Winged Post Volume 16, Issue 6 by Harker Aquila

Winged Post wednesday, april 22, 2015

THE HARKER UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER, VOL. 16, NO. 6

harkeraquila.com harkeraquila.com WHAT’S INSIDE

500 SARATOGA AVE. SAN JOSE, CA 95129

Multimedia coverage of Spirit week, regatta and rally

Honor Council survey results released

Upper School performers take “Into the Woods” to

a2 meet the new asb a5 earth day a7 editorial a10 student research a12 spirit week CRANES FOR NURSE ELCHERT kshithija mulam photo editor

SWIMMING SENIOR NIGHT

reporters

Honor Council released the complete results for its second survey today, which examined the causes and characteristics of cheating in the upper school. The survey was sent out on March 10, and 450 participants responded to it. 82 percent of participants answered that they had shared information about tests or quizzes, and 64 percent had inappropriately shared work on an individual assignment. In addition, 57 percent said they rarely catch cheating or plagiarism, while 25 percent claim to often see it. Honor Council Chair Nicholas Manjoine elaborated on his reaction to the results. “I think that a lot of the responses matched up with some of my intuitions about challenges that the student community faces, but I was certainly very happy [with] the robustness of the responses,” he said. “I thought that there were really good, thoughtful suggestions, so I was really happy to see that.” Over 25 percent of students who participated in the survey submitted written responses sharing their ideas of what actions could be taken to decrease lapses in academic honesty. “Many of the responses were personal things that people [had experienced],” Honor Council representative Rahul Bhethanabotla (9) said. “Some of them had advice that we could take, but some of those things were still person-specific.” The Honor Council aims to have an increased involvement between all members of the Harker community so teachers are able to better understand the pressures that affect students.

sahana srinivasan reporter

Upper School students performed in this year’s spring musical, “Into the Woods,” last week at Blackford. “We were all nervous [before the show], but it all turned out to be pretty good,” Anika Banga (9), an ensemble member, said. “Overall, it was a great experience, and the audience was really into it.” The cast will also perform “Into the Woods” at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland this summer with the American High School Theatre Festival (AHSTF). Out of around 2,000 nominated schools, AHSTF chose the Upper School as one of 40 across the nation that will represent America in Scotland. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s biggest arts festival, and this is Harker’s third time performing there, after “Urinetown” in 2007 and “Pippin” in 2011. Because of this achievement, Harker’s Performing Arts Department was featured in a San Jose Mercury News article earlier this month. In addition to their own show, attending students will see both professional and other high school performances; in previous years, they have seen up to 15 in a single trip. “It’s really fun to see how we hold up next to the other high schools,” Laura Lang-Ree, Director of Performing Arts K-12, said. “We [also] see a ton of professional theater when we’re there.” Caroline Howells (12), who plays Cinderella, discussed what she personally looks forward to doing at the festival. “[I look forward to] exploring what it’s like to be at the greatest arts festival in the world,” she said. “It’s definitely going to be a lot of fun to be part of such a huge arts community.” The 30 cast members worked on “Into the Woods” from February to April, and most rehearsed for approximately two to three hours a day, four to five times a week.

Quarterly publishing statistical data of Honor Code violations will help the comunity. 42

214

CLAIRE ELCHERT, Nurse at the upper school.

meena gudapati & kaitlin hsu

OTH

SHAY LARI-HOSAIN - WINGED POST

Students and faculty joined together to fold cranes last week for nurse Clare Elchert, who is on medical leave receiving treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma through the summer. “For one, I think it’s a beautiful thing visually to see,” Activities Coordinator Kerry Enzensperger said. “It’s also supposed to be a vision of healing and happiness, so I thought it would be really nice for her.” During lunch periods, students gathered at a table outside Manzanita to fold cranes using directions from an instruction sheet posted to the table and help from other students who frequently came to make cranes. The objective of the project is to fold 1000 cranes total. Some advisories such as the Glass, Enzensperger, Roumbanis and Austin advisories also continued to make cranes during advisory. The Enzensperger, Glass, and Roumbanis advisories also made cards and a short video for Elchert as well. In a phone interview, Elchert said she misses the colleagues and the kids at school, and added that she is doing well.

EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE

194

YES NO

Additional reporting by Kaity Gee.

KAVYA RAMAKRISHNAN

Cont. on A3

FLYING FISH Aaron Huang (12) swims butterfly across the pool during a swim meet. Swim team seniors will be honored at their senior night against Kings Academy today.

sharanya balaji

Aquila asst. multimedia editor

Harker will host a swim meet against Kings Academy for their senior night at 3:45 today. “I am most excited to celebrate the end of high school sports since swimming is the last spring sport for me,” said Harry Xu, one of the seniors. Eight seniors will be honored including Stacy Chao, Sanjana Kaundinya, Delaney Martin, Jackelyn Shen, Leon Chin, Aaron Huang, Craig Neubeiser, and Harry Xu.

TOIL AND TROUBLE Ishanya Anthapur (12) plays her role of the witch in the Upper School’s production of “Into the Woods.” The musical ran last weekend and will run again at the Edinburgh Fest

SHAY LARI-HOSAIN - WINGED POST

the

Cont. on A3

Class of 2015 extends Shah patio for future seniors alex wang & derek yen reporters

The senior class will finance an extension to the Shah patio as its parting gift, creating a substitute for the repurposed Sledge. The extension will expand the area for recreational activity and allow students traveling to Shah by way of Davis Field to take a shorter route. At the beginning of this school year, the senior class lost access to the senior Sledge, a senior-only lounge. “It used to be that there was a senior Sledge where the faculty room currently is,” Spanish teacher and senior class dean Diana Moss said. “But this past year, we were not able to have the senior Sledge because we had to give it up for the DECA program.”

SPRING ORCHESTRA CONCERT, A3

“We don’t know the joy [the Sledge] would have brought us because we never had it,” senior Matthew Ho said. The new patio is meant to turn Shah Hall into a relaxing area that future seniors can use in replacement for the original senior Sledge. “The plan is that there will be a patio with tables and an awning covering to provide shade and planter boxes all around it,” Moss said. “There may also be some sort of motivational benches put out there that have some phrases that reflect some of the values of our school phrases, like kindness, patience, and respect.” Some seniors believe that the patio will be an insufficient replacement for the Sledge. “You don’t get like a playstation, or

a speaker set, or an Xbox,” senior Mohannad Khadr said.

There will be a patio with tables and an awning covering to provide shade and planter boxes all around it. There may also be some sort of motivational benches put out there. DIANA MOSS

Construction of the new patio required several planter boxes used by the

GEO MULTICULTURAL FAIR PREVIEW, A5

gardening club to be removed. “The garden was useful in the context of the gardening club, and as I recall it was initially paid for by a grant to build it,” club adviser and English teacher Dr. Ben Spencer-Cooke said. “[The loss of the garden] is somewhat unfortunate, as it is no longer available to students who were interested in horticulture, but on the other hand, with me leaving in June, there was no one particularly interested in carrying the gardening club.” Dr. Spencer-Cooke added that there was discussion of relocating the garden to behind Nichols. Currently, the patio’s design is still being modified and construction beyond clearing the space has not yet begun.

RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM, A10

A2 Students elect ASB oﬀicers

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 6 APRIL 22, 2015

NEWS

Michael Zhao, Sanil Rajput, Grace Guan and Ray Song to be president, vice president, and treasurer respectively

VINEET KOSARAJU - WINGED POST

After a brief session of candidates’ campaigning and giving speeches on April 7, voting for the upcoming school year’s Associated Student Body (ASB) Council took place during lunch last Thursday in the journalism room. Nine candidates ran to fill next year’s council: Sandip Nirmel (10) and Michael Zhao (11) competed for the position of president, Chris Hailey (10) and Sanil Rajput (11) for the position of vice president, Shannon Hong (11) and Grace Guan (11) for the position of secretary, and Dhanush Madabusi (11), Ray Song (10) and Shreya Sunkara (11) for the position of treasurer. Out of these candidates, Michael, Sanil, Ray, and Grace were chosen as next year’s ASB officers. These elected student representatives will replace seniors Sarah Bean, Jessica Chang, David Lin and Shikhar Dixit for the positions of president, vice president, treasurer and secretary respectively. Before the candidates’ speeches, Sarah discussed her experiences as the current president and reminded students to vote for who they thought would be most capable for the job. “I can tell you it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but it’s incredibly rewarding,” she said. “It’s not a popularity contest in any way, choose people based on their leadership skills no matter how old they are or what grade they are in, choose who you want to represent the school.” Although each position has its specific tasks and duties, such as the

Name: Michael Zhao Years at Harker: Six Looking ahead: “Being on ASB my senior year gives me the opportunity to ﬁnally lead the school and to be able to teach the rising underclassman what student council is all about.” Name: Sanil Rajput Years at Harker: Three Looking ahead: “I think we [the new ASB council] have a great chemistry, and I think we are going to get a lot of projects done.” Name: Grace Guan Years at Harker: Twelve Looking ahead: “I’m looking forward to implementing my ideas, like the nap system and the food feedback system I mentioned in my speech.” Name: Ray Song Years at Harker: Two Looking ahead: “[I want to] improve the study or academic environment for the students and just in general help us to have a better life at Harker.the food feedback system I mentioned in my speech.”

TRISHA DWIVEDI - WINGED POST

Aquila asst. STEM editor & business manager

MEET YOUR ASB

Vice President being required to support Harker’s system of clubs, each ASB officer also works on proposing and leading projects to better the school. Unlike previous years of elections, after the candidates gave their speeches, the floor was opened to the student body for a session of questions and answers. Students voted for their candidates through an instant runoff voting system (IRV) where a majority is required to elect a candidate and each person is given several choices. In each round, the candidate with the least amount of votes is eliminated, and those votes are redistributed until a candidate gains a majority of the votes. Ankur Karwal (11) said that he relies on both speeches and his knowledge of the candidates’ personal character to decide who he will vote for. “I think ASB candidates should be respected by their peers and reflective of the community. The council itself should be pioneering and dynamic with a balance of both fun and function,” Ankur said. “I decide based on how these candidates’ speeches went as well as how they interact during their daily lives, which is more reflective of their traits.” Since the freshman are new to the campus, they have to heavily depend on the ASB speeches. “I don’t know any of them well, so I just listen to the speeches and choose the person who sounded like they would be a good leader,” Meghana Karinthi (9) said. Elections for next year’s senior, junior, and sophomore class representatives will be held later in April.

ROCK THE VOTE (TOP) Michael Zhao (11), Sanil Rajput (11), Grace Guan (11), and Ray Song (10) were elected as ASB ofﬁcers for the upcoming school year. (BOTTOM) Honor council ofﬁcers Sahana Rangarajan (12) and Kevina Xiao (11) hold elections for next year’s ASB council. Voting occurred using an instant runoff voting system (IRV) on April 9 during lunch in the journalism room.

Recreate Reading titles claimed for coming summer

Collars, four-inch skirts not required anymore

Students try new dress code news editor & Aquila copy editor

The Upper School Dress Code Committee (DCC) recently announced an updated version of the dress code, which includes the allowance of T-shirts without logos, skirts and dresses that meet “fingertip” requirements for length, and leggings, as long as the top worn with them also meets the fingertip rule. The DCC, which is comprised of three students, two faculty members and three parents, has been working since the beginning of the school year to create a new dress code, which the community feels to be more appropriate. Upper School Dean of Students Kevin Williamson sent an email to parents and students on April 3 to broadcast the changes made to the community at large. w “When I had sent out a letter [at the end of summer] saying, ‘Here is what the new dress code is going to look like,’ based on some responses

from some parents and students, we decided that after 15 years, let’s start over,” Williamson said. Upper School mathematics teacher Lola Muldrew, a member of the DCC, mentioned that a main goal of the DCC was to make the dress code less strict. “We looked at dress codes from other independent schools in Silicon Valley and California, and we saw this wide variety, and we really liked the language we saw in a few of them,” she said. The DCC looked at other schools’ dress codes throughout the bay area, such as Archbishop Mitty, but came up with a new dress code based off of student’s, teacher’s and parent’s values of the Harker community. Mitty’s dress code states that “dresses & skirts (and their slits) that do not stay at least 6” from mid-knee” are not permitted, which is a more lenient rule in comparison to the Upper School’s previous dress code. Muldrew did refer to the rules as somewhat arbitrary, but she emphasized the need to prevent inappropri-

lauren russell reporter

KSHITHIJA MULAM - WINGED POST

elisabeth siegel & raveena kapatkar

LOOK MA, NO COLLAR Alexander Lam (10) and Sandip Nirmel (10) sport clothing acceptable pre-dress code changes, while Rishab Gargeya (10) wears a plain, crew-neck t-shirt now permitted with the new dress code. Collar-less T-shirts are a new addition to the dress code. The dress code will continue its trial period until May 31.

ate imagery on T-shirts, even as the rules become more lax. “[T-shirts] can be plain, they can have stripes, they can be polka-dotted, but you can’t have a T-shirt with a cool, iconic figure,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how amazing that person is. You can’t wear a T-shirt with Albert Einstein on it, because that doesn’t

match the dress code.” Senior Glenn Reddy mentioned the new dress code’s wider variety of clothing options. “I am thoroughly satisfied,” he said. “Adding a couple new things to the array of clothing I’m allowed to wear is nice.”

“Revolution”: HELM to release newest issue of magazine in April vijay bharadwaj & adrian chu

missions go through a selection process where members of the HELM club vote for certain works following reporters close examination of all works. Even though not all of the student submisUpper School literary and artissions are published, HELM covers all tic talent will be on display in Harker perspectives of the Harker communiEclectic Literary Magazine’s (HELM) ty to the best of its ability. 2015 issue themed “Revolution”. “In past years, we rated the piecHELM is an annual student-run es with a numerical scale,” HELM publication that features arts submisadvisor Dr. Anne Douglas said. “This sions from Harker students and faculty. year, they divided the students into It features poetry, prose, photography, diff erent groups that would review art and writing. Since their February the photographs, the artwork, and the writing, and they had an open discussion of these pieces. This was one of the most provocative and educational aspects of the process “what constitutes the art” The design team and editors have put together a final draft of HELM based on the selections and have sent the magazine to the press. Freshman and sophomore involvement was particularly commendable in both the number of underclassman ECLECTIC LIT From left to right are the 2014, 2013 and 2012 editions of HELM. submissions and staff. “[It is] clear that the magazine is The next issue of HELM will arrive at the end of April. PROVIDED BY HELM

due date, HELM has received around 80 student-submitted works: 40 literary pieces and 40 visual art pieces. “Writers and artists interpreted [the] theme in ways that were very different from one another and highly representative of their personal views of revolution, yielding an extremely diverse selection of submissions to choose from,” Juhi Muthal (12), co-editor of HELM, said. This year’s issue of HELM is the first one to have a theme at all. All sub-

Writers and artists interpreted the theme in ways that were very different from one another and highly representative of their personal views of revolution. Juhi Muthal (12)

going to be in good hands in the years to come,” Juhi Muthal (12), another co-editor of Helm said. Besides the students who have worked hard on their HELM submissions, the editors have dedicated much of their time to the design of the magazine. “I commend Juhi Gupta and Juhi Muthal,” Douglas said. “They are excellent leaders, and they have learned the inDesign application in and out, they have worked really well with the students in the staff of HELM.”

Students chose from an array of 65 different books of varying genres for Recreate Reading last week. With titles ranging from the zombie-themed “World War Z,” to a biography of Einstein by Walter Isaacson, these books are for reading over the summer, followed by a discussion at the start of school next year. The rising seniors chose books last Tuesday, rising juniors last Wednesday and rising sophomores last Thursday. By the time that seniors and juniors had chosen their books, five titles had been completely filled up, more than in most previous years. Some of these popular books include “Avatar: the Last Airbender - the Rift,” by Gene Luen Yang, “Bossypants” by Tina Fey, “Silence of the Lambs,” by Thomas Harris, and “A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming” by Dylan Tuccillo, Jared Zeizel and Thomas Peisel. These books will be hosted by Ms. Lieberman, Ms. Sandusky, Mr. Halback, and Dr. Meyer, respectively. “Usually in summer, I’m watching TV, but this will get me off it and get me onto a school track and reading and get me more proactive so I’m not watching netflix or amazon all day,” Jessica Skinner (9) said. In place of summer reading assigned by English classes, rising sophomores and juniors will merely have their recreate reading books. LAUREN RUSSELL - WINGED POST

vineet kosaraju & trisha dwivedi

BOOK YOUR SUMMER The books for recreate reading are on display by the entrance of the library. Juniors chose their titles ﬁrst, followed by the sophomores and freshmen.

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 6 NEWS • APRIL 22, 2015

“We wanted the students to reflect on the challenges they faced in terms of this particular issue and then hopefully use that as a way to be more responsive,” Manjoine said. “The Honor Council can use the data as a springboard for next year to do more outreach in [the] areas that the survey has highlighted.” Though feedback from the survey may help students, teachers and parents in the future, the honor council has not made any changes to the Honor Code after seeing the results. “If there’s a major consensus [...] then we’ll start discussing changes to the Honor Code,” Rahul said. “But before that happens, I don’t foresee any changes to the Honor Code.”

I don’t foresee any changes to the Honor Code. RAHUL BHETHANABOTLA (9)

I have observed the following lapses in academic honesty.

The following reasons cause students to lapse in their observations of academic honesty as per the Honor Code.

Sharing information about assessments outside of class

Pressure from parents Time constraints

Cheating during an assessment

Inadequate preparation Anxiety about getting a good grade

Plagiarism on writing assignments

Peer pressure

Inappropriately sharing work on individual assignments

Lack of interest in the subject/assignment Lack of awareness in the Honor Code Other 0

100

200

300

400

500

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Have you ever dialogued with an adult comunity member about having observed an academic honesty lapse?

25% 74% YES

Students generally have a clear understanding of what constitutes academic honesty through training and outreach.

82% 16% YES

How often have you observed cheating or plagiarism at Harker? 54 111

Will assigning a different test for each period reduce cheating?

I have lapsed in academic honesty by ... 18

24 One time

121

Other

Never

Sharing information about assessments outside of class

258

Often

212

Rarely

None

The Honor Council plans on releasing biannual surveys, and the next one will be about honorable acts around campus.

Cheating during an assessment 17 Plagiarism 11 Sharing work on individual assignments 106

57% 43% YES

Quarterly publishing statistical data of Honor Code violations will help the comunity.

48%

43%

YES

OTHER

SHAY LARI-HOSAIN - WINGED POST

Cont’d Honor council survey results

DECA members to compete at international career conference Aquila copy editor & reporter

Twenty-eight members of the Upper School’s DECA chapter will travel to Orlando, Florida to compete in the annual International Career Development Conference (ICDC) from

April 25-28. “ICDC is the culminating event for the DECA year,” Juston Glass, DECA advisor and director of Harker’s Business and Entrepreneurship program, said. “The cream of the crop come from all over the world, whatever their competitive event is, whether it’s finance, marketing, hospitality, tourism, business management, roleplays or the

same categories within their written events.” This year, three Upper School teams were announced as finalists in the Stock Market Challenge in January and will be recognized at ICDC. The team of David Lin (12) and Safia Khouja (12) has the highest total equity in the entire competition; the team of Aaron Huang (12), Steven Wang

(12) and Leo Yu (12), and the team of Alex Tuharsky (12) and Ashwath Thirumalai (12), are also ranked in the top level of the Western region. DECA President Savi Joshi recounts her experiences as a member and officer as she reaches the end of an era. “I always go in with the mindset, ‘Work hard. Expect nothing. Accept everything,’” Savi said. “I’m gonna cry; It’s hard to internalize that four years of putting your life into a chapter is coming to a close, but it’s also a good indication that it’s time to let go. It’s bittersweet, and I have full faith in [next year’s leadership] Sophia [Luo] (11) and Shannon [Hong] (11) to take Harker DECA to new heights of competitive success.”

PROVIDED BY DECA

It’s hard to internalize that four years of putting your life into a chapter is coming to a close.

DECA(RATED) Manthra Panchapakesan (12) receives an award at ICDC 2014. This year, 28 Upper School students will travel to ICDC 2015 in Orlando, Florida.

aditya varshney & derek yen

Aquila social media editor & reporter

SAHANA SRINIVASAN - WINGED POST

Lang-Ree chose “Into the Woods” this year partially because it’s one of her favorite musicals. “[The musical is] charming and it’s funny, but it’s dark, and there’s a very, very big moral to the story as well,” she said. “It is one of the hardest musicals for performers that there is.” Over spring break, the cast and Lang-Ree went on a group bonding trip in Los Gatos.

They all hiked a nearby creek trail and then were split into groups according to their characters in the musical and went on a scavenger hunt. Just as the baker and his wife had to find and deliver a specific set of items to a witch in order to have a child in the musical, students had to find a young couple with a baby or a pair of golden slippers.

DECA Director of Technology Alexis Gauba (10) reminisced about her first time attending ICDC last year as a freshman. “We don’t just get to compete,

Seniors qualify for Economics national semifinals

Cont’d Into the Woods premiere

We did part of the show in the woods, and that really gave us a sense of what it would be like when we got the whole set. ZOE WOEHRMANN (12)

SAVI JOSHI (12)

we get to experience a city with many peers from all around the globe,” Alexis said. “I recall last year in Atlanta the streets were full of ICDC attendees and different groups would just shout across the street to others asking where they were from and making DECA diamonds.” Harker winners at last year’s ICDC included Nihal Uppugunduri (‘14) and Alexis, who placed first in the the Stock Market Challenge; David Zhu (10) and Peter Wu (10), who placed fifth in the Virtual Business Challenge; Julia Fink (‘14), who placed in the top 20 for Apparel and Accessories Marketing and Raymond Xu (10), who placed in the top 20 in Principles of Finance. Additionally, out of approximately 20,000 participants in grades four to 12, Manthra Panchapakesan (12) was recognized for placing first statewide and third nationally in the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) InvestWrite essay contest. Harker DECA’s events will come to a close with final banquet in May to recognize the members and to thank parents and faculty for their support. According to its website, DECA plans to host ICDC 2017 next year in Nashville, Tennessee, and in Anaheim, California.

“I WISH” Jeton Guiterrez-Bujari (12) and Rishabh Chandra (11) , playing the parts of the baker and Jack, talk during the musical.

“It was a lot of fun,” Zoe Woehrmann (12), who plays Little Red Riding Hood, said. “We did part of the show in the woods, and that really gave us a sense of what it would be like when we got the whole set.” The three-week long Festival Fringe will take place from Aug. 7 to 31, with the show venues scattered throughout Edinburgh.

A team of four seniors represented Northern California in the national semifinal competition of the National Economics Challenge (NEC) on April 14, taking a test to qualify for the final round of the competition. The NEC state competition took place at the Federal Reserve building in San Francisco on April 7 among the five highest scoring teams from Northern California. Three of the five teams in the state qualifier were from the Upper School. Of those teams, the “Hurrikeynes,” a team comprised of seniors Steven Wang, Aswath Thirumalai, Rohith Kuditipudi, Leo Yu and Aaron Huang, advanced to represent Northern California in the national semifinal competition, in which the team will compete against the 50 teams representing the other states and Southern California. As for the test itself, the NEC assesses students on microeconomics, macroeconomics, international policy and current events. The national semifinal round is comprised of a 45 question multiple-choice exam. The national final round features a quiz bowl game, along with a written test. The competition assesses material beyond

MAKING IT RAIN From left to right, seniors Leo Yu, Aaron Huang, Aswath Thirumalai and Steven Wang, team Hurrikeynes, advanced to represent Northern California in the national semifinal competition.

the AP Economics curriculum, requiring knowledge of information such as the accomplishments of influential figures in economics, as well as data regarding current exchange rates. Anika Mohindra (11), a member of one of the teams that qualified for the state level, attributed the students’ interest and success to the economics teachers. “If perhaps the teachers were not up to their caliber, I might not have been as interested in economics as I was this year, simply [because] they made the subject so interesting and really went into depth on different concepts,” Anika said. “I think that really helped us in the Econ Challenge too because we knew some stuff that was outside the curriculum that showed up on the test just by virtue of their digressions in class.”

PROVIDED BY SAMUEL LEPLER

tara parimi & praveen batra

Signups for the competition commenced in February. Participants joined teams of four and independently studied advanced economic topics. According to Economics teacher Samuel Lepler, this year sported an unusually high student turnout. “This year we had by far the most we’ve ever had,” Lepler said. “We had 13 teams, which is 52 students. [Mr. Halback and I], combined at the AP level, teach only six classes, so we’re talking about a 50% participation rate or more.” The four teams with the highest test scores from the national semifinal competition will travel to New York City in May for the NEC finals where a winner will be chosen.

A4 Spring orchestra concert dazzles

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 6 NEWS • APRIL 22, 2015

Middle, Upper School instrumental groups play at Mexican Heritage theater Harker’s upper and middle school orchestras performed in the annual Spring Concert at the Mexican Heritage Theater on April 10. In the first half of the concert, the sixth grade orchestra performed, followed by middle school chamber ensembles, including two bass duets with middle school bassists and upper school principal bass Andrew Kim (11). The seventh and eighth grade orchestra performed afterward. The entire middle school orchestra, conducted by David Hart, then performed Georges Bizet’s “Prelude to Carmen.” After an intermission, the upper school orchestra performed six pieces, each with an introduction by an orchestra member. After beginning with Camille Saint-Saens’ “Danse Macabre,” the orchestra performed “The Firebird” by Igor Stravinsky. “[The Firebird is] the most difficult work we’ve ever played,” music director and conductor Christopher Florio said. “It’s a very powerful, energetic piece that has some really tender moments to it.” After “The Firebird,” the orchestra performed “La Paix,” by Leo Delibes, with principal viola Austin Lai (12) as a soloist, and the first movement of a violin concerto by Samuel Barber, with concertmaster Helen Wu (12) as a soloist. The orchestra then performed Alexander Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances.” Florio then recognized each senior orchestra member individually in a speech that preceded the last piece of the evening, Jose Pablo Moncayo’s “Huapango.” The Upper School orchestra had also performed “Huapango” at a school meeting in the gym during the week of

the concert. Florio commented on some of the challenges this venue posed. “The way we are set up [in the gym], which is the only way we can set up, doesn’t allow the people in the back—the brass—to be able to hear the strings,” Florio said. “It’s really hard to line everything up, and it seems amazing they actually pulled it off as well as they did.” The orchestra used instruments ranging from the harp to the xylophone during the concert. Percussionist and pianist Andrew Semenza (9) commented on the transportation of instruments to the theater. “The morning of the concert [...] we spend the class period moving mostly percussion instruments, and the piano as well, to the truck that holds all the big instruments,” Andrew said. “We have to package up the piano and package up the harp, and we have to get the timpanis loaded.” “Huapango” and Camille SaintSaens’ “Danse Macabre” were among pieces that the orchestra also performed in Portland, Oregon for the Northwest Orchestra Festival on March 7 to 8, where they won first place.

PRAVEEN BATRA - WINGED POST

reporter

STRINGS OF SPRING (LEFT) Concertmistress Helen Wu (12) performs as the soloist for a violin concerto by Samuel Barber, Opus 14. The orchestra played the first movement of the concerto. (TOP CENTER) Anamika Kannan (9) plays the horn during the Upper School orchestra’s performance of “The Firebird” by Igor Stravinsky. (BOTTOM CENTER) From left, cellists Matthew Huang (12), Julia Wang (12), Kevin Kim (11) and Victor Weber (9) play during the Upper School orchestra’s performance of “The Firebird.” (TOP RIGHT) Assistant principal oboe Allison Kiang (12) performs during the Upper School orchestra’s rendition of Alexander Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances. (BOTTOM RIGHT) Middle school bassist Connie Xu (8) performs a bass duet with Upper School principal bass Andrew Kim.

Students choose summers at Harker to polish skills

Kentucky tournament boasts best speakers

Debaters vie for championship

adrian chu & jackie gao

SEE YA DEBATER From left to right, juniors and PF debaters David Jin Abhinav Ketineni, Eesha Chona and Jasmine Liu prep for TOC by having a practice debate.

Advanced Placement (AP) and other for-credit summer courses are more popular than ever, with 248 students signed up as of today. Nine courses are offered for credit, such as chemistry, biology, and programming, and an additional 39 courses are available for students to choose based on their own personal interests. “I think that the thing that makes the Harker summer programs special is not only the focus on academics but also the fun stuff,” Kelly Espinosa, Director of Summer & Preschool Programs, said. “At other camps, families might send their kids to either a soccer camp or a math camp, but the Harker camps facilitate both needs.” This year, the AP Chemistry course has approximately 80 students enrolled at the moment, the most out of all classes this year. “I think that class is also a little more popular because, not compared to others, but compared to AP Biology, the students are younger and don’t have many options outside of summer school in terms of jobs and internships,” Academic Dean Evan Barth said. Students who wish to take the chemistry and AP courses in the upcoming school year must take a summer course for that subject. There is one session in the morning and another in the afternoon. Strict attendance is required and students who are absent for more than one class period during a threeweek course or two periods during a six-week course will not receive the credit and must leave the class.

Some students believe that the credit summer courses should be available but not required for students planning to take the AP. “For the AP requirements, I think that Harker shouldn’t mandate students to take the summer course if they are already capable of performing in their desired class for the next year,” Jimmy Lin (9) said. “I think that the class is still a great opportunity for students, but it is a huge time com-

I think that the class is still a great opportunity for students, but it is a huge time commitment. JIMMY LIN (9)

mitment.” Harker Summer Institute provides other courses for the dents’ personal interests, such as ative writing, driver’s education

also stucreand

SHAY LARI-HOSAIN - WINGED POST

reporters

debate. Sports camps, such as baseball, soccer, wrestling and volleyball are also available during summer. Students may sign up for teaching assistant (TA) slots for middle school enrichment classes. “I am going to TA for regular programming this year,” Alex Henshall (11) said. “I was in the summer class myself. There was a nice TA there named John; he graduated now. I thought, man, I really want to be in that position. I consider myself to be pretty good at programming, I don’t want to toot my own horn or anything, but I thought if I was going to be TA a class, I might as well do something I’m good at.” Though registration does not close until the classes start, spots fill up quickly. Courses range in cost from $390 to $1,595 and last from June 15 to Aug. 7 with curriculums built for students from elementary school to high school.

aditya varshney & derek yen

Aquila social media editor & reporter Nineteen members of Upper School Speech and Debate have been chosen to participate in the Tournament of Champions (TOC) on April 25 at the University of Kentucky. A national invitational, the TOC is only open to debaters or debate teams that have reached higher rounds in at least two other national circuit tournaments. According to Carol Green, the Public Forum (PF) and Congressional Debate (CD) coach, qualifying for the tournament is its own accomplishment. “These debaters debate all school year to qualify and then to compete,” Green said. “For many students around the country, they will work all four years of high school and never qualify.” This year, the Upper School debate program had one debater in Lincoln-Douglas (LD), one speaker in

ADITYA VARSHNEY - WINGED POST

praveen batra

Extemporaneous Speaking, one team in Policy, three debaters in CD and six teams in PF qualify. Pranav Reddy (12), the only debater to be invited for LD and the recent National LD Debate champion at the National Debate Coaches Association tournament at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is especially anxious for this year’s TOC. “I went last year and I qualified my sophomore year too,” Pranav said. “I’m nervous because it’s my last time and there’s a lot of hope that I’ll do well. I’ve been preparing for awhile so it’s [been] a lot of writing.” David Jin (11), a first time TOC participant, summed up the competition as one of the toughest PF debate tournaments of the year. “It’s the top competition because it’s an invite-only [tournament],” David said. “So you will be seeing the best debaters, regardless of grade.”

GLOBAL

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 6 APRIL 22, 2015

Students and faculty reﬂect on Earth Day trisha dwivedi & maya jeyendran

GOING GREEN Kristin LeBlanc (9) and Akshaya Vemuri (9) engage in environmental activities during the freshman community service day. Today, students around the world unite in celebrating the environment in observance of Earth Day.

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

business manager & Aquila lifestyle editor

“I love planet earth - it has given me so much. And all I want to do is give back to it. ”

“I think Earth Day is very important because we should be conscious of protecting the place where we live. In fact, every day should be Earth Day.”

SANIL RAJPUT (11)

ARCHANA PODURY (12)

Today, people around the world join together in celebration of Earth Day. Earth Day is an annually observed date during which individuals attempt to show their support for the environment. The idea originated at a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) conference during the late 1960s as a response to a large oil spill in Santa Barbara. Earth Day and its associated activities gained traction during the 1970s due to increased environmental activism. Today, parades, displays and various other methods of conserving energy all play a role in Earth Day festivities. “Earth Day, I think, was started in 1970 because at that time there was a huge focus from the government on businesses and businesses had the right to exploit the environment, and people were pushing back against that,” Jeff Sutton, AP Environmental Science teacher, said. “So there was a big rally in 1970 on April 22, so now April 22 is Earth Day.” “It’s a day to celebrate the planet around us and also be a little more gentle to her than we normally are,” Upper School Librarian Lauri Vaughn said. “I remember the very first earth day when I was a kid, and everyone in the neighborhood went out and picked up trash. It was kind of a cool thing.” Though the concept was initially proposed by the United States, Earth Day is now celebrated around the world. By the 1990s, Earth Day was celebrated in over 140 countries, and during the 2000s, over 180 countries participated in the festivities. In 1990, Brazilian activists encouraged increased recycling; and in

GEO Multicultural Fair to take place at end of month reporters

The annual Global Multicultural Fair, hosted by the Global Empowerment Outreach (GEO) club, is set to take place towards the end of April. The fair is organized by the club for students to come by and experience practices of various cultures part of the Harker community. The GEO Multicultural Fair is an annual tradition at Harker. The fair will have booths representing a variety of cultures representing the heritage of students at Harker. One of the goals of the fair is to display the different nationalities and heritages of Harker students and reveal the diversity of the school community. Each year, students set up booths with posters, food and activities related to their culture. The multicultural fair serves as a place for students and teachers to learn about the practices of different cultures “[The fair] is basically a place for people to just walk around and have fun at the different booths,” Suzy Lou (12), Co-president of the

GEO club, said. “It’s also fun to explore different cultures; we still have people from different backgrounds, who really want to share, and I think it’s really important to their culture.” Some of the presenters include senior Patrick Lin and Japanese National Honor Society, representing Japan, and junior Jason Chu, who will set up a booth about Korean culture. Currently, the club has not contacted any teachers to host booths. Past presenter and history teacher Dr. Meyer talked about the country she represented. “I got together with Ms. Prutton, and we decided it would be really nice if we could make cups of tea for people, because thats what British people do,” Dr. Meyer said. “It’s a really great remedy. If you’re having a bad day, make a cup of tea. If you’re feeling cold, make a cup of tea. Feeling stressed, you got a test, make a cup of tea. We decided it would be really good for everybody. We also bought British cookies for everybody, but they went so fast that we ran out.” Currently, the date for the GEO Multicultural Fair is not finalized, but is tentatively set to be the 29th.

TEA PARTY History teacher Dr. Meyer serves British cookies and tea during last year’s Multicultural Fair. This year, the Global Empowerment Outreach (GEO) club plans to hold its fair at the end of the month.

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

vijay bharadwaj & lauren russell

responses from a Winged Post survey

“Plant

a mango tree

energysaving lightbulbs Use

Take a shorter

Live by

shower

candlelight

“

Unplug devices

e t a r b e l How do you ce

2000, Earth Day-related messages journeyed across Gambon, Africa. Although neither the faculty nor any student-run environmental organizations are planning any specific celebrations for Earth Day at the Upper School, some students and faculty members participate in the event individually. “In Environmental Science, we talk about it, and I also work with the Green Team. We’ve done things in the past, but they’ve primarily been student-driven,” AP Environmental Science teacher Jeff Sutton said. “I think Earth Day, hopefully for most people, helps them pause and be mindful of what they’re doing to help extend the planet for future generations.” Students engage in activities such as making a conscious effort to recycle properly, turning off all the lights in their houses for a day and using a minimal amount of water, especially due to the California drought. “I usually don’t watch TV on Earth Day and try to minimize my use of electronics,” Divya Bhimaraju (9) said. Earth Day has been celebrated for the past 45 years and continues to be celebrated globally this year.

? y Earth Da Drought Update lauren russell reporter

San Jose will be enforcing more serious water restrictions as California enters its fourth year of record drought. Landscape watering, lawn irrigation and outdoor planting will all be affected with the introduction of the new measures. Currently, officials have proposed limiting the number of days per week that homeowners can water their outdoor plants. These measures are aimed at matching new state mandates that are cutting urban water use. However, the proposal has been met with criticism for missing important details, such as who would enforce the new rules and what the punishments would be for offenders. The city council will vote on the proposition on April 21.

VOLUME 16 â&#x20AC;˘ ISSUE 6 APRIL 22, 2015

DeMattei Construction 1794 The Alameda San Jose, CA 95126 (408) 350 4200

Meticulous Craftsmanship Superior Management Unparalleled Value

OPINION

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 6 APRIL 22, 2015

Managing Editor Kacey Fang

LE N STEIM

MEILA

ED PO

- WING

women 1willinbe5sexually

Copy Editor Kavya Ramakrishnan

assaulted in HER

Design Editor Shay Lari-Hosain

STATISTIC FROM CDC

Editors-in-Chief Apoorva Rangan & Sheridan Tobin

lifetime

News Editor Elisabeth Siegel Opinion Editor Meilan Steimle Features Editor Priscilla Pan Lifestyle Editor Riya Godbole Global Editor Anokhi Saklecha

Wingspan Assistant Editor-in-Chief Shay Lari-Hosain Aquila Editor-in-Chiefs Alyssa Amick & Vasudha Rengarajan Adviser Ellen Austin, MJE Aquila Contributors Megy Appalaraju Maya Jeyendran Sharanya Balaji Raveena Kapatkar Tiara Bhatacharya Vineet Kosaraju Ria Gandhi Tara Parimi Ashi Gautam Shannon Su Kaity Gee Vedant Thyagaraj Vivian Isenberg Reporters Sanjana Avula Melina Nakos Neil Bai Alix Robinson-Guy Praveen Batra Lauren Russell Vijay Bharadwaj Jenna Sadhu Adrian Chu Sahana Srinivasan Jackie Gao Justin Su Meena Gudapati Aditya Varshney Kaitlin Hsu Derek Yen Ashley Jiang Emma Yu Maya Kumar Stanley Zhao Visit The Winged Post Online at www.harkeraquila.com Follow us on social media with the handle /harkeraquila

The Winged Post is published every four to six weeks except during vacations by the Journalism and Advanced Journalism Newspaper Concentration courses of Harker Upper School, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129. The Winged Post staff will publish features, editorials, news, and sports in an unbiased and professional manner and serve as a public forum for the students of The Harker School. Editorials are the official opinions of The Winged Post. Opinions and letters are the personal viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Winged Post. All content decisions are made by student editors, and the content of The Winged Post in no way reflects the official policy of The Harker School. The opinions expressed in this publication reflect those of the student writers and not the Harker board, administration, faculty, or advisor. Advertisements are accepted in the Post. However, The Winged Post reserves the right to deny any ad. Letters to the Editor may be submitted to Manzanita 70 or emailed to wingedpost@harker.org and must be signed, legible, and concise. The staff reserves the right to edit letters to conform to Post style. Baseless accusations, insults, libelous statements, obscenities, and letters which call for a disruption of the school day will not be considered for publication. Letters sent to the Post will be published at the discretion of the editorial staff. Mast eagle courtesy of photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen. The Winged Post is the official student newspaper, and it is distributed free of cost to students. 2013-2014 Silver Crown-winning publication 2012-2013 Silver Crown-winning publication 2010-2011 Gold Crown-winning publication 2009-2010 Silver Crown-winning publication 2007-2008 Pacemaker Award-winning publication 2010-2011 Silver Crown-winning www.talonwp.com 2009-2010 Gold Crown-winning www.talonwp.com

SCU

Wingspan Editor-in-Chief Sindhu Ravuri

Maybe the most glaring be facing the consequences and inexcusable aspect of of their mistakes, but oththis Rolling Stone fiasco is ers are. The fraternity in the the way they regard the sit- piece, Phi Kappa Psi, faced uation as just a bump in the significant backlash after the road, a glitch in an other- article’s release and plans to Last November, Roll- wise perfectly sound system, pursue legal action against ing Stone published a piece without taking the gravity of the magazine for libel. Rolling Stone’s failure to detailing one UVA student’s their mistakes seriously. The horrific and graphic account managing editor laughs on make significant changes folof being brutally gang raped public radio, albeit perhaps lowing their failure depletes by members of the Phi Kap- a nervous tic, while looking not only their own credibilpa Psi fraternity. The story back on the staff ’s treatment ity, but the credibility of evcaused protests at UVA, led to the suspension of all UVA fraternities and ignited a na40 Reported Forcible Sexual Assaults in 2013 tionwide debate about the 35 prevalence of rape on college 30 campuses. But within weeks, the 25 story began to fall apart. Phi 20 Kappa Psi did not hold a par15 ty on the night mentioned in 10 the piece, and no fraternity members matched descrip5 tions provided by the story’s 0 STATISTICS FROM ANNUAL FIRE AND SAFETY REPORTS only source, the alleged rape victim known only as “Jackie.” Six months later, The Co- of this article, and the publi- ery other news organization. lumbia School of Journalism cation as a whole makes no Rolling Stone’s inability to exreleased a report that Rolling revisions to their process and ecute elementary fact-checkStone commissioned detail- determines no consequenc- ing procedures opens every ing exactly what went wrong es or discipline for those re- news story up to critique. The factual flaws in “A Rape on in the piece. The report responsible. Across the country, news Campus” were only exposed veals that Rolling Stone’s organizations, journalists and because of how high profile journalistic failures were significant and widespread, those involved in media eth- the piece was. What other inand that the magazine ne- ic widely spoke out against accuracies have the editors of glected even the most basic Rolling Stone’s inaction. Rolling Stone missed? Rolling Stone staff may not The most important fact-checking procedures.

EDITORIAL THE OFFICIAL OPINION OF THE WINGED POST

UCLA

Photo Editor KJ Mulam

Rolling Stone’s incompetence damages credibility of rape victims

Stanford

Business Manager Trisha Dwivedi

Casting shadows:

UC Berkeley

STEM Editor Vivek Bharadwaj

USC

Sports Editor Roshni Pankhaniya

consequence, one that Rolling Stone largely fails to acknowledge, is the blow dealt to the credibility of sexual assault survivors and to the very important issue of rape on college campuses. Rolling Stone’s travesty of an editorial process doesn’t just undermine their own credibility. It undermines the credibility of courageous rape or assault victims that come forth to share their own hardships and to seek justice for the wrongs committed against them. They are already subjected to intense scrutiny with every statement they make, but Rolling Stone’s breach of long-standing journalistic codes only worsens the process of attempting for justice for victims of sexual assault as they are needlessly written off as unreliable or even hysteric. Like it or not, Rolling Stone’s journalistic breach affects every single student at Harker. Whether in one year or four, each of us will matriculate into some form of a college campus, a campus where rape victims will lack credibility. College culture is already a harsh environment for rape victims, but Rolling Stone’s carelessness has cast it reprehensibly backwards.

Becoming a small ﬁsh in a large collegiate pond

Straight Talk sheridan tobin editor in chief

If you had asked me a year ago where I thought I’d be next fall, I would have said something along the lines of “a small or midsize school somewhere in California.” By about last November, I’d

change, I decided that, despite the serious intimidation factor, a big school would provide the best opportunities to explore a wide variety of academic fields and to step out of my comfort zone. There’s always a huge transition to be made between high school and college, but graduating in a class of roughly 180 then matriculating in a class of almost 7000 will add a whole new set of challenges. For probably the first time in my life, I’m truly going to be a small, likely lost, fish in a big, unfamiliar pond. And to be successful,

There’s a big part of me that’s terriﬁed of going to a big school next year, but that same sense of fear conﬁrms my decision.

changed my mind. As an undeclared student and as someone who notoriously hates

I’ll have to force myself to make new connections and redefine the boundaries of my comfort zone. As an introvert, I’m generally

MEILAN STEIMLE - WINGED POST

horrible at doing those kinds of things, especially if I don’t have to, but navigating uncomfortable situations is a crucial skill to develop and an inevitable part of growing up. It’s easy to forget that, in addition to being a time for academic growth, college and young adulthood should help us become strong, driven individuals who can advocate for ourselves, even in unfamiliar situations.

There’s a big part of me that’s terrified of going to a big school next year, but that same sense of fear confirms my decision. I know it will take some getting used to but I also know that after four years, I’ll graduate without having to wonder whether I could have pushed myself further and with the confidence to thrive in whatever career environment I end up in.

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 6 OPINION • APRIL 22, 2015

talk around campus What are your favorite personal superstitions? “In the game craps (the dice game), if the shooter rolls the dice off the table, the next roll is going to be bad. Its going to be a 7 out and you will lose all your money. ” -Matthew Harley

“Some days on Friday the 13th, I actually have bad luck and everything bad just happens so I don’t know if i should believe in it or not.” -Vivian Wang (9)

ashi gautum & ashley jiang

aquila social media editor & reporter

“Before my basketball games, I used to comb my hair so that we would win the game.” -Rohan Desikan (11)

“I never buy 13 pairs of socks.” -Jacqueline He (9) “I purposely step on cracks to rebel against the superstition of stepping on cracks.” -Johnny Trinh (11)

Political cynicism stops voting

meilan steimle opinion editor

The day Hillary Clinton released a video announcing her intent to run for president, the internet exploded in a flurry of speculation and critique. So I bit; I watched the two minute 15 second video of “average Americans” and Hillary Clinton announcing her plans for 2015, then promptly clicked through several articles dissecting every one of those 135 seconds. In the half hour I spent reading, I learned several things: that Hillary Clinton hasn’t driven a car since 1996, that this video is a clear departure from her 2008 Hillary-dominated announcement, that she’s trying to give the impression of a campaign focused on the people, not herself. Each article turned a piercing eye to the videos’ content and speculated on the strategic motivations Clinton’s campaign managers must have used when making the video. The same cynicism pervaded the comments on the video. Some watchers sardonically commented that the “average Americans” featured in the video were like a checklist of minority groups. Others questioned the point of voting in a supposedly broken political system. And I began to wonder if anyone took politics at face value anymore. Americans love to bemoan the nature of politics: how it’s a cyclical rat race, how politicians are silver-tongued

VOTE 2016! ILLUSTRATION BY MEILAN STEIMLE - WINGED POST

Meianderings

businessmen and women. While those things are true, much of the problem stems from the cynical mindset with which people, especially young people, view politics. For all my reading about Hillary Clinton, I didn’t find a single article detailing her policies and how they compare with those of other presidential candidates. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging that the campaign machine is a strategic entity and promotional material is specifically tailored and targeted to different audiences. But it is remiss to focus on the mechanics of a campaign to the point that they overshadow his or her actual policies. A chilling real-world consequence to this kind of widespread cynicism is the wide swaths of young voters, like the commenters on Clinton’s announcement video, who have become too apathetic to bother voting. Desensitized by years of political navel-gazing, students and people in their early 20s stay home on election day, either because they don’t think their vote will make a difference or because they’ve lost trust in the government to the point that they think voting doesn’t matter. Imagine all the changes that might come about if young adults voted in large numbers. Proposition 8 most likely would not have passed in California. Marijuana would probably be legalized in more states. Perhaps there would be more initiatives to stop climate change. I’ll be missing the next presidential election by three months, but frankly, I don’t care that Hillary Clinton is campaigning via bus to seem more down to earth. I’d rather know her policies, her platform or even her past experience. Maybe then people like me would have more reason to vote next November.

“Why even bother?”

64%

of Americans voted in 2012.

75%

voter turnout in Minnesota, the state with the highest turnout.

53%

voter turnout in Utah, the state with the lowest turnout.

58% of 78% of 18-24 year-olds were registered to vote.

65-74 year-olds were registered to vote.

STATISTICS FROM STATISTICBRAIN.COM

Campus conversation encourages positive body image APOORVA APPROVED apoorva rangan editor in chief

Rolling waves. Beating sun. A complete lack of academic obligation. Can you think of a better way to spend a Monday and Tuesday in May? A year ago, I certainly could. To stressed-out junior me, the senior trip to Laguna Beach posed a conundrum: relax in Edenic bliss while freaking out about my perceived bodily imperfections -- the stretch marks, the hip bones, the skinny ankles. It was last year that

I realized how much I’d sucked up the hordes tell me I have nothing to worry social and media connotations of these about. parts of my body – that they’re less than In this issue, we’ve included an perfect. Since that point, I started So many of my friends have healthy talking to my friends about my attitudes towards their bodies and body and realbelieve that physical health leads to ized that Harker is one of the most emotional well-being. accepting places I’ve ever been in. So many of my friends have healthy attitudes towards their bodies article about body image on campus and believe that physical health leads and its intersection with health and to emotional well-being. Whenever I’ve fitness. The first thing that struck me expressed even the slightest insecurity about the piece was the preponderance about my physical appearance, I’ve had of kids with a desire to be healthy, not

just skinny. So many conversations in the media have revolved around the lack of health in teenage life that, to me, Harker seems like a bright light in that landscape. Harker does so much right regarding our health -- encourages us to pursue athletics and offers Healthy Choice and other health-conscious options during lunch, so anyone who intends to be healthy can do so with ease. But I was surprised that we’ve heard nothing from the administration about the perception of so many seniors attempting to get that beach-ready body. The way in which a body-positive message is communicated is important too. The administration can’t bring up issues of body image while dismissing the fact that there is a pressure to

be skinny. That would invalidate the struggles of those at the Upper School going through serious eating or health tribulations. It’s imperative that we have more of the vocal positivity that I was lucky to get last year. I would be in a worse place mentally if not for my social net of friends and family who reminded me that whatever my body looked like after I ate healthy food and drank enough water and exercised a bit was good enough. That advice is healing, and having it come from friends and peers – from students who understand that “the social image comes as a side benefit,” as Abhay Varmaraja (10) said in the article – is even more so.

VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 6 APRIL 22, 2015

A10

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 6 APRIL 22, 2015

EXPERIMENT

STEM

EXTRAVAGANZA

Aspiring researchers present work at Synopsys and Research Symposium 2

ALL PHOTOS BY KAVYA RAMAKRISHAN AND SHAY LARI-HOSAIN - WINGED POST

Andrew Jin (12), who won first place in the Intel Science Talent Search, presents his research during a breakout session.

Harker alumna Shabnam Aggarwal (‘03) presents a keynote address titled, “The Secret to Happiness: Failure.”

Robbie Korin, Upper School Chemistry teacher, conducts a demonstration at the Chemistry Magic Show.

Chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine holds burning flash paper in his hand during the Chemistry Magic Show.

Data scientist DJ Patil delivers a keynote address. Patil spoke with his father at the symposium.

John Wolpert speaks about IBM’s Watson and potential applications of its technology.

Edward Sheu (11) tries the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset at a corporate exhibition booth.

Faculty, alumni, and keynote speakers present at 10th research symposium copy editor & design editor WHOOOM! A colossal fireball erupts on the gym stage as chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine takes a lighter mounted on a meterstick to a hydrogen-filled balloon. From the chemistry magic show to keynote addresses by prominent Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, WiSTEM’s tenth annual Research Symposium hosted a myriad of student researchers, corporate exhibitions and speakers at the Upper School on April 11. Organized by Upper School Science Department Chair Anita Chetty and WiSTEM officers, the event also featured poster sessions by middle and high school students, formal presentations by Siemens and Intel compe-

tition semifinalists and finalists, and corporate exhibit booths from IBM, Tesla Motors, Verizon, Google, Nod Labs, the South Asian Heart Center, Palo Alto Medical Foundation/Sutter Health and others. Company representatives displayed products for attendees to interact with and experience. The first keynote speaker was Dr. James McClintock, a climate scientist and author of “Lost Antarctica: Adventures in a Disappearing Land,” who spoke on his time spent in the Antarctic researching the impact of climate change on the marine ecology of the Antarctic Peninsula. “I actually started at UC Santa Cruz as a literature major. This wasn’t necessarily because I liked literature as much as I loved my high school literature teacher,” McClintock said. “I took a course in Marine Biology in the first

semester, and there was a professor that you could just see the excitement in his eyes. And I got to know him and he said, ‘You need to go off to this marine lab and spend a semester there.’ ” After breakout sessions, attendees could explore the corporate booths,

FAST FACTS The symposium featured four keynotes and 23 student presentations. and student researchers presented their topics to audiences in the Nichols auditorium and various classrooms. Shabnam Aggarwal (‘03) gave the first afternoon address, speaking about her journey from Merrill Lynch to teaching young girls English

in Cambodia, and finally to founding KleverKid in India. She spoke with the Winged Post about her transition from Wall Street to humanitarian work. “I’d realized, ‘Oh, I’m making rich people richer here on Wall Street’ and there are so many people out there who need access to just a tiny percentage of this money,” Aggarwal said. “It just seemed like so ridiculous of a discrepancy. When I moved to Cambodia, that was like that spark where I was like, ‘Wow, this is actually what I’m supposed to be doing.’ ” Next on the agenda was the father-son duo of Dr. Suhas S. Patil and Dr. Dhanurjay “DJ” Patil. Dr. Suhas Patil is founder and retired chairman of Cirrus Logic, Inc., and Dr. DJ Patil is currently the Chief Data Scientist at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

“No two students are alike. Too often we’re so focused on fixing our weaknesses, rather than focusing on our strengths, and high school is a great time to try to get to understand what your weaknesses and strengths are. Find things that give you energy,” Patil said. The keynote addresses came to a close with Dr. John Wolpert, IBM’s Watson Evangelist. Dr. Wolpert shared his insights on the potential future applications of technology akin to Watson, the supercomputer most famously known for its appearance on the game show “Jeopardy” in 2011. “My biggest advice is STEAM, not STEM. I want to see kids who are diverse in their minds, not just good engineers,” Wolpert said. “I would say to any high school student, ‘Cultivate your imagination, more than anything.’

Students score at Synopsys science fair

maya kumar & sanjana avula The 2015 Synopsys Championship of Santa Clara County, which took place on March 11 at the San Jose Convention Center, awarded 27 Harker students, naming Harker one of the best schools at the science fair. This year, 52 Upper School students participated. Harker students were awarded the highest honor at the science fair. Grand prizes and Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) qualification were awarded to Jonathan Ma (11), Sadhika Malladi (11), Nitya Mani (12) and nine other participants from different schools at the fair. “My project concerns straightedge and compass constructions regarding curves into pieces of equal arc length,” Nitya said. “My research questions arose as a result of trial and error with over 50 mathematics questions I asked myself about other curves and tools in this field.”

SANJANA AVULA - WINGED POST

reporters

RESEARCH IN ACTION Nastya Grebin (9) explains her research project at the research symposium. She conducted her research with her partner, Anooshree Sengupta (9).

The ISEF competition, in which Harker will be represented takes place on May 10-15 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

SYNOPSYS GRAND PRIZE PROJECTS

NEW HORIZONS Upper school research teacher Chris Spenner talks about the new research journal to interested students.

Research club plans new journal

UPPER SCHOOL STUDENTS WON AWARDS

justin su & alex wang reporters

Science teacher Chris Spenner’s advanced research class is currently planning a science journal named Horizon to publish research papers written and peer reviewed in the 20152016 school year. “We wanted to come up with a way that we can have a mentoring system where [experienced seniors] can show underclassmen how to write technical papers,” Head Organizer Rohith Kuditipudi (12) said. “People who submit these articles will get valuable feedback.”

The publication is planning on becoming a club next year and is currently looking for student members of the editorial board and student peer reviewers. The group plans on accepting formal technical papers, briefs, and perspectives. Formal technical papers are based on a research project, brief are a shorter type of technical paper aimed at broader audience, and perspectives are writings about science or society. Submissions to the publication are currently open to everybody.Those interested should email Chris Spenner at or Rohith at 15RohithK@students. harker.org.

ALEXANDER WANG - WINGED POST

kavya ramakrishan & shay lari-hosain

A11 MEENA GUDAPATI - WINGED POST

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 6 STEM • APRIL 22, 2015

WATCHING OUT Customers at an Apple Store in Valley Fair examine the new Apple Watch. The Apple Watch is offered in models including Sport and Edition, with prices ranging from $349 to $17,000.

Apple debuts iWatch a er pre-release earlier this month reporters The Valley Fair Apple Store bustles with life as people walk in and out to explore the variety of technology Apple has to offer. The majority of the customers crowd around a long rectangular table in the center of the room. Inside the table’s glass surface lay two rows of Apple watches, ranging from vibrant Sports Watches to the sophisticated and elegant Watch Editions. Everywhere, employees wearing the blue Apple uniform roam around, assisting patrons with their requests and explaining product features. Behind the display table, customers who scheduled an appointment try on the Apple watches while other customers ask questions to employees. Other customers looking at watches talk with Apple geniuses at the back of the spacious room. From underneath the glass, the watches beckon to shoppers, captivating with their sleek bezels and polished screens. *** The Apple Watch will be released in stores on Friday after being made available for pre-order on April 10. The company will release three

models of the its new device. The first, Apple Watch, encompasses a total of 20 different stainless-steel cased models ranging from $549 to $1,099. Each comes with either a Sport Band, Classic Buckle, Milanese Loop, Modern Buckle, Leather Loop, Link Bracelet or Steel Link Bracelet. The Apple Sport Watch has 10 aluminum models all with Sport Bands in five different colors for more affordable prices of $349 and $399 depending on size. Watch Editions, the third and most expensive category, features eight additional models with 18-karat rose and yellow gold casings and either a Sport Band or Modern Buckle. Its price ranges from $10,000 and $17,000. The prices of the watch models led multiple students to believe that it is too expensive. “I think it’s way too overpriced,” Justin Yen (12) said. “I think its main selling factor is its convenience. It’s kind of the same thing as an iPhone, but more convenient and I don’t think convenience is worth [it].” Each watch is offered with two casing sizes: 38 mm and 42 mm. A total of three categories, each with a variety of models and design selections, are available to customers who wish to

purchase the product. Other than the basic functionalities of a timepiece, the Apple Watch has several other features, including a connection to iCalendar, personal contacts, Wi-Fi, GPS, and an exercise app that measures a person’s daily activity. In addition to the conventional usage of texts and calls, the watch allows the sender to draw sketches, which turn into animations of the drawing that can be sent to a recipient. A heartbeat can be communicated to another Apple watch by pressing two fingers on the screen. “I guess Apple has a pretty good name so in that sense it’s pretty reliable and that’s why I’m pretty pleased with the direction Apple’s going,” Gabi Gupta (12) said. Neeraj Aggarwal (9), a user of the Samsung Gear Live smartwatch, compared his smartwatch to Apple’s. “I think that this is more functional than Apple Watch, it’s rather interesting,” he said. “It’s just a lot better and Apple Watch is pretty thick.” Other smart watches were released between 2014 and 2015 from companies including Pebble, Motorola, LG, Samsung, Sony and Asus.

JACKIE GAO - WINGED POST

jackie gao & meena gudapati

APPLES OF THE EYE Customers at the Apple Store in the Westﬁeld Valley Fair mall examine the Apple watch, released for pre-order on April 10.

HOW TO BE PRODUCTI The top 4 apps to help you stay on task

stanley zhao & neil bai

We specialize in residen�al Real Estate & Mortgages with in -depth analysis & reports for home purchases, sales & refinance of primary & investment proper�es at wholesale mortgage rates in California. Leverage our consolidated services and affordable fees to maximize your net-worth & keep your por�olio diversified and rebalanced. For your Real Estate por�olio analysis email:

Bala@AllRealtyAndLoans.com. Call (650) 384 9089 REALTOR .CA BRE # 01910150. MORTGAGE ORIGINATOR NMLS # 877094

reporters

ALL REALTY AND LOANS 5091 La Honda Ave.,San Jose, CA 95129 Office:(408) 464-4535 CA BRE # 01523491. NMLS #: 237471 Equal Opportunity Housing Lender

EVERNOTE

WOLFRAM ALPHA

Evernote functions as a note taking application that simplifies the organizational process and syncs to multiple devices, so you can access your resources anywhere. If you often have trouble finding important notes, Evernote has a feature that allows for either starring or tagging notes, making it easier to search through notes that you may have taken earlier in the semester. “I like Evernote’s speed for taking many notes and its clean format. I like its many pages to fill up and its accessibility,” Shaya Zarkesh (9) said. Evernote is available for download on their website, the Apple Store and the Google Play store.

The Wolfram Alpha app integrates or derives tricky expressions in less than a second. In that time, it also generates steps and tips on how to perform the same calculation. Wolfram Alpha gives the steps and answers to math problems. “It’s a very effective, clean looking user interface. Learning math is really easy with it,” junior Omar Hamade said. The app is not just restricted to calculus or trigonometry, functioning as enormous computational database that helps generate data across all disciplines from history to physics. For any problems unfeasible with only paper and pencil, Alpha simplifies the process with its computational fortitude.

We specialize in residen�al Real Estate & Mortgages with in -depth analysis & reports for home purchases, sales & refinance of primary & investment proper�es at wholesale SafetyDriversEd.com mortgage rates in California. Leverage our consolidated services and affordable fees to maximize your net-worth & keep your por�olio diversified and rebalanced. ONLINE DRIVER’S ED For your Real Estate por�olio analysis email:

Ages 15 &Call Up (650) 384 9089 Bala@AllRealtyAndLoans.com. Log www.SafetyDriversEd.com ALLonto REALTY AND LOANS

REALTOR .CA BRE # 01910150. MORTGAGE ORIGINATOR NMLS # 877094

5091 La Honda Ave.,San Jose, CA 95129 Office:(408) 464-4535 EarnNMLS Your#:CA DMV-Approved Certificate Online CA BRE # 01523491. 237471 Equal Opportunity Housing Lender

…it’s required to get your Learner’s Permit and License

Your first 25% of the course is absolutely

FREE!

QUIZLET

Quizlet can be extremely useful for memorizing concepts and facts as a simple flash-card based learning tool. Now with a smartphone port to both Android and iOS, students can study gradually one bite at a time. If one has made flashcards previously, the app has a convenient export function that enables students to smoothly transfer the sets onto a different device. “It’s really good for memorization and really good for language especially because it helps in pronunciation and spelling,” Hannah Bollar (12) said. In addition to a flashcard function, the app features games and other activities. Quizlet proves a great way to cram between events such as commuting or waiting in lines.

STUDIOUS

COURTESY OF APPLE

With exam season approaching, it’s easy to overlook events and obligations under the sheer amount of material one is expected to complete. The Studious app can combat this problem, helping students to organize homework, tests, projects, and time slots for studying. Worried about when to do your physics lab report? Mark it on the planner so you don’t procrastinate until the night before. Is the large English essay due in a couple of days? It might be wise to note that too. For people who have trouble with planning and organizing, the Studious App proves to be a godsend. Studious encapsulates everything a student would need to stay organized and on top of things.

Bala@AllRealtyAndLoans.com. Call (650) 384 9089 REALTOR .CA BRE # 01910150. MORTGAGE ORIGINATOR NMLS # 877094

ALL REALTY AND LOANS 5091 La Honda Ave.,San Jose, CA 95129 Office:(408) 464-4535 CA BRE # 01523491. NMLS #: 237471 Equal Opportunity Housing Lender

Bala@AllRealtyAndLoans.com. Call (650) 384 9089 REALTOR .CA BRE # 01910150. MORTGAGE ORIGINATOR NMLS # 877094

ALL REALTY AND LOANS 5091 La Honda Ave.,San Jose, CA 95129 Office:(408) 464-4535 CA BRE # 01523491. NMLS #: 237471 Equal Opportunity Housing Lender

A12

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 6 APRIL 22, 2015

“We just wanted to make sure that it was strong enough to hold someone and light enough for someone to pull, and we had a lot of fun doing it,” Krishna Bheda (9) said.

jenna sadhu & sahana srinivasan reporters

With the regatta coming up tomorrow, students who worked on the boats share their strategies.

Spirit changes next years’ approach The Upper School Spirit Club will change its name to Harker Spirit next year, as a way of including the whole student body and staff members instead of being exclusive to club members. A core group of students will serve as the leadership team to help promote community and to create opportunities for students to bond and be more involved inside and outside of school. “Harker is a place where everybody gets to spend four years of some of the best years of their life,” Upper School Clubs Coordinator Eric Kallbrier said. “The students want this to be a place where they can both succeed inside and outside of the classroom. It’s really important to them that at the end of their four years here, they feel connected to each other and to the place where they

“Our freshman year we started by having regatta meetings at my house and since then we’ve made it a tradition. We used mainly bubble wrap and zip ties to hold all the noodles together and we layered the rafts so that the boat would ﬂoat. Building the boat turns into a fun pool party, and it is one of the more popular events people want to work on,” Haley Tran (10) said.

have spent the last four years of their life.” Leadership will host more events next year similar to the ice skating social on March 20. “[The committee] would like to see more people enjoying themselves [and] finding fun in relaxing with friends, having outings [and] going out doing things,” Upper School Student Activities Coordinator Kerry Enzensperger said. Karen Bauschlicher (9) feels that these changes will be an improvement for community spirit. “I feel like it might make people want to do it. I mean, if it’s Harker Spirit, it includes everybody, so it’s a collective effort,” Karen said. “It’s not just one specific group, not just spirit, it’s Harker Spirit.” Students in leadership will be announced after spirit week.

“We didn’t use bubble wrap, as we felt that while it may insulate our boat, it would also make it incredibly hard for water to escape. We stuck to what we knew best, and used noodles and tape, the stuff of champions. Similar to how Spartans use only swords and six-pack abs, we stick to our elements and wreak havoc,” Nikhil Reddy (12) said.

STAYING AFLOAT (Top) Freshman Justin Su and Makenzie Tomihiro work on the class of 2018’s regatta. Freshmen members of the regatta committee met last weekend in Silver Creek. (Middle) The senior regatta is comprised of pool noodles and duct tape, with a bubble wrap and pool noodle seat on top. (Bottom) Sophomores Haley Tran, Meilan Steimle and Lyndsey Mitchell stand with the 2017 regatta. They used pool noodles and bubble wrap.

ta t a g : re

ro r o m

PROVIDED BY ALEX MO

s a e w k a i n m n t i ng bo a h W at?

PREVIEW

friday: class colors, spirit rally

kshithija mulam & justin su

ALL PHOTOS - JUSTIN SU

monday: pajama day, sleeping bag race

Spirit club and class councils prepare for the competitions, dress-up days and spirit events this week. The dress-up themes for each day are Pajama Monday, Tie-Dye Tuesday, Wacky Wednesday, Class Choice Thursday and Class Shirt Friday. This year, each class chose their own personal theme for Thursday: monochrome for the freshmen; superheroes for the sophomores; red, white and blue for the juniors; and twin day for the seniors. “I think Spirit Week is a good destressor because it’s a time where, more than usual for spirit events, whole classes come together, and they really get to bond working on the regatta and also the dance for the rally,” Spirit Club co-president Julia Wang (12) said. One of the changes between this year and last year was the way each theme was introduced in a fashion show at April 13’s school meeting. “I think the fashion show was something to really pump up students about Spirit Week and create something more interactive than a simple powerpoint or announcement,” sophomore spirit coordinator Haley

Green & White day debuts across campuses tara parimi

Aquila copy editor

photo editor & reporter

PJ DAY (Right) Freshmen Anooshree Sengupta and Ashley Cook (9) walk to class dressed in pajamas on Monday morning. (Left) Aaron Huang (12) strikes a pose in his Superman onesie. (Bottom) Tyerinn Pollard (9) prepares to compete in the 6th period sleeping bag race. The Freshmen ended up taking 3rd place during that lunch.

PROVIDED BY ALEX MO

Stu

PROVIDED BY NIKHIL REDDY

i r i p s g n nd spri

u o r a y l l dents ra

reporters

PROVIDED BY KRISHNA BHEDA

g n i makwith pirit week s A

H S A L P S

ashley jiang & meena gudapati

BACK PAGE

Tran said. Class officers also have been working on organizing the regatta race, the dance for the rally and the Powderpuff football game with their fellow class members by getting together to coordinate each spirit event. “As for the junior class, I think our preparations are coming along pretty well. We have volunteers, and we are definitely stepping up our intensity as Spirit Week gets nearer,” junior spirit coordinator Edward Sheu said. The Powderpuff football game begins today during long lunch, and the regatta and spirit rally take place tomorrow and on Friday respectively.

Green and White Day, a new tradition in which students can dress in school colors in addition to wearing their class T-shirts, has been announced for Friday of Spirit Week. In an email sent out by the Office of Communications, students, faculty, staff and parents from all four campuses are encouraged to dress up in green and white as a celebration of school pride. According to the email, on Friday, photographers from the Office of Communications will travel to each campus and take pictures “to capture this inaugural, schoolwide Harker pride day.” “It’s brand new. It actually came out of [an] administration meeting, and they thought that they would put together a celebration to get people to think school spirit through school colors,” Lawson said. “This is in addition to the class colors,” he added. “It is not intended in any way to undermine the upper school students wearing their class shirts as scheduled on Friday.” Students can send photographs of Green and White Day to news@ harker.org to have their pictures featured on Harker’s Instagram and Facebook pages.

WHAT’S INSIDE

wednesday, april 22, 2015

FEATURES COLLEGE TUITION INCREASES

Private college tuition up 3.7 percent this academic year, UC tuition to increase 5 percent every year for next 5 years elisabeth siegel, kacey fang, kavya ramakrishnan & emma yu news editor, managing editor, copy editor & reporter

College tuition climbs ever higher in the U.S., according to a 2014 Bloomberg report, increasing by more than the national inflation rate yet again and revealing a consistent upward trend in cost that has sparked debate among students and parents across the country. Tuition and fees at private nonprofit colleges climbed 3.7 percent on average to $31,231 this academic year, according to the College Board. Last November, hundreds of University of California (UC) students across all campuses staged walk-outs, marches and sit-ins to protest against significant tuition increases. At UC Berkeley, the stronghold of the

movement, hundreds of students occupied the campus’ Wheeler Hall after a committee of the UC Board of Regents voted Wednesday to raise tuition five percent every year for five years, bumping next year’s in-state student tuition from $12,192 to $12,804 and ultimately to $15,564 in 2019 — not including additional fees, books and room and board. College counselor Martin Walsh laid out the considerations that Harker seniors take into account when assessing their available college choices, naming program fit and the prestige of the university. Walsh added that, for some Harker students, cost is often an afterthought, though for others, the amount of money may become a daunting obstacle. “The third thing that might go through their mind then might be cost,” he said. “When attending a private university or

an out-of-state university, the cost over a four-year period could be anywhere from $250,000 to $300,000.” Generally, colleges with distinguished names come at a steep price. Many Ivy League and other ‘brand name’ colleges do not offer merit scholarships and have higher price tags than state schools, creating a dilemma for students choosing whether to prioritize name brands or college affordability. Senior Savi Joshi faced a tough decision — choosing between attending a private university on a full ride or not receiving any financial aid at a highly-regarded out-of-state private school. Her choice to attend the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School had personal consequences.

“I will be taking a job over the summer,” Savi said. “I really want to decrease the burden on my parents and that’s why it was a hard choice to choose Wharton over the full scholarship.” According to her, the longterm benefits of a private, prestigious institution provided enough rationale for Savi to move forward with her decision.

CONT. ON BACK

Students set health and ﬁtness goals before summer months days [per week], so the other four days you just eat healthy like normal, so it’s actually not that strict. If I feel weird, features editor & reporter I’m going to force myself to stop.” Other students agree that a conWith summer rapidly approaching, the topic of becoming healthy has cern for body image has prompted exresurfaced in popular media, leading to ercise to stay healthy. “If I wasn’t concerned [about my responses from Upper School students. A private Facebook group, “Abs weight], I wouldn’t be doing swimfor Laguna,” created by seniors in ming,” Harry Xu (12) said. The emphasis on fitness often preparation for the annual senior class trip to Laguna Beach in May, has triggers controversy when popular megained popularity on campus, reflecting dia equates beauty to physique. Jessica Susai (9), believes that alan increased concern about health and though staying fit is important for one’s body size on campus as well. Daniela Lee (12), who started the health, simply being slim is overrated. “Today, in the media, ‘skinny’ is online group, believes that exercising is considered a lot more beautiful, which key to morale. “We want to feel good about our- isn’t true at all,” Jessica said. In fact, fitness can stave off disselves and if our insides are working well, our outsides will look beautiful, eases, such as diabetes. According to and we’ll be healthy,” Daniela said, the American Diabetes Association (ADA), a sedentary lifestyle combined specifying that health is the end goal. Several students in the “Abs for with consumption of high levels of sugar can lead to Laguna” group Type II diaberecently adopttes, a condition ed the military We want to feel good about in which the diet, a three day ourselves and if our insides pancreas cannot diet that claims secrete enough are working well, our outsides to be “a fast way insulin to stabito lose up to 10 lize blood glupounds a week,” cose levels. The according to DANIELA LEE (12) ADA reported its website. Its in 2012 that regimen details 29.1 million specific meals to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Americans had diabetes, with 1.7 milExercising caution, they are trying the lion new cases per year. Obesity, which is a common side diet to shed some weight. “From now on, we’re going to be effect of poor exercise and diet, affected losing weight to show off our new abs,” 20.5 percent of youths between 12 and Daniela said. “I think [the military diet 19 years old in 2012, according to Cenis] fine because it’s actually only three ters of Disease Control and Prevention

VIVKE BHARADWAJ - WINGED POST

priscilla pan & aditya varshney

WORKING OUT Christian Williams (12) trains in the gym off-season for football on Monday afternoon. As summer

(CDC) report. The study classified an individual as obese when the person’s body mass index (BMI) fell in the 95th percentile of sex-specific CDC BMI-for-age growth charts. Physically beneficial, exercise can also have key mental benefits. Basketball player Abhay Varmaraja (10) feels that staying in shape through practice and offseason weight training improves confidence on the playing field. “The fact that you can work out and lift weights helps you feel like you can do more,” Abhay said. “The social image just comes as a side benefit.” The “Body Loving” campaigns have encouraged inclusion and acceptance of all body types. The program is almost solely dedicated to “listening

to women,” as the Dove Real Beauty Campaign’s website states. “I feel like a lot of [the campaigns promoting positive body image] are geared mostly towards females, but I think it’s important for everyone to remember that body image is a universal issue that anyone can face,” Alex Jang (12) said. “It’s important to have equal representation from both sides.” Counting calories has also become a popular trend in dieting and watching weight. Ashir Bansal (12) watches how many grams of protein, carbohydrates and fat he eats every day. “I’m currently trying to lower my body fat [to watch my weight, so] I’m also eating a certain calorie intake a day,” he said. “I aim for about 2000 calories a day, which is 300 more than what I would eat just to survive.”

Processed foods, usually altered for convenience, can contain added sugars, salts and fat. Some students actively attempted to remove such foods from their diets. Soccer player Kedar Gupta (10) viewed staying healthy as a combination of sleep and diet. “I’m sort of a naturalist in the sense that [I believe] you shouldn’t eat too much processed food or sleep super late because that’s not what your body’s used to,” Kedar said. “I feel like eating is only half the battle; it’s only one way to keep you healthy.” While the movement to slim down for summer carries social implications, another movement to encourage body positivity and exercise caution with dieting is catching steam.

Additional reporting by Maya Kumar.

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 6 APRIL 22, 2015

FEATURES

PACE YOURSELF Gurutam Thockchom (11) pours his heart out on vocals and guitar while Jonathan Yiu (11) plays bass and Satchi Thockchom (9) the drums. The group performed as the concert’s ﬁrst act.

Changing the PACE of Autism With April being Autism Awareness Month, several Upper School students performed in and organized “Light It Up Blue,” a benefit concert at Santana Row last Saturday that raised money and awareness for the Pacific Autism Center for Education (PACE). From 12 to 4 p.m. bands and solo performers ascended the stage in front of Urban Outfitters, donating their songs and tips to the organization, which offers services to people with autism and their families. The first of these performances, Gurutam Thockchom (11), Jonathan Yiu (11) and Satchi Thockchom (9) kicked off the event with several covers. “Today on stage was the first time we really played together as a band,” Gurutam said. “It’s one of those things

where as a performer you just really have October. The following months were to work as hard as you can before the spent contacting the area’s businesses and show, and once you’re on the stage, you restaurants for support, as well as recruitjust have to let it go.” ing performers. Gurutam’s advisor, Spanish teach“It was pretty intense getting ever Daniela Rozanes, haperything together, but it pened to be passing by all worked out,” she said. Santana Row when she “What I hope is that people “Our goal is to saw “Goo and his crew” get to see what PACE does have people performing. and really understand what understand “[Gurutam] didn’t autism is.” tell me anything,” she said. At the same time as the how autism “This was a very nice coperformances, YLC memaffects the incidence and a beautiful bers ran a booth called Oplives and the show.” eration Enable, consisting As the president of of activities meant to raise society around PACE’s Youth Leadership awareness of what someus.” Committee (YLC), which one on the autism spectrum was responsible for orgamight experience. AYUSH MIDHA (12) nizing and running the “Our goal is to have event, Allison Kiang (12) people understand how contacted Santana Row’s autism affects the lives [of management company in people with autism] and the

society around us so that we can be more aware and better in the ways that we deal with autism in our everyday lives,” Ayush Midha (12) said. Volunteers also handed out flyers for VeggieGrill and Pasta Pomodoro, who donated part of their proceeds to PACE, and provided balloons for small children at the event. At the chess area by Pinkberry, other groups like Monta Vista’s jazz band performed. Daniela Lee (12) attended the event to support her friends. “I learned that there are many people out there who are supporting the cause and trying to raise money for it,” she said. The event raised over $600 through cash donations alone, with online donations and money raised through the restaurant fundraisers remaining to be tallied.

Nine scholars ﬁnish Near and Mitra papers tara parimi & jackie gao Aquila copy editor & reporter

AYUSH MIDHA

Grassroots community-building efforts in the black power movement “I reached out to Congressman John Lewis, who was a part of the civil rights movement. He took me on to the house floor for a vote,” Ayush said. “I had the opportunity to explore indepth something that I was interested in.”

Following months of meticulous research and writing, the Near and Mitra Grant scholars submitted the final drafts of their research papers on April 10.

karnika pombra

Rationale behind the U.S.’s aid to revolutionaries during the 1954 Guatemalan coup d’etat “I wanted to research an event during the Cold War because the international relations during that time period has always interested me,” Karnika said.

FLIPPING THROUGH HISTORY Mitra scholars Agata Sorotokin (12) and Maya Nandakumar (12) ﬂip through a book as they discuss their papers.

apoorva rangan

Media-military relations during the Vietnam War “Journalism is necessarily subversive,” Apoorva said. “It needs to question the status quo. Seeing how [journalism and the military] interact was really interesting to me.”

Vedant Thyagaraj

aadyot Bhatnagar

MAYA NANDAKUMAR

Obamacare’s role in addressing adverse selection “I’m hoping to apply economics outside of the classroom to a real-world problem that currently has no solution,” Vedant said.

Malaria control policy in Tanzania to circumvent emergence of the resistance to antimalarial drugs “It was just this opportunity to integrate a lot of hard science with the social sciences needed to formulate a policy,” Aadyot said.

Formation of the Franciscan Clarist Nuns and other women’s religious groups between the 12th and 14th centuries “I’ve always referred to the subject matter as being a synthesis of my passions for Latin, European history and women’s movements,” Maya said.

stanley xie

FELIX WU

AGATA SOROTOKIN

Negative aspects of rumination, specifically the emergence of co-rumination through social media “I worked in a neuroscience lab at Stanford for the past two years, working on serotonin and dopamine systems in the brain which control your emotion,” Stanley said.

Culture of hip hop music and its connections with the Rodney King riots “Although the genre came out of the African American community, it has become a style of music that speaks for anybody who is disenfranchised or underprivileged in society,” Felix said.

Misconception that the sole purpose of Dmitri Shostakovich’s music was to express his distaste for Stalin “I heard musicians say Shostakovich wrote this music to rebel against Stalin, and I thought that was a very superficial way of looking at things; I want to understand his music on a deeper level,” Agata said.

BENEFIT CONCERT (Top) Ayush Midha (12) prepares for an activity as part of Operation Enable, an effort to raise awareness for autism through interactive simulations. (Bottom) Allison Kiang (12) helps clean up after the event, which ended up raising over $600 in cash donations.

Teachers switch positions emma yu & maya jeyendran

reporter & Aquila lifestyle editor

This article is the second in the series of profiles on faculty members who have left their positions temporarily or won’t be returning next year to their positions. This series will be continued until the end of the year.

Misael Fisico: Math teacher and math club advisor Misael Fisico left the Upper School near the start of second semester. Substitute teacher Margaret Harris will take over Fisico’s classes and supervise math club meetings on Wednesdays. “[Math club is] doing very well because they are very well organized,” she said. “They know exactly how to run it, they know how analyze difficulties, and they’ve had this year versus last year and how to put them together for next year.” Mathematics Department Chair Anthony Silk will run subsequent math club activities and competitions, such as the USA Mathematics Olympiad. Miriam Allersma: Physics teacher Miriam Allersma resumed teaching last month following an approximately six month-long maternity leave. She is currently adapting to how the students have learned under instruction from physics teacher Eric Montany, who substituted for her. “Showing work is a little different and a slightly different standard, but I think I’m trying to explain it and maybe allow for some wiggle room as the year goes by,” she said. Allersma understands that accommodating to a new teacher’s needs presents a difficult transition for most students but feels that most students are handling it well. Richard Page: Computer science teacher Richard Page retired from the Upper School during second semester after 11 years of teaching. The current substitute for Page, Anyu Datar, will also be taking over most of his classes next year. However, the hardware elements of the Advanced Topics class will be transitioned to Marina Peregrino next year. “He is a colorful character and cuts through the nonsense,” Computer Science Department Chair Dr. Eric Nelson said.

ALL PHOTOS EMMA YU

managing editor

PRISCILLA PAN - WINGED POST

kacey fang

ALL PHOTOS KACEY FANG

Student-organized concert raises money and awareness for autism

SWITCH OUT (Top) Substitute teacher Margaret Harris explains loci of points to her period 4 Honors Geometry Class. She starts them off asking about the locus of points a certain distance away from a string. (Bottom) Physics teacher Miriam Allersma prepares her class with magnetism before sending groups separately to do their lab practical quizzes.

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 6 FEATURES • APRIL 22, 2015

MELINA NAKOS - WINGED POST

Lights, camera, Multimedia Club provides promotional services emma yu reporter

EMMA

IN YU - W

GED P

OST

10 a.m., Monday morning. Students witness the Hulk rescue students from academic pressures, transfrom them into superheroes and guide them to the paradise that is Sadies. A few days before, the Harker Multimedia Club’s (MMC) tripod and camera snapped into place as they set up to create this promotional video. The club produces videos and multimedia for clubs and organizations as well as mentoring students

who wish to learn photography and videography. Club presidents Shay Lari-Hosain (11) and Jonathan Dai (11) lead most instructional workshops for club members and make most of the videos that clubs request. “The other clubs get the benefit of having material design[ed] for them,” Shay said. “We also get promotions so that more people see our material and come to our club as well.” The club set up a photo booth during the Sadies Dance for the students under the Junior Classical League’s and Key Club’s request. The club also can create posters—Ankur Karwal (11), graphic design instructor for the club, helps out with much of the filming and poster design. “We have a lot of other videos in the pipeline that we’re working on, and we’re happy to do so,” he said. The senior goodbye project is one of the many projects the club is working on. “We’ll talk to students from all the classes and teachers just to investigate what they think their class meant to the school,” Shay said. MMC also plans on filming a video for Spirit Club to promote spirit week.

AND POSE Shay Lari-Hosain sets up his camera and in preparation for Multimedia Club’s models to arrive.

THEN THERE WERE FOUR Bassoonists Kailas Vodrahalli (12), Rahul Balakrishnan (10), Richard Yi (11) and Alexa Gross (10) practice a piece modiﬁed for their instruments. The four orchestra students formed the “Quartet Fantastique” this year and hope to continue it in the future.

Introducing the “Quartet Fantastique” Four orchestra students perform together in bassoon quartet melina nakos reporter

Out of the five bassoons currently playing in the orchestra, four of them decided to band together and create the Quartet Fantastique in order to truly put their instruments on a pedestal, modifying songs to be played solely by four bassoons. The four bassoonists, Alexa Gross (10), Richard Yi (11), Rahul Balakrishnan (12) and Kailas Vodrahalli (12), started playing together at the beginning of this school year when Alexa asked Upper School orchestra conductor Chris Florio for the opportunity to feature the bassoon in a quartet. “I love my instrument and I really wanted an opportunity to get to show it off more,” Alexa said. “In orchestra, the bassoon doesn’t really get the best parts, and [the] quartet allows you to really just showcase your instrument because it is 100 percent bassoons.” Chris Florio also offers support by conducting the group and donating practice space. Alexa became the main organizer

during the first few stages. Although she was uncertain about the willingness of her classmates to participate at the beginning, as the group practiced more, the group became more tightknit.

“[The] quartet allows you to really just showcase your instrument because it is 100 percent bassoons.” ALEXA GROSS (10)

“I was a little shocked [about being asked to join] to say the least. Last year, the section wasn’t really united, we were more like individual players and a section leader, so I was surprised that Alexa and Mr. Florio were putting forth this effort to make the bassoon

section more united,” Rahul said. The name of the quartet originated from one of the songs the group especially enjoys playing, “Symphony Fantastique” by Berlioz, but several other names for the quartet were considered, such as Jungle Trees and Funky Fagottos. The group chooses their own music, their repertoire ranging from modified pop songs to classical Bach. The small group size allows them flexibility to choose their own music and create their own sound. “The part of the quartet that was really fun for me was playing songs that I listen to on a daily basis,” Rahul said. While the full quartet has yet to perform together, Richard and Alexa performed a duet at Hoscars last month. They hope to have the time to perform alongside Jonathan Ta’s quartet at a Tri-M Music Honor Society event on April 22. Next year, the quartet hopes to continue playing by replacing one senior with an upcoming sophomore bassoonist and performing as a trio until another replacement is possible.

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 6 APRIL 22, 2015

LIFESTYLE

SPRING INTO FASHION sharanya balaji & jenna sadhu

Aquila assistant multimedia editor & reporter

T-SHIRT DRESSES

KIMONOS

A comfortable go-to dress is a versatile piece that can be paired with anything for spring weather. With the comfort of a T-shirt and the style of a dress, a T-shirt dress is a spring essential with lightweight and cozy material that makes it perfect for breezy, warm weather. Throw on a cardigan or jacket over it, or rock it by itself with a fashionable pair of sandals, subtle necklace, statement sunglasses and a cross-body bag.

Instead of using a cardigan to complete your outfit, use a kimono to spruce up your wardrobe. Add a touch of boho chic to your outfit with a kimono jacket thats swingy, light, and intricately embroidered. Kimono-style jackets, overcoats, cardigans and more can be thrown on top of blouses and camisoles, coming in many complex patterns and colors. Pair a kimono jacket and jeans with a white blouse, sandals, and sunglasses for an effortlessly cute yet flirty look.

FIND THEM AT CHARLOTTE RUSSE, FOREVER 21 AND NORDSTROM

FIND THEM AT NASTY GAL, BRANDY MELVILLE AND ABERCROMBIE & FITCH

STRIPES

FLORAlS

Stripes in all orientations, colors and styles filled the collections of menswear’s most prominent fashion houses, rocking the runways of Kenzo and Yves Saint Laurent. Striped hoodies and polos are an easy way to add a country-club flair to your spring wardrobe when paired with light colored khakis and boat shoes. For a bolder look, mix and match striped pieces, taking care to choose different weights and styles of stripes to avoid an overwhelming final product.

Amp up your wardrobe this season with floral pieces and patterns that invaded the runways at Fashion Week 2015 in New York. Floral dresses, shirts, accessories, and even shoes, come inpatterns ranging from bright, botanical and bold to subtle and sweet. Since most of these floral pieces are intricate and complex, pairing them with accessories can be difficult. Delicate florals should be paired with light colored jewelry, while vibrant blossom patterns should be worn with neutral-colored accessories to avoid clashing.

FIND THEM AT J.CREW, EXPRESS AND MACY’S

FIND THEM AT HOLLISTER, TOBI AND MODCLOTH

Mohannad Khadr (12)

Simran Singh (12)

Janet Lee (11)

Joyce Zhao (10)

Concerts hi ing the Bay Area this spring

WIKIPEDIA

May 20 Award-winning Indie singer Lana Del Rey will perform at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View as a stop on her Endless Summer tour with Courtney Love. Endless Summer is the songwriter’s first official concert tour and includes 21 stops across the country. She has released four studio albums since 2011, the

most recent of which being “Ultraviolence” which dropped in 2014. The singer is known for producing music that incorporates elements from diverse genres. “I really like her. I think she’s really troubled, but her music is so good and I like how it’s influenced by modern day pop and old folksy music,” Ishanya Anthapur (12) said.

OUTSIDE LANDS

RAP RADAR

J. COLE & BIG SEAN

Aquila features editor

PROVIDED BY ALISA WAKITA

LANA DEL REY

ria gandhi

July 14 Hip hop recording artist J. Cole’s Forest Hills Drive tour will stop at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View as one of the 31 venues the artist will be performing at throughout the country. The rapper’s September album “2014 Forest Hills Drive” sold close to one million copies in the United States. “This is one of the

first times I’m going to a concert with a group of friends from school, and luckily enough, it’s going to watch and listen to J. Cole who dropped one of the best albums this year,” Vedant Shah (9) said. With the concert currently sold out, students look forward to listening to the music from the album and the rapper’s past hits at the concert.

Aug. 7-9 The Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival takes place annually at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. The festival attracts music fans from around the world, with thousands of people attending each day. This year’s lineup includes Elton John, Kendrick Lamar, Mumford & Sons, and Sam Smith along with various other

bands and solo artists. Many students are annual attendees of the festival, appreciating the music and atmosphere of the event. “The feeling you get when you finally see your favorite bands and artists live is beyond any combination of letters,” Alisa Wakita (11) said, who attended the festival last year and is planning to attend this year as well.

VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 6 LIFESTYLE • APRIL 22, 2015

what’s in my bag? riya godbole lifestyle editor

The Winged Post sat down with musical cast member Zoe Woehrmann (12) to talk food, fashion, and ventures into the woods. Check out her showtime essentials below. character shoes

“I didn’t know what shoes I was gonna have for the show, so character shoes are basically a must-have for all theater performers that you can just practice doing the dance moves in. They’re basically just a general heel that fit with most costumes.”

water bottle

“It’s pretty big. I put my stickers on it and it keeps me hydrated. If your throat is dry, your singing isn’t gonna be as good.”

throat spray

‘If you have laryngitis like I did a few weeks ago, you need to numb your throat right before you go on stage. It’s pretty helpful.”

LE - WING BO RIYA GOD

“You need a lot of makeup for shows. I have a lot of stuff then i don’t even use until musical. so when musical rolls around, gotta whip it all out. Must-have makeup product is translucent powder. I use the Maybelline Fit Me Transluscent Powder in 115.”

ED POST

makeup case

goldfish crackers

“I have one Goldfish that’s rainbow, but they’re still regular goldfish and one is Vanilla Cupcake. I have both in case I’m feeling a salty or sweet mood.”

INTO THE HOOD Zoe Woehrmann (12) played the role of Little Riding Hood in the Upper School Conservatory’s production of “Into the Woods” from Thursday to Saturday at Blackford theater at 7 p.m. The cast will also perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer.

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 6 APRIL 22, 2015

SPORTS

San Francisco Giants open season ria gandhi

SHOTS FIRED Advisor Alejandro Osorio pulls back the arrow to prepare for a shot. He demonstrates proper shooting form for club member Bobby Schick (9) while Dylan Hwang (10) observes.

Archery club shoots into action emma yu reporter

Archery Club held its first meeting to discuss plans for the coming weeks on Feb. 18 during long lunch. The leaders of the club are Dylan Hwang (10), 9th ranked junior archer in the United States, president of the club, and Jay Paranjpe (10), the vice president. “Since I already had some background in practicing and teaching archery, I figured it would be a good idea to try and seek the opportunity to create an archery club in order to not only promote archery, but also to teach archery not only as a physical sport but also mental,” Dylan said. They will be instructing club members on form while holding the bow and safety issues that are to be avoided before going to practice. They will train with the equipment at an archery range called Black Mountain Bowmen on Saturdays. Dylan states that, by teaching the members beforehand, they can go straight to shooting. Jay also explains how the club will teach its members.

“We also have programs in which we can learn about Olympic or competitive archery and different styles,” he said. Archery Club is open to all students regardless of skill level and is willing to students the basics. Member Raveena Panja (9) has shot before, but is still a beginner. “I joined the club because I’vew always been really interested in the concept of archery. I always find those kind of things fascinating. It’s just a little hobby I like to do in general. So I was really happy when they actually had an archery club because I don’t always get the time to do it regularly,” she said. “I usually only do it over the summer. So now, I can go to the range every Saturday.” Member Linus Li (9) joined the club to gain access to some of the facilities provided. He believes that archery is assumed to be a sport that utilizes only brute strength and agility. “I joined because one, it’s one of the few times I can access an outdoor range because I’m practicing for national and international competitions and also, I wanted to be able to spread the idea of archery to get rid of any

preconceived notions that are affiliated with the sport,” he said. Alejandro Osorio, computer technician and Archery Club advisor, supports the creation of the club because he has also played the sport. “So this is definitely something really cool and positive in my eyes because of the direction they actually want to take this. They don’t want to make this a group of people that kind of get together and talk about archery,” he said. “We actually have plans of development for people who haven’t been involved in the sport and have no knowledge of it to actually come in and get training.” As an advisor, his job is to guide Dylan and Jay in becoming the leaders the club needs. “So what we do is we get together weekly and discuss topics that might be good to broaden everybody’s knowledge,” Osorio said. “So we’ve covered things like safety plans, we’re going to cover equipment, facilities that you can use, even down to regular club stuff like fundraising.” Club meetings are held on Wednesdays at 12:00p.m. in Room 007 in Main Hall.

The San Francisco Giants opened the 2015 MLB season with a 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 6 in Phoenix, Arizona. The 2014 World Series Champions look towards another successful season, hoping to win their fourth championship in the past 5 years. The Giants currently sit on a 3-4 record, going 2-1 against the Diamondbacks and 1-3 against the San Diego Padres. “Given the injuries to seemingly everyone, they’re doing pretty good,” Arjun Ashok (12) said. “Obviously it’s not 7-0, but when you’re that injury depleted, 3-4 isn’t bad at all.” Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco’s star pitcher, continues to improve upon his Most Valuable Player (MVP) performance in the 2014 World Series. With the team missing six players due to injury, Bumgarner remains a key component of the recovering Giants, earning commendation for his performance on Opening Day against the Diamondbacks. “He’s an amazing pitcher and a consistent guy who’s been an ace for the team this season,” Varun Haltore (10) said.

COURTESY OF ELLEN AUSTIN

EMMA YU - WINGED POST

Aquila features editor

Jake Peavy, Hunter Pence, Brandon Belt, and Matt Cain all suffer from strains and fractures, and their absence can potentially dampen San Francisco’s future success for the 2015 season. As the players recover, the top of the order has produced for the Giants. Nori Aoki, Joe Panik, and Angel Pagan all average a .403 OBP, allowing the team to consistently score runs. Expectations for the 2015 season include a berth in the postseason and chance to advance to the title game for the fourth time in the past six years. With San Francisco winning the World Series in every even-numbered year since 2010, the odds remain stacked against them this year. Last year, the Giants barely squeaked into the playoffs, facing injuries and lack of strategy during the regular season. Bruce Bochy, the team’s manager, deployed tactics that allowed for San Francisco to secure wins against the St. Louis Cardinals to clinch the series. After taking an early hit in 2015 with a slew of injuries to starters, many still hold hope that the remainder of the season will show more promise with the return of players such as Pence and Cain. The Giants will take on the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight in San Francisco at 7:15 p.m.

BACK TO BALL The Giants play the Colorado Rockies in San Francisco during MLB Opening Week. Tim Lincecum is on the mound to pitch. All players, coaches, and referees are wearing the #42 to honor Jackie Robinson.

Math Contest

May 9, 2015 @ Bay Area

May 16, 2015 @ Bay Area

 Competition

 For students up to 5th grade

 Workshops

 Individual and team rounds

 Project exhibition

 Awards for top students and teams

 Awards Check

Check

Registration deadline:

May 13

FREE! for event details

for details

pmc@starleague.us http://pimathcontest.com

Location:

Magnolia Science Academy 2720 Sonoma Pl Santa Clara, CA 95051

scratchday@starleague.us http://day.scratch.mit.edu/events/178

a-STar Summer CampS

in Bay Area & Orange County Computer Science Math June 15-26, 2015

July 6-August 1, 2015

Mission College (day camp)     

Intro to Prog. (grades 4-6) USACO Programming USACO Bronze USACO Silver USACO Gold

Mission College (day camp) UC Irvine (day & residential)     

PreMathCounts (grades 4-6) MathCounts/AMC8 AMC 10/12 AIME USAMO

Location: Magnolia Science Academy

2720 Sonoma Pl Santa Clara, CA 95051

Registration deadline:

MAY 1st For details, registration and discounts:

www.starleague.us

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 6 SPORTS • APRIL 22, 2015

Boy’s tennis looks for CCS bid

Harker hosts Golf Classic

Q & A with members of the team as they advance in season

sharanya balaji

POWERING ON (TOP LEFT) Peter Connors (9) hits an overhand over the net with a slight jump. (BOTTOM LEFT) Shekar Ramaswamy (10) grips his racket and prepares for his backhand swing. (RIGHT) Gary Tsai (9) shifts his body weight and swings a forehand to hit the ball over the net.

meilan steimle opinion editor

The boys’ Varsity Tennis Team makes its’ bid for CCS this season, with a 10-2 record. Winged Post sat down with three upperclassmen players to talk about the season and hopes for the future. Winged Post: How has this season been? Sohil Singh: It’s been very good. We have a young team, so we didn’t expect it to be this good, so we’re doing really well in conference and out of league conferences. Michael Zhao: We’ve gotten off to a pretty good start. As you may or may not know, our best player couldn’t play for the first part of the season because he’s a transfer student, but he could play after spring break, so that gives us an edge over a lot of our league rivals.

John Dobrota: The team is going great. I actually like it better this year than last year because we have a lot more teamwork and more spirit, and that makes it just a lot more fun, and because of the people trying harder, because people realize everyone’s out for each other, and they really care for each other, so nobody wants to bring each other down. WP: Do you think you can make CCS? SS: I think we’ll be able to make it; for tennis there are three spots, so I think we can make it. MZ: That’s what we’re trying to do. Obviously for CCS you need to be first in your league, so that’s Menlo for sure. But there’s another way to get in and that’s if you play a certain number of games and if you have a certain record after playing a certain number of games you can still get into

Spring Sports Update:

CCS even without being first in your league. In order to do that, our coach, Coach John, has been setting up a lot of games with teams that aren’t necessarily in our league. These kind of matches are not only good practice for our league matches but also help us get into CCS by getting us that game threshold and also have a sufficiently high record. JD: I don’t know, because we beat Aragon. It’s not the toughest school but they were one of the school[s] we needed to beat in order to get to CCS. WP: What is your favorite part about tennis? SS: I like pretty much everything about it. Probably like just hitting the ball. That’s just fun. MZ: I think as a double player, definitely working as a team is one of the best parts of tennis because you can always be sure that someone will have

Boy’s Tennis: 10-2 Girl’s Softball: 8-3 Boy’s Golf: 7-0 Girl’s Lacrosse: 4-9

your back. I think it’s a lot more fun that way. It just makes it a lot less personal and a lot more about working as a team and understanding your partner. JD: For me, it’s competition, and the fact that it’s me versus the opponent, it’s one versus one, there’s no other factors, just either you’ve got a mental strength or you don’t. Tennis is a very hard game because it requires a lot of athletic ability and that’s why for me I find it fun. WP: Will you pursue tennis after high school? SS: I’m hoping to play tennis for college and maybe Division 1, but if I can’t, I’ll play club tennis. MZ: I’m definitely not good enough to do varsity tennis in college, but things like Intramural would be fun I guess to keep up with and move around.

Boy’s Baseball: 7-9 Swimming: 2-1 Track and Field: WBAL meet boys 2nd place, girls 4th place

ATHLETES OF THE MONTH

IN FULL SWING Shrish practices for the Champions Invitational Golf Tournament last year. This year, he placed sixth at the tournament.

The Harker Alumni Association hosted the Harker Golf Classic April 13, 2015 at the Stanford Golf Course. The Harker Golf Classic was started by alumni Kevin Hartstock and his family around the same time as the inception of the Upper School. The event has happened almost every year since then. Despite having the unique and rare opportunity to play on the Stanford Golf Course, the objectives of the event are two-fold, according to Executive Director of Advancement Joe Rosenthal. One being to bring the Harker community together and the second to raise money for the Harker Endowment. This year, the Alumni Association took responsibility for organizing the event instead of the Advancement Office. “Both the school and the alumni council saw the event as an opportunity to fuse the current student community to the alumni community,” Jeff Rogers (‘84), a member of the organizing committee, said. “Both the school and alumni see value in fostering these relationships, not just in terms of fundraising, but also in creating things like more formal mentorships and internships.” The event attracted many alumni to meet one another and reunite. “For me, it was the first event of any kind that I have participated in really because of Mr. Walsh and Mr. Rosenthal who were all either teachers or coaches of mine,” Tom Kondo (‘87), who flew out from Los Angeles to enjoy the event, said. “I figured it would just be a rare opportunity to meet them again.” The Alumni Association also brought in more sponsorships from companies, prizes and giveaways. “It gave alumni a lot more opportunity to be involved in a meaningful way by providing this great opportunity to their fellow classmates and parents but also to really help make a difference in helping the Harker endowment,” Rosenthal said. In the past, the event has primarily attracted Harker parents but this year there were more alumni and corporate sponsors that brought some of their clients because of the unique opportunity to play at the Stanford Golf Course. “There are many many non-profit organizations that want to hold their golf outings there and they are on the waitlist,” said Rosenthal. “Harker is in a unique position to have the opportunity to have the Golf Classic there which provides members of the Harker Community who are golf enthusiasts to have the opportunity to participate there.” The event also served as an opportunity for people to contribute to the Harker endowment. As of April 16, the event has raised approximately $12,000 and are still waiting on outstanding invoices. The event with honorary marshals Pat Walsh and Howard Saltzman had 19 groups of golfers. There was a lunch beforehand and barbeque that accompanied an awards banquet.

WBAL qualifier ranks fourth in league

ria gandhi

Aquila sports editor

kj mulam photo editor

Varsity boy’s golf player Shrish Dwivedi (12) continues to lead the team to victory in his final high school golf season. Shrish has been a key player for the Eagles since his freshman year, consistently shining as one of the top players in not just the West Bay Athletic League (WBAL), but against golfers from around the country. He was named co-player of the year of the league in 2014. The highlight of Shrish’s 2015 season comes with his sixth place finish out of 256 individuals at the Champions Tournament in Palm Springs in early April. With the tournament showcasing teams from across the nation, Shrish’s performance continually makes an impact on his teammates. “Shrish is a very well accomplished golfer, and he works extremely hard each day to improve his game,” teammate Dakota McNealy (11) said. “He has been a successful golfer outside of school and plays even harder for the team. His maturity as a golfer and a person have added a lot of value.” The Varsity boy’s golf team currently sits atop the WBAL with an undefeated 6-0 record, and hope to end the season with a deep run in the CCS playoffs.

Varsity track and field captain Julia Wang(12) finishes her final season as a thrower with several personal bests in the shotput and discus events. Julia currently ranks fourth in league in the discus event with a season best of 93’4.00 and ranks in the top ten for shotput as well. She also holds the school record in the discus. Julia has consistently ranked among the best throwers in the league in past seasons as well; in her sophomore and junior years, she qualified for the WBAL girls all-league track and field second team and the WBAL girl’s all-league track and field honorable mention team respectively. “She’s almost doubled what she was throwing as a freshman in both shotput and discus,” track and field coach Mike Bassoni said. “We’re very proud of her for that, and she continues to be one of our top athletes from a good workmanship perspective.” Her teammates also praise her leadership and teamwork abilities “She gets along with everybody; she’s very accepting of everybody, and the other team members feel that,” Bassoni said. The varsity track and field team will compete in the Pacific Grove Invitational this Saturday.

PROVIDED BY JULIA WANG

WINGED POST ARCHIVES

Senior places sixth at tournament

ALL PHOTOS NEIL BAI - WINGED POST

Aquila asst. multimedia editor

HURTLING TO THE FINISH Julia takes part in the shotput competition during a track and field meet earlier this year.

VOLUME 16 • ISSUE 6 APRIL 22, 2015

BACK PAGE

Q&A FROM A CAL PERSPECTIVE

Seniors weigh tuition as a factor in college decisions How do you anticipate paying for college?

95% 39%

with parents’ help

by themselves (all or partially)

14%

with need-based

23% 45%

with student loans

15.8%

with merit-based scholarships

decrease in funding

Out of 150 respondents of a Winged Post survey. Many students reported multiple payment options.

for CA four-year public universities per student since 2008

$34,500

Government Accountability

“The reputation that Wharton carries, the opportunity it provides me from being such a reputable school and a proper environment for me to thrive, will actually — and I know for a fact — lead me to a greater success,” Savi said. Parents and guardians at the upper school are used to long-term financial planning for the purpose of educating their children. Though 12.5 percent of the upper school community receives some form of financial aid, the majority of parents pay the full $40,500 annual tuition at the upper school. “They say cost isn’t really important as long as I’m happy and I’m doing what I like to do,” Vivian Jou (12) said of her parents. “I feel like as long as I repay them with not just money, [but] some work or some goal I can achieve, it will be fine.” Many families at the upper school fall above the income brackets required for need-based aid at most colleges. “We kind of put aside a ton of money for this,” Herng-Jeng Jou, Vivian’s mother, said. “I tried once for my son. Once we put in our tax return data, and then we found out there was no way we can get the financial aid.” But Harker alumni at college acutely feel the pinch of tuition increases. UC Berkeley student and Harker alumna Leslie Tzeng (‘14) shared her perspective on the tuition hikes. “I’m against the tuition increases, especially because of the way they were

passed by UC Regents — from what I remember, Napolitano didn’t discuss the issue with student leaders before making her decision,” she said, referring to Janet Napolitano, president of the UC system, who has been heavily criticized by students for her handling of the situation. Adora Svitak, a current Berkeley freshman who participated in “Occupy Wheeler” with hundreds of other students, described her reasons for protesting. “As an out-of-state student coming from a middle-class family, I already face a massive tuition burden and a tuition increase would only increase stress on my family,” she wrote in an email interview. “Increasing tuition is a short-sighted approach that makes it harder for incredible students to choose to come to Berkeley — for one of my good friends from high school, it was the deciding factor that made her unable to come here.” Better solutions, Svitak commented, exist besides a tuition hike. “Instead of continually increasing tuition, a band-aid for the larger problem of limited government funding for public education, we should all push harder for increased government support for higher education and more efficient re-allocation of existing funds to lessen the burden on students,” she said. According to data from the Labor Department, the consumer price index (CPI) for college tuition grew by nearly 80 percent between August 2003 and August 2013, nearly twice as fast as cost growth in medical care.

Average annual cost of tuition, fees, room and board for undergraduates, 2014-2015

estimated average total cost

42%

CONT. FROM PAGE B1

for CA resident to attend a UC and live on campus, 2015-2016

University of California

interest rate for direct student loans disbursed 7/2014 to 7/2015 Federal Student Aid

4 ,9 18

5 ,0

ar ar ar ye ict r-ye ate r-ye te r ea y wo istr fou -st fou f-sta t c in lic -o ic d ur bl in- ubli fo b out u u P P P

62%

43%

since 2008

4.66%

1 $1

average tuition for four-year public CA universities has increased by

34% compared to

3.86% for loans disbursed 7/2013 to 7/2014

The College Board, Annual Survey of Colleges

University of California

of UC students are low-income students

62 2,7

19 ,4 2 4

What type of college is/was your top choice? 14% 5%

tate te e in-s of-sta blic in-statoeut-of-staternational Other Privat rivate outu P Inte P Public Out of 150 respondents of a Winged Post survey

$29K

average student debt, 2012

7 in 10

graduated with debt in 2012

Institute for College Access & Success' Project on Student Debt

31%

21% 14%

3% 5

3 2 4 1 How important a factor is tuition cost in deciding your future college? (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being not important and 5 being very important) Out of 150 respondents of a Winged Post survey