the founders of the club, said. The club has had the donation approved by the oard of Trustees and is in the process of setting up a fidelity account to use to invest. The club will be able to invest once it gains permission from the club advisor, Chris Thompson.

VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

ALL PHOTOS KAITLIN HSU

NEWS

LET’S HAVE A BALL (LEFT) Namitha Vellian (12), Emma Doherty (12) and Marita DelAlto (12) dance with the crowd. (TOP) Emma Doherty (12) and Yasemin Narin (12) lead the “Cha Cha Slide” from the top of the speakers. (BOTTOM LEFT) Kevina Xiao (12) looks up at the lights on the ceiling. (BOTTOM RIGHT) DJ Crank plays music for the crowd during the dance. Spirit Club and the junior class hosted Winter Ball on Feb. 20.

Junior council and Spirit club host Winter Ball

Students attend last dance of the year before prom, enjoy DJ from radio station WiLD 94.9 kaitlin hsu Aquila features editor

Spirit Club and the Class of 2017 hosted a masquerade-themed Winter Ball for upper school students in Nichols Atrium on Feb. 20 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Students originally chose the Winter Ball theme during the Harker Spirit Kick-Off at the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year. Those who attended the event were able to pitch original ideas and then vote on them. This year, instead of investing funds in decor and furniture, the junior class decided to invite DJ Crank from WiLD 94.9 to play music for the dance. “The students really wanted a different DJ, so they went out and selected a DJ that they’d seen at a DECA event before from 94.9,” said Kerry Enzensperger, Director of Upper School Community Service and Student Activities Coordinator.

“From what I’ve heard, he’s really great.” To promote Winter Ball attendance, Spirit Club and the junior class experimented with various public relations strategies. First, they offered discounts on tickets: regularly, they cost 30 dollars, but if 75 percent of an advisory bought tickets, the price dropped to 25 dollars each. Overall, Spirit Club and the junior class sold 230 Winter Ball tickets. The day before the event, Spirit Club also displayed signs and posters around the clocks inside the Main building. “I think the toughest challenge is getting people excited and wanting to come out to it,” Spirit Club Vice President Arben Gutierrez-Bujari (11) said. “It’s kind of a struggle, the community we’re in, but once we start really getting the excitement up, it makes it a fun, good time.” Spirit Club and the junior class opened the doors to Winter

“The students really wanted a different DJ, so they went out and selected a DJ that they’d seen at a DECA event before from 94.9. From what I’ve heard, he’s really great.” KERRY ENZENSPERGER STUDENT ACTIVITIES COORDINATOR Ball at 8 p.m., but few students came in until around 9 p.m. At the event, DJ Crank played several popular songs, including “Apple Bottom Jeans” by

T-Pain, “Hit the Quan” by iLoveMemphis and “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon. For the slow dance, students danced to “It Will Rain” by Bruno Mars. Towards the end of Winter Ball, DJ Crank played DJ Casper’s perennial “Cha Cha Slide,” even calling on seniors Sanil Rajput, Emma Doherty and Yasemin Narin to lead the dance on top of a speaker. Though the majority of the student body didn’t attend Winter Ball, some students were excited about the experience, especially since Winter Ball is the last formal dance open to underclassmen. “The music was really good and the DJing was top notch,” Taylor Lam (9) said. “I enjoyed spending quality time with my best friends while relaxing, which is very rare.” Others that attended Winter Ball also enjoyed the decorations and the music. “I’d say my favorite part [of Winter Ball] would be the dec-

orations,” Daniel Reidenbach (11) said. “I also like that they funded for a new DJ.” Some students had prior academic and extracurricular commitments that conflicted with Winter Ball. “I had a national tournament in San Diego that the Olympic coach had advised me to go to if I wanted to obtain a national ranking, so I was unavailable at the time,” Linus Li (10) said. Others simply had little or no interest in Winter Ball. “I have a robotics tournament that day, so I can’t go,” Mona Lee (10) said. “Also, I went to Homecoming freshman year, and it wasn’t all that fun, so I don’t expect Winter Ball to be any different.” For next year’s Winter Ball, Spirit Club plans on developing a comprehensive marketing plan and putting funds mainly toward a DJ again.

will begin GROUNDBREAKING: Construction for new Events Center anika rajamani

Orchestra will travel to Sonoma County for annual festival in March shania wang reporter

The upper school orchestra will travel to Sonoma County for a two-night trip from March 22 to 24 for the Fourth Annual Sonoma Invitational Wind, Band and Orchestra Festival. They will perform at Sonoma State University in the new concert hall, Green Music Center. Some of their pieces include Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” and Franz Liszt’s “Les Préludes.” This is the orchestra’s first year at this specific festival. In previous years, they participated in festivals and competitions in other locations, such as Portland and Chicago. “We like to do at least some sort of travel every year,” director and conductor Chris Florio said. “Sometimes we do big trips to [the] East Coast or Europe, but I also like to do smaller stuff and I wanted to do something local where maybe parents or friends can come watch us.”

Aside from the opportunity to play in the new concert hall and to observe other schools, Florio anticipates spending time with the orchestra. “I’m looking forward to really every part of it,” said Florio. “I’m mostly excited to travel with the orchestra since it’s so much and they have such a good time.” For the orchestra’s seniors, this will be their last high school trip. Kristen Park (12), principal clarinetist, looks forward to one of her last chances to perform with the rest of the ensemble. “This orchestra has meant a lot to me in my high school experience, so I’m looking forward to just having an experience with these guys again,” Kristen said. “It’s very bittersweet, just because the future has a lot of new opportunities and whatnot, but I’ll really miss these guys and Mr. Florio.” Plans for the trip include a dinner the night before the concert as well as senior speeches.

The Upper School will commence construction of the events center, which will be built in the space of the current parking lot and Rosenthal field, with a groundbreaking ceremony on April 22. The new events center will include two major buildings, which are the gymnasium and the performing arts building, including classrooms and offices for faculty. The administration expects to open the gym in the fall of 2017, and the arts building will be ready around the spring of 2018.

“We are going to encourage more students to park at Blackford because there’s ample parking there.” GREG LAWSON ASSISTANT HEAD OF THE UPPER SCHOOL

Due to construction, the Class of 2016 will lose parking privileges during the second week of AP exams, as the parking lot will no longer be operational. For this reason, they received their senior privileges after the February break. “[The construction] doesn’t really affect me. I have a parking spot this year, and actually for the seniors, this is only going to affect us for five days,” Alex Sikand (12) said. The current juniors will lose on-campus parking during

MEENA GUDAPATI

ROAD TRIP Orchestra director Chris Florio conducts the orchestra at the annual Winter Concert in January. The upper school orchestra will travel to Sonoma County to perform at the Fourth Annual Sonoma nvitational Wind, and and rchestra estival for the first time.

NICOLE CHEN

reporter

CONSTRUCTION A tractor paves the ground in a fenced off area on Rosenthal Field this week. The Upper School will begin building its new Events Center, featuring a gymnasium and performing arts building, after the groundbreaking ceremony on April 22.

their senior year. To compensate for this loss of parking, the school advised students with cars to park at the middle school campus and take a shuttle to the upper school campus. “We are going to encourage more students to park at Blackford because there’s ample parking there,” Greg Lawson, assistant head of the upper school campus, said. Parking at the Blackford campus raises the question of how large quantities students will then travel to the Saratoga campus. To solve this, the administration decided to run more shuttles in the morning and afternoon and to provide a van service, which will run through the day. This way, students who must leave early for a game or an appointment will be able to get to their cars in the middle of the school day. After the end of con-

struction, students will regain on-campus parking, and this construction project will increase the number of the parking spots, as there will be spots up against the wall facing the freeway. Students who participated in sports or performing arts activities that involve their going to the Blackford campus will not have to go there anymore due to the location of the new facilities on campus. “Instead of having to go to Blackford to rehearse or practice and lose all that time, students can just come out of class and walk across to where they want to go,” Lawson said. The construction will facilitate transportation to practices and rehearsals for students, coaches and teachers. However, current juniors will not have on-campus parking next year.

NEWS

VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

Annual Night on the Town Gala celebrated on Friday

MAYA VALLURU

KSHITHIJA MULAM

Fundraising gala celebrates Harker athletic achievements in honor of Levi’s Stadium location

FUNDRAISING GALA (LEFT) The Night on the Town gala took place at Levi’s Stadium, which recently hosted Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7. As a result, the theme of the gala celebrated athletic achievements at Harker. (RIGHT) Cheerleader Elizabeth Edwards (12) practices a routine during cheerleading practice. The gala featured a variety of entertainment throughout the evening, including a performance from the cheerleaders of both the lower and upper school campuses. In past years, Jazz Band, Varsity Dance Troupe and Downbeat were among the groups that performed at the gala.

kshithija mulam & zachary hoffman news editor & reporter

A collection of students, faculty and parents attended Harker’s annual fundraising event, the Night on the Town Gala, at Levi’s Stadium’s United Club on Friday at 7 p.m.

What was previously the Fashion Show, Harker’s Night on the Town Gala, raises money for the school’s endowment. The night featured a dinner, performances from the cheerleaders, a casino and a silent auction among other entertainment. The gala also recognized Harker athletic achievements in

accordance with its location and theme, “One Team, One Dream.” Leading up to the event, junior footballs decorated with the theme “One Team, One Dream” were sold online for $15. In addition, the event included several current and alumni Harker athletes. “In the room, there’s 109 screens. We’re utilizing those

screens with a slideshow, and the slideshow will thank our sponsors, but the slideshow will also feature alumni athletes that have gone on to college to continue their athletics,” Director of Special Events Danae McLaughlin said prior to the event. Last year, the gala took place at the home of Scott and Susan McNealy, the parents of alumnus Maverick McNealy (‘13), Dakota McNealy (12), Colt McNealy (11) and Scout McNealy (9), It featured performances from Jazz Band and Downbeat among others. This year, the gala featured a combined performance from the cheerleaders of both the upper and lower school campuses. “The little cheerleaders are very energetic, so it takes longer to learn stuff, and the dances are a little bit easier, but our dance is pretty cool,” cheerleader Claire Newman (9) said. Tickets for the event were sold at $200 until Feb. 16, with the price subsequently rising to $225. Reservations for a table to seat 10 were sold at $3000 each. Guest also had the option to be special sponsors with the choice of three packages: $10,000 Gold Sponsor, $5,000 Silver Sponsor and $2,500 Bronze Sponsor. This year’s location at Levi’s Stadium, which recently Hosted Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7, made preparations more challenging. “This particular year has been a little bit more difficult because of the security requirements at Levi’s Stadium,” McLaughlin said. “Every single person has to be accounted for, so we cannot be iffy at all on the guest list; we have to have the guest list absolutely complete. Also, they have their security measures for loading and unloading, which we never had to deal with before, so we have to make sure our vendors arrive at the specific time they’re supposed to arrive.” This year, for the first time, no performing arts groups were featured as entertainment at the fundraiser due to the lack of space. Instead, the cheerleaders’

performance fit with the athletic theme of the night. “Again, it’s a great opportunity to showcase another great talent, a huge community of this school, which is the athletic community,” Director of Event Fundraising Tere Aceves said. “There’s a lot of the performing arts community, but we really never had the opportunity to give [the athletic community] a little light in that regard, so this gives us a huge opportunity to say, ‘Hey, guess what? We also

“Every single thought that comes in this office, comes out of this office [is about] the message. The message is one, we are one team, and we have this dream, and we are going to make it happen. And if we all pull together in the little different ways, we are set.” TERE ACEVES DIRECTOR OF EVENT FUNDRAISING have great athletes!’” Above anything else, Aceves and McLaughlin hoped to work towards this year’s theme of “One Team, One Dream.” “We want to see the community pull together. That is the most rewarding thing,” Aceves said. “Every single thought that comes in this office, comes out of this office is about the message. The message is one, we are one team, and we have this dream, and we are going to make it happen. And if we all pull together in the little different ways, we are set.”

Students reach semifinals at National History Bowl

Quiz Bowl team competes in winter tournaments aneesha kumar

SAD EMOJI The kitchen staff gives students a sad emoji on Feb 2. The emoji system has not helped students clean up Manzanita, according to the kitchen staff.

Emoji system fails to help kitchen nisha shankar reporter

ASB announced at a school meeting on Jan. 5 that the kitchen staff was going to start the emoji system again to help change student attitudes towards cleaning up Manzanita Hall. The emoji system involves students being rated on how well they clean up Manzanita Hall during lunch. Students receive emojis as a rating. If they are rated with a frowning emoji for three days straight, fries will be taken off the menu for the next lunch. If they are rated with a smiling emoji for five consecutive days, then the kitchen staff will provide the students with an ice cream bar for dessert. Kitchen staff member Callie Stanley believes that the emoji system has failed to help the students improve in cleaning up. “[The] paper boats left out on tables, same tables each day that don’t clean up, especially the outside ones, full plates left out, and napkins everywhere,” she said. “The sad and straight face [emojis] show up the most.”

The Quiz Bowl team competed in two installations each of both the Cal Cup, Oct. 24 and Nov.14, and National History Bowl, Dec. 6 and Jan. 17, among other smaller tournaments this season. In the first round of Cal Cup, the team placed fourth and tied for third in its second attempt. At the National History Bowl, the team reached the uarterfinals during the first trip and the semifinals the next time. At the tournaments, the members participate in a team of four, and if one teammate answers incorrectly, the entire team is locked out. In contrast, at practice, all the students buzz in as individuals to make sure everyone has a chance to answer questions. Quiz Bowl topics test general knowledge of participants and cover important characters from a variety of subjects such as art, history, literature and science. Nikhil Manglik (11), one of the lead students of the club, has been part of the team since his freshman year. Looking back, Nikhil described the progress the club has made from when he joined. “One thing that happened was that when I came to this club it consisted of just me, a friend, a junior, and three very bored seniors,” Nikhil said. “I have been proud that I have been able to bring it to a more engaged place.”

Andrew Semenza (10) was inspired to join Quiz Bowl at the club fair last year. He has competed in the Novice Tournament at Bellarmine and second

“I went to Club Fair in 9th grade, and it seemed like an interesting thing to do. I eventually started to come to practice more regularly, and I started to enjoy it more.”

ALL PHOTOS - NICOLE CHEN

NISHA SHANKAR

reporter

ANDREW SEMENZA (10) QUIZ BOWL TEAM MEMBER Cal Cup tournament so far this season. “I went to Club Fair in 9th grade, and it seemed like an interesting thing to do,” he said. “I eventually started to come to practice more regularly, and I started to enjoy it more.” Rahul Bhetanabhotla (10), another member of the team, enjoys spending time with his teammates at the practices. “It is a really fun environment and you get a mix of actually learning stuff and getting to mess around,” he said. The club practices every Wednesday at 4 p.m. in history teacher Andrea Milius’ room.

QUIZ TIME (TOP LEFT) Rahul Bhetanabhotla (10) asks a question during a practice round at their club meeting. (TOP RIGHT) Nikhil Manglik (11), a lead student in the club, listens to a fellow club member answer a question in a round. (BOTTOM) The Quiz Bowl team practices in history teacher Andrea Milius’ room afterschool. The Quiz Bowl team most recently participated in the National History Bowl.

VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

B R AT I N

YEARS EX

E EL

CELLEN

License #B-478455

T I

I T

TT I I T .” DONALD TRUMP

I T

I I

THE DEMOCRATS T

I T I I

T IT

T ... T

T I T SEN. TED CRUZ

I I ,T SEN. MARC

.”

ONE NATION, UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBL

POLAR

Issue: Immigration

rows down, candidate campaign spending is becoming an important factor. n Feb. 20, the candidates and the super PACs backing them released reports on their finances through the month of January. Hillary Clinton stands at the top of the bracket, having raised 1 million in large part from wealthy donors. Ted Cruz has raised 104 million, and Bernie Sanders has raised 9 million entirely from grassroots contributors. Differing from previous elections, half of the campaign

THE CAN PR ES

PR E

ormer first lady, forrmer senator, and former secratary of state

S DE R N SA

they have to do.” Shannon believes Clinton will take initiative in improving the current policies and dealing with important issues. “I think Clinton is the person who can actually do the things that we want I think that in this current election season, her policy is fantastic,” she said. “I think that’s because she has a very detailed oriented policy team, and every single policy that she proposes from Alzheimer’s to paid leave all has step by step processes by which she’s going to go about passing the legislation and getting it done.” Some students believe that the abortion is the responsibility and decision of the woman herself, not the government. “I believe it’s a woman’s choice, and the government shouldn’t have any say in it, because it’s their own individual choice,” Sumati Wadhwa (10) said. “It’s a very important choice to make, so I don’t think that should be regulated by any sort of government. Although the topic of abortion had been brought up multiple times throughout the first few Republican primaries, the Democratic presidential candidates have not discussed this issue in depth. As a result, many pro-choice activists created the hashtag #AskAboutAbortion after the Iowa caucus in hopes of bringing more attention to this issue in the Democratic side of the debates.

Sandip irmel (11) expressed conern over the nation’s state of affairs, stressing the importance of good leadership in politics. “I think [the elections] are pretty important because right now our country isn’t in a great situation, so I really think we need a strong leader to bring us back to a top position.” Sandip said. “The president really is the face of our country and so it’s very important to get a good president.” As the presidential race intensifies and the field nar-

In the wake of events such as attacks against Planned Parenthood clinics, abortion has increasingly transformed into a pressing political issue brought up throughout the presidential debates. During the New Hampshire caucus, Republican presidential candidates discussed the eligibility of abortion for victims of rape or incest. Florida Senator Marco Rubio took a determined stance on the issue of abortion, claiming that he felt as if abortion was not a political issue but an “issue of life.” “I do believe deeply that all human life is worthy of the protection of laws,” Rubio said. “I’ve already said, for me, the issue of life is not a political issue, and I want to be frank I would rather lose an election than be wrong on the issue of life.” On the Democratic side, both Clinton and Sanders declared that abortions should not be limited by the government. “I believe that it is improper for the nited States government or state government to tell every woman in this country the very painful and difficult choice that she has to make on that issue,” Sanders said at a private Christian college Liberty niversity. “I would hope that other people respect the very painful and difficult choice that many women feel they have to make and don’t want the government telling them what

Continued from page 1

Issue: Abortion

POLITICALLY ACTIVE (TOP) Shannon Hong poses with a group of Clinton supporters at a party i Clinton campaign. (TOP RIGHT) Students pose with masks of Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kenn and Barack Obama in the gym. (BOTTOM RIGHT) President Barack Obama addresses the Democ Convention attended by a pair of students earlier this year.

obviously there’s a lot of the people in the country who have come here illegally.” Other students have opposing thoughts on Trump and the extent of privacy regarding the SA. “I think the first step is not to stereotype, so I think that taking actions like what Trump proposes I think that’s ridiculous,” Arjun Subramanian (11) said. “But I think that at the same time, I’m in favor of keeping the SA I don’t care that the government has my information. I think they can use it for good and for detecting potential terrorists and potential people to do harm.” Some believe that illegal immigrants should have the opportunity to legally be in the country. “I think that we should be allowing free trade, and correspondingly, a greater percentage of immigration,” ikhil Manglik (11) said. “Regarding illegal immigrants, we should make them pay a fine, and they can get legalization […] I believe that the government doesn’t have a right to close our borders.”

With America’s reputation as a melting pot, it is only natural that immigration is consistently discussed. But with the recent influx of Syrian refugees around the world, immigration carries a new level of importance. Trump previously addressed this subject multiple times, adamantly pushing for tighter immigration control. “We have people from Syria being settled in South Carolina, and that’s disgraceful,” Trump said. Students had differing views on immigration. While some have criticized Trump’s stance as xenophobic and racist, others have commended Trump for his willingness to discuss difficult topics. “I think [Trump] has the best chance of bringing America back to a strong state mainly because he’s not afraid to say things that are politically incorrect, and he’s not afraid of bringing up ideas that are important but maybe hard to talk about, such as immigration,” junior class president Sandip irmel (11) said. “I definitely think the issue of immigration is extremely important because

ormer mayor of urlington and senator of ermont since 2006

eal esta from e and h The

TI T I T T I T T .” CO RUBIO

I I T T

TI I I T .” SEN. BERNIE SANDERS

I T T . T I I T

T TI

... I

I .” SEC. HILLARY CLINTON

THE REPUBLICANS

LE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL

RIZED SHANNON HONG

funds stem from super PACs, which can donate unlimited amounts of money to candidates. Jeb Bush began his campaign in the summer last year with the strongest financial standing of any Republican, but burned through over 100 million dollars without winning a single state. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Donald Trump has self-funded his campaign and spent relatively little on advertising. The real-estate mogul spent million for ads in Iowa compared to the $15 million spent by Jeb Bush.

KI T

I T

S PR ES O RU BI

KI S PR ES CR UZ

olicy and legal ad iser for eorge . ush, Te as enator

e will car et om [I I into o li ion. I don t now if sand can glow in the dar , ut we re going to find out.” TED CRUZ T T

KI T SS PR E P TR UM

ate mogul ew or host of rentice”

I T T

As the world becomes more multilateral and the Syrian war continues with no end in sight, candidates have attempted to communicate the nited States’s role in international affairs. Sanders affirmed his anti-war stance on IS (Islamic State) but is in support of an international coalition assisting Muslim troops on the ground.

With both Sanders and Trump competitive in the race for the White House, 201 is shaping up to be the year of the outsiders in politics. Sanders picked up momentum with a close race in Iowa, coming within 0. of Hillary Clinton in the hotly contested first-primary. Donald Trump gained a sizable lead early in the polls and has dominated the field since. These two candidates have electrified the electorate and sent the establishment reeling.

NDIDATES

T T

ea er in the lorida house of re resentati es, unior senator

I T

Issue: Foreign Relations

MICHAEL SIKAND

SHANNON HONG

in support of the nedy, Ronald Reagan, cratic National

T T

Many students, including Arjun Subramaniam (11), agree with Sander’s anti-war position on this issue. “I think we should form coalitions with other countries in the middle east to work with countries there to destroy ISIS,” Arjun said. “I think some military action is obviously necessary, but at the same time, we should look to compromise before taking action.” Cruz believes that a combination of airstrikes, the arming of Kurdish fighters, an augmented defense budget and the reopening of Guantanamo Bay is the key to fighting terrorism and ISIS. Trump agrees with Cruz’s stance on the defense budget and thinks the intimidation factor of a large military will preemptively prevent future .S. conflicts. How-

ever, some students believe that the .S. should not take a hugely influential position in foreign affairs. “I think the government should help fund and assist governments that want to battle terror in their own country, but I don’t think America should be the leader when tackling terrorism from afar,” Sarah de egvar (11) said. Clinton is willing to take military action against any threats to the .S. or its allies. Some have called for a diplomatic approach rather than a military one to the Middle East. “We should obviously expand on our outreach – not on military outreach, but on diplomatic ties,” ikhil said. “We should expand S goodwill because I believe that part of the .S. terrorism comes from the fact of America being a malevolent actor in the region or in general not helping. If we can transform our impacts to be more positive in the region without mili-

ou can t deal with hina without tariff. They do it to us. e don t do it. It s not fair trade.” DONALD TRUMP T T

tary takeover or anything like that, I think it would be much more beneficial to our interests in stopping terrorism.” The next primaries occur on March , , and .

Issue: The 2nd Amendment Gun control has been a controversial topic for both proand anti- gun rights activists, making it a prominent issue in the presidential primaries and caucuses. Republican candidates are largely in support of upholding the Second Amendment, which grants “the right of the people to keep and bear arms,” while Democratic candidates advocate for gun control to prevent the death and violence they can inflict. Clinton believes that the purchase and manufacture of guns should be more tightly controlled. “Reverse gun manufacturer immunity let them get sued,” she said in the Democratic primary debate in Iowa on ov. 14. “Let’s put the gun makers and sellers on notice that they’re not going to get away with it.” Sanders specified certain issues with the status quo on gun policy. “I will take the following concrete steps to reduce gun

violence: strengthen and better enforce the instant background check system close the gunshow loophole make straw man’ purchases a federal crime ban semi-automatic assault weapons, which are designed strictly for killing human beings and work to fix our broken mental health system,” Sanders said. Cruz argues that guns grant citizens security and liberty while Trump cites constitutional arguments against implementing gun control. “You have the constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” Trump said. “You have that right, and they want to take it away.” Rubio rejects gun control, contending that violent people will inevitably find other weapons to inflict damage. “What law in the world could have prevented [Bryce Williams] from killing them, whether it was a gun or a knife or a bomb ” Rubio said.

OPINION Editors-in-Chief Elisabeth Siegel & Vivek Bharadwaj

VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

Creating your own echo-chamber: Our choices and surroundings influence our perspectives and potentially limit our understanding

Managing Editor Kavya Ramakrishnan Copy Editor Meena Gudapati News Editor Kshithija Mulam Features Editor Meilan Steimle Asst. Features Editor Maya Kumar

Sports Editor Trisha Dwivedi Asst. Sports Editor Justin Su Photo Editor Ashley Jiang Business Editor Stanley Zhao Adviser Ellen Austin, MJE Wingspan Editor-in-Chief Shay Lari-Hosain Wingspan Staff Kaity Gee Kaitlin Hsu Vijay Bharadwaj Aquila Editor-in-Chief Sharanya Balaji Aquila Staff Trisha Dwivedi Tara Parimi Kaitlin Hsu Sahana Srinivasan Ayushi Gautam Justin Su Raveena Kapatkar Aditya Varshney Maya Valluru Alex Wang Vineet Kosaraju Reporters Neil Bai Nicole Chen Anika Rajamani Adrian Chu Lauren Russell Rithika Devarakaonda Anjay Saklecha Rose Guan Ruhi Sayana Ria Gupta Nisha Shankar Zachary Hoffman Michael Sikand Aneesha Kumar Shania Wang Prameela Kottapalli Tiffany Wong Melina Nakos Derek Yen Vignesh Panchanatham Katherine Zhang Brian Park Visit The Winged Post Online at www.harkeraquila.com Follow us on social media with the handle /harkeraquila

The Winged Post is published every four to six weeks except during vacations by the Journalism and Advanced Journalism Newspaper Concentration courses of Harker Upper School, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129. The Winged Post staff will publish features, editorials, news, and sports in an unbiased and professional manner and serve as a public forum for the students of The Harker School. Editorials are the official opinions of The Winged Post. Opinions and letters are the personal viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Winged Post. All content decisions are made by student editors, and the content of The Winged Post in no way reflects the official policy of The Harker School. The opinions expressed in this publication reflect those of the student writers and not the Harker board, administration, faculty, or advisor. Advertisements are accepted in the Post. However, The Winged Post reserves the right to deny any ad. Letters to the Editor may be submitted to Manzanita 70 or emailed to wingedpost2016@harker. org and must be signed, legible, and concise. The staff reserves the right to edit letters to conform to Post style. Baseless accusations, insults, libelous statements, obscenities, and letters which call for a disruption of the school day will not be considered for publication. Letters sent to the Post will be published at the discretion of the editorial staff. The Winged Post is the official student newspaper, and it is distributed free of cost to students. 2015-2016 Crown-winning publication 2014-2015 Silver Crown-winning publication 2013-2014 Silver Crown-winning publication 2012-2013 Silver Crown-winning publication 2010-2011 Gold Crown-winning publication 2009-2010 Silver Crown-winning publication

TAKE A SIDE ur social media actions, conversations, relationships, and print all in uence our personal views. Platforms allow for users to personali e their feeds, making it easier to ignore others opinions and only surround ourselves with the information which supports our views.

EDITORIAL THE OFFICIAL OPINION OF THE WINGED POST

Would you consider rooting for an athlete who is disliked by your friends and by the Facebook pages you follow? How likely are you to follow a politician who supports the Syrian refugees in America when your preferred news sites frequently run headlines concerning refugee violence? Do you civilly converse with someone who takes the “wrong” side on major issues like gun control, religion, samesex marriage, abortion and education? Justice Antonin Scalia’s death on Feb. 13 in Texas created in a social media uproar. Mainstream news sites, political pundits, presidential candidates and many more commented on the late judge’s “hardcore” conservative views. Facebook feeds across

America mirrored the national polarity, either lamenting the loss of a key conservative voice on the Supreme Court or eviscerating the late justice’s positions. Yet Scalia was not simply a hardliner. Over the years, he had formed a well-known but little-understood friendship with the liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, suggesting that, though the two often butted heads on the bench, they nonetheless took the time to understand each other’s views and maintain an (albeit unlikely) friendship. And just as these Justices crafted different opinions on the topics they encountered, we formulate opinions on the things we find online. Our online presence influences our views, but it can also limit our understanding of issues as a whole if we refuse to glance beyond our feeds and consider the other side. Facebook studies your behavior to determine what goes into

your feed. Click a link, unfollow a page, make a comment or even ignore a post entirely, the company’s algorithms associate you, the user, with the content with which you interacted. In fact, many other social media companies, such as Twitter and Instagram, also allow users to personalize their feeds. The result? We actively surround ourselves with the things that we want to see. In combination with our daily interactions with neighbors, friends and books, this digital

world may blind us to other perspectives. The problem arises when we quickly choose selective viewpoints to a controversy while blinded by the cocoon we create out of, say, the channels we subscribe to on YouTube and the pages we like on Facebook. Too often, the conversation turns into personal attacks on the people supporting the other side. If such two diametrically opposed legal scholars could understand each other before forming their perspectives, so can we.

WINGED POST SURVEY RESULTS

STEM Editor Vineet Kosaraju Asst. STEM Editor Sahana Srinivasan

GRAPHIC BY VIJAY BHARADWAJ

Opinion Editor Aditya Varshney Asst. Opinion Editor Vijay Bharadwaj

CHECK THE NEWS According to a Winged Post survey, 2.2 of responders claimed that they relied on social media platforms for news. ur online presence and our daily interactions in uence our views on important topics. With the option to surround ourselves with the information we prefer to see or hear, we can easily lose the awareness necessary in understanding all sides of complex issues.

“Favorite” questions cause mental frenzy

The case against picking favorites

elisabeth siegel editor in chief

Luckily, the question first struck me during the college applications process, and it didn’t manage to catch me by surprise during an interview or something. Nonetheless, though, this was the hardest question out of all of the ones offered to me so far on this supplement. What’s your favorite book? Just a moment. I switched tabs and messaged one of my close friends: What’s my favorite book? They didn’t know, not because we’ve never spoken about books but because we’ve spoken about too many of them. I tried two other friends before returning to the still-empty box on the Common App. Maybe I’ll come back to this one, I thought grimly, but as I scrolled down a bit more I realized that I was going to be spending a while on

this supplement. The rest of the application basically interrogated various favorites in media and life in general — what’s your favorite event that you attended over the past year? What’s your favorite movie or TV show? What’s your favorite kind of music or artist? So there I was, looking for a way to express in 10 words or less for each question that I have far too many favorites for far too many states of mind. I have books that comfort me like a 350page hug when I’m down and

What’s my favorite book? They didn’t know, not because we’ve never spoken about books but because we’ve spoken about too many of them. books that make me crack up again and again when I’m furious. I can’t squeeze 10 authors or 20 titles into 10 words or less — nor can I add my moods to each of the titles. And choosing one

at random makes me feel dishonest, like I’m misrepresenting myself to these people that seem to just want to know what there is to know about me that transcripts and teacher recommendations won’t tell. I already feel that sinking pit in my stomach; I’m overthinking a question that probably only takes other people five seconds to write down an answer that’s probably obvious to them. I have plenty of favorite angsty rock anthems, but I would only ever listen to them and enjoy listening to them when I’m, you know, feeling angsty. Liszt’s piano Sonata in B Minor makes me feel really productive, but I only ever listen to it when I’m trying to write an English paper. Kendrick Lamar could rap me out of a coma, but I listen to his music mainly when I’m feeling contemplative and poetic. How can I communicate a full, comprehensive version of myself over to these people deliberating upon whether or not I’d “fit in” at their campuses as myself over the next four years if I can’t even give an honest representation of my “favorite” types of media? Does that honest representation even exist if my favor-

ites depend on something as flighty as my mood I’m sure I’m not the only one who blanks out if someone accosts me with a deceptively simple question: “What’s your favorite album?” My go-to answer is to make a really, really pained expression as I try not to list twelve albums in a fastpaced, frightening manner that would make the person regret ever asking. I wish there was some shorthand way of saying “I partake in a lot of various sorts of media, and I am trying not to scare you off with a weird, eclectic 20-item list of stuff I like, while I also appreciate your attempt to reach out to me and get to know me better, so I don’t just want to brush you off with a cop-out answer or something that doesn’t accurately reflect who I am just in case it ends up being misleading. Thus, you can imagine the stress that I am under.” The common app just didn’t have space for me to type up this whole essay into the answer box for “What’s your favorite type of music?” So when asked the same question again in another supplement, I simply wrote “yes.”

OPINION • VOLUME 17 ISSUE 5 • MARCH 2, 2016

A Letter to the Editor from the Upper School History Department Dear Editor,

Editor’s Note

VIJAY BHARADWAJ

The Opinion section of the most recent issue of the Winged Post (Jan. 27), contains a column suggesting that history curricula in general but purportedly ours at the Harker School reveal significant Western bias. We feel this article, in particular the first eight lines, misrepresents the mission and ethos of the history department at Harker. Being that the aforementioned lines reflect the author’s personal academic experience, it is difficult to detach the article from Harker and claim that it is a general critique of national norms. In the history department, we truly love opinions. We spend a great deal of time encouraging Harker students to become thinkers and to develop their own opinions, but we teach them that the most effective way to develop solid arguments is through research and evidence. There appeared to be little if any fact checking before the article was published so we want to take this opportunity to set the record straight. To some degree, everything that we do as an academic institution will have an element of western bias because we live in a western nation. Whether we like it or not, we will initially see everything through our western eyes and our experience living in the United States. We, as a department, are acutely aware of this and have worked tirelessly to offer a variety of viewpoints in the History Department that challenge our own collective western experiences. Non-western histories begin on a more focused level in seventh grade with a focus on the Middle East and East Asia (predominantly China, Ko-

GOT HISTORY? Pages from the AP European History textbook are photographed above. The article by Elisabeth Siegel in the previous issue of the Winged Post claimed that history and social science courses usually placed more emphasis on Western culture than non-Western culture.

rea, and Japan). At the upper school, our World I and World II classes present a number of non-western units in our curriculum, including the Ming and Qing Dynasties as well as the Taiping Rebellion. In addition, we offer AP World History, World Religions, Modern International Affairs, and Moral Philosophy, a course that includes both Eastern and Western thought. Interestingly, the column did introduce but failed to explore what is perhaps a more compelling and significant issue - the role of College Board in shaping national curricula and how this influences student learning at Harker. For instance, while the AP World History course includes a broad sweep of both Western and non-Western histories, the

scope and pace of the class does not allow for in-depth study of any one civilization. On the other hand, sophomores who opt to take AP European History engage in deep exploration of western topics, but miss the opportunity to learn about contemporary civilizations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. At Harker, the classes that tend to allow for the most comprehensive and in-depth study of non-Western civilizations are those that are unique to our school, and yet these classes typically have much lower enrollments than AP offerings. In fact, for several years we offered an Asian History course but it was eventually removed from the course catalog due to a lack of interest among the student popula-

tion.

Had more research and fact checking been done, it would have been clear that we strive to provide many opportunities for our students to be exposed to non-western histories and philosophies. We continue to welcome open and constructive discussions with Harker students about building curricular diversity in the History and Social Science Department. For those students who genuinely care about the long term development of educational offerings for future Harker historians, our doors are open. History and Social Science Dept. The Harker Upper School Feb. 1, 2016

eart of Harker: A nonlinear pathway to coursework brings better fit

arjun subramanian guest writer

I remember my first day at Harker with surprising detail. First period Math class was taught by Mr. Walsh, a gregarious man with a heart of gold and a dangerously disarming smile. Later in the day, I stumbled to Music with the help of a friendly security guard and promptly tripped over Ms. Cowgill’s feet, landing flat on my face much to the amusement of my peers. Finally, totally lost, I approached a man in a fancy suit, deep in conversation, and interrupted him to demand that he

direct me to 5th grade Biology. I later learned that his name was Christopher Nikoloff – whoever that is. Why do I have such vivid memories of a day from more than six years ago? Maybe it’s because I’ve held them close to me for so long. Harker has had an amazing impact on my life, and I’ve grown as a student, a scientist, a performer, and a person while I’ve been here. Coming from a school where I had never really fit in, I found a peer group at Harker that pushed me to excel and caught me when I fell. Without a Harker education, there’s no way that I could developed such poetic skill as I showed in the previous sentence. Excel, fell – Get it? Anyone I’ll see myself out Seriously though, I think that Harker provides a unique environment with all the opportunities available to all of its students. Over the course of my time here, I’ve been encouraged to pursue STEM, through research projects in middle and high school and participation in

A freshman once more

Science Olympiads. But I’ve also made plenty of memories and friends performing in Downbeat and being a part of musicals and plays. Not just that, so many other students are like me in that they attempt different classes and activities. Balancing the two spheres hasn’t always been easy, but I’ve always known and loved that Harker isn’t the strictly academic school that many think it to be. We embrace diversity, nonlinearity, and most of all, we welcome people, not resumes. Writing this piece, I’m imagining myself six years ago on my first day here - scared and lost, undoubtedly, but not alone.

Arjun Subramanian (11) is an avid gamer. In his free time, he does research and participates in science olympiads. He also enjoys taking part in Downbeat. 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 wingedpost2016@gmail.com.

Second semester allows for more exploration

vivek bharadwaj

editor in chief On an unseasonably warm Thursday this month, sprawled on a couch in the journalism room, I watched students stroll back and forth through the heart of campus, hurrying to class. Splotches of sun spilled in through the windows, and I nearly dozed off. For the first time in three years, I felt relaxed, carefree and calm. I felt like a freshman again. n a superficial level I am no longer

an active member of any club, save for journalism. I’m taking physics. Dr. Douglas (who taught sections of English 1 until last year) is once again my teacher. The comparison was airtight. When I mentioned these revelations to a real freshman, he had a different diagnosis senioritis. Relaxed Calm eah, right. Between finishing The dyssey and memorizing the exploits of ancient civilizations in World History, he said, he had plenty to worry about. But after a long, painful semester under the shadow of the college application process, I’ve finally had a chance to slow down and explore. I’ve started taking yoga classes, playing ping pong in the gym, and taking long walks around campus. Two weeks ago, I spent an hour with a group of friends trying (and failing) to

The Winged Post makes every effort to fact-check writing that appears in our print publication and on our website. The original opinion piece, “History Curricula Reveal Western Biases,” appeared in Issue 4 of the Winged Post; it was edited and checked for accuracy by our Opinion editor, who verified the claims in the piece with the relevant textbooks. The three conflicts mentioned in the piece are all included in the World History curriculum, but the original piece critiqued the lack of depth given to these topics as compared to other Western conflicts. In addition, the Winged Post piece speaks specifically to representation bias in modern history, from 1750 to the present. The writer did not intend to specifically target the Harker School History Department. As specified in Elisabeth’s article, these issues encompass a broader problem facing history classes across the nation.

learn an obscure variant of Bridge. I tried not to wax philosophical as I stared out the window, but the feeling was bittersweet. I know I have less than three months to explore everything that should’ve been done in a span of three years. Maybe I should’ve taken that free period - or played quiz bowl - or joined the linguistics club - or heeded Kerry and Mr. Irvine shouting in the Edge to participate in spirit events. I finally have the time to start these activities, but not nearly enough to fully enjoy them. To the real freshmen – the Class of 2020 – take chances and do what excites you. Enjoy the ability to explore without making commitments - you might not experience it again for another three years.

Talk Around Campus vijay bharadwaj asst. opinion editor

What is your favorite book or series? “My favorite book is Eldest from the Inheritance series because it introduced me to a new genre that I really liked.” Shivali Minocha (12) “Percy Jackson, the series as a whole, because the writing was very well done and it was my introduction to Jadan McDermott Greek mythology.” (10) “The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. It’s a collection of science fiction stories that tie in pertinent issues Evani Radiya-Dixit (11) of today.”

Lilly Anderson (9)

“A Series of Unfortunate Events, because they aren’t regular stories, but more more realistic things as opposed to fairy tales and fiction.”

A10

VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

TRIPLE THREAT ATHLETES

Students with stamina play three seasons Over 60 percent of upper school students enjoy participating in one of the 15 sports offered. A small handful of students partake in all three sports seasons. shania wang reporter

Wrestler Davis Howard (11) heads to CCS

ASHLEY JIANG

PROVIDED BY ALYCIA CARY

Cross country, soccer, track & field

CARY COMMANDS Alycia Cary (9) participates in a (LEFT) meet during the cross country season and (RIGHT) soccer match this winter. The track season, a spring sport, began practices a couple weeks ago.

beginning of the year getting use to everyday practices until six, but once you get into a schedule, it’s pretty easy to manage,” she said. “I just try to keep a schedule and try not to procrastinate.” Alycia particularly looks forward to next year’s new block schedule when managing her time. After learning from this year, Alycia offers some advice for future students interested in playing more sports. “Especially in your freshman year, I think you should try to explore a lot of the possibilities the school offers, and then narrow it down as you get to your upperclassmen years,” she said. She anticipates competing in all three sports throughout her entire high school years.

Anthony Contreras Football, wrestling, track & field

“[Davis] makes sure that we’re at practice on time [and] do everything correctly and that we don’t fool around.” ANTHONY CONTRERAS (10) WRESTLING TEAMMATE

Sparsh Chauhan (10) scores in Kicks against Cancer The varsity girls, varsity boys and junior varsity boys lost tough matches to Menlo School during Kicks Against Cancer on Feb. 5. Sparsh Chauhan (10), a member of the varsity boys team, scored the sole goal of the night in the first half of their game.

KSHITHIJA MULAM

management is one of the main challenges when juggling sports and school. “I have no time to do anything else,” said Anthony. “My weekends and afterschools, I really have no time to do homework or study or hangout with friends or do the things I really want to.” He proceeded to give insight on how he is able to handle everything. “ sually by finding one specific day where I can do all of it, usually Sundays, and it works fine,” said Anthony. As for future athletes, Anthony offers some knowledge from his experiences. “Whatever you do, do not give up,” he said. “It sounds really cliché but just strive through, push. Mind over matter.”

Winter sports seniors honored

JUSTIN SU

A current sophomore, Anthony Contreras participates in football, wrestling and track and field for the fall, winter and spring seasons, respectively. Among his many football commendations, he was named the North Coast Section and Redwood Empire All-League Co-Defensive MVP. By placing third in his weight group for this year’s Santa Clara Valley Athletic League tournament, he qualifies for Central Coast Section playoffs, and he received West Bay Athletic League Honorable Mention for track and field last year. “I do sports since I like staying in shape,” said Anthony. “Also, I make lots of new friends while playing sports, and I just like hanging out with them.” Anthony finds that time

Davis Howard (11) competed in league finals as only the fourth Harker wrestler to go in placing 2nd.

DANYA ZHANG

Alycia Cary Freshman Alycia Cary runs cross country in the fall, plays soccer in the winter and competes in track and field in the spring. Previously in middle school, she competed in cross country and soccer all three years and track and field in eighth grade. “Sports help me relieve stress, and I feel like there’s a lot of overlap between the three sports,” Alycia said. “Cross country gets me in condition for soccer and soccer helps me with sprints, so that gets me in condition for track. They’re also all running sports, which I like.” As a freshman, Alycia found it difficult at first to adjust to the time commitment of upper school sports but was able to easily adapt after a couple of weeks. “It was a little hard in the

OUR EAGLES

CONTRERAS CONTROLS Anthony Contreras (10) (TOP) carries the football at a home game and (BOTTOM) competes in a wrestling meet this winter. The track season began practices a couple weeks ago.

24 senior athletes were recognized during this winter sports season. For coverage of senior nights, visit our site harkeraquila.com.

Getting geared for spring sports Athletic outerwear reviewed for comfort, usability melina nakos

TRISHA DWIVEDI

reporter

NEW COACH Coach Tania Chadwick draws out a schedule for the swimmers practice last hursday. his is her first year as head coach.

New coach arrives for spring swimming stanley zhao business manager

Swim instructor Tania Chadwick joined the upper school varsity swim team as a coach during the start of this year and hopes to use her experience to strengthen the team this season. Her goals of training for the upper school students differs due to the range of experiences across the board. “ ou’ll find that everyone has a slightly different goal,” she said. “Some students swim year round so they high goals and they’re working all year to achieve that. And you’ll have other students who are not as experienced and still want to get better.” Her love for the sport comes from her life-long experiences practicing and competing. She has won many awards including South Coast Conference Swimmer of the Year at Golden

West University and Collegiate Athletic Association Swimmer of the Year. “Ever since I was born, I loved swimming, even doing competitive swimming from when I was six,” she said. “It went through middle school through college to the NCAA in college.” Her college training has proven intense with the exercises done mirroring that of professional Olympic athletes. Unlike some of her counterparts who emphasize power and strength, Chadwick brings a focus on technical skill in her coaching. “It wouldn’t matter how many hours you spent in the pool. If your technique is not up to par you won’t get any better,” she said. “We also work on the dives and turns.” The team competed against Crystal Springs on Feb. 24 in a scrimmage meet for the first time this season.

Although Victoria’s Secret and Adidas may hold their claim for the best sports clothes, the right sports clothes don’t always come from the most popular stores. Here is a list of some of the MVPs of athletic gear. Women’s Juno Sports Bra by Brooks Running This sweat wicking bra is idyllic for larger-chested people, who often struggle with finding a supportive and comfortable sports bra that accommodates their size. The uni-cup feature of the bra as well as the frontal yoke in the cups helps compress and control vertical movement of the breasts, leading to a comfortable exercise session. In addition to the carefully constructed cups, the bra includes a three hook closure for added security. The mesh featured on both the front and the back of the bra also adds an extra layer of comfort to the bra. This system works towards keeping the wearer cool, calm and collected,

no matter the weather conditions. A fun feature on this sports bra that isn’t normally found are the front-adjustable straps. Instead of having to estimate the perfect fit before putting on the bra, a wearer can conveniently adjust the fit at any time while having the bra on. Men’s PureProject SS by Brooks Running Although this stylish shirt may not look like the most useful clothing option for a sweaty workout, don’t let it’s fashion-forwardness fool you. The combination of polyester, tencel, and spandex creates a runner’s dream of comfort. An athlete’s safety takes a front seat in this shirt as well, featuring reflective details on the front and back of the shirt as well as a reflective tab on the back helps to guarantee visibility in low light. Also built into the short is a small pocket at the right hip for keys or other small objects any athlete could need during a workout.

There is no need to sacrifice style for comfort and safety. Wunder Under Pant by Lululemon Every once in awhile, athletes have to hand it to Lululemon. They seem overpriced, but they got it right with these leggings. Lululemon has the reputation for delivering on quality with their leggings, and these are no exception. These leggings feature versatile wearing options; the waist band could be flipped up for full coverage or folded down, and due to the lack of seams in the waistband, manage to maintain their flattering look. Also in these leggings, Lululemon created a tight-knit version of their Luon fabric, which creates coverage, support, breathability and flexibility. The Lululemon website recommends these leggings for anything from high-impact running to yoga, making them a versatile addition to any athlete’s closet.

SPORTSWEAR (LEFT) Women’s Juno Sports Bra by Brooks Running, (MIDDLE) Men’s PureProject SS by Brooks Running and (RIGHT) Wunder Under Pant by Lululemon. These lesser known brands also offer quality sportswear for athletes.

SPORTS

A11

VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

asst. opinion editor & reporter

The varsity boys basketball team began CCS playoffs games on Feb. 23 with a 4-10 league record but lost 47-67 against San Lorenzo Valley last Thursday. Head varsity boys basketball coach Butch Keller expressed his uncertainty about how the team will perform in CCS playoffs prior to the match last Thursday. “I don’t know how we’re going to perform, because one night we’re Dr. Jekyll, the other night we’re Mr. Hyde: I just don’t know which team’s going to show up,” Keller said. “If we play like we did against King’s and Sacred Heart and Pinewood, we’re going to make a deep run into the playoffs; if we play like we did [against Menlo], it’ll be a short run.” Last year, the boys had an

8-6 league record and were eliminated in their playoff uarterfinals game against Pacific Grove High School, which was eliminated in the semifinals. “From last year the team’s a lot more different because we lost a lot of seniors, so I don’t know what to really expect from CCS this year, but hopefully we’ll get far,” co-captain and point guard Justin Jia (11) said. Elijah Edgehill (12), a current team co-captain who joined the team last year, also commented on how the team has adjusted to the graduation of seven seniors from last year’s team. “We ualified for CCS in the pre-season, with the games leading up to it,” Elijah said. “The whole starting team has improved and focused more relating to last year’s ualification as well. Now I play point guard and shooting guard.” Jordan Goheen (11), a power forward who was also on the team last year, spoke about

how the CCS matchup system affects the team. “The makeup of the teamhas changed a lot between this year and last year, so the style of play that we have is very different,” Jordan said. “But I’m sure that if we stick to our game plan and continue to work hard on defense, then we’re going to make it far,” he said prior to last Thursday’s matchup. Dhanush Madabusi, another senior who was on the team last year, discussed how he thinks the team’s previous performance will influence their future games. “Although our [league] record doesn’t show for it, we’ve had some really good games,” Dhanush said. “There were a lot of games that were winnable that we lost in the very last minute of the fourth quarter, but when we’re on our game, we have good defense and offense. We’re definitely a tough team to contend with.”

CCS BASKETBALL (TOP) Elijah Edgehill (12) attempts to lay up against a Kings Academy defender during a game. (BOTTOM) Senior Raghav Jain defends a Crystal Springs player during their game on Feb. 17.

New sports spring into action justin su & ria gupta asst. sports editor & reporter

BASEBALL Matthew Kennedy (10) winds up to hit the baseball.

VARUN BALDWA

JIMMY LIN (10) VARSITY VOLLEYBALL

VOLLEYBALL BALL Kurt Schwartz (12) prepares to serve at a practice.

come out and support Harker’s sports. Baseball shows teamwork and commitment,” Tanay Kamat (10) said. “I’m not a very good hitter, so I hope to improve on my batting.”

Boys volleyball started practices on Feb. 1 with head coach Mike Aitken. “I tried it out last year and I thought it was a valuable experience to me, so I wanted to

Lacrosse

SHARON YAN

Softball

come back this year and hopefully improve on my abilities,” Jimmy Lin (10) said. Their first scrimmage was against Los Gatos High School on Feb. 24.

SOFTBALL Marita Del Alto (12) hits the ball pitched by the other team.

LACROSSE Heidi Zhang (9) prepares to receive the ball during practice.

Girls varsity softball had their first practice on Feb. 1 and has a total of 16 players. “I’d like to get a winning season, but most of all everyone learn and have fun,” head coach Raul

Head coach Andrew Irvine held the first practice for Girls Lacrosse on Feb. 1 at the Blackford campus. The first game of their season was on Feb. 2 against Archbishop Mitty High School.

Rios said. The results of last year’s season for varsity softball was 9-9-0. Their first game was on Feb. 22 against Overfelt High School’s junior varsity team.

Boys Tennis

DARREN GU

SWIMMING Adriano Hernande 10 swims in the 0 meter butter y event.

TENNIS Neil Bai (10) and Albert Pun (11) hit forehands during a match.

Boys tennis started practicing at the Blackford Campus tennis courts on Feb. 1. The boys did well last season, ualifying for CCS and finishing their regular season with a 16-3 record.

leadership and work ethic,” Kevin Tzeng (10) said. The team prepares for their first meet with Crystal Springs and St. Lawrence Academy at the Singh Aquatic Center.

Boys Golf

“I’m excited to play against many other schools and travel with my team and bond with them,” Swapnil Garg (10) said,. The team has its first match against King’s Academy on March 1.

Track & Field

Sometimes you have to make that one footer putt to win the tournament, and I really like that.

GLORIA GUO

The swimming team started practicing at Singh Aquatic Center on the Saratoga campus on Feb. 1 with new Head Coach Tania Chadwick. “I’m trying to improve my

“I think the season is going to go really well for us,” assistant coach Andrew Newmark said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what [our new players] can do in the long run.”

VARUN BALDWA

Swimming

VICTOR SHIN (10) VARSITY GOLFER

TRACK Davis Dunaway (11) jumps and clears a hurdle at a San Mateo track.

GOLF The boys golf team huddles together before the golf match.

Boys golf had their first practice at Pruneridge Golf Course on Feb. 1, with Head Coach Ie-Chen Cheng. “I’m looking forward to scoring lower, getting better

Boys Basketball

12-13

The boys varsity basketball team ualified for CCS with a 4-10 record in league play and 12-12 overall with recent league victories over King’s Academy and Crystal Springs. The team lost 42against Menlo on senior night last Friday. They lost their CCS game to San Lorenzo Valley last Thursday.

MEENA GUDAPATI

Boys baseball started practice on Feb. 1 with Head Coach Mike Delfino from 4 1 p.m. to 1 p.m. at the Blackford campus. The team ended last season 9-14. “Baseball makes me want to

Boys Volleyball

We hope to improve on our communication, and to make sure that my teammates and I are on the same page.

DARREN GU

Baseball

at the game, having fun with friends, all that,” Sunny Jayam (10) said. Their first match took place on Feb. 18 against St. Francis High School.

Boys Soccer

7-7-1

Harker’s varsity boys soccer team is - in league matches and 7-7-1 overall after losing to Menlo School 1-4 during Kicks against Cancer, Crystal Spring Uplands 1-3, and King’s Academy 1-3. They won their final regular season game against Woodside Priory 2-1, but were unable to qualify for CCS.

The track and field team started practicing at Blackford Feb. 1 with head coach Scott Chisam. “Last year was my first time seriously competing in the 800

meters, so I’m looking forward to getting a better time this season,” Gloria Guo (10) said. The team prepares for their first meet on March at Willow Glen.

Girls Soccer

Girls Basketball

Harker’s varsity girls soccer team, comprised mainly of freshmen, ended their season 0-9 in league and 0-13-1 overall. They tied with Redwood Christian 1-1 and lost to Menlo 0-3 during Kicks against Cancer. They did not qualify for CCS.

The girls varsity basketball team finished the regular season - in league and 1 overall with recent league victories over Mercy and Crystal Springs and losses to King’s Academy and Woodside Priory, qualifying them for CCS. They lost in the first round of CCS against Terra Nova on Tuesday.

0-13-1

16-9

Wrestling

0-6

Varsity wrestlers Anthony Contreras (10) went 1-2 at CCS and Davis Howard (11) went 3-2 being only the sixth wrestler in Harker history to advance to the second day of CCS. Sophomore Dolan Dworak of the junior varsity team placed 2nd in his weight class at league finals.

ROSE GUAN

vijay bharadwaj & rose guan

ROSE GUAN

Varsity boys basketball ends CCS run in first round against San Lorenzo

A12

BACK PAGE

VOLUME 17 â&#x20AC;˘ ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

BLURRED BORDERS vignesh panchanatham & lauren russell

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Obviously, [your perspective as an immigrant] varies greatly by culture or your place of origin or your social class or your ethnicity, but this sort of mentality of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s keep everyone outâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; or â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shut the door now that everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is a little inconsiderate and ridiculous to try and limit that number and keep particular groups or all groups out,â&#x20AC;? said Nastya Grebin (10), who was born in Ukraine, but is now an American citi en â&#x20AC;&#x153; t s not the first time in history that something like this [anti-immigrant sentiment] has happened, but it is not something that we should be proud of or should support.â&#x20AC;? uring his term in office, President Obama has continuously made efforts to protect the undocumented parents of legal US citizens and residents. Obama has also deported more undocumented immigrants than any other president, a 23 percent increase in total deportations when compared to the Bush administration. With a new president on the horizon, the United Statesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; stance on immigration could change once again, either towards more lax rules toward immigrants or more stringent ones. Students have expressed desires to hold events to learn about the different experiences and show support. In 2014, Interact members held fundraisers for refugees from Afghanistan. UNICEF clubmembers will host the nowfla e all on Saturday to support the Syrian refugees. All proceeds will go towards the donations of food kits, water pumps and other basic necessities. â&#x20AC;&#x153; ne of the most influential things [to help with the current refugee crisis] would be having student clubs organize fundraisers,â&#x20AC;? Michael Tseitlin (11), an immigrant from the country of eorgia, said â&#x20AC;&#x153; efinitely, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a problem that needs a lot of money and something we can provide here is we can fundraise and contribute to international

reporters

14%

13%

12%

11%

10%

The Syrian refugee crisis, which has caused millions of yrians to flee the country, and ongoing discussions about the U.S.-Mexico border have brought immigration to the world stage as a complicated topic with extremely diverse viewpoints and positions. Immigration played a central role in the presidential debates for both Republicans and Democrats. In recent Republican events, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, an immigrant himself from Canada, have opposed each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s policies, and Donald Trump has continued to advocate against undocumented immigrants (See A6). Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders has outlined a plan to legitimize immigrants already in the country, secure borders and modernize the visa process. President Obama has been a spokesperson in the debate as well, advocating for the US to help immigrants, especially from Syria, and has taken actions to give them sanctuary. California was one of the 19 states that accepted the executive order to give Syrian refugees sanctuary. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Honestly, I agree with Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perspective as of now, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think that we should just target a bunch of Muslims because they are of the religion that happens to be doing these wrong things,â&#x20AC;? Sohenee Banerjee (10) said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of good Muslims out there, and they shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be targeted for that, and they shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be banned from the country until this is over.â&#x20AC;? In addition to immigration s political significance, the topic also has a particular resonance within Harkerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s community. Many Harker students, parents and teachers, including Chemistry teacher Dr. Koodanjeri, Computer Science teacher Anu Datar, and History teacher Roxanne Pianko are immigrants or come from immigrant backgrounds. Harker has a larger immigrant population than most private schools in the country. According to the 2012 US Census, 36.4 percent of Silicon Valleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s residents are foreign born.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am not judged because of my color, I am not judged because of my race, I am not judged because of my economic status. People everywhere here treat me the same.â&#x20AC;?

VIGNESH PANCHANATHAM

15%

Immigration takes center stage as hot topic during elections

SMRITI KOODANJERI CHEMISTRY TEACHER ON DIFFERENCES PERCEIVED AFTER IMMIGRATING TO THE UNITED STATES

DO GOOD FENCES MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS? Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has suggested constructing a wall between Mexico and the U.S. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Trumpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Candidacy Announcement Speech

programs. Another thing is that a lot of our students are well-equipped to speak out, to be student activists, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something we can encourage. People can speak out about causes like this that they can be passionate about.â&#x20AC;?

GRAPH: PERCENT OF U.S. POPULATION COMPOSED OF IMMIGRANTS OVER THE DECADES

SOURCE: US CENSUS & MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE

Since 1960, the U.S. population has grown from 179,323,175 people to 308,745,538 in 2010. The population of U.S. immigrants has similarly grown in that time,

reaching 41.3 million total immigrants living in the U.S. in 2013. Currently, immigrants make up slightly more than 12.9 percent of the U.S. population.

U.S. immigrants occupy notable public positions, achieve excellence INDRA NOOYI (INDIA)

YO-YO MA (FRANCE)

SALMA HAYEK (MEXICO)

EDWARD SAID (PALESTINE)

SERGEY BRIN (RUSSIA)

IMAN (SOMALIA)

CEO of PepsiCo, acquired Tropicana and merged with Quaker Oats, Fortune named her Third Most Powerful Businesswoman

Paris-born Chinese famous cellist, UN Messenger of Peace since 2006, given Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011

FAST FACTS: IMMIGRATION Immigrant population of the U.S.

41.3 million

U.S. immigrants and their U.S.-born children

million

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1/4 of the U.S. population.

869,646

Bush

1,652,744

Obama

2,500,000*

t .FYJDP

t *OEJB

t $IJOB

t 1IJMJQQJOFT

Top languages spoken in immigrant households

Undocumented immigrants deported per administration Clinton

Top four most popular countries of origin

Source: Department of Homeland Security

t &OHMJTI

t 4QBOJTI

t $IJOFTF

t 5BHBMPH

*As of Feb. 2016

States most populated by immigrants

Number of refugees allowed per year into the U.S. according to limits set by Congress in the 2015 fiscal year

t $BMJGPSOJB NJMMJPO t 5FYBT NJMMJPO

t /FX :PSL NJMMJPO t 'MPSJEB NJMMJPO

70,000

Are you an immigrant? Yes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 3% No â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 97%

1960

Are your parents immigrants?

/ :

Yes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 85% No â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 15%

1970

1980

Professor of history and literature, author of Orientalism, pioneer of postcolonial studies, accomplished pianist, music critic in The Nation

Co-founded Google with Larry Page,Forbes noted him to be the 11th richest person in the world jointly with two others

Professionally known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iman,â&#x20AC;? received Fashion Icon award, actress, businesswoman, opened her own cosmetics line

Common terminology: denotation vs. connotation â&#x20AC;&#x153;Undocumented immigrantâ&#x20AC;?

Denotation: a foreigner whose status is not documented by immigration authorities Connotation: a term often used by those pro-looser immigration reform

HARKERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S IMMIGRANT POPULATION

Former model, actress, producer, starred in Desperado, Dogma and Wild Wild West, highly acclaimed for playing Frida Kahlo

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Illegal immigrantâ&#x20AC;?

Denotation: a foreigner who has entered or resides in a country without that countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s authorization Connotation: stigmatizing the subject; a term often used by those against looser immigration reform

1990

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Alienâ&#x20AC;? Denotation: people who were not born as or are not fully naturalized as U.S. citizens Connotation: a derogatory term for foreign-born person

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Anchor babyâ&#x20AC;?

Denotation: a child born to foreigners in the U.S. who thus has citizenship, refers to the baby perhaps providing means for the family to stay due to its citizenship Connotation: a pejorative term that disparages the parent and child

2000

2010

FEATURES

WEDNESDAY MARCH 2, 2016 | THE HARKER UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER, VOL. 17, NO. 5

| www.harkeraquila.com

Not a drop to drink Flint water crisis reveals executive failures, socio-economic neglect of residents

state switched the water source until a new supply line to Lake Huron was ready. Despite this effort to save $15 million through a change in water supply, Flint residents continued to pay higher rates for their water than in other city in the nation. The Flint River had a reputation for being unsanitary, and many residents complained of smelly water. Consequently, researchers at Virginia Tech conducted experiments and discovered that the water was highly corrosive. The city later switched the supply back to Lake Huron, but by then, the damage had already been done to the lead pipes. The city did not treat the water with an anti-corrosive agent, and in addition to the high amounts of iron as a result of the water being corrosive, the lead in the pipes began to seep into the

S E I L

Exposure to high levels of lead in water can lead to development delays, memory loss and kidney disfunction.

T C E L G E LN A N I M I PHONIES CR KNOW-NOTHINGS

LEAD POISIONING

ADAPTED FROM OPEN MEDIA

PTION

In 1973, the EPA announced regulations on using leaded gasoline because of the potentially detrimental effects to the health of the American citizens. Today, there is a new source of lead bourne danger in America. The CDC recommends the lead level in tap water be no higher than 15 parts per billion (ppb), but the water in Flint, Michigan was well over a high of 158 ppb. These water quality issues in Flint, Michigan have aroused concern for many of its residents, as well as others throughout the nation. The state temporarily switched Flint’s water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River in April of 2014. This change occurred because Flint was going through a financial emergency, and as a cost-saving measure, the

CORRU

Aquila news editor & asst. features editor

water. The combination of iron and lead in the water can cause health problems for many residents. Many attribute this lapse to the poverty and high concentration of minorities living in Flint. Almost 40 percent of Flint residents fall below the poverty line and over 60 percent are people of color. They feel that the state government has neglected towns like Flint because of the lack of the residents wealth. “Would more have been done, at a much faster pace, if nearly 40 percent of Flint residents were not living below the poverty line? The answer is unequivocally yes,” the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) stated on its website. Malvika Khanna (12), who is looking to pursue a career in medicine, reflects on the health consequences of citizens of Flint, Michigan. “What happened to the residents in Flint, Michigan is absolutely terrible,” Malvika said. “Thousands of people have been affected by the bad water and this could lead to serious health issues for them in the future.” The backlash of the contamination in the Flint water has raised concerns among people all over the country, including the Santa Clara Valley Water District. In Santa Clara Valley, the water supply is regularly monitored for any signs of contamination, with around 170,000 tests being conducted yearly. Additionally, their “corrosion control program” ensures that no harmful substances in the pipes can seep into the water supply. Algae blooms began to surface in the reservoirs with low water levels in fall of last year because of the drought. ”We have also incurred additional expenses to treat water that comes into our system that has degraded in quality. While this makes it a challenge to continue to meet regulatory standards, we have done so diligently because water quality is of utmost importance,” said Colleen Valles, Santa Clara Valley Water District’s public information representative.

TURNING A BLIND EYE

raveena kaptakar & maya kumar

13,000

parts per million lead maximum in Flint

5,000

parts per million lead is considered toxic

87 Legionnaire’s cases of

Disease since June

justin su asst. sports editor

The Kicks Against Cancer games took place on Feb. 5, with the junior varsity boys, varsity girls, and varsity boys teams playing against their respective Menlo teams. The junior varsity boys started their match at 3 p.m. and lost 0-2, the varsity girls started playing at 4:55 p.m. and lost their match 0-3 and the varsity boys started their game at 6:30 p.m. and lost 1-4. Sparsh Chauhan (10) scored the only goal for Harker during the last game of the night. After the junior varsity boys finished their game, the varsity girls team presented a check of $1,500 to four visiting Camp

Infection Prevention, B2

Okizu families to support children with cancer. “I think as a soccer player, you don’t get a lot of opportunites to play underneath the

lights in front of al your friends and family,” Sanil Rajput (12), Varsity boys’ soccer captain, said. The team captains of each team worked more closely this

year to prepare for the event, and held a butts up fundraiser between matches, giving anyone who donated $1 to kick a soccer ball at participating staff members. Faculty who volunteered had signs in front of their classrooms throughout the week, and included Dr. Victor Adler, Dr. Miriam Allersma, Dr. David Casso, Juston Glass, Dr Matthew Harley, Eric Kallbrier, Robbie Korin, Diana Moss and Jaron Olson. The teams also sold baked goods and raffles in order to raise money during the event. Camp Okizu’s first session for campers will be held June 13-19, and the first session for siblings will take KICK CANCER’S BUTT Aadyant Kanakamedala (10) prepares to kick place June 20-26. Visit okizu.org the soccer ball as goalie during the junior varsity boys game at Kicks Against Cancer. for more information.

Student Musicians, B5

Black History Month, B6-B7 Diversity in STEM, B9

“As a soccer player, you don’t get a lot of opportunities to play underneath the lights.” SANIL RAJPUT VARSITY BOYS’ SOCCER CAPTAIN

KSHITHIJA J MULAM

Kicks against cancer raises $1500 for cancer patients’ summer camp

College Alternatives, B12

FEATURES

VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

Case of viral meningitis appears in Upper School alex wang An upper school student developed a case of viral meningitis towards the end of break and was admitted to the hospital. The school is now outside of the incubation period, so the virus is perceived to no longer be present on campus. “We’re past the incubation period, so since no one else has developed viral meningitis, [it’s] considered a closed case,” Director of Health Services Debra Nott said. “The virus did not spread to anyone else or cause anyone else to get viral meningitis and enough days have passed that we’re outside the window of exposure.” The window of exposure refers to the amount of time that the has to pass without any new cases of the virus occurring for a location to be deemed safe. It can range anywhere from two

Meningitis entrance points

to ten days, depending on the virus in question. The case at the upper school follows a case of meningitis at the University of Santa Clara where two students contracted bacterial meningitis of the Serogroup B type. “The University of Santa Clara made the smart decision to offer free Serogroup B meningitis immunizations to all students,” Nott said. “It looked to me from the news coverage that quite a few [students] were taking advantage of that.” Meningitis involves an inflammation of the protective covering around the brain and the spinal cord as a result of the presence of a pathogen in the cerebral spinal fluid that surrounds the brain. Viral meningitis is not an illness that can be caught on its own, like bacterial meningitis, but a complication of another virus, such as one of the viruses that cause chicken

pox, measles, mumps, or the flu. The enterovirus that causes measles can cause a form of meningitis, which is particularly deadly. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website, “if you have close contact with a person who has viral meningitis, you may become infected with the virus that made that person sick. However, you are not likely to develop meningitis as a complication of the illness.” “If you’ve had all your shots, then you are immune to most of the things that cause bacterial meningitis and some of the things that can cause viral meningitis,” Nott said, referring to the immunization shots that students are required and recommended to take before being able to attend school. The upper school student who contracted the virus is currently recovering.

How to arm yourself against infection

2 1

brian park & nisha shankar reporters

•Stay home when sick in order to prevent spreading germs •Handle and prepare food carefully •Avoid touching wild animals that can spread disease •Clean and disinfect commonly used surfaces •Avoid sharing personal items •Cough and sneeze into your sleeve •Wash hands and self often •Get vaccinated

4 WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Spring Health

reporter

1. nose and mouth 2. ears 3. reproductive organs 4. open abrasions

VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

Parking your privilege

Class of 2016 acquires open campus rights for rest of year ria gupta & prameela kottapalli

reporters

Last year, the class of 2016toiling, sleep-deprived juniors at the time, watched in envy as seniors were able to leave campus whenever they pleased. Now, approaching their final few months of high school, it’s finally time for the class of 2016 to take advantage of their well-deserved senior privileges. The primary benefit offered to seniors is the off-campus privilege. Seniors who have parental approval are now allowed to leave school grounds during free time. Seniors received a red ID card that they must show security before leaving campus. They are permitted to return at any time “I’m going to go off campus to get lunch with friends or to hang out somewhere,” Raghav Jain (12) said. “For something quick, maybe Starbucks, but if we have long lunch, we would have time to go to a sit-down place.” While many seniors plan on taking advantage of the benefit, several prefer to not leave school grounds and will continue to stay on campus during the academic day and eat school-provided lunches. “I probably won’t use [the privilege] too much because I am pretty satisfied with Harker food and my schedule is not conducive towards leaving campus to hang out or eat food,” said senior Kevina Xiao. Dr. Matthew Harley, dean of the class of 2016, explained why administration grants seniors with this privilege of increased freedom. “We keep [the privilege] to reward the class for doing well and the class has indeed earned this privilege,” he said.“It’s a nice transition into adulthood and they don’t have to be here, under our eye all the time, because we trust them to be off-campus on their own.” Next year’s seniors, the class of 2017, will have access to the off-campus privilege after Thanksgiving. This is due to the fact that they will not be able to park on campus because of the construction going on for the new events center. Junior Noa Sasson expressed her thoughts about receiving the senior privilege in the first semester rather than the second. “But I’m not sure how it will be useful because we can’t easily get to our cars anyways, so we’re only limited to the shops across the street,” she said. The class trip at the end of the year and the visit to Disneyland are also considered senior privileges. This year, the class of 2016 will go on the annual Laguna Beach trip from May 14. to May 17., and they will also take a one-day excursion to Disneyland during the trip.

2 Music Tunnel KTV Cafe

A four mile drive from the campus, this spot functions as both a restaurant and an all-ages karaoke lounge with private rooms. The cafe offers milk tea and a variety of other menu choices including Chinese cuisine, and customers interested in karaoke can select from large collection of numbers fromBillboard Top 100 songs to classic Disney tunes.

NONO

YES YES During long free periods and Wednesday lunches, there’s an abundance of time to spare and places to go. Here are a few spots to hang out at within a fifteen-minute drive off campus:

1. Music Tunnel KTV Cafe A four-mile drive fromthe campus, this spot functions as both a restaurant and an all-ages karaoke lounge with private rooms. The cafe offers milk tea and a variety of other menu choices including Chinese cuisine, and customers interested in karaoke can select from a large collection of numbers from Billboard Top 100 songs to classic Disney tunes.

2. Golfland For seniors and elementary schoolers alike, mini golfing is a simple yet entertaining way to just kick back and relax with friends. Whether it’s for a lunchtime date or a group outing during free period, Golfland’s five-mile distance from

“I’ll probably go out for lunch more. I’ll make a lot of Chipotle runs. I promised my friend I’d go to Ramen Halu with him. Otherwise I don’t really think I’ll go out that much.”

campus and it’s general emptiness on weekdays makes it the ideal spot to hang out at.

3. Santouka Ramen Those looking for an authentic ramen experience won’t have to look further than Santouka Ramen in the Mitsuwa Supermarket, less than half a mile away from campus. The restaurant has a small but traditional-style Japanese menu offering spicy, miso and salted ramen flavors, as well as a variety of simple dishes like soy-sauce eggs and sliced pork.

4. Jessy’s Cupcakes A perfect spot for anyone with a sweet tooth, the menu of this bak-

Belinda Yan (12)

5. Falafel’s Drive-in Seven minutes away from campus by car, roadside eatery Falafel’s Drive-in serves delicious Middle Eastern cuisine and offers both vegan and vegetarian options. This take-out restaurant is Zagat-rated as the best falafel spot in San Jose and was even featured on Guy Fieri’s Food Network show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

“During Wednesday long lunch, because my friends and I have eighth free, we’re planning on going to the beach.” Aathira Menon (12)

Kevin Kim (12)

“I’m not planning on using my senior privileges because I only usually use my car to get to and from school and I don’t really go off campus much, anyways.”

ery includes an array of unique, delectable cupcakes all the way from maple-bacon to classic red velvet. Each individual cupcake is homemade, and gluten-free alternatives are also available. Furthermore, it only takes a quick five-minute drive off campus grounds to enjoy what this dessert shop has to offer.

“I have first free, so I don’t really think that I will be using my senior privileges that much because I can just come in whenever I want anyways, but I might go out to lunch with my friends during long lunch or something like that.” Aashika Balaji (12)

FEATURES

VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

Gong Xi Fa Cai Students and families celebrate Lunar New Year tiffany wong reporter

Rooster 2005

Ram 2015

Monkey 2016

Horse 2014

Snake 2013

Dragon 2012

For many students, New Year’s comes twice a year. In addition to celebrating the new calendar year on both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, many Harker families also observe other New Year’s traditions. One such holiday, known as Lunar New Year, is based on the Chinese lunisolar calendar and commemorates the start of a new lunar year. In the Gregorian calendar, Lunar New Year begins on the new moon that falls between late January and late February. The lunisolar calendar is used by many Asian countries, including China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam, all of which celebrate unique variations of Lunar New Year. Celebrations for Lunar New Year 2016 began on Feb. 8. Celebrations for Lunar New Year differ from country to country. Chinese New Year, observed in China and Taiwan, commemorates the first 15 days of the new lunar year. Before the holiday, families clean their houses, an action believed to drive away

bad luck and to welcome good luck. Many households also exchange hong bao, or red envelopes of money, and spend time with friends and family. Jordan Goheen (11) celebrates Chinese New Year with relatives overseas. “The first important thing we really do is we call back to Taiwan. We Skype and talk to my cousins and my grandparents on [my mother’s] side,” Jordan said. “The next day, we have a big meal at dinner and we usually eat fish, dumplings and niangao, a rice cake—basically the traditional stuff.” On the other hand, families in Korea observe Korean New Year. Celebrations of the holiday last three days, commemorating the day before the new year, the day of the new year itself and the day after the new year. Koreans celebrate Korean New Year by dressing in traditional Korean clothing, or hanbok. Families often construct “moon houses” out of firewood and set them on fire, a tradition that symbolizes the warding away of evil spirits.

Dog 2006

Certain foods are also eaten during celebrations of the lunar new year. In China, families enjoy include dumplings, fish and rice cakes, delicacies that all hold symbolic significance in Chinese culture. Upper school Mandarin teacher Shaun Jahshan discusses the importance of eating fish on the holiday. “There’s a saying, ‘nian nian you yu,’ which can mean ‘may there be surplus year after year,’ but the word yu also sounds like the Chinese word for ‘fish,’” Jahshan said. “Therefore, ‘nian nian you yu’ can also mean ‘may there be fish every year,’ which is why many families have fish while celebrating but only eat part of it to symbolize a surplus of food.” Korean families often eat Tteokguk, or soup with rice cakes, on Korean New Year. Similarly, families in Japan make and eat mochi, or sticky rice cakes, with family. A collection of special dishes and foods, known as osechi, is also enjoyed on Japanese New Year.

Rabbit 2011

Pig 2007

Rat 2008

Ox 2009 Tiger 2010

nicole chen reporter

Three student council members sit down as Naomi Molin (12) stands in her initial position for her Hawaiian dance routine. The music starts to play and she starts to gracefully move her arms and sway while the judges watch intently. Student council started extensive planning for the Harker annual talent show, “Hoscars,” nine weeks before the event. They started by using a three week period to plan a six week schedule to organize events leading up to the Hoscars on March 18, according to ASB secretary Grace Guan (12). Due to the large amount of preparation leading up to Hoscars, student council splits up into three committees to take care of the logistics of the event. “We’re starting to plan the actual event. The publicity committee will put up posters around campus, and they also make a school meeting announcement and make a video.” Junior class president Sandip Nirmel (11) said. “ Tech committee manages backstage during the event.” The auditions committee, who are in charge of organizing auditions, plans to hold both

video and in person auditions. “We prefer the video auditions because we don’t want to take too much extra help or long lunch time from our own student council auditioners,” Grace said. Categories for the acts are decided after the audition. “We judge the acts on their originality,” Freshmen class president Kelsey Wu (9) said. “The categories come out after we judge the acts since we base the award categories on what types we end up seeing.” According to Grace, a previous complaint disclosed that too many vocal acts were accepted, so student council is on the lookout for more creative acts like Korean pop music and juggling. There are many key aspects to a Hoscars act that are taken into consideration during the auditions process. “We just look for that the kids are really enthusiastic, and they have something really planned,” Sandip said. “It won’t be overcomplicated, so they’ll actually have success on stage and have a lot of fun.” Auditions started on Feb. 23 and Hoscars will be held on March 18.

AND THE HOSCAR GOES TO... (TOP) Students from a previous year’s HOSCARS perform a rap. (LEFT) Students from a previous year’s HOSCARS asct as bodyguards during the show. (RIGHT) Naomi Molin (12) auditions for HOSCARS in front of student council officers on February 24. Naomi was the only act, as of February 24, that did not submit an audition video instead of auditioning in person.

NICOLE CHEN

Students and faculty audition for HOSCARS

FEATURES

VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2015

New Notes Meet students who write their own music shania wang & katherine zhang reporters

students pursue music as a passion. They express their love of music through the producing and composing of pieces.

MEILAN STEIMLE

Crash. Ding. Boom. The sound of music fills the air constantly throughout the day. Aside from academic studies, sports and other activities, many upper school

Careers in composing:

SOUND OF MUSIC (TOP) Megan Swanson (11), currently in the upper school orchestra, practices her flute. She enjoys composing and arranging pieces and is currently in the process of arranging a version of “Up is Down” by Hans Zimmer. (CENTER) Chris Hailey (11) raps over some pre-made beats, pursuing his love of music. “Music honestly just means comfort,” he said. (BOTTOM RIGHT) Neil Ramaswamy (9) embraces his passion for music through rapping and writing songs. Many of his fans can find his music on his SoundCloud online under A Tuzzy. (BOTTOM LEFT) Caitlyn Smith, a Nashville-based songwriter, prepares to perform.

Q&A with Caitlyn Smith, composer of the hit song “Like I’m Gonna Lose You.” kavya ramakrishnan

The Winged Post recently spoke to Caitlyn Smith, a Nashville-based songwriter and musical artist who has written hits for the likes of Meghan Trainor, Cassadee Pope, Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks and Lady Antebellum, among others. Since moving to Nashville from Minnesota to pursue a career in music, Smith already has three independent records under her belt and is currently in the studio recording her fourth. Among Smith’s recent hits is “Like I’m Gonna Lose You,” which she co-wrote with Justin Weaver and Meghan Trainor, who recently won the Grammy for Best New Artist. The track debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 95 and peaked at number one on the Adult Top 40 chart. W i n g e d Post: When did you decide to seriously commit to songwriting? What were you feeling leaving high school to move to Nashville instead of taking a more traditional path? Caitlyn Smith: My path in my mind was already set in high school that this is what I wanted to do. I started off loving it and it was just something I kept doing because it made me really happy and I loved it and I felt like I was good at it. WP: What keeps you going as a songwriter and artist? CS: The most important piece that keeps me going? I have so many things that keep me going. If I wake up, and I’m excited about the day, I consider that a win. If I wake up, and I’m not excited, you have a very limited number of days. I remember Steve Jobs talking about this. If you’re waking up a few days in a row that you’re hating, waking up and going to do what you do, don’t do that thing. And so I very often keep in check if I’m loving this or not, and I’m still loving this. WP: What one thing would you urge students pursuing a career in music to do? And to not do? CS: I would say whatever it is, your passion is, say writing songs, then I would say do that, a hundred times, do that a thousand times. Do that until you turn blue in the face, because practice really does make perfect. If you want to be a performer, then get out there, play shows, play for your grandma, play for your dog, play for anybody walking by on the street, you have to practice performing. And so I would say whatever you want to do, don’t let anyone get in your way of you just doing that thing. Also I would also tell my seventeen-year-old self to try to not care about what other people say. It’s your life that you’re living,

ASHLEY JIANG

managing editor

Neil Ramaswamy Sitting in a quiet classroom with a notebook in front of him, freshman Neil Ramaswamy, better known to his fans as rapper A Tuzzy, scrawls lyrics for a new song onto sheets of lined paper. Neil has been rapping since the beginning of the school year, and he has released three full-length songs on his Soundcloud account. He plans to release an album of 14 to 16 songs as well. Neil’s rapping career began through listening to rappers Eminem and Tupac Shakur, from whom he draws inspiration from when writing music. “I think the mean part of me comes from the fact that I listen to Eminem,” Neil said. “I also listen to Tupac, which is the reason why I make the ‘let’s get the world to be a better place’ type of music.” Neil often channels his feelings into his songs. For example, his new album, “Anxiety and Metaphors,” will be about his doubts about his rap career. “What I do with my lyrics is I go off emotions and make similes, metaphors and exaggerations,” Neil said. “For example, I look up to so many people like Eminem, and I think ‘Will I ever be that good? Should I quit now?’” Although Neil has no definite plans for the future of his musical career, he plans to continue producing music for the time being. “You have to stay true to you; you got to say what you feel,” Neil said. “You got to just be yourself.”

Chris Hailey Chris Hailey (11), also known as rapper C Money, has played classical piano for 10 years, but his interest in rapping blossomed when his friend Varun Baldwa (11) began making beats online and needed someone to rap over those beats. “My whole rap career was serendipitous,” Chris said. “He wanted someone to make some raps, and I said ‘Why not? I’ll do it.’” Chris has a fixed routine for writing his songs. After listening to a new beat, he brainstorms potential topics for the song before writing lyrics. “I think about what types of themes are on my mind,” he said. “Then, I write a first line, find some rhymes for that line and just keep building on that.” Chris does not plan to take up rapping as a career, preferring to keep it a hobby. In the near future, however, he hopes to produce his own songs. “Currently, I’m actually writing a little bit of my own beats, so hopefully I can actually be not just a rapper but a producer,” Chris said. Chris attributes his pursual of music to the encouragement from others. “My friends and my family support me, and they keep wanting me to make music,” Chris said. “That’s how I find encouragement.”

Megan Swanson Megan Swanson (11) was inspired to compose music when her sister, Stephanie Swanson (10), began to write music with her friend Meghana Karinthi (10). Since then, she has composed and arranged a range of musical pieces. “For the most part, I compose more classically-oriented pieces for chamber groups,” Megan said. “I’ve done a few arrangements of jazz and vocal songs, but I have more experience with the classical. I also enjoy composing with similar dramatic motifs found in movie music.” When composing, Megan writes any promising ideas down and elaborates on them until she has a finished piece. “I simply start with [an] idea, and it may end up anywhere in the piece,” she said. “After the initial inspiration, I sometimes fall into a sort of writer’s block for musicians. Eventually, I either have another burst of inspiration, or drag my way past the block to continue writing.” Megan receives inspiration from a multitude of people. “Almost anyone can inspire me,” she said. “Great composers and musicians, my instructors and most of all, my family and friends.” In the future, Megan hopes to improve her composing skills and spread her love for music through teaching others. “Since it is my passion, I aspire to never make music feel like work,” Megan said.

REMEMBERING HISTORY

“WE ARE NO BOOKS LIKE SUPPOSED

IN COLOR

Black people underrepresented in entertainment awards Aquila copy editor & Wingspan copy editor

This year marks the second year in which the Academy did not nominate people of color for major categories in the Oscars. Subsequently, last year’s trend #OscarsSoWhite reappeared on social media for the same reason before, as people discussed racism and bias in the entertainment business. As Dr. Lola Muldrew, a member of Harker’s diversity committee, explains, racial supremacy has risen to one of the many large controversies in America today. “The Oscars are a symptom. Hollywood is the disease,” Muldrew said. “The disease is the whitewashing of Hollywood. The whitewashing of Hollywood renders people of color invisible because all the complexity and variation in people of color more than ignored. It’s completely rendered invisible except in victim roles and violent roles. If you think about blacks, they’re slaves, or they’re homeless. But there is so much more complexity to being a black person, and that is rendered invisible by Hollywood. That’s very problematic because pop culture defines society. The most influential, dominant form of pop culture is the cinema. If that is rendering people invisible, then that’s a problem.” To the other side of the coin, it may have just so happened that the lack of diversity was only a result of white actors portraying better roles in movies. “I don’t think it’s much of

a race issue, more that it’s just that they are just picking who is the best actor,” Matthew McCallaCreary (10) said. “It just so happens that there were no black actors chosen.” Ironically, the Academy Awards takes place in February, which is also recognized as Black History Month in both Canada and the U.S. It started when the second week of February was announced to be “Negro History Week” in 1926 by the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. The birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, two men celebrated for their efforts to eliminate racial prejudice, coincided with that week. As the name suggests, the week was dedicated to teaching the history of black Americans in public schools. This practice grew to be recognized by more school districts and states, and in 1976, U.S. educators accepted the transition to “Black History Month,” when students would discuss the neglected accomplishments of African Americans and how their contributions shaped society. Some believe that Black History Month is unfair because it singles out black culture and celebrates its accomplishments for a short period of time, only to be forgotten during the rest of the year. Freshman Aaron Smith shared his opinion on Black History Month. “I think Black History month is a very good way for people to be educated on the culture, but maybe if they could consider other races and

cultures it would be fair, rather than just black culture,” Aaron said. Other cultures that have months or weeks designated to their rememberance or awareness include Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which takes place in May, as well as National American Indian Heritage Month in November. However, black representation in education has gradually increased over the years with recognition of the writers, innovators and freedom-fighters who changed the course of the Civil Rights Movement. “Things have changed a lot. At Harker, we are teaching more texts by African American writers, we’ve got African American writers in the freshman curriculum,” American Literature teacher Dr. Pauline Paskali said. “In the junior year we’ve actually taken out at least temporarily for now, to see how it goes, the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” which also is a text that deals with race. But now, we’ve replaced that with a text by an African American writer, Toni Morrison, “The Bluest Eye. And that is the first time in American Literature class that we’re teaching a novel written by an African American writer.” Recently at the Grammy’s, Kendrick Lamar won Rap Album of the Year for “To Pimp a Butterfly,” an album that played as the soundtrack to the #BlackLivesMatter movement. The topics of his award-winning songs include racial struggles in America, most prominently police brutality and lack of opportunity in black communities.

on have the

D #0SCARS SOWHITE

OSCARS 2016 ACTING NOMINEES OF COLOR

28%

OF SPEAKING ROLES WERE PLAYED BY PEOPLE OF COLOR

13%

OF DIRECTORS were people of color

SOURCE: COMPREHENSIVE ANNENBERG REPORT ON DIVERSITY

ELISABETH SIEGEL

maya valluru & vijay bharadwaj

Making waves: 6 black icons who have challenged the status quo Beyoncé is an American singer and actress. Beyonce’s songs are characterized by love, relationships, female empowerment and sexuality. Earlier this February, she celebrated her Black heritage in the hit single “Formation”, and she paid homage to the Black Panthers during her 2016 Superbowl performance.

Barack Obama Barack Obama is the current president of the United States, elected in 2008 as the first African American to hold that office. After graduating from Columbia University and Harvard Law School, he became a civil rights attorney and a constitutional rights teacher. Obama served as a senator from 1997 to 2004 and was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Deray McKesson Deray McKesson is a civil rights activist and considered one of the founders of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement. He is most known for his activism on social media platforms and was active in the Ferguson and Baltimore protests. On Feb. 3, McKesson announced his candidacy for Baltimore mayorship.

Toni Morrison A celebrated contemporary novelist, Toni Morrison was the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. She was appointed to the National Council on the Arts in 1980 and was also a professor at Princeton University. Her novels are usually known to explore themes of racial injustice and more grim parts of American history.

Serena Williams Serena Williams is an American professional tennis player who is currently ranked number one in women’s single tennis. She is the reigning champion of Wimbledon, the French Open and Olympic women’s singles and doubles. Today, she is regarded as the greatest female tennis player of all time.

Mae Jemison Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to travel to space in 1992 aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. She has a background in both engineering and medical research. She has worked in medicine and computer programming and has served in the Peace Corps.

ALL HEADSHOTS - WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Beyoncé Knowles

Q&A: Kickstart diversity founder encourages minorities to tell their stories maya valluru Aquila copy editor

OT IN HISTORY E WE ARE TO BE.

People of color have variation and complexity, but we are never given the opportunity to be presented that way. You see all kinds of stories about colonialism and heroes and whites. These accomplishments that blacks have made are countless. To highlight them in nly one particular month – I would prefer to em in the history books.”

Winged Post: What exactly inspired this movement and how did you get involved with it? Dani Leonard: We started our company a little bit over five and a half years ago. My business partner and I are both producers, and I’m a comedian as well, so we were working in the industry and we wanted to put together a company where we were supporting filmmakers. We found that the projects that were being created by women and people of color, specifically, were having an extra hard time getting made. We specifically wanted to help people who were diverse behind the scenes get their projects made, because we know that that directly affects what people see on camera when they’re watching TVs and movies. WP: As of now, so far what’s the outcome of the movement looking like? I heard that it has received a great amount of press in how it has been diversifying a lot of the films that have been coming out recently. DL: For us, we’ve had a lot of success so far for a brand new program. Our first completed film that went through the program just premiered this Sundance. Beyond our program, I

DR. LOLA MULDREW, DIVERSITY COMMITTEE faculty MEMBER

PROVIDED BY DANI LEONARD

The Winged Post conducted an interview with independent filmmaker and producer Dani Leonard to discuss Kickstart Diversity, a program she co-founded that provides resources at every stage of production for projects involving women, people of color and LGBT filmmakers.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE Leonard and her business partner started Kickstart Diversity to encourage women, people of color and LGBT individuals to tell their stories.

think that things are changing very, very slowly. This is a really big problem, and I know that there’s going to be a lot of big companies and big people within Hollywood that are going to try to just put a Band-Aid on it and not solve the problem as a whole. WP: In your opinion, do you think there is some other actions in addition to your program that other companies can take to close gaps in representation in the future in the film industry and beyond? DL: I think it’s almost as simple as being mindful when you are putting together a crew and a cast for a project. A lot of what’s wrong with our industry is unconscious bias, or I guess they call that passive bias sometimes, where people are racist and sexist and they have no idea. Once it’s pointed out to them, that’s when you get to see whether they choose to make that change.

African American icons and pioneers through history maya valluru & aneesha kumar & ruhi sayana

THURGOOD MARSHALL Attorney Thurgood Marshall led the civil rights case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka to a successful hearing at the Supreme Court of the United States in 1954.

He became the court’s first African-American justice 13 years later. Marshall received a law degree from Howard University in 1933. He opened his own law practice in Baltimore.

Aquila copy editor & reporters

1908-1993 1875-1955

Congress as the first African American woman to hold that position. Most of Brooks’s work display a political consciousness and reflect her passion for Civil Rights activism.

1917-2000

1816-1894

DR. CHARLES DREW Charles Drew is known as the father of the modern blood blank. He discovered that extraction of plasma from blood allows it to be stored for a very long time. Reserves of

plasma could be kept until blood needed to be drawn. The discovery of the Red Cross bank is attributed to him, and he saved many lives during World War II.

Bethune was a school founder who served as an adviser to former U.S. Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman on African American issues. Bethune the only

one among her 16 other siblings to go to school. As a rights activist, she eventually founded Bethune Cookman college, as well as the National Council of Negro Women.

MACON B. ALLEN

GWENDOLYN BROOKS A Poet and teacher, Gwendollyn Brooks was the first African American to win a Pulitzer prize, for her poetry collection named “Annie Allen” in 1950. She was a poetry consultant to the Library of

Mary MCLEOD BETHUNE

Allen was the first African American man to practice law in the United States. He became a justice of peace in 1848 after passing the bar exam, for which he walked nearly 50

miles because he could not access transportation. Allen struggled to find work since white people were unwilling to hire black attorneys. He became the first justice of peace.

SHIRLEY CHISHOLM

ALL HEADSHOTS - WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

1904-1950 1924 - 2005

Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American congresswomen, was appointed in 1968. In 1971, she became the first major party African-American woman

to run for president. She fought for more educational opportunities and social justice. After her political career, she became a teacher.

ShareWorld Learning Center (408) 446-1956 21601 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, CA 95014

www.shareworld.org

Get a Head Start to Your Dream School! New Classes Are Open. Seating is Limited. Register Now! Boost Your GPA

English, Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology Pre-Study & Homework Success

SAT I, II / ACT / AP Test PREP

Free Simulation Tests, Scholarships Available, High Scores Guaranteed

Free

ONE HOUR TRIAL CLASS

(Good for the English, Math, Science, Language, SAT I/II, AP Test Preparation Class)

www.shareworld.org

VOLUME 17 â&#x20AC;˘ ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

STEM

VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

THE DIVERSITY GAP

Tech industry strives to increase workplace diversity FAST FACTS

WORKING TOGETHER Twitter’s women engineering group hosts a workshop promoting diversity in the workplace at the San Francisco Headquarters. The workshop is part of recent efforts made by Silicon Valley tech companies to close the diversity gap rampant in the tech industry.

sahana srinivasan asst. STEM editor

Last year, Intel announced its goal of making 40 percent of their new employees female, African American, Latino or Native American, and earlier this month, the company announced that it had exceeded its target, reaching 43 percent. Intel is not the only tech company trying to make strides in diversity. Twitter announced specific goals last year for increasing the company’s percentages of women and underrepresented minorities in leadership, technical positions and the company overall. Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s General Counsel and Director of Communications, joined the company’s leadership team in 2013 and was the only woman on it at the time. “We looked at what we wanted the representation to

be over time and we wanted to show steady progress year by year,” Gadde said. “We picked goals that we felt would show that progress towards an ultimate, longer-term goal, and one that we felt was aggressive but that would be achievable.” Twitter also has employee diversity groups for women in engineering, Latinos, African Americans and LGBTQA+ employees. The women in engineering group’s website describes its goals as supporting and inspiring both the women at Twitter and young girls. “Part of the work that we frontier is to really empower these groups to be a source for both professional development as well as connection and social culture within the company.” Gadde said. “That’s also one of the ways that we can make sure employees feel like they have a community here, because it’s as much about retaining the great,

WHAT ARE THE TOP SEVEN CITIES FOR WOMEN IN TECH?

diverse talent we have as it is about recruiting new talent.”

“It’s also really important to make sure that the employees that you have feel welcome and feel like they have a place.” VIJAYA GADDE GENERAL COUNSEL AT TWITTER Dropbox has similar initiatives; the company supports employee resource groups, hosts unconscious bias recognition days and has recruiting initiatives to promote diverse hiring. “When Dropbox was much smaller, [diversity initiatives were] more difficult because it was harder to get the critical

COURTESY OF TWITTER - ROSS MARLOWE

On average, less than 1 in 3 tech employees are women.

mass we needed to make certain underrepresented groups feel more at home at the company, and also, the company was in survival mode,” Ramsey Homsany, General Counsel at Dropbox, said. “Now that we’re at the size we’re at, my guess is that [diversity] is a similar challenge to the challenges that larger companies have, especially in technology.” The field of computer science especially has seen an overall drop in women in computer science and engineering in the past two decades. According to The Atlantic, the percentage of undergraduate computer science degrees going to women dropped from 37 percent in 1985 to 18 percent in 2010. In 2013, 11 percent of computer science majors were of an underrepresented minority. “I think in high tech in general, diversity has been pretty well valued over the course of my career,” Susan Roach, Direc-

On average, 5 percent of Bay Area tech workers were African American or Hispanic in 2013. CS degrees for women dropped 19 percent in the past 25 years. tor of Cloud Development Business Operations, at Oracle, said. “I see somewhat less of it these days than I did early in my early career. I think there are fewer women now than there were when I first started.” Despite companies’ diversity proposals and hiring goals, their official diversity statistics from 2015 still indicate significant diversity imbalances in Silicon Valley. In all the aforementioned companies, except Oracle, who has not released statistics related to only technical positions, women comprise less than a third of tech employees, and underrepresented minorities less than 15 percent. Many companies have released statistical goals for diversity in 2016, and their future results will determine the success of new diversity initiatives in the tech industry.

New York, NY

5 3

Washington, D.C. Kansas City, MO

Fremont, CA

WOMEN IN TECH Despite the conception of the Bay Area as the tech center of the nation, for women in tech only a single city on the West Coast was found to be a top city. Criteria used for choosing the best cities to work at included the percent of tech jobs filled by women, the average income, the city’s employment growth, and the gender pay gap. In the 54 cities considered in the study, only two paid women the same or more than men, showing that the gender gap still exists.

Tuscon, AZ

6 Houston, TX

New Orleans, LA

Rankings created by financial advise startup SmartAsset, using 2013 Census Data.

Q&A: Vijaya Gadde COURTESY OF TWITTER - ESTEN HURTLE

Twitter General Counsel and Director of Communications

RAISING AWARENESS Vijaya Gadde, the General Counsel at Twitter, joined the leadership team in 2013 as the only female.

WP: Has being in the minority in a workplace ever affected your decisions or actions? VG: I think being a woman and a person of color gives me a perspective on decisions when I’m thinking about the people that [use] our platform and how they may react if we change certain types of features. We have a platform that is used by different people around the world of all different ethnic, gender, [and] racial background[s], and we

want to make sure that the people that are here, building the product and building the company, are reflective of the people using the service in the world. WP: In your career, how have you seen people’s attitudes on diversity change? VG: I’ve been in the workforce for about 16 years. I think what’s changed is that people always talked about it but people didn’t do very much. I think what you see now is a lot of peo-

ple not just acknowledging that it’s not good, but acknowledging that doing nothing about it will not change it, and that we must take action. It’s not just about holding ourselves accountable, but that we need to make drastic changes to how we treat our employees within the company, where we find great talent, [and] how we recruit them. WP: Is there a legal basis for a claim of reverse discrimination when companies try to imple-

ment these goals for hiring? VG: I think there are certainly things that you could do that would result in a claim of reverse discrimination, and I think you have to, as a company, be mindful of not crossing that line, but I think that the types of things that most companies are focused on -- in terms of looking at water pipelines of talented people from different schools -- I wouldn’t view [those] as a high legal risk.

B10

VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

Eight students grip their buzzers and anxiously watch the blinking timer as the moderator reads the last question of the round. His words immediately spark recognition from a member of Harker’s team, who buzzes triumphantly. All eyes are on him as he begins to answer. The upper school’s Science Bowl A team placed second in the Santa Clara County regional competition on Feb. 6 at Stanford University. The team, which consists

“The entire day of the competition was just an incredibly rewarding experience, regardless of the actual result in the end.” JONATHAN MA (12) A-TEAM CAPTAIN of senior Jonathan Ma, juniors Venkat Sankar and Arjun Subramaniam and sophomores Rajiv Movva and Shaya Zarkesh, lost by six points to Lynbrook High School. The team maintained a good showing throughout the competition, having won all of its previous rounds. “Lynbrook and Harker played incredibly well, and the entire day of the competition was just an incredibly rewarding

experience regardless of the actual result in the end,” Jonathan said. The B team, which consists of sophomores Swapnil Garg and Derek Yen and freshmen Alexander Young, Kaushik Shivakumar and Leon Lu, was eliminated after the round robin tournaments. “The B team’s main job at the competition is to scout out the competition so that the A team can realize what their competition is like,” Leon said. “But I like the experience because you learn about different topics.” Each round consists of two eight-minute halves, and four students from each school participate. During each half, a moderator asks four-point toss-up questions, which can be multiple choice or short answer. Any member of both teams may answer a toss-up question. For every correct toss-up question a team answers, the team is asked a ten-point bonus question. All members of the team collaborate and produce an answer. At the end of the round, the team with the most points wins. The A and B teams were coached by chemistry teacher Robbie Korin and biology teacher Dr. Gary Blickenstaff. This year, both teams were able to participate due to an increase in the number of teams allowed. The national Science Bowl competition will take place from April 28 to May 2 in Washington, D.C.

KATHERINE ZHANG

reporter

KATHERINE ZHANG

katherine zhang

KATHERINE ZHANG

Science Bowl team places second regionally

TEAM CHEMISTRY (TOP) A team members Arjun Subramaniam (11) and Rajiv Movva (10) work on a question together. (BOTTOM LEFT) B team member Alexander Young (9) listens to coach Robbie Korin read a question. (BOTTOM RIGHT) A team members Venkat Sankar (11), Jonathan Ma (12) and Rajiv wait to see whether their answer is correct. Ten upper school students attended the Santa Clara County regional competition on Feb. 6 at Stanford University, and the A team placed second.

GLOBAL

RESET

FACING OUR FUTURE

Part four of a six part series on climate change

1952

2007

2016

The first human case of the virus is detected in Uganda.

The virus spreads from Africa and Asia to the Pacific Islands.

WHO declares Zika a Public Health Emergency

ZIKA VIRUS: prameela kottapalli reporter

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified over one million global cases of the Zika virus, and as of Feb. 17th, 82 were confirmed in the United States. The Zika Virus first appeared in Africa, initially isolated in the Zika Forest of Uganda in 1948. Since then, the mosquito-borne disease has surfaced in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. From May 2015, the virus has spread rapidly in Central and South America, Mexico and the Caribbean. While occasionally transferred through sexual intercourse or blood transfusion, the virus is normally transmitted via the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. Virginia Tabios, senior nurse at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s Santa Clara Clinic, suggested ways for those traveling to Zika-infected regions to avoid the mosquitoes that carry the disease. “Travelers to these areas should stay in screened or air conditioned rooms especially during the times when the mosquitoes are most active– during the early morning hours and around sunset,” Tabios said. “Wearing long pants, long sleeves, shoes, hats and insect

Epidemic triggers responses from around the globe

repellent at all times is imperative.” All cases reported in the United States are travel-associated. Those affected by the disease left the country and returned before the onset of the symptoms, which take 2-12 days to manifest. There is no cure for the disease, yet in most instances,

FAST FACT The Zika Virus presents with only minor symptoms, such as fever, headaches, rashes and body aches, but can cause severe complications for pregnant women. those infected experience either no symptoms or mild ones that last anywhere from a few days to a week. These nominal symptoms include moderate fever, headaches, rashes, muscle and joint aches, irritability and temporary conjunctivitis. Many students traveled to Zika-infected areas in Mexico and Central America during break. Viveka Saraiya (9), who visited Cancún, Mexico over winter vacation, described her experience interacting with people concerned about the spread of the disease.

“I could tell that people were somewhat scared,” she said. “The virus was a topic of many worried discussions I heard.” According to the World Health Organization (WHO), recent surges of disease in Brazil indicate that the infection may trigger Microcephaly and Guillain Barré Syndrome. Babies with Microcephaly, a severe birth defect, are born with underdeveloped brains and cannot be cured. Brazilian scientists are investigating various cases of this disease, but whether or not there is a definitive link between Microcephaly and the Zika Virus is inconclusive. The Guillain Barré Syndrome is an autoimmune disorder that targets the nervous system, resulting in paralysis. The World Health Organization is responding to the outbreak by providing Zika-infected countries with resources to manage patients and to contain the disease. American scientists are currently investigating the effects of the virus to determine what efforts can be made to halt the spread of the infection within the United States.

tiffany wong reporter

Increases in global temperatures, changes in humidity and rainfall patterns enable certain insects, such as ticks and mosquitoes, to populate regions previously uninhabitable by these organisms. These factors have increased the risk of human infection with certain diseases. “Because climate change is fairly gradual, to some extent, it is possible for people to acclimate to different climates; many countries in Europe have air conditioning, so they can always tolerate higher temperatures,” John Nielsen-Gammon, the Texas State Climatologist and Professor of Meteorology at Texas A&M University, said. “There is a potential impact in terms of the spread of diseases, because changes in climate causes certain disease-carrying organisms, such as mosquitoes, to thrive.” The risk of prolonged heat exposure may also become an important issue for humans as they face difficulties in maintaining a healthy body temperature and combating heat exhaustion and dehydration. According to the National Insti-

tute of Environmental Health Sciences, the percentage of individuals 65 years of age or older affected by heat-related disease will rise from 12.4 to 20 percent in 2060. The depletion of Earth’s ozone layer results from the release of chemicals into the atmosphere. “The ozone layer helps filter ultraviolet light, or ultraviolet electromagnetic radiation, from reaching the surface of our planet,” chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine said. “From that assumption, the increased results would be more sunburns and potential damage to the skin’s DNA, which would result in more skin cancer.” The Earth’s ozone layer sits about nine to 18 miles above the surface of the planet and protects humans from the sun’s ultraviolet B radiation. The weakening of this barrier results in a possible increase of radiation reaching Earth. To combat the health effects of climate change, the United States Environmental Protection Agency recommends spending less time outdoors, wearing sunscreen to protect skin and avoiding places with high concentrations of small particles and aeroallergens.

DEREK YEN

The impact of climate change on health

B11

VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

Summer interns preview fields of interest

FAST FACTS ON STEM INTERNSHIPS

kavya ramakrishnan managing editor For students interested in gaining professional experience in STEM fields over the summer, research, programs and internship opportunities present opportunities to supplement in-school learning. Although they may seem mysterious to students who do not know where to look, here is a brief guide to the array of opportunities available.

Corporate Internships In contrast to academic research, students can also choose to apply to intern positions at

PROVIDED BY AMY JIN (10)

Research Internships Through programs like Stanford’s Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR), UC Santa Cruz’s Science Internship Program (SIP), MIT’s Research Science Institute (RSI) and independent research arrangements, students are able to explore scientific research opportunities before college. While formal research programs require an application and essays, many students arrange research mentorships by simply emailing the heads of laboratories at universities. Nikita Ramoji (12) conducted research at a computer science laboratory at Stanford after contacting several heads of labs through email. “As Harker students, I think we’re really lucky to be able to get that experience because you can develop a relationship with someone that smart and qualified and learn how to do research from them,” she said. “It’s not something you can learn from the textbook because we’re doing stuff that’s way beyond what we should be doing in high school.”

Twenty-eight percent of survey respondents reported having completed a summer internship.

STEM SUMMER Sophomores Amy Jin and Anooshree Sengupta and their group present the research project they conducted at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratoy Outreach Summer Program (SAILORS). Like many students, they participated in an summer program to explore their interest in STEM.

companies. Though most established Silicon Valley companies like Google, Facebook and Apple primarily offer internships only to college students, start-ups and smaller companies often take on high-school interns. Senior Johnny Trinh interned at Eligo Energy for two months last summer, working on a web application for their software developers. After contacting the company’s chief executive officer (CEO), Johnny set up an interview time and was accepted as an intern after answering some technical questions. Johnny believes that interning at a tech company gave him a valuable insight into how projects in the industry are different than those in school. “The most glaring difference between the classroom and the workplace is in the classroom they kind of guide your hand and give you guidelines on what

to do and how to implement it, whereas in the workspace they tell you what feature they want and you do the research online on how to do it,” he said. University Courses Students can also gain knowledge in various STEM fields through taking college-level courses during summer sessions at various institutions. Anooshree Sengupta (10) participated in the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Outreach Summer Program (SAILORS) after finding out about it from WiSTEM last year. “We learned how to create an AI algorithm from the ground up. Our mentors just kinda threw us right in and we got to learn it ourselves, so that was great,” she said. “We also got a lot of exposure to a lot of other opportunities we could try, and every day we used to have a lecture by a professor who had some work

related to AI.” Nikita also participated in the three-week Management & Technology Summer Institute at the University of Pennsylvania last summer after hearing about the course from a Harker alumnus who had participated. “A big part of what I wanted to do that summer was to decide what type of computer science or what type of engineering I wanted to go into the future, whether it be building a product or a company route or going into more of a research route,” she said. The fast-paced three-week experience involved taking a business and engineering class, listening to speakers and working on labs, homework and individual projects. “You’re amazed with how much you can do, and you leave feeling like you can accomplish more than you thought you could before,” Nikita said.

The most popular internship was in science research. Other popular summer programs included working at startups and being a teacher’s assistant. Twenty-seven out of 33 students who indicated the type of their internship worked in a STEM field. Eighty-five percent of companies use internships to recruit employees.

Horizon begins online peer-reviewed student journal derek yen reporter Harker Horizon, the school’s work-in-progress science journal, plans to publish a first issue online and is currently calling for student researchers, especially Intel or Siemens competitors, to submit articles. Founded by last year’s seniors, Horizon provides a way for students to publicize their research, put it through peer review and read about other students’ work through publication on their website, http://horizon. harker.org. “There’s a lot of great student research being done by students who are both part of

Harker’s internship programs and outside of it,” Horizon Editor-in-Chief Sadhika Malladi (12) said. “I think it’s great to have a platform that showcases this work and allows students who are interested in joining research projects to understand what it takes and what kinds of results can be found.” While Horizon is currently a fledgling group, sporting only four articles on its website, it hopes to gain traction and expand in the coming year. Those interested in submitting articles can contact Horizon at harkerhorizon@gmail.com. Addditional reporting by Anjay Saklecha.

Now enrolling for 2015-2016

Students showcase research in annual Synopsys Competition brian park reporter

BRIAN PARK

The Synopsys Science and Technology Championship will take place on March 17. Students research a variety of scientific fields, including physical engineering, biological sciences, biomedical engineering and physical sciences, and submit their ideas to the Synopsys committee. “[They] do some background research in order to make a proposal that they submit to the Synopsys organization that runs the science fair,” upper school biology teacher Dr. Gary Blickenstaff said.

Many projects for this year’s Synopsys offer unique solutions to a variety of problems.

FAST FACT In a survey, 13.21% of respondents said they will compete at Synopsys. “For this year’s Synopsys, I’m working on a project that’s aimed to help with concussion with football players and other sports players,” Rajiv Movva (10) said. Student participants will begin setting up their posters on March. 16 for the fair.

“It’s not like they’re assigned, this is something the student should generally try and do on their own to approach a specific teacher on mentoring them for their project.” DR. GARY BLICKENSTAFF UPPER SCHOOL BIOLOGY TEACHER

officeteam@danceacademyusa.com

www.danceacademyusa.com 21269 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite 618 • Cupertino

408-257-3211

B12

BACK PAGE

The road less travelled

High School Ending EXIT ONLY

Students pursue unconventional options with their diplomas in hand meena gudapati & rose guan copy editor & reporter

Though most college-bound students head to university immediately following high school, some students take a gap year for varying purposes. The American Gap Association states that the top influence on students’ decisions to take gap years is to gain life experiences or grow personally, a rationale expressed by 92 percent of polled students. According to the Wall Street Journal, 90 percent of students who take gap years return to school within a year, but some take multiple years off. Upper school college counselor Kevin Lum Lung commented on how he feels gap years could help many students. “There are so many college-bound students, and I’m not just talking about Harker students, that are only going to the next step because they feel like that’s what they’re supposed to do, and they could really benefit from just taking a little bit of a breather,” Lum Lung said. “They’ve been going to school for a really long time; they’ve come out of a very rigorous high

school period. To maybe just kind of recharge their battery, get some life experience, travel, volunteer, work, I feel like they’ll come into college and have a richer experience. Many colleges encourage that, but not as many students take advantage of it.” According to the AGA, the number of students who choose to take gap years has been slowly increasing, a phenomenon that the Wall Street Journal credits to burnout from high school; in keeping with this, 82 percent of respondents to an AGA survey expressed a desire to break from their academic tracks, while 85 percent wanted to travel and experience other cultures. Lum Lung also discussed how students benefit from taking gap years in his experience. “From the gap year programs, [students] gain just a sense of perspective—again, almost getting off of that wheel for a minute, taking a step back and looking around,” he said. “So many students are so focused on the next thing in front of them that they haven’t had any time to really reflect.”

VOLUME 17 • ISSUE 5 MARCH 2, 2016

College 4 yrs next exit

Gap Year

1 yr keep left at fork

Intl.Study

4 yrs take Airport Dr.

Alumna studies at Yale-NUS in Singapore

Are you considering a gap year or international study? % of senior respondents 50

JESSICA CHANG

30 ��

copy editor & reporter

Harker alumna Fred Chang (‘15) currently studies at YaleNUS College, a liberal arts school in Singapore that is a collaboration between Yale University and the National University of Singapore. Chang spoke about her decision to attend the college. “The opportunities here were so different than any other college that I had toured or researched about, and so I decided that these are the only four years in my life that I can just drop everything and go somewhere else and not uproot a career or family or something like that,” she said. “I’m kind

of no strings attached which is really nice so I can explore the world now instead regretting not doing it earlier.” Chang addressed her process of adapting to the new culture. “When I came here, I had a really severe culture shock,” she said. “Everything is new and different and all these things that you take for granted are no longer there, and everybody around you takes something else for granted. There’s a bunch of new experiences, and then going back home, there’s another reverse culture shock where you’re not used to the place you grew up in and you’re not used to U.S. culture, specifically California culture.”

Chang also discussed what she has gained from her international experiences so far. “I’m in this part of the world that I otherwise would not have come to, and [I] definitely would not have spent four years traveling here extensively, learning about the culture here and the people here, and what you realize is that people are kind of the same everywhere in spite of the institutional differences that you might see,” Chang said. “[Being] able to grow and study in a place with someone from every continent in your classroom, in every classroom, is an experience that really should not be passed up for something else like prestige.”

Gap Year

Intl. Study

Both

Neither

Chandler Nelson Q&A: Senior considers studying abroad

CHANDLER NELSON

meena gudapati & rose guan copy editor & reporter

Winged Post: So why are you considering international study?

ROSE GUAN

meena gudapati & rose guan

KAVYA RAMAKRISHNAN

NEW FRONTIERS Jessica Chang plays cards with friends in Singapore. Jessica is currently studying at Yale-NUS, a Singapore liberal arts college collaborating with Yale University.

Chandler Nelson (12): So I actually really wanted to go to a university outside of the US, partially because I wanted to get as far away from home as I can. Not because I have a bad home life, just because I wanted to explore a bit more. I’ve been a few times to the countries that I wanted to study in, mostly England, Ireland, or Scotland, and I totally fell in love with them when I was there. I decided that I really wanted to try to go to school there. Due to a bunch of other things, I found out that I couldn’t

actually go to university in those countries, but I did discover that a lot of schools offer a full calendar year of international study, so I decided that I really wanted to do that, so I could experience the study-abroad programs. WP: What countries are you considering studying in? Do you have any particular universities or programs that you’re considering? CN: Different universities in the U.S. actually connect with different universities overseas. Depending upon what school I go to here, it’ll dictate where I can go over there. I absolutely love the University of Edinburgh, so it would be awesome if I could study there. I know that a lot of schools have international programs in Cork, Ireland, for example, or in London. WP: For how long will you probably be studying abroad? CN: Preferably a full calendar year, so for the full twelve months, and if not that then a full school year.