Winged Post Volume 15, Issue 7

Winged Post Friday, May 16, 2014

THE HARKER UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER, VOL. 15, NO. 7

harkeraquila.com harkeraquila.com WHAT’S INSIDE

2 senior gift 6 affirmative action 9 harker cupcakes 12-13 college map 15 dr. kakenya ntaiya q&a 18 prom preview 19 spring sports update 22 mesh networking 24 year in review ENGLISH DEPT. CHANGE

500 SARATOGA AVE. SAN JOSE, CA 95129

MULTIMEDIA GRADUATION AND BACCALAUREATE COVERAGE

Historic match donation

Petition started to increase U.C. admittance rate

$10 million challenge could advance Events Center construction by one year depending on pledges made by fall semester

elisabeth siegel copy editor

$5M

REMAINING

$10M ROTHSCHILD MATCH

vivek bharadwaj English teacher Dr. Pauline Paskali has been appointed the English Department Chair and will replace current department chair Marc Hufnagl starting next school year.

“I look forward to continuing to promote the humanities and our talented English writers at Harker,” Paskali said. “I think Mr. Hufnagl and [former English teacher John] Heyes before him have done a wonderful job preparing our students and enriching our English curriculum with our electives program and creative writing opportunities.”

According to Paskali, responsibilities of the Department Chair include attending meetings with other department chairs monthly, helping to resolve issues arising in the English department, and supporting other English teachers and students.

She said, “We have a pretty open community, where all the teachers and administrators work together.”

NEAR & MITRA GRANTS sheridan tobin opinion editor

The History Department announced the 2014-2015 John Near and Mitra Family scholars last week.

Rising seniors Ayush Midha, Karnika Pombra, Apoorva Rangan, Vedant Thyagaraj, and Felix Wu will research using the Near grant.

Rising seniors Aadyot Bhatnagar, Maya Nandakumar, Agata Sorotokin, and Stanley Xie will research using the Mitra grant.

GRADUATION KEYNOTE vivek bharadwaj asst. sports editor

Speaker and Entrepreneur Rahim Fazal will be the honorary speaker at the Class of 2014 graduation ceremony.

The senior class nominated Fazal, founder and CEO of Involver, Inc., to address those graduating.

Fazal has also presented at a Harker TEDx event.

ASB President Arjun Goyal (12) met and talked with Fazal over a lunch meeting about his experiences.

“He’s a great guy, he’s really charismatic, and he’s pretty young, so he gets us,” Arjun said.

Head of the Upper School Butch Keller stated that students who met with Fazal connected with his experiences and his story.

“He’s living proof that if you can react positively to things that aren’t positive, look where you can be,” Keller said.

The graduation ceremony will take place on May 24.

SHAY LARI-HOSAIN - WINGED POST

asst. sports editor

$10M

PARTNERS’ CIRCLE GIFTS

$5M

GIFTS & PLEDGES

A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE Director of Advancement Joe Rosenthal explains plans for the Upper School campus.

The recently initiated pledge drive will help contribte to the execution of future construction.

apoorva rangan & sheridan tobin

managing editor & opinion editor Summer will be far from idle for Harker’s fundraising department this year, as Advancement attempts to meet a historic pledge from Jeffrey and Marieke Rothschild, who have agreed to match this summer’s donations up to $10 million.

The summer’s contributions will go towards construction of a new Events Center that will house a theater and gym, the fifth major construction installment in the Upper School’s history.

The Pledge Terms: Executive director of Advancement Joe Rosenthal clarified the terms of the pledge drive. The tax-deductible contributions must be pledged by the beginning of the school year and paid in full by Dec. 31, 2016.

“Everybody keeps referring to it as a gift. I do it myself,” Rosenthal said. “But it’s actually a pledge, until we match it.”

The time constraint cuts down the overall planning and construction time

by a year, so that current freshmen will have access to the center as seniors.

If the Rothschild pledge is met, the planning committee will hold $25 million towards the $30 million building cost, a large enough deposit to secure accelerated building permits and hire a construction company within a year. The remaining $5 million would then be pledged during the building’s two-year construction period.

The Campaign: Due to the time-sensitive nature of the pledge, the Advancement offices plans on a high-intensity fundraising approach.

“Over the summer, we really do plan on meeting with as many people as we possibly can,” Rosenthal said.

“There’s no minimum contribution.

One of our groundskeepers gave $100, so it’s about giving as much as you’re able.”

Contributors this summer gain entry into a “gift club” called the Partners’ Circle, a name which Rosenthal says reflects that “they helped us rise to the challenge.” Pledges can be made at www.harker.org/eventscenter.

The results of the summer’s cam-

paign will be unveiled on Oct. 12 during the annual Family-Alumni Picnic.

The Goal: The administration and Board of Trustees see the building as a step towards a “whole-mission approach,” placing a focus on nurturing wellrounded students.

“It creates a neighborhood within itself,” Ellen DiBiase, Director of Donor Relations, said. “It’s just going to increase your ability to meet up with your friends, to stay on campus a little longer and hang out.”

When complete, the Events Center will house specialized facilities for athletes and performing artists including a gymnasium, a stage, locker rooms, music rooms, and spaces for set construction.

Rosenthal also underscored the “ripple effect” that the center’s construction will have. For every department that the Events Center incorporates, the space on campus that those departments currently utilize will be freed up for new endeavors, including an art gallery, an innovation center, and an entrepreneurship hub.

Rohini Ashok, parent of Upper School student Arjun Ashok (11), launched a petition on May 2 titled “UCs for Californians,” which is close to achieving its goal of 3,000 signatures.

According to its MoveOn entry, which directly petitions The California State House, The California State Senate, and Gov. Jerry Brown, the petition intends to stop the University of California schools from “‘selling’ its admission process to the highest bidder.”

A San Jose Mercury News article on the subject cited both past and present statistics for U.C. Berkeley admissions. The number of California freshmen enrolled at U.C. Berkeley decreased by 800 from 2009 to 2014, yet the number of out-of-state incoming freshmen increased by 1080.

“The U.C. system definitely needs to be overhauled, there’s no question about it,” Rohini Ashok said. “There’s a lot of factors tied in.

There was decreased funding for the U.C. system in the California state government, and there was a problem with funding their pension plans for the employees, particularly the professors. They had to take the shortcut to try and fix the system. It’s a very short-term solution, and it’s not going to work.”

English teacher Alexandra Rosenboom agreed with the ideas behind the petition.

“That would make sense, because it’s a California public school,” she said. “It would be in their best interest to cater to those under the system in the state.”

Upper School students have also commented on the way they perceive the system to work.

“We’re the ones funding the U.C. system, but they’re tending to accept more out of state residents because they get more money that way,” Jeremy Binkley (11) said.

As of the 2012-2013 U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Survey, current in-state students pay 32.9 percent of what out-of-state undergraduates pay.

Continued page 4

Graduation and Baccalaureate speakers named elisabeth siegel & kacey fang

copy editor & copy editor The Upper School’s valedictorian for the Class of 2014 will be Kevin Duraiswamy. Chosen by the campus’ Division Head Butch Keller, Kevin will write and deliver a speech during the graduation ceremony held on May 24. The Baccalaureate speaker for the Class of 2014, voted in through a poll on April 29, will be Efrey Noten.

“I’m a little nervous,” Kevin said of his upcoming speech. “Each time someone congratulates me, it feels good, but at the same time it adds pressure that people are expecting a good speech. Everyone is listening, like everyone I know and then more people that I don’t know and so in some ways it’s a really nice opportunity to say something meaningful but at the same time it’s also a little bit stressful, because I want to give the best speech that I can.”

Kevin’s speech, lightly edited by Keller, will discuss the various lessons seniors have learned at Harker and the

MAURICE CALDWELL, 10

ways they will be important in their futures.

“As we’re graduating from Harker and leaving, I just wanted to look back on our time here and try and think about what Harker has really given us, like how we will be different or better because of what we have from Harker,” he said.

Kevin also reflected on his time at the Upper School and the most defining experiences he underwent.

“At Harker, there’s so much being WORDS OF WISDOM Kevin Duraiswamy (12) will deliver a speech at the offered in terms of classes and extra- graduation ceremony., while Efrey Noten (12) was selected to adress juniors and seniors at Baccalaureat. curriculars,” he said. “I think that’s probably what’s been most important, the beginning of this year I wasn’t of people don’t want to show up to being able to take different classes and nearly as social, and to me this sort of baccalaureate, but I’m hoping that I then find my interests in humanities represents how I have become more will keep an audience, and people will and classics and become interested in confident in speaking and being in so- enjoy what I have to say.” law, too.” cial settings,” he said.

During high school, Efrey found Kevin looks forward to college, Efrey’s speech will concern the that one of the most defining experiplanning on majoring in classics and importance of compassion and aware- ences was his research project for Synperhaps looking to enter law school ness in day to day life to reduce the opsys and the Research Symposium. afterwards. amount of petty frustration experi“It represents purely my interest Efrey feels that the class’ decision enced by those who settle into a rou- in science and all that coming together to vote him as Baccalaureate speaker tine. for my senior year, and it represents a shows the way that he has changed “I’m really excited to deliver my combination of all that work,” he said. over the course of the year. message,” he said. “I don’t know how In college, Efrey plans on con“I’m really humbled, because at receptive people will be, because a lot tinuing to do scientific research.

SENIOR FEATURE, 11-14

CCS, 20

TALON

the

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VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 MAY 16, 2014

PRISCILLA PAN - WINGED POST

Seniors gift orchard in memory of Jason Berry

NEWS

SWITCHING LANGUAGES Nicholas Manjoine, who currently teaches French , will be transferring to the English department. He has a B.A. and a M.A. in French Literature from the University of Iowa as well as a M.A. in Liberal Arts from Stanford.

French to English

Manjoine will teach four English classes next year priscilla pan reporter

Nicholas Manjoine, 16-year French teacher at the Upper School, will be teaching four classes of English next year.

After teaching for 24 years, Manjoine decided that he should extend his skill set and teach in a different department. Not only does he want to pursue the school’s mission of lifelong learning, but he also believes he has reached a point where he needs a change and to escape his comfort zone.

He also wants to experience a different classroom setting, as a classroom with a foreign language is typically different from one in English, which he believes can be more enriching.

“When you teach foreign language, interactions with students are mediated by a language that the students aren’t really comfortable with,”

SEEDS OF LOVE Seniors Apurva Gorti and Dora Tzeng plant one of the orchard’s new saplings together. The construction for the Class of 2014’s senior gift, an orchard in memory of former English teacher Jason Berry, began during the week of April 21.

vasudha rengarajan & anokhi saklecha Aquila features editor & reporter

During the week of April 21, Construction began on the Class of 2014’s senior gift: an orchard in memory of former English teacher, Jason Berry.

The orchard will include fruit trees, berry bushes, trellises, benches, and a bronze statue of a bear. The gift also includes pavement of the area between Shah and Davis Field. The first trees in the orchard were planted on Earth Day, April 22.

The roots of the senior gift extend farther than those of the apples, oranges, and apricots contained in the orchard.

Senior class Co-Dean Victor Ad-

ler found the gift to be a meaningful mark on the school.

“Whereas previous gifts, such as the waterfall, were set aside, this gift will be central to the campus so that students can see it and be in it,” Adler said.

Alternative senior gifts up for vote included other tributes to Berry and sofas in Main, an option rejected due to the potential fire hazards.

Previous gifts have ranged from the flagpoles on Davis Field from the Class of ‘11 to the water coolers from the Class of ‘13.

“I think our senior gift is different because it’s dedicated to someone we know and who was part of our community.” Renu Singh (12) said. “It’s something that will beautify the school as well as carry on the memory.”

Senior Class Co-Dean Mary-Ellis Deacon reflected on the seniors’ de-

cision process.

“This really shows that the seniors are thankful for what Harker has given to them and what they have learned here,” Director of Alumni Relations, Mary-Ellis Deacon said. ”The main point of the senior gift is a way for the class to say thank you and to pay it forward.”

As the Class of ‘14 gives way to the rising seniors, members of the new senior expressed satisfaction with the gift. “[The gift] will give us the opportunity to remember Mr. Berry, who was a really valuable member of the school community,” Felix Wu (11) said. “It will help us celebrate his life and his commitments to the students at Harker.”

The project is projected to complete by the summer.

Upper School welcomes new class council members for next year megy appalaraju

reporter As the school year comes to an end, student council elections usher in the new class council members for next year.

Results for the 2014-2015 offi-

Q&A: Wheeler and Hwang will not return next year

Class of 2015 APOORVA RANGAN - WINGED POST

Aquila copy editor & opinion editor

MOVING ON Julie Wheeler intends to move to Marin and is in the process of purchasing a house.

President – Savi Joshi Vice President – Riya Godbole Secretary – Jason Jeong Treasurer – Nikhil Reddy Spirit coordinator – Arjun Ashok

Class of 2016 President – Michael Zhao Vice President – Sanil Rajput Secretary – Ankur Karwal Treasurer – Shreya Sunkara Spirit coordinator – Edward Sheu

VIVIAN ISENBERG - WINGED POST

Winged Post: What are your plans for next year?

Naomi Hwang: I don’t really have definite plans. I plan to substitute teach and at the same time find what’s next for me. I’m changing my career. Because teaching is really busy, I haven’t had the time to explore what I would want to do next or look for any type of job.

WP: How long have you been teaching at Harker?

NH: This is my fourth year. I wanted to finish with my advisory.

WP: What will you miss most about Harker?

NH: I think I’ll miss the people, like the community, and just seeing everybody everyday. I think that’s something that you realize when you go to college. In college you can pick and choose who you see everyday and you have to actually make an effort to go. But when you’re in a high school setting, you basically are forced to be with the same people every day and so you’re forced to develop community with them. I think that I’ve developed some really strong relationships with the staff and with a lot of the students here.

WP: What was your most memorable moment while teaching at Harker?

NH: It’s hard to chose just one.

That’s what’s hard about it, there’s so many moments and you have to pick one.

cer positions were announced during class meetings in April. The incoming student council officers will officially assume their titles at the start of the next school year.

STUDENT COUNCIL 2014-2015

shannon su & sheridan tobin

History teachers Naomi Hwang and Julie Wheeler will not be returning to teach in the fall.

In interviews with The Winged Post, they described their plans for next year and reflected on their years teaching at the Upper School.

Winged Post: What are your plans for next year?

Julie Wheeler: I have no plans as of this moment. We are moving up to Marin, and I have nothing lined up so we are going to be looking in the process of buying a house. We might be involved in a long lengthy renovation in which I could be like a general contractor, which is exciting.

WP: What will you miss most about Harker?

JW: I will miss the people and I use that collectively in terms of my colleagues, the students, as we are all people. I will miss all of the people.

WP: How long have you been teaching at Harker?

JW: This is my sixth year.

WP: What was your most memorable moment while teaching at Harker?

JW: There are so many. I would say I’ve got mortifying memories like that class that just didn’t go well. [...] I think Baccalaureate was a great experience. That was a good one. I would say that there are so many. [...] I think one of my favorite things is when you guys graduate and come back and visit and inevitably always interrupt classes.

he said. “[A] different dynamic is created; having taught courses in English, there’s a kind of different way of communicating [and] different kinds of things to talk about.”

He has taught all the French classes that the school has to offer from French One to Advanced Placement. He also taught in the History and English department with Great Novels, Speculative Fiction, and Ethics from 2006 to 2008 until an increase in French enrollment.

Next year, Manjoine will teach two Honors English 3 classes as well as two English 2 classes. Ideally, he would like to teach both French and English, in which he has less experience. Although it is difficult to give up his current position, he also plans to return to teaching French later on.

Galinda Tchourilova, who currently lives in Southern California, will be teaching French next year as his replacement.

NEW PATHS Naomi Hwang plans on working as a substitute teacher while she changes careers in the upcoming year.

Class of 2017

President – Sandip Nirmel Vice President – Eddie Shiang Secretary – Alexander Lam Treasurer – Ray Song Spirit coordinator – Haley Tran

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VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 NEWS • MAY 16, 2014

Second annual Tanzania trip preview Thirteen students to travel and help tribes this summer Aquila webmaster & reporter

Thirteen students along with Upper School Science Department Chair Anita Chetty and Upper School biology teacher Mike Pistacchi will journey on their second annual trip to Tanzania on June 5.

This trip will last 13 days and the group will visit five different tribes, one of which being the Maasai tribe.

Last year, the 11 students who were on the first Tanzania trip organized several fundraisers to provide the Maasai community with resources, including prescription glasses, stationery, and Swahili textbooks. Proceeds from a snack sale at the Research Symposium were used to buy the textbooks for the children, and a prescription glasses and stationery drive were hosted at the Upper School.

Students continued the eyeglass drive this year, with all collected glasses being shipped to Lions Club, a nonprofit service organization headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. Lions Club sent back a box of 250 packaged reading glasses with diopter readings for the students to distribute in Tan-

zania.

In the summer, students will use eye charts to determine the reading levels of the Maasai people and prescribing them the glasses to help their vision. According to Chetty, the intricate beadwork of the Maasai often strains the eyes.

“We have the opportunity to impact directly the lives of these people who right now can’t read close-up, can’t see close-up, so they can’t do their beadwork which they actually sell to get money and send their children to school,” Chetty said.

Members of Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (WiSTEM) also contributed to the cause by raising money through STEM Week and receiving a grant from a parent. Proceeds were used to purchase uniforms for children at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Tanzania, which specializes in the care of HIV positive children.

Like last year, students held a snack sale at the Symposium, raising a total of $400, and each dollar was matched by their travel company. Supplies including 75 chemistry textbooks, 64 math textbooks, and 15 goats were purchased with the donations. In addition to school supplies, Harker students

have also been collecting medical supplies such as sutures and bandages for a clinic in Tanzania, which was started by a Californian doctor and his wife.

“Having given 75 textbooks, they’re still going to have to share, but at least they have a book now--that

they didn’t have before,” Chetty said.

“Education is for many people the path out of poverty.”

Students attending the trip include Noel Banerjee (11), Jeremy Binkley (11), Grace Cao (11), Katie Chung (10), Alyssa Crawford (10), Shreya

Mathur (10), Ayush Midha (11), Madhavan Nair (11), Erika Olsen (11), Nikita Parulkar (11), Chandini Thakur (10), and Jessica Yang (11).

The philanthropic efforts of the students will continue on until their departure.

JONATHAN DAI - TALON

allison sun & tara parimi

EXPLORING NEW FRONTIERS Namrata Vakkaladadda (12) takes part in last summer’s glasses initiative for the Tanzanian community. She was one of 11 students who went on the inaugaral Tanzania trip.

SOLUTIONS FOR THE FUTURE An Upper School Future Problem Solvers team approaches the stage to receive commendation for its performance at the State Bowl. The closing ceremony for the Laguna Niguel State Bowl was held from April 26 to 27.

shannon su & raveena kapatkar

TOC DEBATERS Location University of Kentucky

Aquila copy editor & reporter

Date April 26 to 28 Types of Debate Congressional, Lincoln-Douglas, Policy, Public Forum Number of Debaters present 23

Future Problem Solvers update lavinia ding & meilan steimle reporters

Thirty-nine FPS members, 21 middle schoolers and 18 high schoolers, coached by middle school History teacher Cyrus Merrill, participated in the Laguna Niguel State Bowl from April 25 to 27, an annual event in California.

One team qualified for internationals, and two senior division teams won first place in both categories and third place in presentation. The junior division teams won first place in the Presentation Category and second in the Written Packet Category.

To qualify, members must have completed packets filled with various problems at the beginning of the year. The students found solutions to them through extensive research. Afterwards, there was a final, qualifying problem, and if students did well, they were eligible to participate in the State Bowl.

Students are given a packet which consists of a scenario that they must find 16 challenges in, and an underlying problem. They are then expected to find 16 solutions for the underlying problem, and then go over and critique their best solutions. Finally, they write

an action plan for the solutions. All of this must be finished within a time limit of two hours.

Despite the heavy workload and challenging process, most FPS members love the State Bowl and the club. “[FPS] has made me more of a critical thinker and has encouraged me to think outside of the box in a limited amount of time,” Kendall Ka (9) said.

“Also, it has taught me how to work with other people.”

After the written section is over, the members make a small skit of their action plan, which they then present in front of the other teams. They make props and costumes out of a kit that they are given, consisting of stationary such as markers, tape, paper, plastic bags, and paper towels.

“I truly respect students working together and problem solving in rich and deep ways on their own,” said Merrill, head of FPS at Harker and teacher of U.S. History at the Middle School. “I love that I can set up the process and then ‘get out of the way’ while students do things themselves. I am most proud of the structure where older, veteran students train the younger new students.”

The senior division team qualified for Internationals and will compete from June 12 to 15.

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

Team travels to State Bowl

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS: Sebi Nakos (12) argues in his round. Upper School debaters traveled to the Tournament of Champions from April 26-28.

Twenty-two Upper School debate students attended the Tournament of Champions hosted annually at the University of Kentucky from April 26 to 28.

If the competitor reaches a certain round after prelims and also earns two bids there by placing in those previous tournaments, the student qualifies for the Tournament of Champions.

Upper School students participated in four out of the five events offered: Public Forum, Congressional Debate, Lincoln Douglas, and Policy Debate. Freshman Aditya Dhar was the only Upper School student, out of all the events, who made it to the Congressional Debate semifinals, although he did not place.

Qualifying high school students from all over the nation competed in this tournament. There were 101 teams in Public Forum, 98 entries in Congressional Debate, 100 entries in Lincoln Douglas, and 85 entries in Policy Debate.

Along with the students participating, debate coaches Carol Green, Gregory Achten and Jenny Heidt mentored the stu-

dents throughout the competition.

“If I were to pick out a theme for this year that I think is a little different than the years before, is just the number of students doing really well across the events and the amount of young talent.” Heidt said. “I think that was definitely on display.”

As a senior, Kevin Duraiswamy found this tournament, the last one of his high school career, to be a great bonding experience for the team.

“Overall it’s a very emotional experience in that you spend the entire year usually working to get towards this tournament, because it’s not just any tournament,” he said. “It’s a tournament that’s really hard to qualify to.”

Similarly, Alexander Lam (9) recognizes the amount of work that goes into preparing for this one event and reflects on his experience at the tournament.

“I put a lot of time and effort into this,” he said. “I think it’s a really great foundation for me. Since I’m a freshman, I can use this as a good starting point and it’s a good experience for me.”

The Tournament of Champions was the last debate tournament for the 2013-2014 school year.

Rest of year schedules vary for students elisabeth siegel & riya chandra

copy editor & reporter Seniors and rising Upper School students have significantly altered schedules in preparation for the end of the year.

Notable upcoming events for the graduating Class of 2014 include its senior trip from May 18 to 21, the brick ceremony, alumni lunch introduction, baccalaureate assembly, and lifer dinner all on May 22, senior showcase on May 23, and the graduation ceremony itself on May 24.

Finals will be held for all other students from June 3 to June 5. On June 3, tests being

taken include World History and U.S. History. In the afternoon will be Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Precalculus, and Calculus.

English II and III will be held on the following day in the morning, with English I, Programming, Advanced Programming, and Economics held on that afternoon.

On June 5, finals for Mandarin levels I through III, French levels I through IV, Japanese levels I through IV, Latin levels I through IV, and Spanish levels I through IV will take place.

AP courses and some Post-AP classes do not have finals.

RIYA CHANDRA - THE WINGED POST

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

Debate team travels to Tournament of Champions

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VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 NEWS • MAY 16, 2014

Affirmative Action

Supreme court upholds ban on affirmative action shay lari-hosain & vasudha rengarajan asst. design editor & Aquila features editor

The Supreme Court upheld a Michigan amendment on April 22 that bans affirmative action in the state’s public universities in “Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action.”

The 6-2 ruling invalidated a federal appeals court’s decision in 2011 to overturn Section 26 of Article I of the Michigan Constitution. Section 26 was previously approved by voters in 2006, forbidding public colleges to take into consideration race, gender, ethnicity, or national origin for college admissions.

The ruling has brought affirmative action back into the spotlight.

Proponents of such a policy vouch for its benefits to the student population.

“I am in support of affirmative action because I think diversity is very important in higher education,” Felix Wu (11) said. “It just creates a better environment for people to learn in.”

Sebi Nakos (12) felt that al-

though the concept of affirmative action is well-founded, the execution of the policy is imperfect.

“I think that the idea is good, that you stratify the kind of people that you get going into the top colleges,” he said. “But I think that the way it’s executed is poorly done, because when you try and give people who have [been] disadvantaged historically the advantage again, you have to take into account their socioeconomic status, not just the race of the person.”

Sebi believes that higher education admissions should take economic standing, rather than race, into account.

Critics of affirmative action argue that admissions should be neutral, based solely upon merit instead of other factors.

“I think that given the fact that we all have equal access to college and education, I think that we should just keep that right now. I think doing anything otherwise would be reverse discrimination,” Zarek Drozda (10) said. “As long as everyone has access to some sort of college or higher education, that we can’t create laws that artificially inflate people’s skills one

way or another.”

Ashwini Iyer (11), felt that economic background, rather than ethnicity, should serve as a factor in college admissions.

“I agree with them looking at the kind of school you went to and understanding whether or not you took advantage of the resources you had, but I don’t think they should have quotas on races,” she said.

Co-director of College Counseling Nicole Burrell shared her thoughts on the affirmative action and its impact on Upper School students.

“I would say that it’s never a oneto-one correlation. Having worked in the admission side of things, it’s never that clear-cut,” she said. “It’s a really tricky thing; how do you define what merit is? For kids going off to these schools to be exposed to all kinds of kids, in the long run, is a good goal.”

Currently, eight states including California have already banned affirmative action from public higher education. “Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action” has set a precedent from which the movement to ban affirmative action will gain more momentum.

Cont’d from page 1 U.C. petition “People are paying their taxes and “Despite its personal relevance to their children are essentially getting my own success, I see the drop in Calshortchanged,” Ashok said. “Essentially, ifornia admissions as a phenomenon California is funding a U.C. system that linked inextricably to globalization as doesn’t work so well. [The petition is] a whole and that, quite honestly, sooner going to be a huge process, and some- or later this will have to come to pass,” thing needs to be done and needs to be Abhinav Ketineni (10) said. done very Ashok also shared quickly.” her plan PhysPeople are paying their taxes, and their of action ics teachchildren are essentially getting for moving er Mark shortchanged forward B r a d a with the disagreed Rohini Ashok, Harker parent petition. with the “I will premise of probably the petition, citing issues with the current fund- wait just a little bit longer, and then I’ll write to the governor to get an aping of the U.C. system.

“The citizens of California have pointment to meet with him or staff and voted to defund the U.C. system, so I physically turn in the petition,” she said. don’t believe that the system has any “I’ve invited everybody who wants to go obligation to [students of ] the state in to join me, because this is not something particular,” he said. for me, it’s not my thing, it’s for all of Some Upper School students see the children who can potentially go to a the matter as a relative non-issue.

U.C. down the line.”

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

Senior Showcase 2014

DOWN TO BUSINESS Nihal Uppugunduri (12) and Alex Tuharsky (11) won first place in the Stock Market Game this year. They accepted their prize recently in Atlanta at DECA’s international conference.

DECA members a end ICDC roshni pankhaniya & megy appalaraju Aquila sports editor & reporter

Twenty-four Upper School students traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to compete at DECA’s International Career Development Conference (!CDC) from May 3 to 6.

Over 17,000 students from around the world came together to compete in various leadership and business related competitions. In addition to competing students had the opportunity to attend the DECA dance, take part in a 5K walk/run, and spend a day at Six Flags.

Of the twenty-four students that competed, six were named finalists at the conference. Senior Nihal Uppugunduri and junior Alexander Tuharsky took first place in the Stock Market Game. In addition, Manthra Panchapakesan (11) placed third in the InvestWrite Essay while David Zhu and Peter Wu placed fifth in the Virtual Business Challenge-Restaurant. Two students also placed in the Top 20 for written exams, Raymond Xu (9) in Principles of Finance and Julia Fink (12) in Role play. Julia was

also an Overall Finalist in Apparel Accessories Marketing.

Juston Glass, the Director of Business and Entrepreneurial Programs at Harker, reflects positively on the growth of his students through DECA. “ICDC was an amazing opportunity for students to demonstrate the hard work they have put into their various business plans, research projects, role playing expertise, and presentations,” Glass said. “Everyone was able to network with students from all over the world, compete, and also give back to the community.”

The business program has seen tremendous growth this year. In addition to participating in DECA and Harker Business Club events, students had the opportunity to partake in the Stock Market Game and enroll in the “Principles of Business and Entrepreneurship” class offered for the first time in Upper School history. The class follows a mini-MBA program style and focuses on marketing, accounting and finance, entrepreneurship, and strategy and management.

ICDC concluded DECA events for the year.

Twenty-three seniors will put on final performance of high school career anokhi saklecha & melina nakos reporters

After four years of practice, dedication, and memories, the seniors of the performing arts Conservatory Certificate program will put on their final collective performance of their high school career on May 23, at the Mexican Heritage Theater.

The 2014 Senior Showcase will incorporate the talents of 23 seniors, who have each specialized in one of the following categories: instrumental music, musical theater, vocal music, theater, dance, and technical theater.

The showcase will serve as a graduation ceremony for Conservatory Certificate members, celebrating their passions for the arts. Seniors will perform a solo or ensemble piece that they have prepared over the last year.

“I think the seniors every year are ready to fly, and this is just a nice symbol of that,” said Laura Lang-Ree, Musical Theater Director and Performing Arts Department Chair.

While in the past, the show was held in the Blackford Theater, last year, the switch was made to the Mexican Heritage Theater. According to Lang-Ree, the new location is much more appropriate for the occasion, and she is looking forward to returning.

Because the showcase directly follows the senior trip, performers will be able to practice their acts in a designated “rehearsal room” during their vacation.

Avinash Nayak, a vocal musician, will be singing Sammy Chan’s “Love Is The Tender Trap.” He picked this particular number because it tells a personal story of how he has matured over the past four years.

“I am looking forward to starting my song, and also ending it, because it’s symbolic of the start and end of my performing arts journey,” Avinash said. “Performing arts has changed me a lot since freshman year, and it’s made me a much more diverse person.”

Meanwhile, Damon Aitken, a theater certificate member, will be reenacting two Shakespearean monologues. Over his years in performing arts, he has found that his passion, as an actor, truly lies in Shakespearean works.

“The monologues I’m doing I worked on in Shakespeare scene study class last year with Mr. Draper so I already did the hard work of memorizing them,” Damon said. “Now it’s just kind of modifying it for a big audience and an actual stage.”

Other acts include Pooja Chirala and Anishka Agarw-

al’s Bollywood dance, Justin Young’s piano rendition of “La Campanella”, and Anna Kendall’s comedic musical theater performance.

While the rest of the participants will be carrying out their acts on stage, Nicky Semenza, a member of the technical theater subdivision, will be behind the scenes.

“I will be managing backstage, organizing actors, changing sets, and things like that,” he said.

Following the Senior Showcase, each senior member of the Certificate program will be awarded with a plaque in honor of his or her dedication, passion, and commitment to the performing arts program.

SENIOR SHOWCASE

Instrumental Music

Meena Che y, Callie Ding, Nathan Dhablania, Krishan Kumar, Dennis Moon, Daniel Pak, Sahithya Maya Prakash, Renu Singh, Andrew Wang, Justin Young

Vocal Music

Avinash Nayak, Stephan Pellissier

Musical Theater

Dance Anishka Agarwal, Pooja Chirala, Jennifer Dai, Gaurav Kumar

Shenel Ekici, Anna Kendall, Sean Knudsen, Ian Richardson, Namrata Vakkaladadda

Theater

Damon Aitken

Technical Theater

Nicholas Semenza

VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 MAY 16, 2014

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VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 MAY 16, 2014

OPINION

The Winged Post Editors-in-Chief

Nikhil Dilip & Meena Chetty

Managing Editor Apoorva Rangan

Copy Editors

Vineet Kosaraju & Elisabeth Siegel

Design Editor

Mercedes Chien

Assistant Design Editor Shay Lari-Hosain

News Editor

Removing blinders from Supreme Court decision

Trisha Jani

Sheridan Tobin

Features Editor Kacey Fang

Lifestyle Editor Samar Malik

Global Editor Sindhu Ravuri

Sports Editor

Anishka Agarwal

Assistant Sports Editor Vivek Bharadwaj

Tech Editor

Vedant Thyagaraj

Business Manager Stephanie Chen

Aquila Editor-in-Chief Darian Edvalson

Adviser

Ellen Austin, MJE

Aquila Contributors

Alyssa Amick

Emily Lin

Ashi Gautam

Roshni Pankhaniya

Kaity Gee

Vasudha Rengarajan

Riya Godbole

Shannon Su

Juhi Gupta

Mariam Sulakian

Maya Jeyendran

Allison Sun

Reporters

Megy Appalaraju

Vivian Isenberg

Sharanya Balaji

Raveena Kapatkar

Tiara Bhatacharya

KJ Mulam

Riya Chandra

Melina Nakos

Lavinia Ding

Priscilla Pan

Trisha Dwivedi

Tara Parimi

Ria Gandhi

Kavya Ramakrishnan

Alexis Gauba

Meilan Steimle

Catherine Huang

Stanley Zhao

Visit The Winged Post Online at www.harkeraquila.com Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/harkeraquila The Winged Post is published every four to six weeks except during vacations by the Journalism and Advanced Journalism Newspaper Concentration courses of Harker Upper School, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129.

The Winged Post staff will publish features, editorials, news, and sports in an unbiased and professional manner and serve as a public forum for the students of The Harker School. Editorials are the official opinions of The Winged Post.

Opinions and letters are the personal viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Winged Post.

All content decisions are made by student editors, and the content of The Winged Post in no way reflects the official policy of The Harker School. The opinions expressed in this publication reflect those of the student writers and not the Harker board, administration, faculty, or advisor.

Advertisements are accepted in the Post. However, The Winged Post reserves the right to deny any ad. Letters to the Editor may be submitted to Manzanita 70 or emailed to wingedpost@harker.org and must be signed, legible, and concise. The staff reserves the right to edit letters to conform to Post style. Baseless accusations, insults, libelous statements, obscenities, and letters which call for a disruption of the school day will not be considered for publication. Letters sent to the Post will be published at the discretion of the editorial staff.

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The story started eight years ago, when Michigan voters apoorva rangan a m e n d e d managing editor their state constitution to get rid of affirmative action.

It ended (for now) three weeks ago, when six Supreme Court justices sided with Michigan’s majority voice, arguing that the federal government has no obligation to ensure affirmative action. Its tone signals a dangerous, premature falling-out with affirmative action.

Dissenting Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that the Supreme Court should have “guaranteed that the majority may not win by stacking the political process against minority groups.” And I agree.

Through the amendment, the mostly white Michigan voter base claimed the right to infringe on an “outdated” system. But their claims of a “post-racial” society simply aren’t true when 39 percent of Michigan’s African Americans and Latinos live in poverty, compared to 19 percent of whites.

Michigan’s choice to ban affirmative action actively jeopardizes the possibility for equal opportunity.

Since Michigan’s 2006 amendment became law, minority populations have dropped by 25 percent in the state’s public universities, perpetuating a cycle of disenfranchisement.

It’s not just a Michigan problem.

Around the country, the playing field falls further out of balance without the conscious effort of affirmative action.

The number of black and Latino students in the top 50 public universities on the U.S. News & World Report dropped by nearly a third after affirmative action bans, according to economist Peter Hinrichs.

No coalition should have the “right” to that homogenizing power.

When I go to college, I want to meet and learn from people who don’t necessarily come from a family with college-educated, high-achieving parents. I think the majority of us want enrichment both inside and outside the classroom. And allowing affirmative action to wither threatens that intellectual vitality.

A lot of you may be thinking— Well, Apoorva, that’s all well and good, but why not base the system exclusively off of socioeconomic barriers and leave race out of it?

I definitely think that economic background should be one of many inputs into a college admissions de-

cision.

But race by itself still suffocates progress for minorities. An oft-cited MIT-UChicago study found that resumes with “black-sounding names” received two-thirds of the callbacks that resumes with similarly-qualified “white-sounding names” did.

Basing a decision on economic background sidesteps and skirts around racial inequality instead of confronting an unequal system headon. The Court’s mistake is its decision to “single out race and sex as the only factors that may not be considered in university admissions,” as The New York Times said in an April 22 editorial. The Court pushed the problems of inequality under the rug, though race adds valuable and indispensable context to a teenager’s lives.

Why not include every factor possible when evaluating students?

Omitting race in favor of class will ultimately blind us. But taking both into account, along with other factors, will only give us greater insight into the tenacity of other teenagers. Think of the success of affirmative action in increasing the proportion of female undergraduates. The glass ceiling still exists, but women are breaking boundaries faster than ever before—a phenomenon we need to extend to race.

SHAY LARI HOSAIN - WINGED POST

Summer opportunities exist outside of research labs As the sweet scent of spring began to roll through tiara bhatacharya the horizon, comreporter plete with singing birds and rays of sunshine, a thought began to plague my mind— the mythically infamous summer between junior and senior year, expected to be crammed with internships, research projects, and experiences life-changing enough to write about in college essays.

I sat for hours in my room trying to find research projects for high school students, scrolling through applications, only to be stumped by one of the first questions: “Please describe why you’re interested in this project.”

Well, after conducting a quick Google search and skimming the first two lines on the Wikipedia page, I can genuinely say that bacterial ribosomal complexes completely changed my perspective on the world.

Some variation of this haphazard declaration of passion would ensue every time I was asked that question.

As much as I wish that it was, sitting in a white room mining through nucleotide sequences isn’t how I envisioned potentially one of my last summers in the Bay Area. I love science, but I realized that spending two and a half months trying to wrap my head around some graduate student’s thesis project wouldn’t actually be that personally fulfilling.

A n d it took me a while to realize that that was okay. Viewing research at an impressive

Read it or Weep

institution as the most august way to spend your summer is a pretty prevalent mindset in our community.

But with such a diversity of talents amongst us, it shouldn’t necessarily be the only one.

We spend every school year in this grind, a perpetual scramble to finish homework and cram for the never-ending stream of tests; I think we owe it to ourselves to step back once a year and make, rather than find, time to do what we actually want.

Maybe travel, apply for a job, learn a new language, or even take a sky-diving class—the world has so much more to offer us than transcripts and internships, and it’s so easy to be blinded by the college-centric tunnel vision that often surrounds us.

That’s not to say that there aren’t minds in our midst that seem to thrive and literally find their elements in research. On the contrary, I think there’s a pretty high density of them at our school, but it’s that density that creates the impression that if you’re not doing research, you’re not on the right path. I really want to believe that there’s not just one “right path” to follow.

Maybe I’ll regret saying this in a few months when I’m trying to fill out college applications, but for now, I just want to live in the moment and see what happens.

SHAY LARI HOSAIN - WINGED POST

Opinion Editor

passed, I would turn to face the same profile, each time a little bit more aged.

Some spots in the corner of his eye, From my father’s crinkles from smiling that wouldn’t passenger seat go away, creases and canyons I did not expect to see: I love my dad, but like us all, he’s subject to time, and age. kaity gee From his passenger seat, I Aquila asst. multimedia editor watched time take its toll on someI remember it like it was yester- one I love, and it’s heartbreaking, even day. The airbag to the passenger seat when I know the same person is smilwas manual — it was switched off ing behind the mask of wrinkles. The to allow a tiny passenger, me, to ride same bright eyes that refuse to stop shotgun on that hazy day of 2006. The shining stare back at me, and I am heat was unbearable. The Californian filled with love.

My father and I have a peculiar sun streamed through the windows relationship.

We don’t speak much at on a long drive from nowhere, and the all.

Other than the occasional hug and car’s absolute lack of an air condition“How was your day?”, there is barely ing system was more than apparent. any time in our busy lives for an “I love I had made the worst mistake you.”

Perhaps it’s a family thing, but of my five years of existence. A Jamwe’re as silent as ghosts. ba Juice slipped through my fingers, It’s an unspoken acknowledgespilling Strawberry Wild all over the ment. To the quietness of upholstery. As much as I the road, we nod off each apologized through the other’s undeclared affecMy father is wails, he continued to tion. Maybe too many laugh — no punishments, not infallible, years have passed. Maybe no need for a verbal conand I love him it’s because loving each firmation of forgiveness, other is something so objust laughing. I never for this. He is vious to each other, the questioned why he did utterly human, words are not necessary. that all the time. Today Still, it’s a bizarre and I could not he tells me that he is simarrangement.

And still, ply happy I exist. And love him even each time I sit in that that was the day I knew, more. passenger seat, my heart“Somebody really does beat swings like an ocean, love me in this world.” overflowing with love.

It may seem silly Th e feeling rushes like warm chamthat I felt love for the first time in my pagne down my spine, and a warmth life over a couple of tears, some laughs, radiates from my core. and a spilled Jamba Juice, but I did.

I love him, and it’s hard, watchMy body felt a warmth radiating from ing the years he’s spent in the sun take the center of my core, and a rush of their toll.

His laugh remains the same, fresh ecstasy flowed through my veins. but I know my father is not a young Love is a funny thing. How it can man.

I will never have the pleasure of take over your entire being with just knowing him, of loving him, for as a single act of kindness — the way I long as I would like to.

My father is could feel it in my sticky, strawberry not the Superman my fi ve year old self fingers and in that stupid grin that thought him to be, and as much as I’d crept up behind five year old tears.

As the years passed, our drives to like, his smile won’t cure all the trounowhere for just because faded into a bles in the world.

My father is not infallible, and I schedule of school and endless extralove him for this. He is utterly human, curriculars. Still, each time I ride in and I could not love him even more. the truck’s passenger seat, I can turn Th e cracks in his lips, the breaks in to that ever-present stain and look up his laugh, I love it all. I know our time and laugh. is limited on this earth. And yet, as I Smiling, I turn to face my dad, watch the world go by from the pasfocused on the road, unkempt brows senger seat, I can still smile and forget furrowed, and sparkling eyes — the all my cares in the world and share a same I see in my mirrors. As the years laugh with my dad.

VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 OPINION • MAY 16, 2014

Life lessons through eight second decisions Usain Bolt can run 100 meters in 9.58 seconds. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake shook for 15 seconds.

An average driver will look away from the road for 4.6 seconds while texting behind the wheel.

Most of our decisions are made in a heartbeat, without a second thought. Should we hold the door open for the person walking behind us? Should we answer our phones while driving? But our lives consist of approximately 2.5 billion heartbeats on average, so how many hundreds of thousands or even millions of decisions are we making in our lifetime?

Over the course of the last few weeks, upperclassmen completed ThinkDrink and ThinkLuv simulations as a component of the Living with Intent, Focus, and Enthusiasm

(L.I.F.E.) program. The simulations walked students through party scenarios and forced them to make decisions regarding certain issues in eight seconds or less.

The announcement of the simulation was met by some with a considerable amount of disdain at the prospect of another assignment to complete. The fact that several students, including members of our own editorial board, completed the perceived chore after the deadline or have yet to even do so indicates that most of us do not view the simulation as seriously as we should.

That apathy is disconcerting

Farewell from the editors Within journalism itself, the staff has grown closer through the “family dinners” we hold on production nights; each club, organization, and program has its own bonding traditions that serve as reminders for how meena chetty & nikhil dilip close our community is.

From being able to recognize editors-in-chief every face in a crowded hallway to As we stood in front of the pocheering enthusiastically with alumdium during the last school meetni who graduated years before us on ing of our high school experience, the same bleachers at Homecoming, prepared to address all our peers the Harker bond is prevalent not together for the last time, we did a only in our day-to-day lives, but also quick scan of the flood of familiar in the years that lie ahead of us. faces surrounding us. Few stood out While we both are immensely as foreign among the approximately 800 people huddled together in the thankful for each of you and what you have contributed to comfortable confines of the community that we the gym.

We will have had the privilege of Leaving our relbeing a part of, we know experience atively small, homey we are not leaving you community will be one a shift from behind as we proceed to of the most notable being happy the next stage in our lives transitions when we fish in a small (sorry, you can’t get rid of graduate next week and us that easily). begin college in three pond to being Although everyone months. Despite the may not feel the same confused fi sh fact that we will have sense of attachment, the the opportunity to delve in a mighty perspectives that our time into new institutions, ocean. here has helped us shape diverse cultures, and will without doubt affect compelling perspectives, our future experiences. we will experience a shift from being When we see that familiar happy fish in a small pond to being shade of forest green, we will remiconfused fish in a mighty ocean. We nisce about our Class of 2014 pride will no longer have the constant of during rallies on Davis. When we the Harker bond, and that is defiare faced with a difficult decision nitely unnerving. of integrity, we will recall the values Even in the most trivial facets that we were encouraged to embrace of our daily schedules, both of us throughout high school.

And when have experienced evidence of a closewe receive our fi rst Harker care knit community that holistically empackage as college freshmen, we will phasizes building character through remember the supportive communiour actions, unity in our goals, and awareness of our surroundings. ty waiting with open arms to welcome us home during our next visit.

considering that these activities will likely be the only real “practice” that we may have before coming face-toface with real versions of these situations.

Eight seconds doesn’t sound like a lot of time to make a decision, but, realistically, we’ll have even fewer seconds.

It’s not hard to think rationally while sitting behind a computer; but when faced with more difficult decisions, a shorter time frame, and the threat of real consequences, the capacity for rational thought may be harder for us to engage.

Often, the decisions we make are not as important as the rationale MEILAN STEIMLE - WINGED POST

EDITORIAL THE OFFICIAL OPINION OF THE WINGED POST

behind why we make them. Our choices should not be the driving force behind our lives; they should be only a reflection of the values that define us.

Whether we like it or not, exercises like these our helpful. They force us to consider both the reasoning and possible outcomes for the decisions we make.

Our ultimate character is the collective whole of all of our minute decisions. The decision to groan was a decision, and the decision to complete or not to complete the simulation was a decision. They reflect how we view important aspects of our lives that may appear inconsequential.

As Annie Dillard said, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” The ability to shape ourselves into people we want to be rests entirely in our own hands. We have to face the truth that the choices we make in these fleeting windows of time matter.

Straight Talk

expectations are the result of my fixation with romantic comedies.

Realistic Trust me, I know that the majority expectations of these movies are entirely unreprom-ise best alistic representations of relationships that are crafted by the gifted night minds of writers and producers. I sheridan tobin S o m e - know these movies are, at best, the opinion editor where between exception to the rule, yet I can feel Footloose and A my expectations rise with every new Cinderella Story, prom gained the release.

I’ve spent more hours than connotations of an elusive, magical night—one that’s supposed to I’d like to admit scrolling through be among the best of our lives. In a endless pages of colorful, sparkly lot of ways it’s essentially become a dresses online and making plans for before and after the actual dance, high school rite of passage.

I’ve watched countless roman- all in hopes of four hours of movtic comedies in which unsuspecting ie-magic.

The more I’ve thought about it, girls get swept the more I’ve reoff their feet by alized that those archetypes of The desire to make one expectations are the popular yet night fit some sort of most likely to adorably sweet create downfall. jock. The picpreconceived adolescent A b o v e ture-perfect, paragon can actually take all else, prom whirlwind roaway from the experience should be about mance culmicelebrating a nates, of course, itself. year of hard with a glittery work and about dress and a lavjust having fun with friends. It’s not ish party.

As hard as I’ve tried to avoid really about finding a perfect dress getting drawn in by all of the or a perfect date. In fact, that desire hype—to keep my expectations to make one night fit some sort of low—over the course of the last few preconceived adolescent paragon weeks, I’ve found myself consumed can actually take away from the exby it all. Not in a giddy, excited way, perience itself.

I’ve realized that I probably but in an everything-must-be-perwon’t have a Cinderella prom story fect way.

I’ve clicked through hun- and I’d be lying if I said I’ve overdreds of Facebook photos and heard come the hype, but I know I’ll have countless stories about how great my own story, and that’s fine by me.

Events like prom are the memthe dance is, but now that it’s mere hours from now, I can’t help but feel ories we’ll remember for years after a little bit intimidated by all of the we graduate, but we should rememexpectations that one night is sup- ber them for the good times spent with great friends, not for the stress posed to meet.

It’s quite possible that these of trying to plan perfection.

SHAY LARI HOSAIN - WINGED POST

Shedding the senior class security blanket

SENIOR SHOUTOUT The class of 2014 participates in the scream-off during their last Spirit Rally before graduation.

C14SSY. My biggest PHOB1A. Drinking AMBROS14.

For the riya godbole past three Aquila lifestyle editor years that I’ve known them, the class of 2014 really has been it all.

The reality of their departure did not strike me until yesterday, when my friend casually reminded me that the seniors would graduate in 8 days.

Eight? Eight?! The number of pints in a gallon? The atomic number of oxygen? The number of cervical nerves on each side of the human body?

If the thought was appalling to

me, it must have been utterly mind boggling to the seniors.

“Eight days?” I repeated, verifying that, as my mother had always warned me would result from blasting loud music, I had not gone deaf.

“Yeah. That’s basically when we become seniors too.” Another jolt.

Perhaps the reason for my despair was the way I have viewed the class of 2014 during my time at the Upper School. To me, they represent a kind of security blanket, a safe barricade against the alarming possibility of finally having to take responsibility.

What are generally written off as senior positions (club presidents, ASB officers, SDS directors, team captains, heck, even Eagle Nation announcers) have been shrugged

off by freshmen, sophomores, and a campus without 2014’s presence. juniors alike with some variation of Their faces, voices, and laughter have the mental reassurance, “It’s okay, become as much of a part of my daithe seniors will do it.” Next year, that ly routine as my Usain Bolt-worthy flood of responsibility will fall into sprint from Nichols to Shah. My day the unsuspecting lap of the class of will seem incomplete without wav2015, a prospect that seems both ing to them in the hallways, pausing terrifying and gratifying at the same at their lunch tables, and giving them suffocating hugs, among countless time (more terrifying though).

Though I hope that we will rise other occurrences that have become almost second nature to the occasion and beand that I have come to come a group of individuals that other grades They represent take for granted.

The removal of a can look up to, emulate, a kind of security blanket often and respect, part of me is causes an initial outdoubtful that we will fill security burst of shock, panic, the large shoes left for us blanket, a and an overwhelming by the past three gradusafe barricade desire to recapture it and ating classes. When I throw it over oneself. It was a freshman, the class against the is only after living withof 2012 seemed like the alarming out it that you truly gain epitome of a perfect sethe courage to face your nior class: athletic, talpossibility of anxieties and apprehenented, intelligent, and finally having sions head on and learn attractive. As silly as it to take to rely on yourself to sounds, I hope that my take responsibility. peers and I will be able responsibility.

Even though they to inspire the same awe may not be immortal, and wonder in the inthe seniors will live on coming freshman class, and that they come to view us not in my heart forever as the group of only as seniors, but also as role mod- kids who were always just a little bit els. Senior year does, after all, hold an cooler, just a little bit more experioverwhelming array of expectations, enced, and just one step ahead of us arguably escalated by picture-perfect to cushion the blow of responsibility. photo albums on Facebook.

It truly is hard for me to imagine

7 talk d aroun s campu mercedes chien & riya godbole

design editor & Aquila lifestyle editor

What is one thing you wish you had done differently in high school?

“Finding my passion earlier in high school. It’s something I just found late, and I wish I just found that in freshman year.”

Aaron Lee (12)

“I wish I went to more events that Harker threw, like orchestra stuff and Senior Showcase.”

Alana Shamlou (12)

“I wish I branched out and tried more activities like different types of clubs.”

Christina Wong (12)

I wish I had branched out more at Harker and not necessarily hung out with my friends outside of school as much. Avi Agarwal (12)

Corrections

In our April 4 issue, a news story on page 1 about security changes on campus had an incorrect byline. The story was written and reported by Catherine Huang and Maya Jeyendran. Additionally, the athlete in a swimming photo on page 13 was incorrectly identified.

An Arabian night

FEATURES SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

8

VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 MAY 16, 2014

Prom commi ee prepares surprises

This year’s prom, themed Arabian Nights, will take place tonight at the Silicon Valley Capital Club from 8:30 p.m. to midnight. Changes made

by Prom Committee this year will include changing the layout of the venue and ramping up decorations.

While in past years the event has taken place at various venues, prom was moved to the Silicon Valley Capital Club last year to create a more enclosed, private environment.

MaryEllis Deacon, head of Prom Committee, described some major changes to this year’s event.

“They are changing the layout,” she said. “They are keeping a lot of the same traditions - the photo booth, the big formal photos, but they are also opening it a lot. They are amping up the decorations a lot too, I’ll leave it at that.”

Senior Connie Li, a member of the Decorations Committee, discussed the process of setting up the venue and differences in the decor from last year.

“We visited the location last week and we set up everything. We had to do that because usually we pass the plans on, but last year the organization wasn’t all that great because everyone was crammed in the same room for photos,” she said.

Other changes were made concerning the food served at the event.

“We are going for less candies because last year’s feedback was for less sweet foods and more diverse tastes,” said Adarsh Battu (12), a member of Food Committee.

Maneesha Panja (12), also a member of Food Committee, talked about some of the special surprises in store for students.

“We are going to have a color-themed candy bar where everyone can take some candy home with them at the end of the night,” she said. “Just like last year, there will be cool raffles that guests can put their tickets in to win different prizes, like Mr. Nikoloff ’s parking spot and a suite at senior trip, amongst other things.”

Attendance has been steadily increasing since last year, with last year’s prom attendance hitting the 300 mark and this year’s expected to do the same.

• 28 people on the prom committee

BITTERSWEET The seniors in Dan Molin’s advisory make the most of their time together before they attend colleges across the country. The senior class will graduate on May 24.

• 3 prom committees: food, decorations, and promotions

Senior advisories celebrate last gatherings

• took three months of planning and preparation • 295 tickets sold as of May 13

vivian isenberg reporter

• over 300 people attended last year

After four years, forty minutes together a week, and a crazy amount of inside jokes, advisories have forged a number of lasting friendships. To celebrate the end of their high school careers, seniors and their advisors have been turning up the festivities to reward their accomplishments.

From Matriculation on the first day of freshman year to that coveted moment, four years in the making, of walking across the stage at graduation, advisories have bonded over the trials of high school. Together, these groups put together by chance have grown from learning how to navigate the halls to college decisions.

“I’ve become much closer to the people in my advisory throughout high school,” Gaurav Kumar (12) from the Fernandez advisory said.

The senior trip to Laguna Beach and Disneyland is one of the last times advisories will get to spend together, but some advisories have al-

• will last about 3.5 hours • 2nd year with Silicon Valley Capital Club as venue • raffle prizes include a suite at senior trip and Head of School Christopher Nikoloff’s parking spot

Edible water container challenges future plastic use FAST FACTS

Ooho is a new technology that...

• won the 2014 Lexus Design Award • encloses drinking water in an algae membrane

READY TO DANCE This multi-colored elephant will be one of the decorations present at prom, which is themed Arabian nights this year.

• is edible, hygienic, and biodegradable arthi iyer reporter

Students from the Imperial College London recently invented the first ever edible water container. If widely accepted, the team hopes that it can eradicate the use of disposable water bottles all around the world.

Currently, people consume thousands upon thousands of liters of water from plastic water bottles per year. The waste is then deposited in landfills and recycling plants. A small percentage of them plague the forests,

Teachers prepare for new family additions samar malik & trisha dwivedi

lifestyle editor & reporter

Throughout this school year, several teachers have had children, and this spring, three teachers have or will have joined them in this experience: Lisa Radice, a physics teacher; Chris Florio, performing arts and orchestra teacher; and Kevin Lum Lung, a college counselor.

Lisa Radice WP: How do you think your life will be different?

Radice: Much busier. I think that trying to figure out how to take care of two babies at the same time is going to be a challenge, but a fun one.

WP: So far, what has been the most memorable or exciting experience?

Radice: Just realizing that there is a living being inside your body and feel the move and kick and see them in ultrasound. It’s like a giant science experiment, so I find that fascinating as a scientist.

WP: Later on, how do you plan to

balance work at school and the kids?

Radice: I’m going to be taking next semester off, so I’m going to come back in January. I think it is going to be a learning experience for me. You just have to set your priorities and realize that you can’t do everything.

Chris Florio WP: How has life been different since you found out that your wife is expecting?

Florio: First of all, whenever anyone has children, they obviously become the center of their lives, despite however much we work or put into our jobs, but it is also the thing you are working for, so it is really important to me. Harker is always going to be an important part of my extended family, especially the students I teach.

WP: What has been your most memorable experience through this whole process?

Florio: The best experience was first telling people that we were expecting, like when we told my parents and the rest of my family, and obviously telling

ready gotten a head start on capitalizing the time they have left together.

Since the last advisory for seniors took place during AP’s, many resorted to meetings outside of school to ensure that all would be able to attend.

“Our last advisory we had a cake, and we sang a kind of happy advisory song. We also went to Sky High a couple weeks ago,” said Wei Wei Buchsteiner (12) from the Molin advisory.

Apurva Gorti (12) and the Main advisory, formerly the Triefenbach advisory, plan to have dinner after Baccalaureate with Triefenbach who will be coming from Palm Springs to attend.

“We started as a group of nine people who have absolutely nothing in common, but over the last four years we’ve just gotten so close, we’re like a family, and I think we all really look forward to going to advisory,” she said. “It’s definitely going to be something I’ll miss because it’s a group of people that you meet every single year and it’s really the only thing that stays the same.”

the students here. I was really excited because there was a buzz the whole day; they were so excited and screaming and just made me feel really great.

They are excited to meet him as well, so it’s a really cool thing.

WP: How do you plan to balance your work at school and what you will do at home?

Florio: [My wife and I] both work at Harker; my wife teaches kindergarten, so we are both going through the same thing to adjust. But we have so many friends that have kids here and work here and we can always model off them, and I think there will be adjustments that need to be made. Ultimately, we love both things. We love our family, we love where we work, so we are going to make it all work together.

Kevin Lum Lung WP: What are you looking forward to the most?

Lum Lung: There are a lot of things I’m looking forward to, but I’m really excited to just be with [my daughter] and watch my wife with her. I can’t

wait for all of us to just be together.

WP: How are you preparing for the big day?

Lum Lung: We’re signed up for some of our birthing classes in May, and my brother and sister have kids, so I think they’ll be a great resource. I guess a lot of it will be backed by instinct and we’ll have to see how we’re doing.

WP: How do you plan to balance work life and parenthood?

Lum Lung: We know that’s going to be one of the big challenges we’re going to face so we’re just going to keep open lines of communication, and take it a day at a time, but we know that’s not going to be easy.

WP: What kind of father do you think you’ll be?

Lum Lung: I hope to be that supportive, but laid-back dad. I don’t want to lose sight of, while being a father, also being a husband in an attempt to pull it all off. If I use my parents as role models, though it’s a different time, how they raised us is great preparation for this.

oceans, and wildlife everywhere. People all over the world aim to eradicate the harm on wildlife, and have come up with countless ideas and inventions to better the planet, but this one has a certain appeal to it that people have really taken a liking to.

“It seems really cool,” said sophomore Mehul Khetrapal. This kind of reaction was received by many people, who thought the idea of an algae “water balloon” was an ingenious idea.

The team used a method called “spherification” to blend molecular gastronomy and culinary arts in order to achieve their desired result of an effective “water bottle.”

This same method is used commonly to encase sauces and other liquids in thin spherical containers.

“The way they did it seems pretty cool and I think the people who did it are very smart,” Sriram Somasundaram (11) said. The ICL team spent years brainstorming and researching, before they came up with a plausible design and were able to implement it.

This invention was intended to be easy to use for regular people as a plausible substitute for regular water bottles, and is thought to have huge promise for the future.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Chris Florio: boy on April 26 Lisa Radice: twins on April 26 Kevin Lum Lung: girl on June 12

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

reporters

AT A GLANCE

KAVYA RAMAKRISHNAN - WINGED POST

alexis gauba & kavya ramakrishnan

BABY FLORIO Connor Li-Kang Florio, born on April 26, weighed in at eight pounds, 10 ounces and 21 inches.

9

VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 FEATURES • MAY 16, 2014

Harker cupcakes get a social life School desserts gain Instagram presence

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

kshithija mulam & priscilla pan

KSHITHJIA MULAM - WINGED POST

reporters

WORKS OF ART Catherine “Cat” Torres meticulously ices her latest batch of cupcakes. She and Dian Main maintain the Instagram account of “harkercupcakes.”

Cinnamon swirl, hawaiian salted caramel and raspberry cupcakes with flaky rice krispies, white chocolate frosting and cream cheese icing. Where do these come from?

Behold self-taught baking and pastry chef, Catherine “Cat” Torres, who crafts all the desserts every day.

Torres received a culinary arts degree rather than a pastry or baking degree, and was helping with savory food preparation until five months ago when executive chef Steve Martin decided to improve the dessert selection. Since then, she learned to bake and make pastries on her own.

Torres arrives at the kitchen every morning at 7:30 a.m. and begins to make desserts - usually 160 cupcakes and five other different kinds.

As for the flavors of the day, Torres leans towards spontaneity or uses what is available in the kitchen that day.

“I go with what I’m feeling that day, [and] I don’t write a menu of what I’m going to do.” she said. “I kind of just get in my zone and figure it out that day. If it’s really hot outside, I’ll do a light cupcake. If I’m feeling

chocolatey, then I’m going to make a chocolate cupcake. If I’m feeling like I want to make a surprise then I’ll put something in the middle.”

Torres uses recipes blended from a variety of sources and takes an idea and makes it into a solid cupcake.

“Every single [cupcake] to me is my little artwork,” she said. “This is my design; this is the picture I had in my head for this one cupcake.”

She plans to “step it up” next year in terms of the baked goods that she makes to more diverse creations such as cake pops.

The Instagram account had its humble beginnings as an idea between a group of faculty members conversing at a birthday party. After that party, Assistant Director of Instructional Technology Diane Main created the “harkercupcakes” Instagram, which was soon followed by a Twitter account and blog of the same name.

The social media centered on Upper School desserts featuring pictures, tweets,and blog posts ofTorres’cupcakes.

“The idea was that it was supposed to be a shared Instagram account

that we all contributed to, but nobody else wanted to actually put the pictures up,” Main said. “I didn’t want it to be all me, but it certainly has turned out to be me who does posts and updates.”

Main updates the social media accounts at her own leisure, occasionally posting pictures of foods other than cupcakes. She plans to broaden the scope of the social media platform by inviting students to contribute by sending in pictures themselves.

“It’s a fun little part of our school culture that a lot of places don’t have.

It’s a way of just appreciating something that’s an everyday thing here,” she said.

Main sees the potential for someone to create social media based on Upper School food in the future, but continuing into next year, she will mostly pay attention to working more regularly with the dessert Instagram.

“The kitchen staff who put the desserts out have really appreciated it and thought it was a lot of fun and nice,” she said. “I’d like to continue doing it next year and be a little more formal about it.”

POWDERED ALCOHOL The Palcohol molecule is an alcohol molecule bound to several sugars.

Palcohol, a powdered form of alcohol, has drawn media attention after its approval by the TTB, but the approval was subsequently withdrawn.

Powdered alcohol may hit markets in September vivian isenberg & meilan steimle reporters

Palcohol, or powdered alcohol, was invented by Mark Phillip, who says he created it so that it would be easier to carry alcohol on the go. The company that owns Palcohol, Lipsmark, plans to release packets of six different flavors that, when mixed with five ounces of liquid, make a shot’s worth of alcohol.

Although The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) approved Palcohol on April 8, the statement was withdrawn thirteen days later. The TTB claims the original approval was an error, but Lipsmark stated that the withdrawal had to do with differences in the fill-levels of each packet.

In the meantime, some people have raised concerns about Palcohol being snorted and concealed by minors.

“It just seems very dangerous in that you can control how much alcohol you’re consuming,” Nephele Troullinos (11) said.

According to palcohol.com, snorting is unlikely because “it takes approximately 60 minutes to snort the equivalent of one shot of vodka.” The site also dismisses the idea of concealing it, as “the package Palcohol comes

in is 4” x 6”....almost five times bigger than a 50ml bottle of liquid alcohol.”

Additionally, the company claims that the use of Palcohol can expand beyond its intended use as an inebriant. Their website alleges that Palcohol could be developed to save money by the airline industry, or to use as an antiseptic.

Not everyone agrees that Palcohol will become a useful product.

“I think it’s completely stupid,” said Chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine. “The way I understand it, they’re making a complex of sugars around the ethanol so that it can be in a dry form. However, that powder will have a greater mass and volume than just pure ethanol by itself.”

He also pointed out that there are alternative ways to carry portable quantities of alcohol. “You could just buy grain alcohol and add that to water. People do that all the time. At the end of the day, it’s a nice gimmick, but ... there’s a bunch of chemistry behind it that doesn’t make sense from my perspective.”

If powdered alcohol succeeds in being re-approved by the TTB, it could either change the American liquor market or fade into obscurity. For now, it sits at a crossroads between fame and failure.

FAST FACTS

Powdered alchol is...

• 58 percent alcohol by weight • 12 percent alcohol by volume • made up of cyclodextrins, or a group of sugar molecules in a ring • not yet approved to be sold commercially

10 JUHI GUPTA - WINGED POST

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 FEATURES • MAY 16, 2014

Criminally flawed

Left: Maurice Caldwell addresses the student body at a school assembly April 15.

Middle: Caldwell walked out of jail March 28, 2011 after serving 20 years for a crime he did not commit.

Right: Maurice Caldwell and his mother pose for a photo in 2009. This photo was taken a year before Caldwell’s mother passed away.

Exoneree speaks out about prison and justice system copy editor

The Northern California branch of the Innocence Project, accompanied by its exoneree, Maurice Caldwell, came to the Upper School on April 15 to address the student body about the criminal justice system and false incarceration.

Maurice Caldwell spent more than twenty years in jail for a crime that he did not commit. With the help of the Innocence Project, a national litigation and public policy organization that campaigns for reforms of the criminal justice system in order to exonerate wrongfully convicted individuals, he was able to regain his life as a free man.

The Innocence Project on its website lists eyewitness misidentification, false confessions, jailhouse snitches, improper science, government misconduct, and bad lawyering as the prime causes for false convictions in the United States.

In Caldwell’s case, an error occurred with eyewitness misidentification, which according to the Innocence Project’s website is the “single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide, playing a role in more than 75 percent of convictions overturned through DNA testing.”

“I wanted to maintain my sanity and continue to fight. I was in there to fight to get back,” Caldwell said in a phone interview with The Winged Post. “It took a lot out of me, because I never thought that I would be in a position like this, to fight for my freedom. I used to think that if you did a crime you would do the time.

Not that you would do the time for a crime that you didn’t commit.”

His life has been changed irrevocably because of the experience, and Caldwell has undergone alterations to his psychological outlook on life as well as his goals for the future because of his time spent in jail for a crime that he did not perpetrate. Caldwell’s relationships with people around him have not been the same, according to him.

“I don’t trust people, and I’m very cautious about the people I deal with,” he said. “After all that time, there’s a lot of people that I really

don’t know. When you sit there for so many years for a crime you didn’t do, your trust goes out the window.”

Caldwell spoke at length about the psychological effects of being incarcerated for a crime he did not commit.

“There is nothing positive about the prison system,” he said.

“It changed me a lot. I lived a secret life in there, I thought about what it would be like to get a second chance.

You know how they say misery loves company? There’s a lot of miserable people down there, and they do things to make other people feel miserable.”

Caldwell came out of prison into a very different world. Many around him

were unfamiliar, and those who were familiar were no longer around him.

“When I first went to prison, I wanted to pray that my family stays strong, that my family stays secure when I was fighting this,” he said.

“Everything that I hoped and wished for, it was the opposite. I lost all my family and my brother was killed.”

He went on to give pointed advice to students considering careers concerning the criminal justice system.

“If you have a job, just do your job, and don’t be influenced by the next person. The next person that influences you may be the one to mess it up for everyone,” he said. “There

are victims on both sides. I feel that district attorneys should look at both sides and let that be instead of looking at one side and going with one side.”

Caldwell remains steadfast in his beliefs of advocating for what is right.

“It’s all about standing for what you believe in,” he said. “When you fall behind people and you don’t stand up, everything crumbles and you don’t know who you can trust in and rely on.”

According to a Population Reference Bureau (PRB) study from August 2012, the United States still has the highest incarceration rate in the world.

alyssa amick

Aquila managing editor All four campuses have implemented a new trash system in an effort to make the campus for environmentally friendly, which was introduced the first week back from Spring Break.

The new system features two options, “wet,” meaning anything compostable, or “dry,” anything and everything else. At first the system caused some confusion, but students slowly understood the change thanks to the help of teachers and signs that answered many questions.

“I think that so far the students have been doing pretty well, given that the system is completely different from anything we’ve done in the past,” said Sabrina Sidhu (11), Co-President of the Green Committee. “Initially it seemed like people Diana Moss, would just Spanish Teacher throw their trash into whichever bin was closer, but now I actually see people taking a few seconds to make the right choice.”

The Upper School Green Committee is working with the Santa Clara County branch of Republic services, a trash provider, to implement the system at all four campuses and make the school as a whole more environmentally friendly.

“It concerns me because it has ramifications for you and your future and your children’s future and all of our future,” Diana Moss said. “If we can’t start thinking about what we do with our trash, that’s a sad thing. But the good news is the system has been installed at all four campuses, so the kids are being trained from preschool how to do it so the next kids who come up from the eighth grade are going to know exactly what it is and every year will get better and better.”

Although the trash system has undergone a major change according to Moss, it may continue to adapt in the future with the potential addition of a third option for “clean” paper.

This, however, would require an agent external to the usual trash provider to pick up and recycle the unused paper.

If we can’t start thinking about what we do with our trash, that’s a sad thing.

SHAY LARI-HOSAIN - WINGED POST

elisabeth siegel

Wet and dry system alters trash impact

“My favorite

production

juhi gupta

was probably The Wedding Singer – that was fun.”

Aquila multimedia editor Humans of Harker, based off Humans of New York, documents the unique, inspiring, off-beat, or surprising individuals that breathe life into this school. Each issue, five students are chosen at random.

BRANDON STOLL (9) Brandon has been in six productions since starting to perform in sixth grade.

He is a Certificate candidate deciding between Musical Theater and Theater.

His advice to incoming freshmen that are thinking about participating in the Conservatory is to “be open to everything.”

JEREMY BINKLEY (11)

“You get to teach little kids to do something that’ll actually benefit them for their whole life.”

Starting last summer, Jeremy has been teaching swim lessons at Queensborough Swim Club in San Jose. He began swimming when he was 10 months old, and specifically enjoys how swimming removes the constraint of gravity and can contribute to greater self-exploration.

“I’m into neurology and psychology, but at the same time humanities and human rights.”

SUZY LOU (11) Suzy has been doing math research on graph theory since February, and her research paper will tentatively be finished in September. She enjoys math contests and tests, most famously the AMC (American Mathematics Competitions) and the USAMTS (USA Mathematical Talent Search).

“Let’s say I visit a website and I don’t like its HTML: I’ll just go into the console and I’ll tweak it.”

SHREYA SUNKARA (10) Shreya founded Amnesty International, a human rights club at the Upper School, and is aiming for a neurology internship in the near future. She has worked at a senior citizen center, a summer camp, and soon the Ronald McDonald House.

“The harder a contest is, the more fun it is. Math is really beautiful and challenging at the same time.”

NIHAL UPPUGUNDURI (12) Nihal has been coding for three years and enjoys how code is a system of synthesis as opposed to analysis. His favorite thing about coding is the idea that he can create something.

From: Juhi To: Nicky and Damon Neeples and dasnarkybrit...you are two of my absolute favorite people in the entire world. The only ones I can stand. We’ve had so many great experiences in the past couple years and I can honestly say I value our friendship so much. I’m so disappointed you’ll be leaving next year but I’m sure this summer will make up for it! From Starbucks runs to teching to after-school hangouts, we’ve had great times and I love you guys tons. I hope you have so much fun at college :) Both of you mean the world to me, and you better visit! <3

From: Katy & Helena To: Kevin, Stephanie, Sebi, Isaac, & Will Dear Bangalang homies, It’s been a great few years and it’s hard to believe you guys are already leaving. We will miss you like crazy, but we wish you the best of luck in college. You guys have been such good friends to us and we hope you come back and visit us, Love, Helena and Katy

Congrats on a great four years, stay C14SAY. Dr. Victor Adler and MaryEllis Deacon

From: Harker Varsity Girls’ Basketball To: Harker Varsity Girls’ Basketball seniors Dear Alana, Nithya, Tiffany, and Regina, We couldn’t thank you enough for the amount of support you’ve given us all year.

You are incredible teammates and friends.

We all respect you greatly and wish you the best in your future endeavors. We love you guys!

From: Sachin and Matthew To: Mabel Luo Thanks for being the coolest senior ever!

We’ll miss you and our Terrífico Tres days in Spanish class, but we know you’ll do amazing things at Brown. You had better visit us next year :) Love, your two best friends in the world.

From: Ajay To: Sean Pan You are the man. This past few years have been fun with you, especially a pre-practice adventures. Thanks for the memories Sean, I’m going to miss h you when you leave for college. -Your favorite Junior, Aju

From: Alexis Gauba To: Monica Thukral You have made my freshman year memorable. From our DECA advent taking magnificent videos of chipm we have had some really great tim Thanks for being such an amazing and role model. I’m going to miss y much next year, but I know you w off soaring to great heights in all th do. Love, Alexis

From: Sanjana Kaundinya To: Brinda, Nila, Namita, Shreyas, Christine, Nikkan Thank you guys for being the best friends I’ve ever had. I’m so proud of you guys and I’m gonna miss you SO much next year.

Love, Sanjana

From: Ajay Chitk To: Jithin Vellian My man Jithin, I to hang in Fremo an awesome frien some time at UC (more than Shiki

From: A To: Arm Mortaz Python to miss the mem ed even Hug m back to

From: The hot tub crew To: Srikar Pyda Srikar, thanks for being an awesome friend, mentor, and leader. Your incredible work ethic and commitment, in concert with your fun-loving personality and uplifting character, have made you an incredible presence on the debate team. Although we will all miss you greatly next year, we know you’ll accomplish great things at Duke and well into the future. Make sure you stay in touch and visit us because without you, we’re just two aimless nomads.

all of the hugging

r so tures to munks, mes. g friend you so will be hat you

From: Ms. Austin To: Meena, Nikhil, Darian, Samar, Anishka, Allison, Mercedes, Apurva, Trisha, Emily, Steph, Advaita, Anisha, Megan, Brinda, Urvi, Sapna, Regina, Nila, and Sean.

Congrats, journalism seniors! Thank you for a great year, from the thousands of hours spent on bed nights for Winged Post/Aquila/TALON getting it all done to the many moments of laughter and zaniness amid the hard work. Thanks, too, for welcoming me as your new adviser. I’m going to miss you as you head off to the next bylines and double page spreads of your life after Harker. Good luck-- and come back to visit next year!

From: Savi To: Reggie Fencing Goddess Regina, since those 5th grade wallball days with Dora, you’ve been a bigger sister to me. You’ve always been by my side, especially this year, and even though you’re only always a phone call alway, I can’t help but be jealous that Cornell gets to have you instead of me.

I know you’re going to go so far (literally and metaphorically), but no matter what please expect to hear my voice weekly to tell you about senior year. There are not enough shoutouts in the world to tell you how much I love you and am going to miss you, but hopefully this will do.

kara n I’m sorry I’ve been busy all the times you wanted ont, I will make up for that. Thanks for being such nd these past few years, and hope you have an aweSB. Visit me when you can. -Your favorite Junior i) Ajju

out of this

world

s e n i o r s h o u t o u t s 2 0 14 From: Sabrina & Natasha To: Megan, Advaita, Anisha, Brinda, Nila, Regina, Urvi, Sean, Sapna

We have a shoutout of our own. Thanks to all the WP seniors for an incredible year. Your leadership kept us strong and your guidance was invaluable - you handled every change with grace and insight. Family dinners won’t be the same without your HILARIOUS impressions. Have the best time in college, and come visit! We’ ll miss you! #takeflight

Dearest Señores, We remember the day each of us walked into the journalism room for the first time. We were alone in this world, without companions. Then you, with your majestic embrace, appeared and welcomed us into the program. For that, we are eternally indebted to you. Bsmyth4eva, XOXO Sabrinatasha

From: The volleyball team To: Mercedes, Renu, Urvi, Divya, and Christina It has been so great playing with all of you for the past few years. We will miss you guys so much next year and wish you all the best in college. You guys are all great teammates, but so much more than that to us. We love you so much. Please come visit once in a while! ~Ohana -- Love, Katy, Jackie, Selin, Selin, Shannon, Tasia, Doreene, and Shreya

From: All Moles To: Future Moles Hey Moles, YOU WERE THE BEST ADVISORY EVER AND WE’LL MISS YOU!

PHO T O - SH AY L A R I-HO S A I N DE SIGN- A P O ORVA R A NGA N

Ajay Chitkara man zavi n Gang forever. Going s you bro, thanks for mories that have lastn before high school. me when you come visit. -Ajju

washington

Looking for the class of 2014 in these states

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON Suraj Sean Pan Chandrasekhar Karan Kurbur Brian Chan Arthur Shau Arman Mortazavi

You won’t find them here. But here’s what they’ll be up to

1

Intended majors: 24% other/ not reported

32% engineering

student plans to take a gap year

6% undecided 7% liberal arts/ humanities 9% business

21% science

88 students plan to study abroad

Selected other majors:

7-YEAR CLASSICS MED PROGRAM

GLOBAL HEALTH

california CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Preethi Periyakoil Namita Ravi Albert Zhao CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY - SAN LUIS OBISPO Anna Levine CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY Nicholas Navarro LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY John Hughes POMONA COLLEGE Manon Audebert SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY Samar Malik Nithya Vemireddy Lea Daran Vincent Lin

Divyahans Gupta Brandon Yang Connie Li Katie Gu Meena Chetty Krishan Kumar

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY Leslie Tzeng William Deng Monica Kumaran Claudia Tischler Kristine Lin Nikhil Dilip Jennifer Dai Vikas Aditya Batra Bhetanabhotla Arjun Goyal Shazdeh Hussain Andy Wang Maneesha Panja Shreyas Parthasarathy UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS Huck Vaughan UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE Sharon Babu

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

texas RICE UNIVERSITY Sapna Suresh Kevin Mohanram Sean Youn

STANFORD UNIVERSITY Neil Khemani Zina Jawadi Trisha Jani Saachi Jain Stephanie Chen Sreyas Misra Urvi Gupta

FINE ARTS

TRINITY UNIVERSITY Kevin Moss UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES Shivani Gillon Helena Huang Richard Min UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO Kilian Burke Renu Singh UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA Saraí Rojas Jithin Vellian UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC Sina Mehran Ariana Shulman

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Stephan Pellissier Nathan Dhablania Sameer Vij Rebecca Chen Kevin Xue Monica Thukral Nikkan Ghosh Julia Fink Dennis Moon Adithram Arjun Mehta Rengaramchandran Ravi Bhandia

UNIVERS

Ap

new jersey

massachusetts

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY Kevin Duraiswamy Avinash Nayak

AMHERST COLLEGE Areej Hasan

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY Krish Sanghi

BOSTON UNIVERSITY Callie Ding Monika Lee

TUFTS UNIVERSITY Emily Lin Isaac Rothschild

connecticut YALE UNIVERSITY Christopher Fu Justin Young

new hampshire DARTMOUTH COLLEGE Wei Wei Buchsteiner Kimberly Ma Vikram Naidu Sebi Nakos Divya Kalidindi Sachin Vadodaria

HARVARD UNIVERSITY Angela Ma Vikram Sundar MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Rahul Sridhar Zareen Choudhury Kevin Zhu Anika Gupta Dora Tzeng Megan Prakash Varun Mohan

WELLESLEY COLLEGE Silpa Karipineni Maya Madhavan WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE Benjamin Huchley

new york COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Mercedes Chien Raymond Xu Sandra Yin Mabel Luo CORNELL UNIVERSITY Regina Chen Aaron Lee Albert Chu Brinda Perumal HAMILTON COLLEGE Shenel Ekici

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK - OSWEGO Laura Thacker RENNSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE Christopher Zhang UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY - WEST POINT Mary Liu

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY Damon Aitken • Anna Kendall Andrew Zhu

s?

o:

illinois

pennsylvania

COLUMBIA COLLEGE Ian Richardson

wisconsin

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Allison Sun

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON Efrey Noten

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA Adarsh Battu Sahithya Prakash CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY Gerry Zhou Alex Pei Nila Banerjee Anisha Padwekar

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Darian Edvalson Brian Tuan UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN Raymond Cheng Anishka Agarwal Parth Kothari Sean Nachnani Christina Wong Jeffrey Hanke Pooja Chirala Varun Cherukuri Samir Chaudhry

Sarika Bajaj Benjamin Chu Christine Lee Allen Cheng

rhode island BROWN UNIVERSITY Zoë Papakipos

indiana washington d.c.

PURDUE UNIVERSITY Avi Agarwal Nicky Semenza Katia Mironova

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Alana Shamlou Sean Knudsen

missouri WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, ST. LOUIS Advaita Kanakamedala Jerry Shen Namrata Vakkalagadda

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY Stephanie Lu Arjun Kumar

tennessee VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY Pranav Batra

maryland JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY Rohith Bhethanabotla Allen Chen • Tiffany Chu

SITY OF TEXAS AUSTIN purva Gorti

georgia

north carolina

EMORY UNIVERSITY Elizabeth Teng

DUKE UNIVERSITY Srikar Pyda Shivani Chandrashekaran Daniel Pak Gaurav Kumar

undecided or not reported

canada UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Camille Piazza Kianna Bisla

Samir Baz Lauren Cali Alicia Clark Alexander Johnson Varun Kamat Rohan Kapatkar Michael Kling Taylor Mahal Nishaant Murali Jeremy Pan Sravan Rajathilak Nihal Uppugunduri Kenneth Zhang

GLOBAL

15

VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 MAY 16, 2014

Female education activist Dr. Ntaiya shares her story

ALYSSA AMICK - WINGED POST

Girls’ education activist Dr. Kakenya Ntaiya visited the Upper School for the last installment of the Harker Speaker Series.

Dr. Ntaiya was the first girl from her village to attend college, crossing physical and cultural oceans to go to college in America. At the age of 12, she struck a deal with her father, agreeing to endure female genital mutilation in order to attend high school. In her familial tribe, the Maasai, female genital mutliation is considered a rite of passage and symbol of maturity for females. She spoke to the Harker community about her journey, education, and the school she founded when she returned to Kenya, the Kakenya Center for Education.

“As I was reading my history books at University, I realized that these books were my life,” Dr. Ntaiya said during her speech, about her learning that female genital mutiliation was a supposedly outlawed practice in her country of Kenya.

After her speech, Dr. Ntaiya spoke to The Winged Post. For the full full interview, visit www.harkeraquila.com.

DR. NTAIYA RECOUNTS HER CHILDHOOD After her speaker series presentation, Dr. Kakenya Ntaiya sat down with The Winged Post for a personal interview, where she shared the struggles she faced in her society growing up.

FAST FACTS • Dr. Ntaiya was named one of Newsweek’s “150 Women Who Shake the World” in 2011

• Dr. Ntaiya is counted amongst The

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

managing editor & global editor

WP: We’re currently 16 years old. Could you speak about your life at school when you were our age?

KN: I went to high school and a boarding school and it was away from home. I liked it because I didn’t have to go home and wash clothes and dishes. The girls would stay overnight but the boys went home. Just studying and studying and studying—that’s all I did.

WP: Hearing about your story, what can we do to fight inequality locally and globally?

KN: You’d be amazed how when we think about helping somebody, or when we are in a situation, of course when you have never been in a situation where you have to choose between education and something else you wouldn’t really know of even that being in school is even a privilege, and for some, they don’t even get it. Because at your age I would say some are married already, and married means you already have kids.

It is difficult, but when you have an opportunity don’t ever take it for granted. I went to my college, I went to the schools in the U.S, and I found people complaining that the food was not enough, and you’re not thinking about, you have food, but you’re not thinking about how lucky you even have

Women Deliver 100: The Most Inspiring People Delivering for Girls and Women

that food, you are looking for a different option.

Whatever you have, be thankful for that, and also think of that yes, if you have extra, how can you share. And you’ll be amazed how even in your own school there are students who don’t have what you have.

WP: After getting your education in America, what made you want to go back and help your village?

KN: There is a saying, “Don’t sweep outside before you sweep inside.” I wanted to make a difference to those people I understood them, and who I knew were going through a situation that probably I’d go through it, I knew it more, and I never wanted them to go through what I went through.

WP: In your talk, you talked about how women build their houses from scratch. If women are portrayed to be so strong, why is Maasai society so unequal?

KN: Women are strong. They do everything.

But still, women are inferior to men—it’s a wrong thinking. It’s a psychological thing because women have always grown up looking at men being at the top.

WP: How did you manage to address your elders and convince them to let you have an education?

KN: There was that drive in me that an education would make me a better person. I promised them that I will be the best. I convinced them by being very innocent and very childish and by saying if I can do without you. You give them that power they want and so at that process they felt that we are helping this little girl go to school.

WP: Could you describe the moment when your KN: It was a pain and anger, but then I had to say okay, now how do I stop others from going through that.

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

apoorva rangan & sindhu ravuri

FIGHT AGAINST INEQUALITY On Tuesday, Dr. Kakenya Ntaiya spoke about her battle for gender equality through education in her home country of Kenya, and her own experiences with practices such as female genital mutliation.

Sister school wins journalism award at convention trisha dwivedi reporter

Mother’s Day around the world tara parimi reporter For some, it’s a card and breakfast in bed. For others, it’s a day-long celebration filled with numerous traditions.

Every year, during the month of May in most countries, Mother’s Day celebrations commence across the globe. Mother’s Day serves as a day of appreciation for the mothers of the world. Regardless of where it is celebrated, Mother’s Day is a global occasion which consists of a large variety of traditions.

In the United States, Mother’s Day is always celebrated on the second Sunday of May; this year’s fell on May 11th. This year also marked the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day celebrations. In 1908, Anna Jarvis, an American women often referred to as the “Mother of Mother’s Day”, began to petition Congress for a national holiday to honor mothers. Mother’s Day became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Soon, countries around the world followed suit.

Celebrations around the world include making breakfast in bed, purchasing gifts, writing cards, and going out for a special meal.

Every year, senior Adrienne Shih of the Taipei American School a sister school of Harker, gathers with her entire family to celebrate all the mothers of her family.

“We have a relatively large extended family [and] tend to have a large Mother’s Day lunch that usually consists of 10+ people. [This year] I bought my mom two books and ordered some roses and will be giving them to her on the morning of Mother’s Day. In the afternoon, we

will have our annual Mother’s Day lunch. At night, we will probably go watch a movie,” she said. “I want my mom to feel relaxed.”

Harker Freshman Chetana Kalidindi takes Mother’s Day as an opportunity to show her mother how much she cares for her.

“I make her breakfast in bed, and give her a card...I want her to feel loved and I want her to know how much I appreciate everything she does for me,” she said.

For sophomore Evan Lohn (10), Mother’s Day is filled with simple, yet meaningful, family traditions.

“My brother, my father and I go out to buy chocolates for my mom, because she loves them and it has become a family tradition,” he said.

“Ideally, I want my mom to feel appreciated and at ease on Mother’s day.”

Junior Leeza Kuo uses Mother’s Day as an opportunity to showcase her artistic abilities, while honoring her mother.

“I make something for her. [Last year] I made a clay rose, paper flowers, once I made a lot of paper stars and put [them] in a box. Then, I put [in] an origami heart saying ‘I love you,’” she said. “I want to let my mom know that I love her even though I can be stubborn sometimes.”

Emma Josey, a senior at Saint Stephen’s College, Harker’s sister school in Gold Coast, Australia, had much to add about her family’s annual Mother’s Day celebration on the beach.

“Each year for Mother’s Day, myself and my two older brothers make my Mother breakfast in bed, before going to the beach for the morning. We then give her the presents we bought her on the beach.

I want my Mum to feel special on Mother’s Day. I always hope she feels proud to be a Mother, as well as pleasantly surprised by the amazing presents,” she said.

Saint Stephen’s College senior Nicola Geldenhuis and his sister start Mother’s day off by cooking breakfast for their mother and spending the remainder of their day outside.

“For Mother’s Day each year we normally go out for lunch. This year we’re taking Mum out for lunch and then we’ll...go visit some friends and have a barbie [barbeque] for dinner.

Mother’s Day for me is a chance to show Mum how much I love her…

Mother’s Day is the perfect day to remind your Mum how much she means to you,” she said.

Mother’s Day is a day of appreciation, of love and respect; a day to honor your mother for everything she has done for you. Sons and daughters around the world celebrate Mother’s Day in with the same goal in mind: to honor their mothers.

ALL PHOTOS SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

The Taipei American School (TAS), Harker’s sister school in Taiwan, won a pacemaker for their online publication at the last NSPA journalism conference in San Diego that took place from April 10 to 13.

Pacemakers are awards given at high school journalism conventions, such as NSPA, which was at San Diego this year.

These awards are given for the topics of Newspaper, Online, Yearbook/Magazine, and Broadcast. The school competed against online news sites around the world.

Their online site, Blue and Gold, won with four people designated to the online publication out of 15 staff members total. The journalism program there only recently created its two online editor positions at the beginning of the school year to create a more firmly established website.

“I never imagined that a 15-person staff from Taipei would win the NSPA award,” Adrienne Shih, EIC of TAS, said in an email interview. “The Blue and Gold has never had a very strong online presence prior to this year, so we really wanted to emphasize that this school year.”

The news site features design elements that are black and blue, the colors of their school, and each article consists of at least one visual aid. Writers range from grades 9 through 12 and are guided by an advisor, Mr. Ron Bell, along with their editors.

The publication also has Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts where the staff posts videos and discusses recent news at their school.

After starting their online section and winning the pacemaker the same year, Adrienne gives other developing news sites some advice.

“Don’t be intimidated. Creating a website, especially one for a school paper, may seem daunting, but with patience, you will find success,” she says.

Blue and Gold won the award as beginners in the online platform, but they hope to continue their success next year with their website, but also their print paper as well.

To visit their site, go to blueandgoldonline.org.

CELEBRATING MOM (Top) Namitha Vellian (10) and her mother Nishi pose for a photo on Mother’s Day. (Bottom) Jai Ahuja (11) and his mother Sonya don costume pieces for a fun photo-op.

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photography.aleza.net

VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 MAY 16, 2014

LIFESTYLE

17

VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 MAY 16, 2014

Dress code-appropriate outfits to stay cool

Beat the Heat

Meteorologists have predicted that California will experience its worst drought in the last 100 years this summer.

With finals, general schoolwork, and a rising thermometer, it is difficult to concentrate when it is too hot. Even though the dress code forbids many of the clothing items designed for summer, this guide details several ways to maneuver around the restrictions. To help beat the heat, here are some dress code-approved outfit suggestions.

meilan steimle reporter

Maxi Skirts

Christine Lee (12)

One of the most common dress-code violations is skirt length.

Skirts are an ideal solution for the heat, allowing air circulation around the legs. Unfortunately, the skirts currently in vogue are too short to meet the dress-code, which requires that skirts end at the most four inches above the knee. Luckily, maxi and tea-length skirts are also in fashion.

The perfect solution, they allow for both air-flow and propriety.

Open-Toed Shoes Sara Pachauri (9)

Loose, Not Less

Light Fabric

Shreya Sunkara (10)

Omar Hamade (10)

Another alternative to showing more skin is covering up with loose pieces of clothing.

Flowy tops especially let air circulate in and out of the shirt.

Since straps must be at least two inches thick, flowy shirts are great substitutes for tank-tops.

Tighter clothes trap heat next to the skin. Another advantage of looser clothing is that it prevents sweat stains. When fabric isn’t in constant contact with the body, it’s much less likely to get wet and feel unpleasant.

Less fabric isn’t necessarily the solution to staying cool. The type of fabric also makes an impact. Polyester and other synthetic materials don’t allow air to flow around the body, which increases heat and body odor. Natural fabrics, like cotton, keep the body ventilated throughout the day.

Contrary to popular belief, foot sweat itself does not smell. However, the fungi that thrive in a tennis shoe create a pungent odor as they reproduce, a phenomenon intensified by the heat. Choosing open-toed shoes prevents the buildup of bacteria, reducing the chance of stinky feet.

Keep in mind that sandals must have a back to be in dress code.

PHOTOS BY MEILAN STEIMLE - WINGED POST

Summer Music Festivals Local Bay Area concerts and events to experience vivian isenberg

BFD

reporter

June

1

When: June 1st Where: Shorline Amphitheatre, Mountain View Headliners: Foster the People, M.I.A, Fitz and The Tantrums, Phantogram, New Politics

Hosted by 105.3, one of the Bay Area’s alternative stations, BFD is a great one-day festival for those looking to experience a variety of tunes. Attendees can enjoy headliners, lesser known acts, and a number of local bands from San Francisco and Oakland which play at their own separate stage.

A summer staple since the festival began in 1995, Vans Warped Tour makes stops all over the US and brings together artists from a multitude of genres. Everything from indie, to rock, to metal bands play this festival, offering up a variety of music for guests to choose to enjoy.

This festival is so large it even has its own iPhone app to help attendees keep track of showtimes of the 59 artists playing to ensure no one misses their favorite band.

June

21

JUHI GUPTA - HARKER AQUILA

Warped Tour

WARPED Vans Warped Tour is a summer staple in the Bay Area. The concert has taken place at Shoreline Amphitheater the past two years.

When: June 21st Where: Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View

Headliners: All Time Low, Bowling for Soup, The Maine, We the Kings, 3OH!3, Breathe Carolina

Outside Lands

August

8 When: August 8-10 Where: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco Headliners: Kanye West, Arctic Monkeys, Tiesto, The Killers, Death Cab for Cutie

One of the biggest music festivals in Northern California, Outside Lands is a three-day event in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

The venue allows concert-goers a city experience before entering the wooded park which features four stages.

Each day, new artists take the stage giving attendees the dilemma of deciding what days to choose and which artists to watch.

However, this festival isn’t just about the music.

Concessions are unique, as many local eateries cater the event with an abundance of gourmet food. Even though Outside Lands takes place during the summer, a tip is to make sure to bring at least a light jacket because of San Francisco’s classic foggy weather. Parking is also extremely limited around the park, so it is important to consider purchasing an additional shuttle pass or using public transportation.

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JOHN HUGHES (12) & CHRISTINA WONG (12)

SAMIR CHAUDHRY (12) & ANIKA GUPTA (12)

NICK NGUYEN (11) & SELIN EKICI (10)

PAGE DESIGN & ILLUSTRATIONS SHAY LARI-HOSAIN

VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 LIFESTYLE • MAY 16, 2014

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Spring Update

Marti Sutton (11), Softball Kevin Hu (10), Varsity Track

Calvin Kocienda (10), Varsity Track Varsity track and field is nearing the end of a historical season, with several school records in both running and field events. Some new school records include Niki Iyer (9) in the 1600 meter and 3200 meter, Wei Wei Buchsteiner (12) and Winnie Li (9) in the high jump for boys and girls respectively, and Julia Wang (11) in the discus. Several freshmen and sophomores were also eligible to compete in CCS Top 8 in running events. “The good thing about this year’s track team is that we are very young,” said coach Scott Chisam. “We have a lot of very good freshmen and sophomores, and that bodes very well for the future.”

KJ MULAM - WINGED POST

Varsity baseball reached the end of its playing season, closing out with a 3-22 overall record led by captain Varun Kamat (12). “We’ve improved a lot. Beginning of the season, we would lose by a huge margin, we would get mercy-ruled all the time, but now we’re getting closer and closer games,” said freshman player Varun Haltore. The highlight of the team’s season was its game against Woodside Priory, where they lost a nailbiter by 7-8 against their rivals.

Varsity softball closes out their season with a 1-5 overall record. This year, the girls’ team was led by captains Sarah Bean (11), Alisa Wakita (10), and Vivian Isenberg (11). “It’s been kind of a rough season. We’re a fairly young team with no seniors on the team this year,” said Varsity coach Raul Rios. “We took our lumps in the beginning of the season, but towards the end of season, we are getting a lot stronger.” Highlights of the girls’ season include a 16-4 win by the Eagles against Andrew Hill High School.

Boys’ Varsity volleyball, currently ranked eighth in all of CCS, ended their season with a record of 7-8.

The highlight of the team’s season would be their third place finish at the Monta Vista tournament, with wins against teams such as Valley Christian and Los Altos. “The boys are working hard and getting better every day. We look at where we started to where we are now, and we are currently among the area’s best teams,” said boys’ Varsity head coach and upper school athletic director Dan Molin. The boys look to make a deep run in the CCS playoffs.

KJ MULAM - WINGED POST

Kimberly Ma (12), Varsity Swimming

With the girls currently at a 7-3 record in league and the boys maintaining a 3-3 record, Varsity swimming has qualified almost every swimmer into the WBAL league finals. Victories have included the defeats of King’s Academy and Pinewood. Another major meet was the Eagles’ matchup against league powerhouse, Menlo School. “We were very close to beating the Menlo Knights, and I believe that we can further persevere as we head into the league championships to score a victory for both the boys’ Varsity and girls’ Varsity to end the season strong,” said Varsity boys’ swimmer Leon Chin (11). Members who have qualified for the CCS meet will be swimming on May 29 and Santa Clara International Swim Center.

Dakota McNealy (10), Varsity Golf Finishing with a 9-1 league record, boys’ Varsity golf has had a history-making season as co-league champions. Its sole league loss this season was to rival Sacred Heart Prep, and the team split the league championship with the Gators. The highlight of team’s season came with its showdown against Menlo, another league rival. The Eagles edged the Knights 208-209, with Avi Khemani (9) sinking an eight-footer to seal the victory. “We’ve practiced everyday, and our scores have constantly decreased. We’ve been playing better, and because of that, we’ve advanced further,” Avi said. The boys then placed second in the WBAL league finals and secured a berth into the CCS Championships where they placed sixth.

COURTESY OF IE-CHEN CHENG

Nick Bean (9), Baseball

KJ MULAM - WINGED POST

William Deng (10), Varsity Volleyball

Varsity tennis finished their season with a 8-8 record. This year’s team increased in size considerably with plenty of freshmen joining the Junior Varsity and Varsity teams.

“We had a lot of freshmen this year, so it was a new experience for a lot of us. We’re losing one senior this year, so most of us are going to stay, and I think that will help with our progress and improvement over the coming years,” Varsity player Edward Tischler (9) said. Highlights of the season include a 7-0 win against Priory at the Decathlon Club.

ROSHNI PANKHANIYA - WINGED POST

player on the team plays her role in each game.”

Aquila opinion editor With more players on the team, team captains, Mabel and Christine Lee (12), Girls’ Varsity lacrosse has tremendously think that the teams have been able to bond improved this season with the team finishing more and focus on separate skills to improve. at a 7-11 in league. The Varsity team finished While the team has improved in the game, at second in the league. Due to the rising Christine believes that a positive attitude number of players especially in the freshman is the most important factor of the team’s class, the lacrosse team split up success. into Varsity and Junior Varsity “Playing sports is as divisions this year. much a physical competiI think we’ve played “[The junior varsity team] tion as it is a mental battle,” really allowed us to bond with better as a team this Christine said. “Going into other people who are at our year than any other games with smiles on our experience level rather than faces and being as loud as year. people who were already better possible really gets us excitthan us. It motivated us,” said ed and ready to take on our MABEL LUO (12) freshman junior varsity player rivals.”

Aditi Maheshwari.

With wins against The new junior varsity team is an Mercy-Burlingame, Woodside, and Santa all-freshman team. Two new coaches also Catalina, the Varsity squad looks to improve helped the teams reach their success. even more next year.

“In terms of wins, this is probably our “The season’s gone great. The girls have second-most successful season, but I think really improved,” Varsity girls’ head coach we’ve played better as a team this year than Andrew Irvine said. “The JV team has really any other year,” Mabel Luo (12) said. “We’ve impressed me, and I’m really excited about been utilizing so many plays, both old and the future of the program.” new, and we’ve really made sure that every

ashi gautam

KJ MULAM - WINGED POST

Sohil Singh (11), Varsity Tennis

by ria gandhi & kj mulam

KJ MULAM - WINGED POST

Lacrosse 2nd in league

RIA GANDHI - WINGED POST

SPORTS

VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 MAY 16, 2014

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VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 SPORTS • MAY 16, 2014

Golf The boys golf team defeated four-time defending champion Menlo School 208-209 to win Harker’s first golf league championship on April 22.

Team Captain Shrish Dwivedi (11) described the experience playing Menlo.

“The team really understood that the pressure was squarely on their shoulders because we were in effect the underdog, so we definitely played much more relaxed and tried to stay calm and let them make mistakes,” he said.

Shrish Dwivedi (11), Dakota McNealy (10), Nikhil Reddy (11), Ryan Vaughan (9), Sandip Nirmel (9), Avi Khemani (9), Zarek Drozda (1 0) and Jonathan Lee (11) all contributed to the win.

Avi described his favorite memory of the eventful season, during the game against Menlo.

“Personally, my favorite memory of the season was making a eightfoot putt to beat Menlo by one. That putt ended up being quite useful as it ensured an entry into CCS and a co-victory in our league, a feat that the Harker golf team has never been able to accomplish,” he said.

The team played at Boulder Ridge Country Club for this win.

“Although golf is an individual sport, we are trying to do it differently at Harker. To build a team where we fight for each other, and understand the importance of not giving up no matter how badly it goes,” Coach Ie-Chen Cheng said.

The team placed third in the CCS regional tournament on May 6, qualifying for finals on Tuesday.

Ryan shared his thoughts leading up to the CCS finals.

“There are a lot of more experienced teams that are going to be there, but I

BACKSTROKE BOLT Delaney Martin (11) competes in the backstroke event; she qualified as an individual at the CCS tournament. Delaney has been on the swim team for three years.

Swimming Varsity swimmers look to close out their season by competing in a variety of different events at the CCS tournament.

Delaney Martin (11), Leon Chin (11), Ryan Palmer (11), Karen Tu (10), and Jackelyn Shen (11) qualified for individual events.

The girls’ relay team, made up of Kimberly Ma (12), Grace Guan (10), Angela Huang (10), and Manon Audebert (12), qualified for the 200 yard and 400 free relay and the 200 medley. Manon also qualified for CCS in the 100 freestyle.

Angela Huang, who will be competing in 50 and 100-yard freestyle looks forward to CCS. “I hope to improve my times.

I’m also looking forward to relays and spending time with my teammates,” Angela said.

The boys varsity 200-yard medley relay qualified for the CCS championships with Jack Farnham (9), Aaron Huang (11), Craig Neubeiser (11), Michael Auld (9).

“I want to make finals and top 8 in the 100 breast and just race. CCS has this really electric atmosphere, it feels like everyone wants you to go fast,” Aaron Huang said. “You aren’t just swimming for a time, you are swimming with friends and for pride.”

The CCS swimming and diving time trials take place today, and the tournament will be held tomorrow at

SENIOR NIGHT Sean Youn (12) serves the ball at the Varsity boys senior night on May 9. The boys team ended the season with a 6-8 record.

the Santa Clara International Swim Center.

Volleyball The boys’ Varsity volleyball team has a league record of 6-8 and is currently ranked sixth in the league.

Going in to CCS, the Eagles had a number 5 seed in the Division 2 tournament and played against

mariam sulakian Aquila news editor

Andrew Zhu (12) Boys’ Volleyball

ANISHA PADWEKAR - TALON

Position:Outside hitter Sets played: 61 Kills: 232 Total blocks: 29 Digs: 171 Aces: 26

UP FOR A KILL Captain Andrew Zhu (12) goes up for a kill during practice. He is ending his forth Varsity volleyball season with 256 kills.

Varsity outside hitter Andrew Zhu (12) ended his last volleyball season with 256 kills and 171 digs in 61 played sets.

With 14 kills, Andrew helped the team to a victory over Westmont High School in three sets on March 17.

“He’s among the best leaders I’ve ever coached in all my 25 years of coaching,” Head Coach Dan Molin said. “He’s dedicated, he leads by example, and I couldn’t think of a more deserving athlete because of the month and the season that has happened.”

Andrew led the team with 25 kills in the victorious 3-1 game against the previously-undefeated Lynbrook.

He totaled 16 kills in the victorious 3-0 and 3-2 games against Los Gatos on March 28 and Eastside College Prep on April 22, respectively.

“Andrew’s the most driven player I’ve ever played any sport with,” teammate Gaurav Kumar (12) said. “There’s never anybody on the court who wants it more than Andrew.”

The boys’ ended their league games with the match against Soquel High School yesterday and continue to play in the Central Coast Section (CCS) playoff semifinals tomorrow.

ASHLEY ZHONG - TALON

After a season of hard work, the boys’ Varsity golf, boys’ Varsity volleyball, and the swim team compete in CCS. Some track & field athletes will advance to the WBAL League Finals, which will take place tomorrow.

The CCS qualifiers will be held on May 24, and the CCS finals will be held the week after.

FOLLOW THROUGH Team Captain Shrish Dwivedi (11) follows through on his drive. He is extremely proud of how the team has handled the season.

Sobrato High School on Tuesday.

“We’ve certainly progressed and gotten a lot better as a team this season,” Head Coach Dan Molin said.

“If we come and play hard and do our best I think we have a very good shot at advancing.”

Seniors Andrew Zhu, Sean Youn, and Will Deng lead the team for number of kills with 256, 130, and 160 respectively. Will Deng described the game against Sobrato as a challange that the team overcame together.

“Everyone was slow at first considering the heat,” team member Will Deng said. “But everyone came togeher and pulled thourgh with a win” In the first round CCS match, the Eagles won in three sets. The scores were 25-21, 25-17, and 28-18.

The team then played Soquel High School on Thursday, May 15. At the time of publication the results were not in.

ATHLETES OF THE MONTH Alisa Wakita (10)

Softball

Varsity softball captain Alisa Wakita (10) recorded 14 hits and 11 runs in this season’s 14 games.

“Alisa is fast, strong, and plays with a lot of heart,” Head Coach Raul Rios said.

“She is one player that I know will give me 100% at practice and at games.”

In the team’s first league victory of the season against a 16-4 match against Andrew Hill, Alisa made four plate appearances with two at bats. She also accumulated two on-base balls in the game.

Despite team losses, Alisa contributed hits in the games against Fremont on March 7, Pinewood on March 14, Mercy-Burlingame on April 15, and Castilleja on April 22.

“Alisa is always really hard working during practice, and she’s really motivated to always do her best,” said Lyndsey Mitchell (9), who has been Alisa’s teammate on both the Varsity softball and cheerleading teams. “She’s really motivated to always do her best.”

Lyndsey later commented on the team’s fondness for the Alisa’s support and helpful advice to the teammates.

The team ended their season with a 0-13 loss against Castilleja High School on Tuesday.

Position: Shortstop Games played: 14 Hits: 14 Runs: 12

ROSHNI PAKHANIYA - WINGED POST

Aquila managing editor and reporters

think that what we need to do is try and take it one shot at a time and not worry about what other teams are doing and try and get out of our own way and let our natural talents play through,” he said.

This is the first time in Upper School history the golf team has advanced so far into CCS. “I feel immensely proud of the team for how we have handled ourselves the season,” said team captain Shrish Dwivedi (11). “We had the league title in our sights since the beginning of the season because we have a very deep team: everyone has broken par at least once this entire season, thus we knew our true potential. We worked as one unit to challenge each other to get better, and thanks to that mindset, we have been able to get this far.”

On Tuesday the team competed in the finals placing sixth.

ALYSSA AMICK - WINGED POST

alyssa amick, megy appalaraju & catherine huang

KACEY FANG - WINGED POST

Three spring sports off to CCS

UP TO BAT Sophomore Alisa Wakita bats during practice. Alisa has contributed in many game including Fremont, Pinewood, and Castilleja.

VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 MAY 16, 2014

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VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 MAY 16, 2014

E-Textbooks revolutionize studying

TECH

“Tech” Talk With Thyagaraj

Digital textbooks and online materials facilitate learning

vedant thyagaraj

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION - MEILAN STEIMLE

tech editor

HITTING THE BOOKS Damon Aitken (12) studies for a test using physical textbooks, while Nicky Semenza (12) opts to use an iPad instead. Digital textbooks have become more prevalent among Upper School students since the administration allowed e-readers to be used in classrooms one year ago.

stephanie chen & stanley zhao business manager & reporter

As the digital world expands and e-books become increasingly popular, many students at the Upper School now choose to use online textbooks and PDF files instead of physical copies.

E-books are often more convenient than physical textbooks. They are practically weightless and save space in backpacks. With the advent of cyberspace, online copies are practically impossible to lose which eliminates another potential problem. Third, as many assignments are now being done

on computers, they are simply more accessible to use.

Teachers note the benefits of these resources.

“I think PDF textbooks are of a great advantage to students as they are are able to bring them to school by iPad, by iPhone, laptop, or some non-Apple product.” Calculus teacher Anthony Silk said. “That way, students will have easy access to them all the time. At least you can expect them to have them.”

Students also enjoy the accessibility of using digital textbooks.

“Using a digital version of the chemistry book is so much more effi-

cient as people can compare the problems and the solutions side by side without needing to flip back and forth throughout the book,” Ameek Singh (10) said.

Others find reading text on computers easier than on old fashioned paper.

“Online textbooks are helpful because I can search up important terms, record them, and later use them to study,” Sina Mehran (12) said.

However, there is always the concern of legality. Some students use peer to peer file sharing websites to download their textbooks to save money. This is in many cases illegal and problematic

for both the publishing companies as well as for the authors. Others resort to air-dropping the files if they have Macs or transfer via USB if they have PC’s.

“I think the concept of digital textbooks is good, but there are always people who will misuse it by pirating the materials online,” Justan Su (10) said. “But that’s pretty much true for any technology that happens to appear on the market.”

Digital textbooks are a recent edition to the technological world and are making learning convenient for many.

However, as anything can be abused and used the wrong way, e-textbooks have fallen into the same problem.

Mesh networking leads to greater flexibility vineet kosaraju

copy editor Recently, a new technology, known as mesh networking, has arisen, allowing users to route traffic and share internet connections througout a neighborhood. Mesh networks have recently been helpful with promoting human rights, and can also help in natural disasters.

Traditional Wi-Fi networks operate by allowing different transmitters to tap into a single wired internet connection and broadcast independent signals to users. On the other hand, a

mesh network allows transmitters to connect to each other to access the Internet in a “mesh” configuration.

Data is relayed to a source indirectly through a chain of routers/transmitters. The central router, also known as a gateway, is connected to the Internet using DSL, cable, or fiber-optics.

The mesh network also includes repeaters, standard router hubs that are not connected to the Internet. Each repeater covers a spherical area with a radius between 50 to 100 feet indoors.

Austin Energy, a publicly owned Texas Utility Provider, has integrated a mesh network into the area’s power

ON THE MESH Nodes in a mesh network communicate with each other to gain access to the internet. Unlike a regular network, in which every node has direct access, mesh networks are more flexible and harder to cripple.

VINEET KOSARAJU - WINGED POST

New architecture makes networks harder to cripple

grid. Power meters in the “Smart Grid” can communicate information wirelessly through the network for more efficient monitoring and energy usage.

Mesh networks have also been suggested as solutions in disaster areas. When traditional Internet and telecommunications lines have been crippled, mesh networks could be used as a means of communication until infrastructure is rebuilt. Mesh networks have already been implemented in large hotels to provide Wi-Fi at lower costs than regular networks, which involve more wired infrastructure.

On a smaller scale, mesh networks could also be used for “smart homes”, allowing household devices to talk to each other and interact wirelessly, using consumer products created by companies like OpenMesh, Commotion Wireless, and Project Meshnet.

Flying into the future with commercial drones vivek bharadwaj & catherine huang

asst. sports editor & reporter

WIKIMEDIACOMMONS

The characteristic whir of drone rotor blades may soon become commonplace in cities as more companies turn their focus to commercializing drone activities.

Commercial drones, or unmanned

aerial vehicles (UAV), have already been used for photography, military reconnaissance, and even to survey crops on farms. Companies such as Amazon hope to commercialize drones even further through drone-delivered packages.

“Drones put air-based cameras in the hands of the populace,” photography teacher Josh Martinez said. “Im-

DRONING ON A drone carrying a camera hovers over grass. Besides military operations, drones have also been for topography and crop surveying.

ages that were, up to this point, only made by large companies or government entities, usually with surveillance intentions, are now able to be made by a much larger swath of people with different motivations for image-making.”

Camera vendor GoPro, best known for its mobile, wearable cameras, has already created commercially available camera-mounted drones for taking aerial pictures. Package and parcel delivery company Deutsche Post DHL has already tested an experimental drone, known as a “parcelcopter,” to drop off medical supplies in inaccessible areas. The company, however, has no plans to use the drones on a regular basis.

Although the FAA currently bans all commercial use of drones, it is reconsidering its policy in light of companies such as Amazon hoping to integrate drone technology.

The idea of drones hovering over cities raises privacy and safety concerns with both citizens and the FAA. “It’s definitely a privacy issue, sort of like we had that issue with [the Google Maps cars] driving around,” Leslie Tzeng (12) said. “Drones make it a lot easier for other companies [to do the same].”

Likewise, Martinez believes that drone commercialization could turn into a privacy concern.

“Any image made from the air has strong connotations to surveillance.

With this comes questions about privacy, usage control, and rights to access,” Martinez said.

Preethi Kandappan (9) believes that the current infeasibility of using commercial drones will harm the success of the technology.

“Well, I think in theory that they’re a good idea, but I can see how there would be many problems with it,” she said. “I’m fine with the current way of getting the packages shipped to me.

I don’t think it’s necessary to have 30 minute shipping.”

Other students, like Misha Tseitlin (9), believe that the progress with drones has potential, but are worried about government intervention.

“The concept of instant delivery is a great field. The problem is whether the government will allow it,” he said.

The future of drones has immense potential. Depending on FAA’s decision, regulations and other restrictions, these convenient robots could be dropping off packages at your doorstep very soon.

A few winters ago, I eagerly ran to the mini Christmas tree my family had set up on that cold December morning. Scrambling through all the wrapped packages, I finally grabbed the one that had my name on it. After unwrapping it, a smile slowly lit up my face as I saw it was an iPod Touch. Finally my own iPod I rejoiced to myself.

Back in the day, my antennae would perk up whenever anyone was discussing the latest and greatest Apple product. Now? Not so much.

Attending a school where nearly every kid is seen working on a Macbook Pro or teachers are modeling problems on their iPads, there must be some compelling reason towards Apple’s gadgets.

In fact, there is. Apple devices are some of the most solid products I have used in terms of usability and performance.

Unfortunately, they haven’t kept up with the competition, which is what makes the company’s future hazy to me.

Take the Macbook Air, the revolutionary laptop that weighs just under three pounds. This laptop was a breakthrough in the portable laptop and netbook industry due to its unprecedented weight. But this was in 2008; now there are laptops that are as slim as the Air and pack more features. The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga, for instance, has similar dimensions but packs in a touchscreen with the device. The Macbook Air, on the other hand, has housed the exact same aluminum body design for the past few years.

Another example? I will admit that even though I am avid iPhone user, I am more than ready for a change.

Sure, Apple did have its revolutionary moments in the past with the introduction of the iPhone 3G, which took advantage of 3G cellular technology, and the iPhone 4 which introduced the dazzling “retina display.” These breathtaking changes seemed to have culminated in 2010 when the latter was launched.

Back in 2012, when loyal customers were eagerly expecting a revolutionary new iPhone, Apple debuted the iPhone 5, which simply was a taller version of the iPhone 4, with more “beefed-up” internals. There was nothing truly revolutionary about the phone, in spite of the company’s claims.

For this reason, many VCs, mobile strategists, and consumers have started to doubt the future of the company. Apple was at the forefront of technology five years ago. Now? It’s going to be a tough fight for them to maintain their market share with the slew of innovative products coming from other companies.

In Silicon Valley, innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity are the keystones to building a successful enterprise. Apple has started lacking in these three areas. Even its stock price seems to be crying for help; Apple shares have tumbled massively over the past few months.

Yet Apple has its own loyal supporters who love the company no matter what. Whenever I broach the topic of Apple’s future with my peers, I get the same response: “Are you crazy?

There is no way Apple is going to die in the near future.” Struggling smartphone maker Blackberry, which used to produce the flagship smartphone of the mobile industry in the early 2000s, almost filed for bankruptcy because they lost innovation and thus their entire market share.

Apple is not yet spiraling down that path, but any more missteps on its part could definitely lead it down this disastrous vortex. The company really needs to take the reigns of the industry and revive their industrial and creative power, if they expect to thrive again.

Apple’s future depends on two things: its next generation iPhone and the heavily rumored “iWatch.” If the former redefines the mobile phone as its predecessors did, while the latter defines an entire new category, then there is some future left for the company. Only time will tell.

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VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 TECH • MAY 16, 2014

Sponsored by SpaceX, a private company made to advance space technology, Dragon is the only functioning aircraft that can bring loads of cargo back to Earth safely from the International Space Station (ISS). According to the company’s website, Dragon’s last successful mission contained 2,300 pounds of pressurezed and unpressurized cargo to the ISS on March 3, 2013. SpaceX is currently working on carrying crew to space and back. More information can be found on SpaceX’s website at www.spacex.com.

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VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 7 MAY 16, 2014

ADARSH BATTU AND DORA TZENG cream sahithya prakash during the obstacle course portion of the spring rally. The seniors won first place during spirit week.

WEI BUCHSTEINER passes the ball during a game against seaside high school. The varsity boys basketball team made harker history as the first boys team to qualify for norcal.

2014

THE SENIOR CLASS SPENT THIS YEAR

apurva gorti runs with the ball during kicks against cancer.

• living large • honoring lives • feeling good • breathing hard • speaking free • drinking ambrosia • bonding strong • learning life • holding hearts • seizing chances • unearthing talents • supporting community • supplying swag • marking territory • living technicolor • keeping cool • building teams • having fun • leading our community • cheesing hard • giving everything • hakuna matata • shooting threes • staying classy • finding family • making it count • celebrating a legacy • eagles up •

nishaant murali rocks out with jazz band during the rally.

“don’t settle”

SENIOR CLASS celebrating another “last” during their spring rally, the seniors dance to Pharrell’s “Happy.”

PHOTOS BY SHAY LARI-HOSAIN, SHERIDAN TOBIN, AND APOORVA RANGAN