Volume 13, Issue 6 - Feb. 2015

the

essenger

Northview High School Volume 13 路 Issue 6 路 February 2015

WOMEN IN

STEM

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masthead Email: nhsmessenger@gmail.com Phone: (770) 497-3828 ext. 176 Website: nhsmessenger.com Address: 10625 Parsons Road, Johns Creek, GA 30097 PUBLICATION AND DISTRIBUTION The Messenger is a student publication published for and distributed to students, faculty, staff, and the Northview community to promote readership of the students’ current events and issues.

The statements and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the entire staff or those of Northview High School, its students, faculty, staff, or administration. Content is controlled and edited by staff editors, with a high-priority on celebrating the achievements of its readers as well as events occurring within the circulation. The staff will publish only legally protected speech, adhering to the legal definitions of libel, obscenity, and the invasion of privacy.

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS The Messenger staff welcomes letters to the editors but reserves the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, libel, obscenity, and invasion of privacy.

ADVERTISING The Messenger publishes advertisements with signed contracts provided that they are deemed appropriate by the staff for the intended audience.

For more information about advertising with The Messenger, please contact the business manager, Meredith Keisler, and assistant business manager, Tarun Ramesh, at nhsmessenger@ gmail.com.

IN THIS ISSUE Cover design: Jessica Ma

EDITORS-In-CHIEF Marri Kang Jessica Ma MANAGING EDITOR Nancy Coleman NEWS EDITOR Rachel Williams SPORTS EDITORS Maggie Brenan Rameen Forghani FEATURES EDITOR Sneha Gubbala OPINIONS EDITOR Andrew Teodorescu PHOTO EDITOR Hui Lin DESIGN EDITOR Connie Xu ONLINE EDITOR Bryan Liang COPY EDITOR Maggie Xia BUSINESS MANAGER Meredith Keisler ASST. BUSINESS MANAGER Tarun Ramesh STAFF WRITERS Shelby Bradley Tommy Bui Manasa Chimpiri Megan Cistulli Sophia Choi Ryan Daigle Milika Dhru Sarah Jang Chad Johnson Annie Kong Jooeun Lee Justin Leung Tanisa Mahalingam Austin Meng Lindsey Moon Sally Pan Caroline Pennington Sumit Sohani Parnia Vaghef Eashaa Velamuri Justin Westbrook Sabrina Wilson Connie Xiao PHOTOGRAPHERS Nabila Khan Brittney Neser Tiffany Xu

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table of

contents 2 masthead 5 Editor’s Letter 6 news 10 sports 16 cover story 16 features 24 opinions 26 FACEOFF 28 staff columns 30 STAFF EDITORIAL

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articles 6 News Briefs / STAFF 8 Attendance policy changes / SALLY PAN 9 Jake Hanson fights for eligibility / RAMEEN FORGHANI 10 Sports Briefs / STAFF 12 Seniors sign to colleges / RYAN DAIGLE and CHAD JOHNSON 16 COVER STORY: Women in STEM / JUSTIN LEUNG, MAGGIE XIA, and CONNIE XIAO 23 The Messenger’s annual Blind Date / MAGGIE BRENAN 24 Increased selectivity in Georgia colleges / ANNIE KONG 25 Reworking the counseling department / PARNIA VAGHEF 26 Face-off: Should student athletes be drug tested? / RAMEEN FORGHANI and JUSTIN WESTBROOK 28 Music column / EASHAA VELAMURI 29 Fashion column / CONNIE XU 30 Staff Editorial / STAFF 31 Comments / ANDREW TEODORESCU

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l e t t e r

f r o m

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And the award for least diverse goes to...

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adies and gentlemen, behold: the 2015 Oscars, in which an organization of old, white men presents various awards to slightly younger white men—and a few white women.

This was apparent even before the winners were announced on Sunday, Feb. 22—in fact, the underrepresentation of people of color became clear about five weeks before then, when the Academy released the list of 2015 Oscar nominees. All five nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role were white. So were the fifteen nominees for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role. The last time all 20 acting nominees were white, it was 1996. 19 years later, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) does not seem to have made much progress, especially considering that there was no dearth of outstanding, non-white actors and actresses to choose from this year. For example, David Oyelowo, whose portrayal Martin Luther King, Jr. in the historical drama film Selma received high praise from critics, would have been an obvious choice.

In fact, Oyelowo himself addressed the Academy’s lack of diversity in an interview at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival at the beginning of the month, pointing out that “black people have been celebrated more for when we are subservient, when we are not being leaders or kings or being in the center of our own narrative, driving it forward.”

Oyelowo also mentioned Denzel Washington as Malcolm X (in the film of the same name) and Sidney Poitier in In the Heat of the Night as examples of other black actors overlooked and underappreciated by the

Academy. His words might even explain why 12 Years a Slave, which depicted black people in an inferior position to whites, was so successful at last year’s Academy Awards, while Selma was only in the running for one category.

Unfortunately, Oyelowo’s exclusion from this year’s Oscar nominees was not the only snub for the sadly under-nominated Selma. Though the film was a contender for Best Picture (but lost to Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Birdman), its director, Ava DuVernay, was missing from the list of nominees. She would have been the first black woman nominated for Best Director in Oscar history, but it appears that the Academy is not quite ready to let go of its partiality to white men. In fact, all five directors and 14 screenwriters nominated this year were men, an alarming homogeneity that the Oscars have not seen since the 72nd Academy Awards in 2000.

The root of the problem lies in the constitution of the Academy itself. Although recent additions have boasted greater proportions of minorities and women than in the past, the yearly infusions of several hundred new members cannot compete with the thousands of existing voters, an overwhelming majority of whom are old, white, and male. An article from December 2013 in the Los Angeles Times reported that even after the Academy added a diverse group of 432 new voting members to its ranks in 2012 and 2013, the AMPAS was still 93% white and 76% male, and the average age of a voter was 63.

We may have come a long way from the society that existed just decades ago, but—as this year’s Academy Awards have made all too clear—we still have a long way to go.

Jessica Ma, Editor-in-Chief

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M O N T H L Y

NEWS

b r i e f s

Mock Trial sweeps Region Tournament

Talk Girl Effect prepares for Women’s Week

SARAH JANG, Staff Writer

AUSTIN MENG, Staff Writer

or the fourth consecutive year, the Northview Mock Trial team dominated the regional championships on Feb. 7. In addition, seniors Amber Scales, Harsha Sridhar, Patrick Wu, and junior Mary Kate Korbisch all collected individual awards for outstanding attorneys and witnesses throughout the three rounds of the competition, sweeping 10 out of the 12 possible spots of recognition.

“Mock trial is about simulating the typical trial process, with students as the witnesses and attorneys going through all the normal stages of the trial,” senior Patrick Wu said, a member in his fourth year. “We have to represent both sides of the case, so we have both a plaintiff team and a defense team, with judges as the juries scoring based on how well we did our roles.”

After receiving their assigned civil court case in October, the twelve-member team met two times a week until their first competition in late January.

“The week before competition we’re meeting every day for about two to three hours,” senior Harsha Sridhar said. Sridhar not only won an Outstanding Witness award at regionals, but also received a perfect score during the same round.

To add to their recent victory, the team has had a very successful past contributing to their overall progress.

“Part of what is so special about this year’s team is that they have never known a time when Northview was not a region champion,” coach Elizabeth Lake said. “We won our first region championship when the seniors were freshmen. Over the ten years that Northview has fielded a team, we have grown into an organization that expects success, and our student leaders do a great deal to help train new team members each season.”

Currently, the team is steadily training for their tournament at the district level, which will be coming up in the following weeks; the members look forward to reaching state and eventually nationals.

“We certainly hope to make the nationals this year and be the first times in the school,”Sridhar said. “We’ve come close before. From what I saw at regionals, there’s definitely things we can take from that and work on, but there’s also a lot to be optimistic about.”

“We practice formally multiple times each week to prepare for competition,” Lake said. “The team motto is ‘mock is life,’ and from January until the season ends, it really is.”

hile there are over one hundred clubs at Northview High School promoting various interests and causes, Talk Girl Effect distinguishes itself by being one of the few that pushes for social equality.

“We’re a club for all genders and we stand for equality of all people regardless of gender. We believe in teaching the message of choice,” Pope said.

The club convenes once every two weeks, and in their meetings, there is a mutual participation as certain members present on crucial, prevalent topics of ranging varieties that express the open-mindedness of the group. The organization also participates in an awareness campaign in March during Women’s Week and contributes to a designated girls’ organization by fundraising throughout the year.

“Our biggest event of the year is Women’s Week,” senior Cassandra Cronin, president of Talk Girl Effect, said.

Last year, the members of Talk Girl Effect stuck a Post-It note with an encouraging message on every student’s locker. The previous Women’s Week highlighted feminism as an individual and group effort as a positive movement.

This year’s plans remain in the unknown, although club members and students are excited to put in place the most innovative Women’s Week yet.

The Talk Girl Effect club aims to reestablish the meaning of feminism and to promote leadership along with the mutual pursuit of social justice in an unequal society, starting in the local community of Northview.

“We hope that Talk Girl Effect will continue to be a thriving club full of members that are passionate about and open to talking about gender equality. Since there are only three male members, we also hope that more guys from Northview will step up and become a part of the club,” Cronin said.

To lead others in a society distraught by the refracted portrayal of the media, Talk Girl Effect seeks to find a common ground where people in all walks of life may benefit.

“I am and have always been passionate about women empowerment.

I think this enthusiasm has filtered to my club members. We’re sisters and brothers who find refuge and courage and inspiration in Talk Girl Effect,” Pope said.

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International Night BRINGS NORTHVIEW TOGETHER JOOEUN LEE, Staff Writer

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lmost 1,200 people attended Northview’s annual International Night this year, hosted by Kaleidoscope Club.

“Our goal has been, for the past few years, to bring together all the diversity in Northview and show the rest of the community how much strength that brings and unite all the diverse cultures for a better good,” senior Simran Jadavji, president of Kaleidoscope, said.

International Night showcases the different countries and cultures represented at Northview. Each year, parents run Taste of Cultures, serving various ethnic foods in the cafeteria while students perform in two separate shows. This year, Kaleidoscope added a marketplace around the courtyard in which vendors from around the community sold various goods including jewelry or clothing, and several Northview clubs participated to raise money for their own organizations.

“Our goal is to share every diverse culture we have at this school with the community,” Jadavji said. “We have kids come back from college every year just to watch this show. And we have VIPs like the mayor who are invited, and they get to really see what Northview has to offer besides academics.”

The show, which sold out for both available viewings, featured performances from dancers and musicians representing their respective cultures. The Turbanators created a dance with hip-hop and Bollywood influences, and the Jasmine Flower group performed a traditional Chinese fan dance. Other acts included a traditional Korean fan dance, a zither trio, a traditional Tibetan dance, and breakdance group Quake Crew.

Kaleidoscope’s audition process was difficult, as the club strived to create a diverse program.

“That is something we always talk about every year before auditions. We say, ‘Do we want a talent show with culture, or do we want a cultural show with talent?’” Jadavji said. “I think that’s what sets International Night apart from the talent show, the Sewa coffee house, things like that. We kind of want to have the best of both worlds. We want it to be an entertaining show and we want there to be the best talent, but we want to make sure that we include as many cultures as possible. So sometimes we do have to cut acts that might have gotten in otherwise because we have so much representation of that culture already; we want it to be more diverse.”

Many seniors performed in the show, including Turbanators member Gayatri Menon.

“I’m so happy that we got to be the finale because... everyone remembers it. We weren’t even sure when we auditioned that we’d get finale, but it was an awesome experience,” Menon said.

Fellow senior Justin Kwon performed with Quake Crew, a group composed of mostly seniors.

“It was the most choreographed that Quake had ever been in all of our performances. It was actually my first international night with Quake too. I think everyone liked it so, ultimately, we loved it too,” Kwon said.

Kaleidoscope Club continues to strive for unity within the community and its members hope that through International Night, everyone is able to learn more cultures around the world.

Will-to-Live 5K Draws large crowd SABRINA WILSON, Staff Writer

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n the 5th anniversary of Will Trautwein’s death and the formation of the Will To Live club, co-presidents Matthew Pacifico and Macy McKinley are proud of what they consider to be the most successful 5K run so far, with a turnout of around 1,300 people. They believe this is due to the amount of support they received from Northview students.

“Will To Live was founded because of teen suicide, and it teaches teenagers to love each other, to respect each other,” sophomore Matthew Pacifico said. “It’s a really big event in our school and in our community, so it was an amazing feeling to see everyone [at the run] cheering each other on. We hooked up speakers and blasted music, and some people were even on rollerblades. It was incredible.”

“When you’re working with just the club at NHS, you think it’s pretty big,” McKinley said. “Then you see around 1,300 people show up to the 5K and it kind of blows your mind.

The school really comes together as one big family, just like our motto ‘life teammates’, and the Trautweins are an incredibly involved family and are truly a blessing to the community. They personally motivate me as well as the members of the club to work hard and get involved.”

Pacifico believes the 5K has grown because Will To Live’s message of love and support has spread to other high schools throughout the community.

“Previously, it had just been Northview, Johns Creek, and maybe Chattahoochee, but this year there were also people from Milton and Cambridge. It’s not just a local event anymore. It’s good to see word getting out [about the club],” Pacifico said.

As recognition and support of the club grow, Pacifico and McKinley are hoping to work with other clubs in order to reach out to more teens, such as Flood and Corners Outreach. They would also like to sponsor more events at Northview, like a Guitar Hero competition for Titan Fest. “[Matthew and I] would also like to do an event just for our club members to show how much we appreciate them and how we’re there for them no matter what,” McKinley said. “We want to include some music from our own club members since we have some super talented musicians, and maybe invite a guest speaker.”

Inspired by the overwhelming success of this year’s 5K, Pacifico and McKinley are determined to spread the club’s message of love, hope, and the will to live.

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NEWS

Attendance Procedures Revisited

Hui Lin/STAFF

Northview reinforces its attendance policy SALLY PAN, Staff Writer

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he newly emphasized attendance initiative at Northview High School, asking students to bring notes when checking out of school early for medical appointments, is designed to avoid confusion in deciding whether an absence is considered excused or unexcused, and hopes to keep students more accountable as to their whereabouts during school hours.

The main cause of this change is the questionable validity of the notes with which students leave campus.

“It’s all about safety,” Assistant Principal Amy Booms said. “A student could put himself in danger if leaves campus, and his parents don’t know he is leaving because he wrote a note saying that he was going to the doctor’s, and something happens to him, or something happens at school and we don’t know that he’s not here.”

Therefore, now the policy states that if someone leaves school early, or comes in late due to a doctor’s appointment, he or she would need a medical note to verify the his or her excuse. When a student leaves school early, he or she is expected to bring in a signed note from a parent to get out of class, and then bring a doctor’s note back in order to have the absence count as excused.

“It’s not really a policy change, it’s more of an expectation change.

We have not been consistent in what we do as a school, nor have our students and parents been consistent in what they’ve provided us. So really it’s an effort to be more consistent and take some of the arbitrary decision making out of ‘do we excuse or unexcuse this event?’”

Principal Brian Downey said.

Some students of Northview agreed that the changes to the attendance policy do indeed help to hold students accountable.

“It’s good that our school is trying to be efficient in tolerating our absences,” senior Kevin Yeo said.

“The reinforcement makes students stay in school instead of skipping to participate in reckless activities,” sophomore Amy Jiang said.

However, students were also concerned that the new change may be a little too harsh and demanding.

“I do agree that the new policy helps to keep track of kids who may be skipping but at the same time, I don’t think having a doctor’s note keeps students safer and accounted for during school hours because if parents wrote the note, then the parents have responsibility,” Yeo said.

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“The new changes require a doctor’s note for a lot of the checking-in’s and checking-out’s so far, and some families do not have insurance to go to the doctor’s notes for sicknesses,” Jiang said, “so if a parent has written a legitimate note excusing their child, it should still be counted as an excused absence.”

“The policy does ensure that students no longer are skipping and accounts for their hours, but it makes it much more difficult for the students that are not skipping,” sophomore Joseph Zhang said, “the school needs to ask whether the effort put in is really worth the output.”

Despite the fact that requiring students who are legitimately going to the doctor’s to bring in an extra note may be a bit of a hassle, the new implementations prevent students who do not have valid excuses from leaving school grounds without permission. During the school day, Northview is responsible for its students’ safety, and needs to take the necessary measures to guarantee that all of its students are accounted for.

Also, administrators recommend that absences or early checkouts that are not related to medical reasons be pre-approved before their occurrence.

“It’s urged that you get anything that you’re going out for pre-approved by an administrator,” Booms said. “So if you’re going for college visit, or you have something religious going on, or just anything you know about ahead of time that is not a doctor’s appointment, we urge you to do the pre-approved absence.”

“We were getting caught too much making an arbitrary decision over what to excuse and what not to excuse, so anytime you have documentation for anything, that’s going to trump anything that we want to do. So in an effort to be more consistent, we’re asking for that medical documentation,” Downey said.

In efforts to make this process more efficient, the attendance office has installed a drop box in order to help students who are dropping off their doctor’s notes. The drop box will help students avoid the long attendance office lines.

Starting this year, Northview will be stricter about its attendance policies and rules to put a stop to the current epidemic of students leaving early without justifiable reasons. The new attendance policy will ensure the safety and wellbeing of the students.

Hui Lin/STAFF

SPORTS

Eligibility and the GHSA

Northview lacrosse player Jake Hanson battles to gain the right to play lacrosse this season RAMEEN FORGHANI, Sports Editor

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he Northview men’s lacrosse team is coming into this season looking to defend their state title. However, before the season has started, they are already facing numerous obstacles that they must overcome before they can position themselves to make a run to become back-to-back state champions. Sharing in the hardship that every Northview athletic team has had to overcome this season, the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) has re-classified Northview High School into AAAAAA, the class for the largest schools and with the fiercest competition. While winning a championship in AAAAA is impressive, trying to repeat while playing in a more competitive division is much more difficult. Notwithstanding the new class, the Titans still have had to fought to get the right players on the field and able to play. Junior Jake Hanson, a new student at Northview this year, has gone through a struggle with the GHSA to be ruled eligible.

Hanson plays lacrosse, at the goalie position. He previously attended the Wesleyan School, for his underclassmen years, and played lacrosse there. This year, he decided to no longer attend Wesleyan, opting to enroll at Northview. The problem arises from his lack of a physical move, remaining at the same physical address. Because he previously attended a private school, in which there are no districts or zones, he has always been allocated to attend Northview, should he opt to attend a public school.

When Hanson changed schools, he expected to continue his high school athletic career playing lacrosse. However, the GHSA, the governing body for all sanctioned high school sports in the state, had a problem with his lack of a physical move. One of the main priorities of the GHSA is to uphold academic morality and prevent students from switching schools for the sole purpose of advancing their athletic career. Thus, the GHSA has created eligibility requirements for students that have switched schools, detailing them in their by-laws.

According to these rules, Hanson was denied eligibility, forcing him to sit out a year until he could resume competition at the varsity level.

This ruling set-up a series of hearings and appeals for Hanson, to

attempt to win the right to play, and the GHSA to maintain integrity and honor. Throughout this, Hanson and his parents led the charge with school Athletic Director Chad Davenport and Fulton County Schools Athletic Director Steven Craft assisting their cause.

“I was contacted by the parents, who asked for my opinion and used me as a sounding board for their case,” Craft, a primary contact point for all athletic departments in the county, said.

Hanson and his family filed an initial hardship appeal after eligibility was first denied. The panel, consisting of four members of the state executive council, denied his hardship appeal. The panel found that the information presented to them did not qualify for an exemption, but a loophole in the GHSA by-laws allows students that don’t fit standard eligibility criteria to still play if unforeseen circumstances arise or there are factors in play that are out of their control.

“I agreed with the board’s [first] decision. When the parents came to me, it was obviously apparent that the board only saw a partial picture. They only had some of the information they needed to make an informed decision, and based off of what they had, they absolutely made the right decision,” Craft said.

Therefore, after taking the advice of Craft and procuring more information directly relevant to the specific hardship stipulations present in the GHSA constitution, the board granted the family another appeal. Upon having the entirety of the information and a complete picture presented before them, the board reversed their decision unanimously, voting 4-0 to reinstate Hanson, making him eligible to play effectively immediately.

When asked about the new information presented to the board during the second hearing, the GHSA declined to comment, citing privacy concerns of the student-athlete.

After the drawn-out process that Hanson has gone through with the GHSA to play lacrosse, his perseverance has paid off, and he looks forward to minding the net.

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SPORTS

Heather Bray/ SPECIAL

Heather Bray/ SPECIAL

Sports in BRIEF

MAGGIE BRENAN and RAMEEN FORGHANI, Sports Editors, and MEGAN CISTULLI, Staff Writer

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he Northview Swim and Dive team arrived at their State Championship meet on Saturday, February 7th a very talented team boasting impressive qualifying times. A team of 17 swimmers qualified for and swam in the State Championship meet, and achieved a great amount of success. In addition to the girls placing 7th overall and the boys placing 5th overall, multiple swimmers qualified for finals, where Kelsey Prince placed second in the 200 IM, Knox Auerbach placed first in both the 100 and 200 freestyle, and the relay team of Knox Auerbach, Sam Bray, Joonas Koski, and Cade Auerbach tied for first in the 400 Free Relay. Additionally, the same relay team not only placed first in their 200 Freestyle relay, but broke the long standing state record for that relay.

“It was terrific. I knew all the guys would step up and do well.

We all really wanted that record,” Knox Auerbach said.

For the seniors on the team, the state championship meet was the last high school meet they’ll ever swim in, and for that reason, it evoked mixed emotions.

“I just wanted to cry. I mean it was happy, but it was really

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bittersweet,” Emily Yang said. Although her swimming career is far from over (she signed to swim at Davidson University starting next fall), the camaraderie and team spirit makes moving on a tough task.

Auerbach is another swimmer who is far from done, yet cherished his last meet and last season as a Titan. He is hoping to qualify for meets in Ireland and Singapore this summer, and then will be attending the University of Alabama on scholarship starting in the fall, but really enjoyed the team atmosphere he found year after year at Northview.

“At club teams, [you’re] sort of all on your own [...] it feels really individual. This year [on the Northview swim team] it really felt like a team. We all wanted to do well as a group. That was the main focus,” Auerbach said.

As for the future of the Northview swim team, the talent pool is ever-growing and the possibility of success is great.

“I think there’s definitely still a positive outlook and everything , and we have a lot of people who are going to keep carrying on the team spirit,” Yang said.

BOYS

GIRLS

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The Northview varsity boys basketball team’s season came to an end with a loss against West Forsyth. Unfortunately, they didn’t make it far in the region tournament, losing their first game. They ended their challenging season with 3 wins and 23 losses. Although the team did not win many games due to their constantly changing personnel and young roster, they managed to push through the season. Next year, the two freshman, Kyler McMichael and Justin Brown, will have to step up on the team and fill the shoes of the two graduating seniors, Aaron Thompson and Keith Chi. Justin Brown ended the season with 248 points, and considering he is a freshman, will be a great asset to the program in the upcoming years. Next year, this team will be one to watch will all of the young talent developing individually, and as a team.

“I feel with team chemistry and us working over the summer, we’ll become better as a team,”Kyler McMichael said.

However, looking back on this season, the Titans have left a lot to be desired. They cycled through many starting line-ups, compounded by the affect of football season ending and receiving many football players, and losing them again to injury and relocation. Due to this, the boys have cycled through three offensive schemes, and have been forced to defer to a younger and smaller lineup.

This season, the Titans were plagued with inconsistent offense and the inability to protect the paint. On the offensive side of the ball, the constant shuffle of the rotation of players led to some mishaps early in the season, though the second half demonstrated improved team basketball. Northview seemed to have trouble passing the ball, and was too impatient to wait for a good shot, settling for a more difficult shot (often compounded by having to play from behind). Defensively, although their speed allowed them to play a tight man-to-man coverage scheme, they lacked in their protection of the lane, allowing opponents to score layups and short field goals too often. The Titans also struggled rebounding the ball. On defense, they often did not play fundamental basketball and box-out their opponents, leading to a free run at the ball, and a second-chance opportunity for their opposition to score points.

Hui Lin/STAFF

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he girls varsity basketball program had a tumultuous season, amassing a winning streak over winter break and sizable chunks of losses in between. The Lady Titans had many challenges coming into this season. New head coach Chris Yarbrough took over the coaching duties of the team, instituting some new strategic schemes. Additionally, the reclassification of Northview High School into AAAAAA play, the toughest division holding the largest schools. They finished the season 8-19 overall, 3-15 in the region.

“We probably played in the toughest region in the state for girls basketball,” said head coach Chris Yarbrough.

This year, senior captains Brittney Neser and Hannah Babadele led the team, along with senior Lindsey Moon, juniors Lexa and Melissa Muench, and sophomore Shannon Titus to round out the starters. Their play this year was held together by Titus’s dynamic abilities on both halves of the court, able to disrupt the opposing offense with her shot-blocking abilities and turn forced turnovers into points. Titus has scored 499 points over the two years she has played at Northview, well on track to break 1000 points for her career, as well as lead the power packed region 6-AAAAAA in blocks this season.

“It will be tough losing seven seniors. They have been with the program for a long time. Shannon [Titus] took a huge step forward this season, and was a vital part of our success. Next year, she is going to be back, as well as a couple of rising freshman with good potential. I’m optimistic.” Yarbrough said looking forward to next season.

This season, the Lady Titans often remained competitive early in the game, only to lose the game in the fourth quarter. The inability of the team to close out tight region games has left them at the bottom of the division, and with an unfavorable seeding heading into the region tournament. The nine seed (out of 10) pitted the Titans against the Johns Creek Gladiators in the first round of the playoffs. Although Northview lost to Johns Creek twice in the regular season, they were able to decisively down the Gladiators, only to be face South Forsyth, a top five team in the state. On that note, the Lady Titans ended their season with a 15 point loss to South Forsyth, one win away from reaching the state tournament.

Next year, the Titans hope to gain some speed allowing them to run a man defense, with the increased speed from the underclassmen leading to increased effectiveness running this type of defense. Additionally, Yarbrough wants to transition to a true motion offense, using more ball screens and picks to set up scoring opportunities.

Hui Lin/STAFF

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SPORTS

National Signing Day Eight Northview student-athletes have officially committed to college CHAD JOHNSON and RYAN DAIGLE, Staff Writers

Monica Millard signed to play Division I soccer at Georgia State University. She is one of four incoming freshmen that have signed this year to State. Millard decided to sign with Georgia State because it is so close to home. Millard has played on varsity for all of her four years at Northview. Millard is excited to play her last season of soccer at Northview and cannot wait to see what the future has to hold.

Tyler Cross signed to play Division I football at Syracuse University in New York. This year was Cross’ first year at Northview; he transferred to Northview in the middle of the football season to play for the Titans. Cross was recruited by several other Division I schools as well, including Wake Forest. Cross is looking forward to spending the next four years playing college football and plans to continue even after college.

Madeline Muzi signed to play Division II soccer at Columbus State University. Muzi decided to go play at Columbus State because the soccer program is really strong, and she gets along well with the players and coaching staff. Muzi’s recruiting experience took time, but once she visited the colleges and met with the teams and coaches, she was able to make her decision. Muzi is excited to finish her last season playing soccer as a Northview Titan and cannot wait to spend the next four years at Columbus State University playing at the next level.

Brittney Neser signed to play soccer at the University of South Carolina at Beaufort. The University of South Carolina at Beaufort is part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division I level and they compete mainly in The Sun Conference. Neser decided to sign with this school after going to the campus and meeting the team. She had to pick between playing basketball or soccer in college and ultimately chose soccer. Neser is excited to finish her senior season as a Titan and then to spend the next four years playing Division I soccer as a Landshark at the University of South Carolina at Beaufort.

Peyton Ericson signed to play Division II soccer at the University of South Carolina. Ericson is unlike all of the other student athletes from Northview that signed, in that he did not play a single Varsity season at Northview High School. Ericson plays for a club team called Georgia United, which travels to showcases and plays other top ranked club teams. Although Ericson does not play soccer for Northview, he is still excited to finish his last year playing with his teammates on Georgia United and cannot wait to spend the next four years playing soccer at The University of South Carolina.

Brad Booth signed to play Division III football for the University of Puget Sound in Washington State.

Booth was a four year letterman at Northview, and decided to move on to Puget Sound for the access to rigorous academics paired with the opportunity to continue playing football. Booth looks forward to the next level of play, but he is also going to miss the bond that he shared with the players at Northview.

Devan Johnson signed to play Division I football at Hampton University in Virginia where he is receiving a full ride scholarship. He decided to go there because it seemed like the right choice for his future and his family. Johnson was a four year starter for Northview and looks forward to see what the future holds for him.

DJ Pearson signed with Arkansas State University. He lettered all four years and was the first quarterback to lead the Titans to a playoff appearance. Pearson was offered by many different colleges but ultimately decided to choose Arkansas State because of its welcoming atmosphere. Pearson looks forward to the next four years playing at the next level of competition.

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Hui Lin/STAFF

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Beauty in Culture Sophomore Leilani Tian performs a traditional folk dance during International Night on February 4 based off of the beauty of Tibetan scenery and life.

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FEATURES

K n o c ki n g d ow n

fi r e wa lls JUSTIN LEUNG, MAGGIE XIA, and CONNIE XIAO, Staff Writers

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unior Alice Lin’s passion for mathematics and science extends beyond the traditional classroom curriculum and environment. She devotes a substantial amount of her time preparing for math and science competitions.

“I spend some time everyday preparing for math competitions. It doesn’t have to be an hour—I just do it whenever feel I like it,” Lin said.

Lin is also a member of Northview’s Math Team, and she believes that her participation in this group and the experience she has gained from competing have changed her critical thinking capacity. Years of practice have allowed Lin to develop a rapid problem-solving ability that kicks in whenever she encounters an obstacle.

“Doing competition math gives you this flexibility and a fast approach to solving problems,” Lin said.

According to Lin, mathematics is not as repetitive as others may think it is. While academic classes mainly serve to familiarize students with formulas and methods, Lin associates math with the humanities and believes that its application involves a significant amount of creativity.

“You need to push math around a little bit,” Lin said.

But understanding the concepts in mathematics does not come without practice—Lin has regularly attended the Alltop School until recently, when she stopped for a semester because she felt that the classes had little left to offer her. For the past two weeks, however, Lin has returned to Alltop for additional math practice.

Even outside of Alltop classes on Friday afternoons, Lin continues to read and practice math problems in her own time. Her passion for math has also motivated her to teach the members of Northview’s Math Club. Lin enjoys illustrating the concepts she finds so fascinating to a larger group of people.

“It’s encouraging for the members, and Alice is the one consistently putting problems up. Alice is actually in charge of teaching on a rotating basis, especially to the new members” Brian Stone, Math Team adviser and math teacher, said.

Math, however, is not the only subject within the STEM field that Lin enjoys. She also competes in Northview’s Science Olympiad team and has maintained a strong record from the competitions she has been a part of. At the regional competitions this year, she won first place in the Entomology category and second place in Fossils.

Lin’s passion for math and science has driven her to pursue a career in STEM in the future. She has, however, noticed that the STEM field is highly dominated by males.

“It is a little alienating sometimes when you walk into a room and there are three girls. But the people who I’ve worked with and the people I’ve been in math

ALICE LIN

Hui Lin/STAFF

teams with aren’t rude and they don’t treat me differently because I’m a girl,” Lin said.

While she has not faced any outward discrimination, there were some notable instances during her participation in the American Regions Math League (ARML) competition with senior Cathy Sun, where the feeling of stigma was the heaviest. The ARML is a prestigious math competition where each state of the nation forms four teams of 15 people.

Lin and Sun were placed in the B team. Out of the group of 15, only three were female. In ARML that year, only seven out of the 63 participants were female. According to Lin and Sun, those seven students worked together and helped each other in solving math problems.

“I guess it just turned out that all the girls crunch together. And if girls don’t help girls, who is going to help the girls?” Sun said.

The gender gap in STEM appears to be narrowing gradually. At Northview, a growing number of girls are starting to take Advanced Placement Physics C, jumping from three in the 2014-15 school year to nine in the upcoming year. Last year, mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, Lin’s role model, became the first woman to win the Fields Medal, a prize similar in prestige to the Nobel Peace Prize but aimed specifically towards mathematicians.

“She [Mirzakhani] has worked incredibly hard in the face of discrimination. I admire her because of that,” Lin said. “We are moving along; things are getting better.”

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strengthen her understanding of programming, math, and teamwork. The communicative skills she developed working with her robotics team have made her more comfortable working in an environment that has been historically dominated by the male sex.

Discrimination does not discourage Shrivastava from continuing her contributions to the Techno Titans.

“When I worked with Komal on a project for robotics over the fall, she really shined. She has a plethora of really creative, innovative ideas. She was able to be very flexible,” sophomore Cat Alton said.

Shrivastava finds time to read more about coding if she struggles with the concepts. During her free time, she watches space documentaries because she is fascinated by the vast universe that surrounds Earth.

In fact, Shrivastava hopes to one day work in a major scientific organization such as NASA. For now, howevNabila Khan/STAFF er, she enjoys working with her peers in robotics on a daily basis.

“I just love being with the people.

I enjoy interacting with everyone and spending time with ophomore Komal Shrivastava is part of them outside of school.

I just love doing the projects with them,” the robotics team that has made a name for Shrivastava said.

Northview in the engineering world competi For the Techno Titans, the varsity season is just beginning, and tion after competition.

Shrivastava first entered the STEM field Shrivastava is focusing her energy into programming for the team out of curiosity and interest. Now, she spends so that they may continue their streak of success in the future. sixteen hours a week in robotics.

“There are many different parts to [STEM] and I thought, ‘I want to get into this more,’” Shrivastava said.

Shrivastava considers herself lucky to have avoided much of ast fall, junior Meghna Dash the discrimination that other women have faced working in the became the first female presiSTEM field. No one has explicitly told her that she would not be dent of the Northview Techno successful, though she suspects that some of her peers may have Titans robotics team. Now, as secinsinuated that. ond semester rolls around and the var “I felt some underlying glances from other guys,” Shrivastava said. sity robotics team begins its season in the Although Shrivastava is able to pursue her passion for techFIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of nology and robotics with few obstacles, she recognizes that some Science and Technology) international robotothers do not have the same freedom. ics competition, Dash finds herself busier than ever.

“I’ve heard stories of girls whose dads told them that engineer- Dash entered robotics as a member of the computer-aided deing is a ‘guy thing,’” Shrivastava said. sign (CAD) team, which makes virtual models of every component Shrivastava’s parents, on the other hand, fully support her fu- that the team produces for competition. Learning CAD was mostly a ture plans. Her father, mother, uncle, and aunt are all a part of the peer and self-driven effort.

STEM field and approve of Shrivastava following in their steps.

“Of course your science, math, and engineering classes help, but “Komal is a problem solver, hard worker, and has a very robotics is a completely different skill set. I studied out of a CAD logical and analytical mind. She does not shy away from hard textbook,” Dash said. work, has high standards for herself and has natural aptitude for As president, Dash has shifted her emphasis from the physical STEM,” Rashmi Sinha, Shrivastava’s mother, said. building of the robots to organization and management. The team Shrivastava has given marketing presentations in the first se- meets for over 20 hours a week, and Dash must coordinate the elecmester and is the robotics team’s programmer for the varsity sea- trical, mechanical, programming, and CAD teams to ensure that all son. She hopes to apply the knowledge she has gained in robotics projects are on track and running smoothly. in her future career.

“This year there is definitely more planning going on. We have Her experience in the robotics team has allowed her to more leadership meetings where we can plan what we want to

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accomplish day-to-day,” Victor Chen, the previous year’s co-president, said.

Dash also cleaned up the robotics rooms, clearing out scrap materials and adding bulletin boards to keep members informed of the production process and upcoming dates.

“I feel that we’ve had more communication and organization than ever before,” Jason Weinberger, the Techno Titans coach, said. “[Dash] listens to all the opinions of members and tries to make the best and appropriate decisions for the team.”

To help with the expenditures of building the robots, Dash has applied for grants from local organizations. Last year, she secured $2,500 in funding from Women in Technology, a substantial contribution considering that each robot can cost upwards of a thousand dollars.

While preparing for competition, Dash and her fellow teammates have received mentorship from engineers of various corporations, giving them helpful perspectives of real world careers as well as connections that could help them succeed. Dash’s experiences with robotics have inspired her to pursue a career in mechanical engineering.

“It’s really beautiful how all these different components come together as a team for one competition. My favorite part is just seeing the spirit levels, this rush, this craze we get out of it,” Dash said. “Robotics has been such a large part of my high school experience, and being a part of this team has made me realize what is right for me.”

When Dash joins her fellow engineering students in college, she will be entering a field where females receive only 19.2% of undergraduate degrees, according to a statistic from the National Girls Collaborative Project.

“It’s a little weird being outnumbered. I think the ratio of boys to girls on our team is about 8 to 1 right now,” Dash said. “But it’s nice in the sense that there are a lot of support networks for girls in the STEM field.”

Nabila Khan/STAFF

MEGHNA DASH

Dash has worked to earn recognition from her fellow team members throughout the years.

“Sometimes you don’t get respected. Some people may say that ‘it’s just because you’re a girl that you’re president,’” Dash said. “My tactic is usually to mostly let it slide. People can say what they want, but I want to show them that I do know things, that I do put the effort, that I’m just a deserving as any other guy would be.”

To some extent, however, Dash agrees that girls in robotics may get some sort of special treatment.

“You do have more support. People vouch for you, because it is difficult being a girl in STEM.” The Northview Techno Titans team has made an effort to get more female participation in robotics. During signups at club fair, Dash and other girls help recruit at their booth, encouraging other interested, but perhaps hesitant, girls to join the team.

Dash also visits to local elementary schools, such as Shakerag and Findley Oaks, to help mentor their budding robotics clubs and nurture a lasting interest in engineering.

“There is this whole group and world waiting, and we will be here waiting for you,” Dash said.

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ast spring, then-junior Valerie Avva climbed the stage to receive her high school diploma, choosing to opt out of her senior year and go directly to the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Avva, who nurtures a passion for programming, decided to leave once she had exhausted Northview’s computer science (CS) options. She had taking AP Computer Science in her sophomore year, and the Advanced Web Team Class, which maintains the Northview website, did not offer the depth she desired. The TAG internship program that many seniors choose to participate did not seem to include CS, and neither did any dual-enrollment programs. The only road to take was early graduation.

Avva’s parents, who majored in the computer science and engineering fields, communicated early on the benefits of taking such a career path. In the 7th grade, Avva enrolled in Engineering Problem Solving at Duke TIP. Intrigued, she returned the next year to take the Robotics class, which placed a large emphasis on programming.

“I had an amazing mentor who taught me to love the challenge of programming, and I wanted to do more,” Avva said.

The summer afterward, she took another class, this time in Programming for Video Games.

“By this point, there was no question that I would become a computer science major,” Avva said.

The following year, Avva joined the Northview Techno Titans robotics team as a sophomore. There she worked on the programming team. A diligent worker, she soon became the section captain and the co-president of the entire robotics team.

As the lead programmer, Avva had the responsibility of training new recruits. At the beginning of her second year, she ran a programming boot camp outlining the basic concepts required for roboticsbased programming. When the season started, Avva assigned duties based on what she had determined to be the members’ strengths.

“She made sure that all had a task to do and that we all knew what each other were doing, so we wouldn’t interfere with the code,” senior Seung-Seok Lee, a fellow programmer, said.

Coding in Java, the language used for the varsity robotics FIRST competition, Avva and her team wrote out the functions of every robot.

“We get the robot moving. Without the programming, the robot is

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Valerie Avva/SPECIAL

just a bunch of metal and wire stuck together,” Lee said.

Lee and Avva collaborated on many projects. One of their trickier undertakings was coding the autonomous portions of the robot’s functions. Using only sensors, actuators, and programming, the robot had to score points for the team without any human input.

“Some people would say that’s true robotics,” Peter Estelle, a volunteer programming mentor from Nordson, said. Estelle frequently assisted the team, appearing at almost all meetings, and enjoyed talking to Avva about aspects of programming beyond robotics.

When the day of the competition arrived, Avva acted as a co-driver of the robot.

“She was really dependable, and we communicated well,” Alex Le, Avva’s former co-driver and a member of the electrical team, said. “I worked with her to get our systems together. I dealt with the base and movements, and she worked with the inner systems and acquisition device.”

Avva’s experiences with robotics and coding have won her numerous awards and a scholarship from the Georgia CIO Leadership Association. What she values most, however, is the practical knowledge she gained from it.

“Robotics prepared me for a future job where I would be on a team of programmers working with other, non-programming, groups,” Avva said. “It also introduced me to real world coding, where the programmers get a lot of time to work on the software without any way to test it, and then are given a short amount of time to make it work with hardware limitations that were only sort of known about during development.”

While Northview seniors are finishing up their final year of high school, Avva is wrapping up her first at Georgia Tech. Last term, she

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VALERIE AVVA

coded a program with functions similar to Microsoft Paint. This semester, she is starting computer science research involving three-dimensional modeling under the inventor of Google Glass. In her coming years, she plans on majoring in computer science, with “threads” in Devices, the connection between CS and physical devices, and Intelligence, or artificial intelligence.

“I really like interfacing with things in the real world with my code, so that I why I chose the Devices thread,” Avva said. “And I think the possibilities with different forms of Artificial Intelligence are fairly limitless and may redefine how we interact with computers, so I want to be a part of this.”

Although statistics show that men outnumber women (73% vs.

27%) in the engineering field, Avva is not worried.

“To say that all old white males are running companies is to not account for the way society viewed women when these guys entered the industry,” Avva said. “If the majority of working women haven’t had a chance to move up the food chain yet, then the percentages may not be for lack of effort from the women in computing movement.”

Avva has not experienced much discrimination, but knowing that other women have encourages her to be a strong role model for future generations. Her own mother was a QA tester and her sister is an astrophysicist. To get more girls into STEM fields, Avva thinks the best thing to do is to focus on the science, rather than advertising the traditionally feminine aspects of the area.

“I remember going to a Women in Computing event where we had a day packed with learning how to build smartphone apps and program small robots, but then they expected us to be most excited about the part where we got to decorate the robots with glitter glue and sparkles,”

Avva said. “I think things like these detract from the purpose of bringing girls into STEM. If they promote the arts and crafts over the truly awesome parts (the coding and robots and apps), girls will never be drawn to the STEM part of STEM [...] A woman in technology is simply another person in technology.”

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ith a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering, Dr. Colleen Phillips joins the Northview High School staff as the new Engineering teacher.

Growing up, Phillips was surrounded by news of the space program and space exploration, and had a dream of becoming an astronaut.

“I just had this love of wanting to be an astronaut, wanting to fly in a rocket ship, wanting to build rocket ships from a very small age. I never built rocket ships so I never really fulfilled that dream, but I found the closest match,” Phillips said.

She had always been interested in science and math, and once computers came along, engineering was just the perfect mix of the three. In high school, Phillips took all the math and sciences classes that were offered, and by her senior year, she was doing independent studies as the school was having to create classes for her to take.

Though high school did not provide much competitive opportunities related to math and science, college was a different story. During her junior year at Purdue University, she became involved with a group competing in the NASA Challenge, with the goal of making a type of passive restraint in automobiles. Phillip’s group won the competition, having created an inflatable air belt. With the opportunity to build the prototype, she stayed at Purdue and continued on with her education there in order to continue on with prototype testing.

Phillips was not on the engineering track from the start. She began as a physics major at her hometown university of Ball State, where a professor gave her the advice to look into becoming an engineer. Though she wasn’t sure what an engineer did, and was more inclined to become a teacher than a practitioner, at his urging, she transferred to Purdue to attain her engineering degree. She initially decided on Electrical Engineering, but after finding out that there was a years wait, decided that Industrial Engineering, with all its work with statistics, math, and science, was a perfect fit for her.

She went on to obtain her Bachelor's Degree there, during which time the NASA Challenge occurred, and continued on with getting her Masters. It was during this time that she was asked to become a teaching assistant for several Purdue courses, making it her first job teaching as a Masters student.

Realizing that she really enjoyed teaching she kept going, getting her Ph.D., as in order to teach engineering at the university level, a Ph.D. was required.

She spent the past twelve years as a university professor, teaching at Louisiana Tech and Western Michigan University, where she was the faculty advisor for the Society of Women Engineers, holding hundreds of competitions throughout that time period. In order to promote the role of women in engineering, Phillips encouraged female students to join the teams.

“Openings were first come, first serve, but we really have preferential treatment to females because we were really promoting female teams,” Phillips said.

She left teaching after being offered an attractive high salary job working for an artificial intelligence company which produced software for the Department of Defense in Alpharetta, the reason for her move down to Georgia.

When the company went under due to lack of funding, Phillips had to change her career plans. Because she had taken a liking to Georgia, she decided that teaching at the local high school was a good choice. When the engineering position at Northview opened up, she found that it would be the perfect position for her. Before she could take the job however, she decided to attend school once again to get her teaching certification. In December of last year, she obtained her teaching certification and became eligible for the engineering position this February.

In regards to how it was working in a male dominated field, the few females in her classes were split up in order to expand the female point of view to more groups, because she and the other women had such similar study habits, they always met up outside of class. She did not receive any gender discrimination through her school and university system.

“They were really truly looking for what was in your mind and what you had to offer. As long as you were knowledgeable, race, gender, none of that mattered,” Phillips said.

However, once she started working, things changed. Her first duties as a university professor was to make sure that the coffee was made for the faculty meetings. Though at first she didn’t mind as she was the newest member of the staff, as newer people were hired, and she was still dealt the task of making the coffee, she decided to speak out. “ I set the tone and said, ‘This task needs to be shared. I know I’m the low person on the totem pole but I am no longer. I paid my dues, so we should share that task,’” Phillips said.

Her coworkers agreed, and her duties as designated coffee maker were over. Phillips feels that because she is female, she may sometimes be seen in a different light.

“If you’re the female they just tend to look at you like you’re nurturing and wanting to provide for others, which is okay but everybody should take their share,” Phillips said.

Another instance of gender discrimination was when she was teaching at Louisiana Tech. She discovered that though there was a separate restroom for faculty men, there was no such separate bathroom for the faculty women. Phillips inquired as to why there was no female faculty restroom, and as a result, one of the public restrooms was taken off and deemed the female faculty restroom. “ There were only two of us in the building, but we had to open the doors for the rest that are to come. I tried to open up those doors so that I leave a path for females to follow,” Phillips said.

Phillip’s students have very positive opinions about her teaching.

“She is a really good teacher. She actually has managed to teach us the actual concepts of engineering which will be useful for college and mentor wise, she is able to help out with all the concepts that are beyond the understanding of most students,” sophomore Arjun Gandhi, who takes Engineering Concepts, said.

“Dr. Philips has taken our engineering program to a unique stand where she teaches the concepts that make us understand how machines work. Although she doesn’t let us to use the tools many of us would like to learn, she instructs us in various topics such as sustainability, lift, and mechanical advantages. She is a new teacher who will change our program completely,” sophomore Sai Maddali, another student in Philip’s Engineering Concepts class, said.

As for the future of the engineering program here at Northview, she hopes to grow the program until it is one that is respected statewide.

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FEATURES

Tiffany Xu/STAFF

A blind date worth seeing

Northview Seniors carry on the blind date tradition MAGGIE BRENAN, Sports Editor

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his year’s annual Northview Messenger blind date was one of friendly (yet still epic) proportions. Seniors Logan Kugathasan and Oohaa Vennapusa were excited to see a friendly face upon walking into Le Mekong, a local Vietnamese restaurant, for lunch on Valentine’s Day. “We’re basically already dating,” Kugathasan said, introducing the friendly atmosphere that provided for ease of conversation and plenty of cracked jokes throughout the date.

This year’s outing seemed to be the best of both worlds, with the formalities and chivalries of a date but the comfort of two friends having a good time. The two talked easily, bonding over TV shows and the like, their obvious favorite being Breaking Bad. Other conversations included those of shared friends, and of course, college: ever-present on the mind of a second-semester senior. They even came up with a clever game: whoever reaches for their phone first in a lull of conversation has to pay for the meal (this idea was later thrown out when Logan’s gentlemanly instincts kicked in and he insisted on paying).

“It was a lot of fun,” Vennapusa said. “When I walked in I was like ‘Oh dang, it’s just Logan!’”

Although the date wasn’t exactly as “blind” as planned, it was a great success, and the pair was all smiles walking to their cars.

“I would definitely do it again,” Kugathasan said.

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OPINIONS

Raising the bar Increased selectivity in public universities jeopardizes the chances of receiving in-state tuition for many Georgia students ANNIE KONG, Staff Writer

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n recent years, Georgia colleges and universities have followed the nationwide trend of increasing admission selectivity. For Georgian high school students who have always planned to attend college in-state in order to avoid the expenses of out-of-state tuition, this is understandably frustrating. Many students who excelled in high school in years past saw public in-state universities as fallback schools with high-rising acceptance rates. Unfortunately, that sense of security no longer remains. What once was ensured by simply having a certain grade point average and standardized test score has been replaced with a competitive selection process.

Today’s Georgian students are pressed not only to excel in academics, but also to show leadership through impressive extracurriculars; however, for some, it is already too late to hope for admission.

Through legacies, friends, and word of mouth, prospective students looking for in-state admittance are given the impression that Georgia’s public universities are relatively unselective.

And they were for quite some time. In 2011, around the time that today’s upperclassmen began considering their routes for college, the University of Georgia held an acceptance rate of 63 percent. In 2015, the margin narrows at 55 percent. Similarly, Georgia Institute of Technology’s acceptance rate dropped 11 percent in the same time period. With acceptance rates lowering by just two or three percentage points each year, many high school students perceive the trends as mere fluctuations, unimportant to their own acceptance fate. However, the rates tumble down year after year, creating unrealistic expectations for students who set their expectations when the statistics were in their favor.

Many believe that this unstoppable trend of increasing selectivity is falsely perceived. Since acceptance rates are based both on the amount of applicants a school rejects and on number of applicants a school receives, it may just be that the number of students a school rejects has remained relatively

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the same each year while the applicant pool grows. Although this holds true to an extent, this still proves the limitations that public universities have on the number of students they can accept, meaning that students now have to compete fiercely to fill sought-after spots.

Students tend to lean towards attending college in Georgia because of their relatively low in-state tuition charges and the benefits presented by the HOPE Scholarship. Currently, nearly one in five Georgia residents live in poverty and many more are just barely escaping the poverty line. In the mix of being unable to pay out-of-state tuition costs and setting individual educational standards that are quickly outdone, rising acceptance rates of Georgia public universities unfairly threaten the academic futures of many Georgia students.

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OPINIONS

THE COUNSELING DEPARTMENT The chaos of senior year demands a new position within the jumbled counseling department

PARNIA VAGHEF, Staff Writer

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s students make their way up the high school hierarchy, they progressively begin to think more about what they have been working so hard their entire lives for: admittance into their dream colleges. Senior year, although often viewed as a year able to slack off and take it easy, is undoubtedly the most crucial year in a student’s college application and preparation process. This final year is filled with relentless questions about how, where, why, and when to apply to the multitude of colleges that we individually have our hearts set on. In the midst of this chaos and confusion, students turn to the counseling department as a reliable source of information.

With only six counselors and 2000 students, the methods that the counseling department uses to personally reach out to each student are nearly unfathomable. However, they are not always efficient. Seniors, in many cases, may not get to see their counselors for several days after requesting a meeting due to underclassmen advisement sessions or scheduled parent meetings. Often, these circumstances create extreme inconveniences for the seniors because they usually need to have answers to their questions promptly for college related activities such as tours, applications, and scholarships.

This dilemma could be simply dealt with by adopting a system in which there is a set number of counselors that solely deal with the senior class, instead of sharing the handful of counselors with the entirety of the school.

With this system, the counselors that work with grades nine through eleven end up having a lighter workload all while being able to spend more time with their students because there are less of them to deal with. This allows the seniors to have access to more one-on-one time with their respective counselors to ask anything they need to about what lies ahead of them.

In fact, a position which deals with graduation is available to be created in the counseling department within our current budget constraints. This career, known as “graduation coach,” is a regularity in most other Fulton County Schools; however, the position is intended to keep struggling students on track for graduation, an issue not needed with Northview’s superb graduation rates. Rather than replacing the position with an additional general counselor, as is done at Northview, we should restructure the role of the graduation coach with dealing with the higher education concerns of the senior class.

Senior year is the year of deadlines, and, by default, the counseling department is responsible for a majority of the materials and information that seniors need. We have the resources, budget, and open positions necessary to redirect and reorganize the overwhelmed department. With these advantages, future senior classes would strongly benefit from a counselor in this position to help advise them as they prepare to leave Northview.

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OPINIONS

FACE-OFF:

SHOULD HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC PROGRAMS TEST ATHLETES FOR DRUGS?

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YES:

RAMEEN FORGHANI, Sports Editor

he recent off-the-field issues that Josh Gordon and Johnny Manziel have had demonstrate the prevalent need for drug testing to start early when impressionable youths first begin to take illicit drugs and performance enhancing steroids. Gordon is facing an indefinite suspension by the NFL for a repeated violation of the league’s substance abuse policy. Keeping in mind that it takes multiple failed tests to even incur an initial suspension from the league, the fact that Gordon has been suspended multiple times poses questions about potential addiction and what could have been done earlier to stop this snowball effect. Johnny Manziel has voluntarily checked himself into a rehabilitation facility after making headlines throughout his rookie season regarding his party-animal lifestyle. What these two Browns players have in common is the inability to handle the stresses of professional sports while staying within the confines of the rule book.

Granted, randomized drug testing for student-athletes does involve more resources than currently utilized. However, the idea that a systematic lack of resources and capital to implement the needed changes is preposterous. Even even casual sports fans understand the revenue that the organizers of sporting events collect. From professional sports on the national stage to Division III collegiate sports, the money in sports will always be there. Even most high schools have booster clubs that fundraise for the team and receive profit from ticket revenues which may tally in the thousands. Therefore, the administrators of such funds must wisely decide where these funds should be appropriated, new turf for the football field or to ensure the future prosperity, and health, of their players.

While some may attempt to lay claim to constitutional right of privacy,

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courts have long held that there is a decreased expectation of privacy in schools. The Supreme Court decided in New Jersey vs T.L.O. (1985) that a student’s expectation of privacy is lowered once he steps onto school grounds, and that schools – while still bound to the fourth amendment acting as an agent of the state – do not need to have probable cause, but rather reasonable suspicion, a lower threshold in order to continue with their search. This ruling is still upheld as the hallmark precedent for all student privacy concerns in schools. Students playing sports are subject to the same lower expectation of privacy as they are operating under school rules.

Furthermore, it is the sole decision of the student as to whether they play sports and submit to random drug testing.

The need for drug testing in high school sports is a clearly needed movement that must start happening. As noted, it does incur a small cost, but a nominal fee when compared to the revenue of these athletic clubs and the large upside that testing student-athletes has. Drugs and performance enhancing steroids has been scientifically proven to be damaging to growth and overall health, as well as having physiological and psychological addiction properties. This creates a slope on which once someone has started, they continue to take the substance further compounding the deterioration of their health.

The institution of drug testing will help kids stay on the right track, not only now but later in their playing careers too. It will help level the playing field ensuring no one gains a competitive advantage on the field. The mere threat of random drug testing acts as a strong deterrent to student-athletes abusing illicit substances.

NO:

JUSTIN WESTBROOK, Staff Writer

ith the financial issues already presented nationwide in our public education system, drug testing high school athletes should be among the last of concerns for educators and high school coaches alike. Surprisingly, drug testing is not exactly inexpensive or efficient; a single drug test can cost anywhere from $10 to $50 depending on the drugs being tested for.

Drug testing student-athletes is unnecessary in the face of real budget constraints that already grip at schools in under-funded districts. Many school districts struggle to fund the basic needs of an educational environment, such as school supplies, textbooks, and sanitary supplies. Even in prosperous schools, budget limitations present problems for both teachers and students; for example, Northview continues to circulate some of the beaten-up, torn-apart original textbooks they were given over 12 years ago.

Many departments within schools have to ask students to donate to them in order for them to purchase classroom necessities. It is not uncommon for a school’s administration to place limitations on the amount of copies that teachers can make for their students per semester. In general, teachers must purchase any nonstandard classroom material on their own, often without any grant reimbursement. In the midst of these troubles, it is ridiculous for a school to prioritize drug testing athletes when the

primary purpose of school is academics, not athletics.

Between the six most popular high school sports–Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball, Football, Baseball, Men’s Ice Hockey, and Men’s Soccer--there are almost three million high school student-athletes. To drug test these three million students, it would cost a grand total of approximately seventy-five million dollars. This money, taken from taxpayers and the federal government, could be better spent funding academic activities rather than for imposing objectively useless restrictions on student-athletes.

We are only including six sports. Northview, for example, has 16 GHSA sanctioned sports; as do other schools. Many schools carry more sports as well as more players which would increase their total cost of drug testing. It is physically impossible for school systems to pay for these drug tests because there is such a lack of funds in many school systems across the country.

If we were to shift the budget to allow for drug testing, school districts would be saying that academics come second to sports which should not be the case anywhere. Not only is there a lack of funds, but schools should be focused most importantly on improving students education and their surroundings instead of drug testing athletes.

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MUSIC EASHAA VELAMURI, Media Columnist

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hree years after forming on The X Factor, Fifth Harmony released their debut album Reflection in early February. The electropop album features sing-along hits such as “Sledgehammer” and “BO$$.”

The group which is all about girl power makes sure that is apparent in their album. Their album is not only influenced by pop, but also R&B with the song “Reflection.”

Reflection also features artists like Kid Ink in “Worth It” and Tyga in “Like Mariah.” Each of the girls in the group is a strong vocalist, and as a whole they are able to pull off amazing harmonies.

This a feel-good album to listen to in the car or dance to with your friends. Favorites include “Sledgehammer” and “Going Nowhere.”

Young Money/ SPECIAL

Epic Records/ SPECIAL

ALBUM

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n February 13, Drake released If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, comCapitol/SPECIAL ing as a complete surprise to fans.

Drake blew up the media when he pulled a stunt similar to Beyoncé in December 2013 when she released her self-titled album. Though it is a mixtape, the tracks were released on iTunes by his labels. It was on SoundCloud originally; however, it was quickly removed. Drake’s album has been criticized for not living up to his usual standards.

Despite its critiques, the album does still put out great songs like “Legend,” “Know Yourself,” and “Preach” featuring friend PARTYNEXTDOOR. This is Drake’s fourth studio album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Drake’s surprise album set records on Spotify as well with more than 17.3 million streams in 3 days, breaking his own previous record for Nothing Was the Same.

MIXTAPE

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T

aylor Swift released her music video for the song “Style,” the third video for a hit off her latest album 1989.

The music video is a lot sexier than her previous releases, and the video utilizes much more visual special effects. After teasing fans on social media, she released it on Good Morning America. The music video mirrors her departure from her old country style into more of a pop sound.

Roc Nation/ SPECIAL

SINGLE

Taylor Swift/ SPECIAL

MUSIC VIDEO

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t the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney performed their song “FourFiveSeconds” for the first time. The pop song, which is the second collaboration between West and McCartney, has strong folk and country influences. The stripped down song is different from Rihanna’s more recent dance and fast pop songs. Kanye West also sings on this track, which is uncharacteristic for the rapper. The minimal amount of instruments helps to give the song an acoustic feel.

THROWBACK 01.

February 14, 1967—Aretha Franklin records “Respect” at Atlantic Studios in New York.

Genre: R&B

02.

February 24, 1968—Fleetwood Mac debuts first album, Fleetwood Mac. Genre: Blues rock, blues

03.

February 26, 1983—Michael Jackson’s Thriller album hits number 1.

It will go on to become the biggest selling album of all time.

Genre: Pop, R&B

04.

February 13, 1996—Tupac Shakur releases All Eyez on Me, which achieves platinum sales in just four hours.

Genre: Rap, hip-hop

05.

February 26, 2006—Ne-Yo debuts his first album, In My Own Words.

Genre: R&B, hip-hop

FASHION K Connie Xu, DESIGN EDITOR

ids (1995), directed by Larry Clark, is a controversial film that comments on the morals of modern teen culture. Although T-shirts and jeans dominate the movie’s wardrobe, the reckless and indifferent attitude embodied by the characters’ styles and personas serves as a source of inspiration. Unlikely combinations of bright colors, loose jeans with baggy T-shirts, and tight ringer tees are prominent in the film and can be combined to create an effortlessly casual, youthful look.

SHIREEN: THRIFTED TOP // H&M BOYFRIEND JEANS // CUSTOM CONVERSE HIGH TOPS

ANDREW:

LEVIS DENIM OVERSHIRT // AMERICAN APPAREL T-SHIRT // LEVIS 511 JEANS // NIKE KILLSHOT II SNEAKERS

opinions | the messenger | 29

OPINIONS

s t a f f

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e d i t o r i a l

The ugly truth

arly in February, the Georgia state Senate declared war against the College Board’s AP US History course.

The College Board recently put into effect an entire reworking of the APUSH exam: shortening the multiple choice section, removing the Free Response Question, adding short answer questions, and generally changing the curriculum of the course. According to the Republican resolution currently sitting in our state Senate, the new course is revisionist history that does not focus enough on the positive aspects of US history.

The resolution demands that the College Board change the curriculum to more positively portray the United States, and to focus on the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence, and the religious influences on our history. If not, the resolution proposes that Georgia remove itself completely from APUSH and move to a “Georgia-grown and Georgia-owned” curriculum.

In 2014, the Annie E. Casey foundation ranked Georgia school systems 42nd in the nation. At eight states from the bottom, we are in no position to make posturing remarks about “Georgia-grown.”

Painting US history in a positive light completely erases the cruelties and atrocities committed by our forefathers; atrocities that are already generally glossed over in Anglo-centric history classes. Before APUSH,

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many have little to no knowledge of the extent of Native American genocide or the effects of United States imperialism. History exists for us to learn from, not to repeat. Focusing on only positive facts like the Declaration of Independence (which the College Board curriculum already devotes significant time towards) allows us to ignore our past and possibly repeat those mistakes.

Though the senators behind the resolution claim the College Board is revisionist, their proposed changes remove more than they add. Teaching patriotic lessons and ignoring past mistakes creates a curriculum more suited to the former Soviet Union than to the United States.

Generally, United States history is ugly. When Europeans arrived on the continent, they proceeded to kill millions of natives through a combination of disease and forced labor. Then they instituted African slavery on the continent, which transported around 12 million Africans to the Americas. After the Civil War, United States imperialism negatively impacted Hawaii, the Philippines, Central America, Chile, Nicaragua, and it continues today in the Middle East.

Removing the negatives of US history creates delusionally patriotic students who have no concept of the United States’ true history. And in the state with the 8th worst school systems, we cannot afford to sacrifice the truth.

OPINIONS

Comments: flying too high Overprotective parents limit their children’s opportunities to pursue their passions ANDREW TEODORESCU, Columnist

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ill this class look good on my son’s transcript for his medical school track?” asks an inquisitive mother after a session at Northview’s ever-famous AP night.

“Not exactly... He might want to look into AP Biology or AP Chemistry. Honors Anatomy would also be a great class to take, too,” replies AP Environmental Science teacher Jason Weinberger.

“Anatomy? Is that an AP class? My son needs more AP science classes because he’s trying to get into medical school,” the mother retorts.

As the conversation cycles into a meaningless drawl, the woman’s son, a timid sophomore, stands next to her, waiting for his chance to speak his own mind on whether or not he would like to attend medical school or take AP science classes or ask questions that he wants to ask. But he never gets the chance to rightfully interject. In the midst of the crossfire between the two adults, the look on this student’s face implies he is all too familiarized with the situation.

Of course, the dialogue is paraphrased, perhaps even exaggerated a bit. I can’t remember the exact words but the student’s obvious and unfair subordination stuck with me, yet was not anything shocking or new in the classrooms of Northview.

At Northview, a school made famous by high-stakes competition and the acceptance of nothing less than excellence, it is clear what fuels the fire for many students: their parents. Parents push students to join clubs and extracurriculars, to aim for higher standardized testing scores, and to earn perfect grades. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with encouragement; in fact, proper encouragement from parents allows kids to experience opportunities that they would have otherwise not been aware of or willing to do on their own.

However, parents who calculate their child’s future, force their children to partake in activities that they show no interest in, and disillusion their children into believing that they are not controlling their future career paths, unknowingly create unfulfilled, incomplete students. When an entire academic profile--courses taken, clubs positioned in, and programs involved in--is created by parents, a facade of a student is created.

We all have our interests. If we’re lucky, our interests overlap with courses and clubs offered at school. If we’re extra lucky, our interests overlap with those of our parents and the offerings of our school. But most students (especially at hyper-competitive, better-than-the-rest schools like

Northview) are not that lucky. Most students with controlling parents have predestined futures before they even reach grade school. By the time they enter high school, these students have their entire higher education tracks calculated. It doesn’t end at college either; some parents have chosen medical schools, potential careers, maybe even potential positions within businesses for their children.

These so-called “helicopter parents,” notorious for over-involvement in their children’s’ lives, build up their children to be something they are not. Even if a student realizes that their interests lie outside the field prescribed to them by their parents, they are still forced to spend their entire high school careers boxed in activities they do not enjoy, do not find fulfilling, and do not seek careers in. These students, who recognize their potential outside of their predestined fates, become underdeveloped and uninterested in the fields their parents have chosen for them and seek to pursue their own interests instead.

Students continue to strive for excellence because their parents have conditioned them into a lifelong behavior: giving every last effort to not disappoint their parents. They are aware that their parents will never be completely fulfilled with their accomplishments; it’s not easy for parents to be satisfied when their minimum expectations are their children’s highest goals.

With stars like Buzz Aldrin and Michael Jackson, it is evident that children of helicopter parents are among some the most successful people in the world. Recently, a Long Island teenager who was accepted into all eight Ivy League schools credits his success to his helicopter parents.

However, overprotective, over-involved parenting only works when the interests of both the parents and student are synchronous. No amount of disillusionment, manipulation, or obsessive control will produce a successful, independent student if his efforts are to satisfy his parents’ benchmarks, not his own.

That is the true fault of helicopter parents. They may steer their children to perform well in high school. However, the student’s lack of freedom and self-autonomy in high school leads to an underdevelopment of his own talents and interests. If everything a student does--in school, after school, outside of school--is completely unreflective of his interests, then he will have wasted years creating an inaccurate personality, legacy, and resume for an unfulfilling career all for the meager satisfaction of his insatiable parents.

opinions | the messenger | 31

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