Vol. 14, Issue 1 by The Messenger

the messenger

VOL 14/ ISS 1

COVER STORY

THE SCHOOL HEARD AROUND THE WORLD P. 1 3

NORTHVIEW’S NEW ATHLETIC DIRECTOR P. 10

WELCOMING AMOUR CARTHY P. 20

masthead CONTACT US

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

STAFF WRITERS

(770) 497-3828 nhsmessenger@gmail.com Northview High School 10625 Parsons Rd Johns Creek, GA 30097 nhsmessenger.com

Jessica Ma Tarun Ramesh

PUBLICATION

Sally Pan

Amanda Beard Brooke Casal Sophia Choi Will Claussen Rameen Forghani Sarah Jang Jack Lowrance Nithya Mahakala Austin Meng Akshay Nair Joseph Ni Dennis Ottlik Caroline Pennington Mahima Pirani Niharika Sinha Sarika Temme-Bapat Morgan White

The Messenger is a student publication published for and distributed to the Northview community. The statements and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the entire staff or those of Northview High School, its students, faculty, staff, or administration. Content is edited and controlled by staff editors. 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 ads 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, Tanisa Mahalingam.

IN THIS ISSUE Cover design: Jessica Ma, Connie Xu

MANAGING EDITOR Sneha Gubbala

NEWS EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR Maggie Brenan

FEATURES EDITOR Connie Xiao

OPINIONS EDITOR Andrew Teodorescu

PHOTO EDITOR Tiffany Xu

DESIGN EDITOR Connie Xu

ONLINE EDITOR Jooeun Lee

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Bryan Liang

COPY EDITOR Shelby Bradley

BUSINESS MANAGER Tanisa Mahalingam

FACULTY ADVISER Chris Yarbrough

PHOTOGRAPHERS Tommy Bui Alex Jeon Nabila Khan Annie Kong Amber Min Ben Minder Evan Moody Andrew Myers Eddie Xie

DESIGNERS Jane Paek Elly Sim

contents 05

13*

EDITOR’S LETTER

NHS GONE GLOBAL

FACE-OFF

TARUN RAMESH

STAFF

JOE NI, MAHIMA PIRANI

SUMMER OVERVIEW

AMOUR CARTHY

STAFF EDITORIAL

STAFF

THE START OF PBIS

DENNIS OTTLIK, SALLY PAN

JESSICA MA, NITHYA MAHAKALA

FOOD REVIEW

BRYAN LIANG, CONNIE XIAO

STAFF

COMMENTS COLUMN ANDREW TEODORESCU

ATHLETIC DIRECTOR

SHARKNADO 3

MUSIC COLUMN

MAGGIE BRENAN

SEVEN GHSA DISTRICTS RAMEEN FORGHANI

ANDREW TEODORESCU

GOOGLE TO ALPHABET SOPHIA CHOI

CAROLINE PENNINGTON

FASHION COLUMN CONNIE XU

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

The plea for PC

t the first GOP debate, Donald Trump claimed his no-nonsense strategies and bold policies as imperatives for an improved, debt-free United States. By explaining that he—and the entirety of the United States along with him—do not “have time for total political correctness,” Trump accosted other candidates for attempting to appeal to liberal votes by using politically correct terminology. Pundit predictions assumed that the comments would be damning to both his campaign and the overall Republican image. However, the growing support for a candidate who continues to make misogynistic and racially derogatory comments unfortunately proves otherwise. It appears that a significant part of the Republican electorate, and of the nation as a whole, agrees with him. Sadly, even in the 21st century, the United States remains both a racially and sexually discriminatory country. When a heterosexual and extremely wealthy white man calls illegal Mexican immigrants drug dealers and rapists, the racial and gender gaps only continue to widen. Even as critics denounce political correctness as a mask for liberal oversensitivity and a coddling of the brain, today’s American culture continues to take a step backward in regard to social equality. It is morally repulsive to excuse Trump’s derogatory com-

ments as necessary in order to improve our country. The core of the issue, however, extends far beyond the massive joke that is Donald Trump, and even beyond the motives of other political candidates. Too much of the debate surrounding political correctness focuses on its effects rather than its roots. While it may be true that many politicians adopt politically correct language solely in order to avoid offending any potential constituents, the heart of political correctness lies not in fear of offense, but in fundamental human decency. Trump should not have made sexist remarks to Megyn Kelly—not because he would alienate half of his voters in doing so, but simply because he should respect people of all genders without assigning stereotypes. He should not have denounced Mexican immigrants as rapists—not because he was essentially driving votes to the other party, but because he should not, at his core, believe any of the racist nonsense he spouted in the first place. We should not censor ourselves for fear of provoking others, because we should understand why certain words would be provoking from the start. There is one thing that Mr. Trump and I will agree on—this country sorely needs change. We just aren’t quite looking for the same kind.

Tarun Ramesh, Editor-in-Chief

THE MESSENGER | 5

NEWS

In brief The Messenger’s monthly digest of events at Northview and around the world

Over the summer, 19 of Northview’s art students embarked upon an invitation-only, 12day trip to Europe, led by visual arts teacher Rachel McLeroy and three chaperones. Traveling to the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, students had the opportunity to broaden their horizons and experience the culture of these three history-laden European countries.

Ninth Parallel, also known as Rishi Singh, a Northview class of 2014 graduate, has reached major career milestones this year. On August 21, 2014, Singh moved to the West Coast to dig deeper into his music career. One of the remixes he created, “Sea of Voices,” was signed to Astralwerks Records/ Universal Music Group.

This June, junior Leilani Tian participated in the International Ballet and Choreography Competition. Hosted by the Beijing government, the competition attracted professional dancers and choreographers ages 16 to 35. Tian, the youngest to participate, placed in the top five and won one of three awards for her solo performance. Northview High School’s Beta Club participated in the 2015 National Convention from June 24 to July 2 in Nashville and dominated the competition. Turbaquake, a dance group comprised of Northview’s Turbanators and Quake Crew, came first in the Group Talent portion. The competition included schools from all over the U.S. and students who competed in over 30 different areas. Out of 10 competitors, Northview placed first for the choreography performed by Turbaquake. The team was also featured on 11 Alive’s “Atl&Co” on Friday, July 31 to discuss their achievements and to show off their moves statewide.

Apple unveils new iPhone 6s, featuring 3D Touch and upgraded 12-megapixel camera

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” airs its first episode

“Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials” released

2015 US Open begins

Taylor Swift releases “Wildest Dreams” music video

Google unveils divisive new logo Kanye West announces 2020 run for presidency at VMAs

Kentucky clerk Kim Davis arrested for refusing to give marriage licenses to same-sex couples

Nicki Minaj confronts Miley Cyrus at VMAs

Bill proposed to urge NFL to pay cheerleaders minimum wage THE MESSENGER | 7

NEWS

Alex Jeon/ STAFF

Titans have PBIS Northview implements positive behavior program for students D E N N I S O T T L I K , S TA F F W R I T E R S A L LY PA N , N E W S E D I T O R

ositive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), a recently introduced Northview program, intends to create a unified school community by encouraging positive behavior from all students. PBIS is implemented by a board as well as a team of students and explicitly teaches the behavioral rules outlined in the student handbook while recognizing students for positive behavior. “When we see students behaving positively, there will be recognition, which I think is important because all the students at this school are great,” board member and chemistry teacher Laurel Rogers said. “99% behave perfectly all the time, so we just want to acknowledge that, and hopefully that 1% will realize through the lessons how they should be behaving, and will come around with a little better behavior for us.” The topics covered by PBIS lessons this semester include dress code, tardiness, and honor

code. The PBIS lessons intend to clarify the expectations for students as well as the specific rules under those expectations. “Obviously, dress code could fit under integrity, and it could fit under personal responsibility,” Assistant Principal Amy Booms said. “So we’re not really teaching integrity and personal responsibility, but we’re teaching dress code and the specifics of what to wear and what not to wear. After that lesson is over, students are held to that expectation.” PBIS is similar to the behavioral programs in elementary and middle schools. The four expectations will be posted on the walls around the school so that students know what they are and how to behave. “My first period is interested and their response was, ‘We used to do this in elementary and middle school,’ and my response to that was ‘Yeah, you might have forgotten those things in high school so what’s good about this is just re-

freshing your memory about all the good stuff about elementary and middle school,’” board member and math teacher Tracy Ramage said. “So I think it’s great because we will just encourage stuff that’s already there. We just need to pull it back out of the kids.” Last May, the PBIS board selected a 10-member student team to help come up with reward ideas and to get the student body involved with the new program. These students have PBIS T-shirts and meet with visual arts teacher Rachel McLeroy for PBIS meetings. The PBIS T-shirts will also be sold by the PTA during curriculum night. This semester, the team’s idea was to create educational videos. “We make videos and we completely embarrass ourselves in front of the whole school; it’s kind of funny,” junior Lilah Donnelly, member of the PBIS student team, said. “But it gets the point across so everyone knows about the rules

LEFT: Students (L to R) Kelly Zou, Lilah Donnelly, Shreya Sanghvi, and Yendi Neil collaborate with staff members (L to R) Amy Booms, Tracy Ramage, and Laurie Rogers to carry out PBIS at Northview.

we’re supposed to follow, like dress code and honor code.” The plan for PBIS is to give students kudo cards for behaving in positive and helpful manners, from helping other students to cleaning up after others. These cards can then be entered in a school-wide raffle. “Not everyone receives a physical prize, but the prize really is your teacher or someone in the staff telling you that you showed one of the four expectations,” Booms said. Furthermore, the PBIS team is also establishing school-wide goals as rewards for the entire student body. “If the school meets a goal, we’ll put up letters in the cafeteria to spell out ‘Titans,’” Rogers said. “And when we get a letter, there will be small rewards, maybe like popsicles, and once we have ‘Titans’ spelled out, there’ll be a bigger reward or celebration for the entire student body.” PBIS students and teachers are currently brainstorming ideas for rewards but are open to ideas from anyone who is not involved in the program. “We really do want student input, because the things that we might think as teachers would be a reward, you guys might not,” Rogers said. “That’s why we have the team, but we also encourage input from anybody.” Since this is the pilot year of PBIS, the plans and rewards system have not been completely mapped out yet, but next year the PBIS team plans to designate one pillar to each of the four grade levels. “We plan to have these be pillars, so maybe the freshmen, they’re going to master this idea of personal responsibility, and the sophomores are going to master positive attitude,” Booms said, “and then the juniors, compassion, and the seniors, integrity.” PBIS this year will be a broad overview of the four pillars, but the goal of the PBIS team is to make the program more specific in the upcoming years. There are also plans to center an entire school year around one certain expectation.

“We might have the whole year themed around a pillar, and then we might do service projects related to that expectation so that the whole grade level can come together and really master that expectation before we move on to the next level,” Booms said. Overall, PBIS is meant to reward, celebrate, and recognize students for exhibiting good behavior at school. “The bottom line is we just want to do a lot of celebrating,” Ramage said. “We just feel like everyone does a great job, but sometimes, the individual doesn’t get recognized for it.” As well as promoting positive behavior, PBIS is designed to unite the whole school under a single voice. “I feel like the math department just knows the math department, the science just knows the science, so we’re trying to merge together as one voice,” Ramage said. “Having this means that all the teachers are on the same page and speaking with one voice, so we all know exactly how to handle any behavior incidences, and also how to praise. It just makes everything more cohesive, and we’re really excited about it.” PBIS standards apply to teachers as well because they are a big influence on their students and have a large impact on the way they act. “[Teachers] are the students’ biggest role models and they work so hard; they need to be recognized, but they also need to be held to the same expectations as students because we’re all Titans,” Booms said. “We all need to have integrity, compassion, positive attitude, and personal responsibility.” PBIS is not only designed to prepare Northview students for success in the future, but also portrays a more polished image of the school. “We really want PBIS to be what Northview is known for, not necessarily the word, PBIS, but our four expectations,” Booms said, “so we really want everyone around us, the community, and our schools, to know what a Titan is and what a Titan stands for.”

Questions, comments, concerns Students voice their opinions on the new PBIS program “I think PBIS is a great idea, and I think that if we employ it at Northview, then it will only encourage students to behave better. However, it is kind of bad because you employ incentives, and if you take away those incentives, the students won’t be motivated to perform the same tasks anymore.” —Ali Kapadia, 12 “Ihe PBIS thing sucks because it’s ineffective sending its message. No matter how hard it tries, it doesn’t make anything better; in part because of the acting and because it ineffectively gets its message across.” —Anonymous, 12 “I think PBIS is a great initiative that the school is taking to better its circumstances and its people.” —Anonymous, 11 “The videos defeat the purpose of the program. The content and acting go against the character traits. They also need better enforcement.” —Anonymous, 11 “I think it’s a good program but it’s not exactly well enforced, and doesn’t really mean anything to the students.” —Anonymous, 10 THE MESSENGER | 9

S P O RT S

Nabila Khan/STAFF

Taking the reins Scotty McDaniel steps up to lead Northview’s athletic department into 2015-16 seasons M A G G I E B R E N A N , S P O RT S E D I T O R W I L L C L A U S S E N , S TA F F W R I T E R

orthview’s athletic department has changed hands this year, with the title of athletic director shifting from Coach Chad Davenport to Coach Scotty McDaniel. This change came in light of a decision ultimately made by Principal Downey that the position of Athletic Director is not one to be juggled among other jobs, but one that demands the full attention of the position holder. “The demands of the job require full time attention, if you will,” Downey said. “Athletics has a lot involved, from the

paperwork side of things […] to the hiring of staff, the GHSA compliance and eligibility, to the NCAA issues, and it really demands a full time position. As a principal, I was finding that [myself and other administrators] were having to handle athletic stuff, through no fault of the person in the previous position.” This decision for change came at the end of the 2014-15 school year, and when the position became available, McDaniel decided to apply. He not only has a background in sports, but also in the military,

the organizational field, and various financial jobs. His passion for athletics and his dedication to improving the environment of high school sports for the sake of his sons led him to believe that he was perfectly qualified. “I have two kids still with high school years left to go, and I feel like this is a way I can impact and give them the best experience they could possibly have playing sports,” McDaniel said. “It was just a good opportunity to finally do something that I’ve watched other athletic directors [do].” Just over a month into the job, McDaniel is keen on observing the athletic department and its tributaries before he makes any major changes to the system. “I am tempted to want to change a lot, but then part of me takes a step back and says ‘Well, let’s see how this is going to play out,’ ” McDaniel said. “There are a lot of processes that I’m finding out along the way that I think need to be adjusted, but I’m just going to kind of let it ride a little bit […] I don’t want to create a lot of enemies making changes.” This change in administration comes at an ideal time for reform, with the modification to the GHSA classifications looming. According to both McDaniel and other athletic figureheads at Northview, the athletic aepartment could use somewhat of a facelift in certain areas during the coming year. McDaniel’s main goal is to streamline the processes in the athletic department in order for things to run more smoothly. “There’s the collection of funds from player’s fees, where some sports have all of their athletes paying and some don’t. That’s something I can see right away I need to figure out how to change,” McDaniel said. “One of the other big things

that I wanted to change right away is the fundraising from the different sports. Some sports are doing a fantastic job raising money to be able to provide different things for their athletes, while other sports aren’t doing anything.” In addition to improving fundraising to increase opportunities for individual teams, McDaniel is focused on taking on certain responsibilities that have been forced on other people in the past, including storage issues. “There’s storage issues around the school, where a lot of equipment is just stuffed in different places. That’s something that I want to change because it’s getting dropped on a lot of other people,” McDaniel said.

McDaniel has already begun improving small parts of the athletic department as far as face value and athletic equipment. “One of the things that I just worked out with the booster clubs was for us to get brand new treadmills,” McDaniel said. “The treadmills have been in the school since it opened […] so we’re going to have eight new treadmills coming. That was a partnership between athletics, between our school, and between the boosters.” This first initiative, although relatively small, previews McDaniel’s determination to work together with all members of the athletic community at Northview, rather than any single facet. Steven Bombard, the head boys’ varsity basketball coach, hopes that McDaniel succeeds in creating this unity, and promoting an encouraging environment. “[I would like to see] new banners in the gym. I want there to be some kind of representation for all teams that make the state tourM C DA N I E L nament […] it’s a major accomplishment,” Bombard said. Previous Athletic Director Chad Davenport is optimistic about McDaniel taking the reigns, and is not worried about any changes that may be made. “He’ll probably continue a lot of the same stuff [I did], and put his stamp and idea on it which we are already seeing to be really good, so I’m excited about it. Hopefully he’ll continue the things that were working, and the things that weren’t working, he’ll change,” Davenport said. McDaniel’s new position and responsibilities give Northview an opportunity to continue to improve its athletic program, and to provide an environment for both the players and the coaches that is more conducive to success.

“There are a lot of processes that I’m finding out along the way that I think need to be adjusted, but I’m just going to kind of let it ride a little bit. I don’t want to create a lot of enemies making changes.”

SCOTTY The new athletic director has also already made a dignified effort to bring together many of the separate boosters in hopes of stimulating collaboration between teams and making the boosters a more cohesive unit. Steps such as these are predecessors to changes in the general attitude surrounding the athletic department at Northview. “There are a lot of different things that I’ve already tried to alter a little bit, such as the coaches’ mentality, as in how they think funding happens for them,” McDaniel said. “I’ve tried to explain [matters] better so that they get an understanding of all the financial aspects that go into how the athletics department can help them.”

THE MESSENGER | 11

S P O RT S

Reshuffling the deck With the implementation of a new seventh classification, Northview looks destined to stay at the lower AAAAAA level R A M E E N F O RG H A N I , S TA F F W R I T E R A K S H AY N A I R , S TA F F W R I T E R

n Aug. 17, 2015, the GHSA Executive Committee passed a new reclassification strategy, effective for the 2016 school year. The new proposal includes a new seventh division called the Big 44 class, which will include the largest 10% of schools. The Big 44 estimated attendance requirement is 2,000 students. There will also be five other divisions based on attendance along with public and private classes for 1-A. The exact placements of schools will not be determined until the releases of the full time equivalent (FTE) count. Schools that are comprised of greater than three percent attendance from outside of their district will be moved up in classification, to help ensure fair play. Schools may opt to be moved up in class if they are eligible. Any school that feels they should be moved up a division can appeal to the Reclassification Committee with evidence and data to why they should be moved up. However, no school can petition to move down in class. Northview looks destined to be moved down into the second-highest class, based on the new system approved by a 47-10 vote of the GHSA executive committee. For the 2014-2015 school year, the 44th school based on FTE was Johns Creek, with a population of 2000 students, a number that is expected to be the cutoff for the Big 44. Northview officially had an enrollment of just over 1900 students for the same year, and it is not anticipated that the FTE has grown. Steven Bombard, head coach of varsity boys’ basketball, has mixed emotions about the change. “If we were not in the 44 […] then I’ll be sad that we are losing opponents like West Forsyth, South Forsyth, and Lambert because they are so close to Northview,” Bombard said. While region assignments are not yet known, and will not be until the release of the new classes, it is probable that Northview will end up in a region with some of the same teams as two years ago, when Northview was in 5-AAAAA. The GHSA bases region assignments on the proximity of schools to one another, making it probable that area schools

Amber Min/STAFF West Forsyth High School hitter Carlie Behan (#3) and Northview catcher Jasmin Henry (#29) wait for a pitch. Next year, the Titans will no longer face West Forsyth, as they will have a host of new schools in their region.

who remain outside of the Big 44 will be grouped together. “I would not like going back to the division where we were two years ago if we had to travel to schools like Cobb or North Springs. It’s a lot of traveling. Nobody wants to get on a bus Friday night and take 285 to Osborne when it can take one and a half to two hours. It’s actually longer than going to Habersham. To me the traveling is the biggest thing,” Bombard said. Although the Executive Committee approved the Reclassification Committee’s suggestion, the monthly association newsletter reported that there is still a long way to go before next year. “The Reclassification plan involves a series of steps in order to reach the final ratification in January. Schools then meet in January 2016 to organize their new regions and create athletics schedules for 2016-18,” Executive Director Gary Phillips said.

While going down in classification means that Northview will be playing smaller schools, it does not necessarily mean that the games will be easier or less competitive. “It’s not how competitive you are [...] We could be an 1-A school, have 5-AAAAA prospects and beat the 7-AAAAAAA schools. It’s not based on your region, it’s based on who you have,” Bombard said. Student-athletes at Northview tended to disagree with the coaches. “I feel like it will be beneficial in the state meet and the ones leading up to it. It will suit us because the better teams are moving up,” varsity cross country junior Joe Whalley said. While it is yet to be determined how the GHSA will group teams around the state, it is almost a certainty that Northview will not remain with the state’s largest schools in the Super 44.

COVER STORY

MAKING A GL BAL IMPACT How six Northview individuals spent their summers abroad, making a difference in their respective communities

THE MESSENGER | 13

FEATURES

“

The whole program was a lot of fun and a great opportunity to make a difference in the world. EMMA TSAUR

his summer, seniors and long-time friends Sabrina Huang and Emma Tsaur flew to Taiwan to participate in Assisting Individuals with Disadvantages (AID), a Taiwanese, government-sponsored, four-week program in which volunteers taught English to elementary schoolers in rural areas. Huang and Tsaur, both ethnically Taiwanese and fluent Chinese speakers, found out about the program through friends and family who previously participated and strongly recommended it. They immediately applied after entering junior year and became eligible to volunteer. “[Huang] was filling out the application for a long time,” senior Paige O’Neal,

Huang’s close friend, said. “She was very excited about the program even before she got in.” In early July, Huang and Tsaur boarded a plane to Taipei for the start of the program. After arriving at the Taiwanese Cultural Center, Huang and Tsaur took a week-long course on how to effectively teach English as a second language. They were then separated into groups of seven, to be sent to different schools in various rural areas, where teams of three taught classes of elementary school children. Huang worked at a center in northern Taiwan while Tsaur stayed in central Taiwan. “Even though we were in completely different places, we pretty much had the same experiences,” Huang said. “We talked about bugs, how sweet both our schools were [...] the parallels were definitely there.” During her stay in Taiwan, Huang lived in one of the dorms on the school campus, where the teachers stayed during the regular school year. The volunteers were mostly self-sufficient; they washed their own clothing, made their own food, and kept their rooms clean. One of the English teachers at the school served as a guardian, occasionally bringing the volunteers food or helping them with lesson plans. She often reminded

”

Huang and the other volunteers not to speak Mandarin to ensure that the students would have to communicate in English. “She made sure we did not die and gave us really great advice,” Huang said. Tsaur, on the other hand, lived inside of an unused classroom and used school facilities for two weeks. The strange hybrid of old and new technology was particularly strange for Tsaur. “First of all, the classrooms had no air conditioning, and it was 90 degrees. They did have electrical fans. They also had old fashioned tables,” Tsaur said. “The mix of smart boards with chalk and old fashioned tables was extremely different from Northview,” Tsaur said. As they had expected, the first day was difficult; most of the students did not have a good grasp of English and were shy to speak. Tsaur’s volunteer group was allowed to use Chinese to communicate with the students, but Huang’s group found difficulty adhering to their no-Chinese rule. For the next two weeks, Huang and Tsaur taught English from Monday to Friday. Like high school students in the United States, the elementary schoolers attended class from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., doing different activities in each period. At the end of the day, the volunteers led the students to the entrance of the school, where they sang a goodbye song. “After 3:30, when the kids went home, we would pass out. We were so tired. Having to be very energized for the kids took a lot out of us,” Huang said. After dinner, Huang’s guardian occasionally took the volunteers to the city for various

Sabrina Huang/SPECIAL

TA I WA N

TARUN RAMESH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF CONNIE XIAO, FEATURES EDITOR

Tiffany Xu/STAFF

ABOVE RIGHT: Senior Sabrina Huang embraces her student, Connie, at Longyuan Elementary in northern Taiwan.

Emma Tsaur/SPECIAL

BELOW RIGHT: Senior Emma Tsaur and her student, Ally, enjoy a day outside in the city of Chiayi, Taiwan.

recreational activities. The majority of the time, however, was spent preparing the next day’s lesson plan. The group often stayed up until 1 or 2 a.m. “We often came up with different ideas for games or vocabulary lessons. Sabrina was really creative with her ideas, which kept the class lively and active,” Tiffany Hsu, a volunteer who worked with Huang, said. “I honestly don’t know how I would have survived without her.” After the initial shy period, the students began to warm up, and the volunteers found themselves struggling not to get them to speak, but rather to have them quiet down. “I learned to appreciate when kids were being quiet,” Tsaur said. “[In the past], I was the loud kid in class.” The children began to view the volunteers not just as teachers, but as companions. Activities often engaged both the students and the teachers, and everyone grew to enjoy them. “[Previously,] whenever anyone in our group would dance, Emma would just sit there and not do anything. She said she was a bad dancer, and didn’t want to dance.

[Then] I woke up one morning and she was just dancing in the classroom. It looked absolutely ridiculous, and the kids were trying to copy her bad dancing,” Nolan Burdett, a volunteer with Tsaur, said. “After that, every time we danced with the kids for the show, she was by far the most enthusiastic.” When the two weeks drew to an end, the students took a post-test and significantly better than they had on the pretest. Huang, however, believes that the lasting benefits came not from what they learned, but from the kindling of interest in English. “They might have seemed like they learned the vocab words at the time, but now they probably forgot it,” Huang said. “[But] they gained an interest in English and they’ll want to learn more and read books on their own free time.” On the last day of the teaching session, each volunteer group hosted a closing ceremony. The students formed a line and took turns hugging their teachers. Huang and Tsaur both found themselves crying, knowing that they would likely never see the children again. Some of their students however, connected with both Tsaur and Huang on social media, and continue to message their teachers.

“I am not a crier, but I was bawling for two hours straight,” Huang said. “I miss them so much.” After the Taiwanese children had learned about American culture and language, Tsaur and Huang received the opportunity to reconnect with their own Taiwanese roots. Following the end of the teaching portion, the AID volunteers reunited to take a one week tour of Taiwan, investigating its unique culture and heritage. Huang and Tsaur were able to experience anew the lives they had lived in Taiwan when they were younger, but had long forgotten. All too soon, Tsaur and Huang had to return, arriving in Atlanta in early August. With only about a week until the start of senior year, they rushed to finish summer assignments and found little time to reconnect and share the details of their experiences. Huang and Tsaur did, however, record their experiences on a travel blog that they kept during their time in Taiwan. “The whole program was a lot of fun and a great opportunity to make a difference in the world,” Tsaur said.

THE MESSENGER | 15

FEATURES

N E PA L

SARIKA TEMME-BAPAT, STAFF WRITER

hen Senior Ritika Kumar received news of the Gorkha earthquake in Nepal, she felt she had to do something to help the devastated country. On April 25, the disaster struck 50 miles from Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu, sending people fleeing into the streets as businesses and homes were reduced to rubble. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake destroyed millions of lives and shattered much of the infrastructure of the underdeveloped country. Severe aftershocks followed, hampering efforts to rebuild and recover. The death toll passed 9,000. Kumar, horrified by reports of the earthquake, attempted to find a way to send help to the survivors. “I had already donated money, had already done everything I could,” Kumar said. After her ideas for a fundraiser and a 5K were shut down, Kumar felt she only had one option left. She boarded a plane to Kathmandu to go see if she could make a difference. Keeping in line with her aspirations to work in medicine, Kumar obtained a volunteer position at a Kathmandu hospital through connections and relatives living in the area. She worked with a doctor whom her uncle had known in school. “He was a very brilliant guy. He wanted to do something for his country so he chose to go back to Nepal after completing medical school,” Kumar’s mother said. Kumar stepped off the flight to Kathmandu unaware of the situation of the people devastated by the disaster or the extent of the destruction in Kathmandu. With no knowledge of the language, she was unable to do anything but smile and nod. Kumar, separated from her parents and friends, was immersed in the foreign culture of Nepal. “I was happy because I want [Kumar] to learn something in this world. I want [her] to see some people. I want [her] to see something with your own experience, and I was not worried at all,” Kumar’s mother said. Kumar soon found that she would not be sheltered. The day she landed, Kumar visited a hospital where one of the doctor’s patients was dying. By the time she arrived, the patient had passed away. From the airport she went to the 16

ICU and from the ICU to to the cremation site. “There’s nothing I can do for the family. They’re all crying [...] and I feel like crying too,” Kumar said. Kumar toured the heritage sites, which had been demolished in the earthquake. The single natural disaster wiped out countless invaluable historic monuments of the Nepali culture such Tiffany Xu/STAFF as the Dharahara Tower and pagodas of the Kathmandu Durbar Square. Kumar interviewed several Nepali people who had been affected by the earthquake. Among them were two doctors who had been working on patients when the earthquake struck. While one doctor had been operating on a patient, a friend informed her of the earthquake. “Your earthquake can wait; my house is earthquake proof. I need to focus on my patient,” the doctor said, according to Kumar. The other doctor had been in the process of inserting an IV into a patient when staff and patients were told to evacuate the building in case of aftershocks. “Sister, you go out. If anything happens to me no one will care, but if you die you can’t save other patients,” the dying patient told the doctor. Hearing these stories showed Kumar the bonds that people could form in hardship, but the corruption rampant in Nepal stained generosity and compassion of the people trying to help. Bureaucratic roadblocks and the magnitude of the earthquake prevented the government from effectively responding to the disaster and donations were often wasted. As a result, directly volunteering was the

only sure way for Kumar to make a contribution. The amount of both local and foreign volunteers who immediately came to Kathmandu to be part of the relief efforts heartened Kumar. “Volunteers from abroad have helped and are helping in constructing houses and relief programs,” Dr. Bhim Nah from Kathmandu said. Experiences like working in a hospice, opened Kumar’s eyes to the real Nepal, not the lights and shopping malls of the tourist hub. She saw the lifestyle of the city trying to recover from catastrophe. Although she was not able to help as much as she had wanted to, the amount of hands on experience and exposure Kumar gained was far beyond anything she could have witnessed in the U.S. The trip has helped to shape Kumar’s aspirations for the future. “I have always wanted to be a doctor, this just solidified that,” Kumar said. After two weeks in Nepal, Kumar came home to Johns Creek. She hopes to return to Kathmandu someday with more experience and knowledge to help the people who will be struggling for years to regain their lives after the disaster.

Tiffany Xu/STAFF

S PA I N

CONNIE XIAO, FEATURES EDITOR

hen junior Courtney O’Connell learned of Diverbo, a Spanish government-sponsored English enrichment program, she immediately knew she wanted to apply. The two-week summer camp invited fluent English-speaking teens from all over the world to Tarragona, Spain, where they helped Spanish teenagers become more comfortable with speaking English. “How I thought about it was: Would I rather speak English in America for two weeks, or for two weeks in Spain?” O’Connell said. After applying and being accepted, O’Connell booked a ticket to Madrid. A five-hour bus ride later, she arrived at Diverbo. At dinner during the first night, O’Connell found that most of the Spanish teenagers were already almost fluent in English. The highly popular and competitive program awards scholarships based on merit, so the majority of the campers, who ranged in age from 16 to 18, were at the top of their respective English classes. “I talked to many people who said that they had applied for the past three years, and only now just got in,” O’Connell said. “I don’t know

why they are so eager to do it, maybe it’s their urge to learn English.” While fluent in reading and writing, most of the Spaniards did not show the same ability in speaking. To help remedy this, the program, which was split into oneweek sessions with different batches of Spanish participants, required that all speak English. “Although [I have] been studying English for a long time, I haven’t had the opportunity to speak ‘real’ English with anyone,” Victor Perez, a Spanish participant who befriended O’Connell, said. “Diverbo has helped me to gain the confidence I need to speak with any English-speaking person.” After a late breakfast, the campers begin each day with a 30-minute dance class warmup. Volunteers from the English-speaking world took turns teaching; Dubliners taught Irish dance, and O’Connell demonstrated the Cotton-Eyed Joe a few times. Immediately after the dance class was the first “One-on-One” between an “Anglo” and Spaniard. Campers had three such conversations, spaced throughout the day, each an hour long and spoken entirely in English. In between the sessions, there were group activities and competitions. The last activity of the day ended at midnight. O’Connell made sure to include the Spaniards as much as possible, inviting more reserved teens to join the group. She quickly made friends, both among the Spanish and English teens. “Courtney helped us to be inside of the group thanks to her outgoing personality,” Sònia Varón, a participant from Barcelona, said. “The last day we could choose our ‘One-to-one’ and I chose her

because I really liked her. She is one of the people I got more close to and I hope we talk more.” The volunteers had only about a day between the week-long sessions to take a break and do things entirely on their own. The “free activity” times during the week were usually occupied by some form of activity. O’Connell, however, was not bothered by the lack of personal free time. “It’s an educational camp, but it’s a lot of fun.” By the end of each week, O’Connell noticed that the Spaniards had improved their speaking abilities significantly. “The first day we had a group activity, none of the Spaniards were speaking,” O’Connell said. “It was just me and all the other Anglos, and we were trying to get them to contribute, but they were all really shy the first day. Then by the end of the week they were contributing ideas.” By the end of each session, the Spaniards and Anglos became a close community. With 40 each of participants and volunteers, the group was small enough so that all could become friends within the short timeframe. The bond between the volunteers was especially strong, and when O’Connell’s mother and sister, Colleen O’Connell, arrived to pick Courtney up, the two were eagerly greeted with hugs from group. “Everyone was so nice, unique, and welcoming,” Colleen said. “It was really sad when we left. After spending two weeks together, they didn’t want to have to say goodbye. There was a lot of tears and hugs. Courtney was really lucky to meet such great group of people.” Although the program ended, the friendships that O’Connell had forged did not. With free plane tickets that she received from her mother in the commercial airline business, O’Connell was able to fly to Dublin, Ireland to visit two especially close friends. She also periodically communicates with the volunteers through group chat. O’Connell’s interactions with people of many cultures have made her more receptive to different perspectives and opinions, and her friends at home have noticed a positive change in her personality. “She’s more aware of people’s struggles,” junior Callahan Proctor said. “In our friend group, if we’re searching for a word, she’s more patient, because she has that teacher experience. THE MESSENGER | 17

J A PA N

AMANDA BEARD, STAFF WRITER SNEHA GUBBALA, MANAGING EDITOR

Amy Hu/SPECIAL

Junior Amy Hu (front row) and Sara Lepkofker spent a week in Tokyo collaborating with other students and teachers from across the globe.

unior Amy Hu and science teacher Sara Lepkofker traveled to Tokyo this August to participate in a week-long cross-cultural Science and Technology Leadership Academy, hosted by Toshiba and the TOMODACHI Initiative. The academy, now in its second year of existence, seeks to combine the TOMODACHI Initiative’s roots in disaster recovery with Toshiba’s passion for technological innovation and STEM education. The academy selects only eight students and four teachers from across the United States to participate in the experience and is similarly selective with the candidates from Japan, forming a total group of 16 students and eight teachers as the program participants. Students and teachers apply and are accepted to the program separately from each other, making the acceptance of both a student and a teacher from the same school especially unusual.

For a student to be eligible for the academy, the student must submit two essays, the first of which answers one of four prompts that address the world’s environmental and climate issues while the second addresses any cultural hardships involved with a trip to Japan. Students must also be a past or current Toshiba/National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) ExploraVision participant. Junior Amanda. Zhang, as well as fellow junior Yashi Sanghvi, worked alongside Hu in the ExploraVision project that qualified Hu for the program. “Amy is a really quick thinker and is able to process information quickly and I think that made her a good candidate for the program,” Zhang said. For their ExploraVision project, Hu and her team developed a surgically implanted artificial kidney that filters out not only small particles, but also larger particles with nanofilters.

“

FEATURES

Through learning and seeing for yourself what the structure looks like and then applying it to your ideas, it’s a different take on what we usually do in school. AMY HU

“My mom is a nurse and used to do hemodialysis, which means that a patient comes to her clinic and they have to sit next to this refrigerator-sized machine for three to five hours about three times a week. Just think about that time commitment to just sit there and not really do anything,” Hu said, “We thought maybe we could find a way to better their lives. Since kidney transplants are so hard to come by and there are a lot of people who just don’t get transplants, we wanted to create a kidney that everybody could use that could be mass produced.” Teachers were not required to be involved in ExploraVision, but had to both currently teach at a public, private, or home school in the United States and be current NSTA members. Teachers were also required to submit two essays, similar to those of the student application, as well as responses to five short answer questions. For both Lepkofker and Hu, the unique cultural experience of the trip was a defining factor in their decisions to apply. “I was hoping to learn from the Japanese people—the students as well as the teachers— and obviously see the cultural differences in an Asian country versus here,” Lepkofker said, “I figured that it was at least a culture that I was not 100% familiar with, so I thought that would be fun.” Throughout the program, the Toshiba Academy had hands on activities for the students and teachers to work together, such as creating disaster communities. Many of these activities required visiting different places and experiencing various disaster scenarios. “We had to plan for a disaster community and a smart community where you use technology for disaster relief so they took us to all these structures in Japan,” Hu said. “Through learning and seeing for yourself what the structure looks

”

like and then applying it to your ideas, it’s a different take on what we usually do in school.” In addition to planning for a disaster community, the students would spend their afternoons building and planning out their personal smart communities, communities that are meant to be beneficial and environmentally conscious. The experience provided Hu and Lepkofker with new ideas on how to better their own community, specifically that of Northview. Hu, who become more aware of the role of women in STEM, returned home only to found her own club, Girls in STEM, to promote the interest and passion for STEM in elementary school girls. Inspired by the innovation at the Toshiba leadership academy, Lepkofker also returned with new thoughts on how to make the Northview community more environmentally conscious, among those include replacing the school’s paper towel dispensers with hand dryers. “The hand dryers would be much better, because think of all the paper towels we waste because people grab like five at a time. I think that if we did something like this and start on a local level, it would work,” Lepkofker said. Both Lepkofker and Hu made several lasting connection with the other participants of the program, as well as with various noted scientists, among them Bill Nye “the Science Guy.” The connections

made proved to be the defining characteristic of the experience for both participants. “Going in, I really just wanted to explore a new country and it was also something that I enjoy doing but then the people really made the experience into something better than I expected,” Hu said, “I made a lot of really cool connections to people I would have never met otherwise.” Hu, who hopes to major in some field in science, returned home with an even greater passion for the subject, inspired by the experience. Similarly, Lepkofker returned with a new understanding of the Japanese culture and lifestyle, especially in terms of academics. “There is a lot we can learn from the Japanese people, there really is,” Lepkofker said, “The biggest thing that I learned is that kids are kids, it doesn’t matter where they’re from. They think the same way at the same level and I don’t know why I thought they would be any different.”

THE MESSENGER | 19

FEATURES

Annie Kong/STAFF

Breaking through barriers Amour Carthy arrives at Northview after a path full of challenges JESSICA MA, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF N I T H YA M A H A K A L A , S TA F F W R I T E R

n a devastating blow to the Vallejo, Calif. community, employees at several local military bases lost their jobs after the U.S. Department of Defense identified the sites for permanent closure. Amour Carthy’s father was one of them. The new AP Economics teacher was in her final year at Vallejo Senior High School when her father, a Navy chief and a supervisor at Alameda Naval Air Station, lost his job. “During that time, nearly all of the students’ parents were employed directly or indirectly with the local bases,” Carthy said. “Once it was listed, basically all our

parents knew they were going to be laid off quickly.” The sudden loss of income prevented many students in her year from attending college. Carthy, however, refused to accept defeat. “I was like, ‘I’m not going to let money stop me from going to college,’” Carthy said. “‘I worked too hard for this, and I’m going to where I want to go.’” Born and raised in Oakland, Calif., Carthy was the first member of her family to complete a college education. Her mother, a native of Singapore, and her father, hailing from Lafayette, La., both encouraged her to attend a community

college because they could not afford to finance four years at a university, but Carthy insisted on following her dreams. “I always knew I wanted to go to college. I got help from Upward Bound and all these other programs, but [...] my parents, they didn’t know what to say to me, how to help me,” Carthy said. “But I was driven. Every single thing that I did was to get into college.” Carthy ultimately decided to attend Spelman College, a historically black liberal arts school for women in Atlanta. She arrived with only $250 in her pocket. “I had the first semester paid; I didn’t know how I was going to pay for any more,” Carthy

said. “I was excited and scared at the same time. I made up my mind that I was not leaving Atlanta until I finished my college degree.” Carthy majored in history while simultaneously training for teacher certification and working multiple part-time jobs. She became the first UPS Scholar in the Atlanta University Center, receiving financial aid that allowed her to continue her education at Spelman. “I always try to tell my students this: If you work hard, people notice,” Carthy said. “Nobody’s going to give you a scholarship right away when you’re a freshman. They don’t know who you are; you have to prove yourself.” Carthy graduated from Spelman College in 1997 and moved to Philadelphia to attend Temple University. After completing her master’s degree in 11 months, she was finally ready to begin teaching—a profession to which she had aspired since childhood. At the age of six, she often pretended to be a teacher, believing that her mission was to help others. Carthy taught for six years in Los Angeles, noticing remarkable differences between the atmospheres of the private schools she had attended in her childhood and the public schools where she worked. “When I was in private school, everyone was expected to do well, but we didn’t have stress. And then I went to public school, and [...] it just seemed like people weren’t all expected to do well,” Carthy said. “That’s also why I went into public education, because I wanted to give public school children a private school education for a public school price.” Upon her return to Atlanta in 2004, Carthy found herself in the midst of the infamous cheating scandal that would later become national news. “People were trying to get me to change my grades, and I wouldn’t, because it was bad for the students. It would do them a disservice,” Carthy said. “So I was like, ‘Let me get out of here before it blows up.’” Frustrated and exasperated with the challenges of teaching, Carthy left Atlanta Public Schools in 2007 to attend the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. Alongside academics and a work-study job, Carthy also juggled single motherhood, having brought her 7-year-old son from a previous relationship with her to Boston. After a year, she completed her master’s degree in Education Policy and Management. The prestige commonly associated with Harvard sometimes intimidates Carthy’s stu-

dents, but she is quick to dispel any perception of superiority. “I thought it’d be a bunch of snooty people, but everyone was down to earth,” Carthy said. “At the end of the day, when you take off all these degrees, I just happened to have access [...] I happened to go to that school because it was the best place for me to influence education policy.” Social Studies Department Chair Mike Dixon, who interviewed Carthy for her current position at Northview, placed a far greater emphasis on her teaching ability than on any institution listed on her resume. “The Harvard thing is great, it’s exciting, but when it comes down to it, it’s the person in the classroom that matters,” Dixon said. “[Carthy] brings a very positive attitude, and really looks out for her kids [...] I hire the person, not the degree.” According to Dixon, Carthy’s extensive experience both inside and outside the classroom also made her a strong candidate for the job. After graduating from Harvard in 2008, Carthy explored a wide array of non-teaching careers, spending a year in Philadelphia as the dean of a middle school and a school district liaison before starting her own educational consulting company in 2009. She also helped to develop an iPad app for AP U.S. History, assisted the U.S. Department of Education with the Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund, prepared students for college admission, and served as a supervisor on the Bill Gates Teacher Quality Project. From 2012 to 2014, Carthy was the program manager for the Center of Teacher Preparation at Morehouse College in Atlanta, preparing college students to become math and science teachers. Eventually, however, Carthy considered returning to teaching. She tested the waters as a substitute teacher at various metro-Atlanta public schools, including Northview, which she preferred the most for its inviting staff and student body. “I really thought I was never going to teach again, but once I stepped back into the classroom as a sub, I got addicted to that,” Carthy said. “I stepped away from teaching, but then I came back and I love it.” Deciding to take the leap, Carthy applied

for a full-time teaching position in Fulton County Schools. After interviews with Dixon, Principal Brian Downey, and other staff members, she received and accepted an offer to teach AP Economics at Northview. “She has higher education teaching experience as well a wide variety of knowledge because

“I’m not going to let someone else define who I am. I am going to find a way to make things happen.” A M OU R C A RT H Y she also has traveled the world,” Downey said. “It is great to have someone who can communicate to our students what it will be like when they leave Northview and Johns Creek.” Carthy, who is currently pregnant, will be on maternity leave from October until early January. She expects her class to run smoothly despite her absence, having communicated extensively with the substitute teacher and prepared online resources for her students. “At Harvard, the reason people don’t fail is that you have resources online [...] I try to use that here,” Carthy said. “[Northview] didn’t discriminate, which a lot of schools do. They thought that I was the best person for the job, so they were like, ‘You know what? We’ll work with you.’” Carthy’s journey from Oakland to Atlanta, however, has by no means been free of discrimination. One of her most vivid recollections surrounds a classmate in her tenthgrade Honors Biology class. “He had written this article about how black people should go back to Africa, and he was my Biology partner,” Carthy said. “You could tell he hadn’t been around a lot of black people, or mixed-bloods, or whatever [...] I just kept working with him.” After several months, her classmate changed his mind. Carthy has dealt with every other challenge in the same way, never taking “no” for an answer. “Obstacles, I don’t believe in them. People want to put you in a box. And when they put you in a box, you can either stay there or jump out,” Carthy said. “I’m not going to let someone else define who I am. I am going to find a way to make things happen.” THE MESSENGER | 21

FEATURES

Writers’ Digest

Kitchen of Atlanta The Messenger’s monthly food review

Bryan Liang/STAFF

B R YA N L I A N G , M U LT I M E D I A E D I T O R C ON N I E X I A O, F E A T U R E S E D I T O R

ocated in Johns Creek Walk, Kitchen of Atlanta serves burgers, sandwiches, wings, and other casual fare from Monday through Saturday. The small eatery, which opened about two years ago, maintains a dedication to using high-quality ingredients in their gourmet dishes. Upon entering, it is evident that the modest restaurant is impeccably clean. The wooden tables and steel window counter gleam, and the open kitchen, in which chefs flambé vegetables and quickly

prepare orders, is also spotless. The decor is eclectic; canvases of American cityscapes line the walls, streetlamps light the small string of tables, and a large cartoon pickle adorns the counter. Since we visited on a Saturday after lunch hour, the restaurant was mostly empty with the exception of one or two families. Most people seem to call ahead and order take-out or cater large platters for parties and events. The menu was extensive, ranging from classic American

items like sandwiches, burgers, and salads, to those of a more Italian vibe, like pastas and lasagnas. Service was quick and speedy; food was served within 10 minutes of being seated, and the staff was friendly and cooperative. Kitchen of Atlanta is a good restaurant to stop by for a quick lunch with a friend in Johns Creek. The serving portions are filling, and the dishes are well worth the price. This will definitely not be our last visit.

Bryan Liang/STAFF

1 2 3 4

Bryan Liang/STAFF

1. Fish & chips

3. Bacon & egg

The fish and chips were clean and satisfying. The fish filets, covered in a batter so light that it almost fell apart in the hands, broke to reveal soft and flaky flesh. The fish was mild, almost bland. The housemade tartar sauce, creamy with a zing of pickles and jalapeños, really provided the flavor of the dish. Kitchen of Atlanta took a step away from the orthodox by substituting thick-cut, crunchy housemade potato chips for the soft french fry “chips” favored by British tradition. While this added some much needed texture, it also took away much of the substantiality of the dish. Fresh vegetables, lightly sauteed, finished off the plate.

The bacon and egg burger, in contrast, leaned on the decadent side. The burger patty was topped with a classic medley of vegetables, savory apple-smoked bacon, and a sunny-side-up egg with a delightfully wobbly yolk, which cascaded down the sides of the burger when broken. Filling out the plate were the same seasoned fries. The burger was fairly messy to eat and demanded a heaping pile of napkins, but the gooey yolk, savory bacon, crispy vegetables and the juicy burger really worked in hand with each other.

2. Mushroom & swiss Kitchen of Atlanta is best known for their burgers. The mushroom and swiss burger consisted of a soft bun, juicy medium-rare patty, and a good portion of swiss cheese melted into sauteed baby portabella mushrooms. The burger was served with a side of fries: medium-cut, crispy exterior and soft interior, and seasoned well. While all the ingredients were cooked nicely, there was little contrast throughout the burger and had no “wow” factor.

Bryan Liang/STAFF

K I TC H E N O F A T L A N TA 11030 Medlock Bridge Rd. #240 Johns Creek, GA 30097 (770) 687-2360 This article was not sponsored by Kitchen of Atlanta.

4. Chicken marsala The chicken marsala dish featured a small breast of chicken on a bed of mashed potatoes, smothered in a mushroom and marsala wine sauce. The marsala sauce was on the salty side, but it complemented the fresh mushrooms and firm chicken well. The mashed potatoes were definitely homemade; it had the taste of freshly-mashed potatoes, with chunks of garlic and potato chunks still inside and potato skin still visible. The dish was almost too creamy; the fresh vegetables served on the side could not balance the richness of the sauce. While very tasty, the dish left a heavy feeling in the body. THE MESSENGER | 23

FEATURES

SHARKNADO 3: Oh Hell No!

The latest continuation of the Sharknado series is onpar with the previous two movies, but also leaves fans excited for the fourth installation, coming next July.

A N D R E W T E O D O R E S C U, O P I N I O N S E D I T O R

hen “Sharknado 3” was announced just after the release of “Sharknado 2” last July, we knew that the “Sharknado” series would be more than chainsaws and distraught meteorologists. We knew that the series would not settle for small budget, D-list celebrity cameos and CGI effects like those of a young Michael Bay. But most importantly, we knew that “Sharknado” was American, and like Shark Week, Universal Studios, and cheesy action movies, “Sharknado 3” would stay American. The film opens with Fin (Ian Ziering) accepting the “Presidential Medal of Freedom” from the President of the United States (Mark Cuban). Within just eight minutes, Fin is already slashing sharks heads off with his newly-gifted golden chainsaw. In less than 90 minutes, Fin manages go on a shooting rampage against sharks in the White House, meet up with an old friend with “Post Traumatic Shark Disorder,” travel down the East Coast in a sharknado-tracking RV, drop a bomb into a sharknado from a supersonic fighter jet, fly a top-secret NASA shuttle, shoot lasers into the eye of the storm, slice sharks in space using a lightsaber-chainsaw, and fall back down to 24

earth safely in a burning shark carcass in time to deliver his pregnant wife’s newborn baby. Fin Shepard is the definition of the American television movie hero. With the $237 million budget of “Avatar” (2009) and the $220 million budget of “Avengers” (2012), “Sharknado 3” makes the most of its insignificant $2.4 million to appeal to fans of the series. Fin’s borderline impossible actions are masked not only by poor special effects, faulty physics, and an inconsequential plot, but primarily by unexpected celebrity cameos. Fans worried that no single cameo could possibly one-up Billy Ray Cyrus’s role as an emergency doctor in “Sharknado 2,” appearances by Ne-Yo, Mark Cuban, Jerry Springer, and David Hasselhoff in Sharknado 3 have proven the series’ determination to out-Sharknado itself. The “Sharknado” series is not a cult classic, but an American phenomenon. While some critics disdain of “Sharknado”’s massive social media following and playful mockery, “Sharknado 3” embraces it entirely. The film is self-referential in its dialogue and plot while simultaneously acknowledging its

audience following. In a news segment in the film, news anchors mention the “r/sharknado” subreddit on Reddit’s website and a banner display at the bottom of the screen on the initial airing advertises the “Sharknado” game on the Apple App Store. “Sharknado” flaunts its American spirit for freedom and self-determination during the final scene, when the life of Fin’s wife, April (Tara Reid), in “Sharknado 4” is placed in the hands of fans via a Twitter poll by tweeting either “#AprilLives” or “#AprilDies.” Sure, we have seen audience polling determine the outcomes on shows like “American Idol” and “The Voice,” but to leave the fate of a main character of a film to the hands of fans is unprecedented in the realm of television movies. Much has remained the same in the “Sharknado” universe since the release of the original film in 2014: blowing up tornadoes, chainsaws, Tara Reid’s atrocious shrieking. “Sharknado 3” honors the “Sharknado” tradition of catering to its enthusiastic audience, and it succeeds. The latest installation may be bigger than its predecessors, but is the “Sharknado” series selling out by being too gimmicky, too self-referential, too catered? Oh hell no!

OPINIONS

Back to the Basics Google restructures under parent company Alphabet S O P H I A C H O I , S TA F F W R I T E R

s always, Google leads in the race of technological innovation, and it has a snazzy new logo to prove it. Google has decided to completely reorganize itself. With its launch of Alphabet, a holding company that will oversee a collection of companies (including Google), Google hopes to continue its reign as a leader of innovation by allowing more opportunities within Alphabet’s companies to accomplish their goals. The limits of Alphabet’s reach are immeasurable; this new structure gives Google more freedom with what it chooses to do. Much like the alphabet that we use in the English language, Alphabet Inc. promises to be omnipresent—inescapable, even. With a sans serif font reminiscent of the pedantic posters that plaster the walls of a kindergarten classroom, Google’s new logo could be seen as Alphabet’s vapid attempt to make itself seem universal. Google (and now Alphabet) co-founder Larry Page said in an official announcement

from Google that “transparency” will be a focus of the new company. This is likely a response to Google’s current and potential investors, who worry that they may end up spending massive sums of money on projects that do not turn a great profit. After all, Google does have a reputation for funding many projects that end up failing abysmally. The company’s project to create driverless cars has not had promising results in the years since it was started, and Google+ is a wasteland of a social media outlet. Not every project can be as successful as Google’s purchase of YouTube. Considering Google’s history with projects not related to web-searching, Alphabet is a cheap chance for Google to continue to try new products and services without the risk of tarnishing the cash cow Google brand with failures like Google+ and Google Glass. To be as transparent as Google wants to be, Alphabet must cover a wide range of area in our lives—and the new company is just what Google needs to make itself

unavoidable. What Page fondly calls Alphabet’s mission “to organize the world’s information” could have a much more disturbing implication: Alphabet will be able to gather the information of anybody who uses any Alphabet service. Google is already doing something along those lines. Personalized text advertisements shown on Google websites are possible because Google can track a user’s Internet history in order to advertise services that would most appeal to the user. With its seemingly infinite access to big data, it would not be hard at all for Alphabet to sell access to personal data to other corporations, governments, employers, and more. It is hard to tell where Alphabet will draw the line that separates organizing the world’s information from invading everyone’s privacy for the sake of profit. Regardless of its intent, Alphabet looms over our heads with newfound power, and it is already getting accustomed to being in charge. THE MESSENGER | 25

Face-off

Does Northviewâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new technology enhance the educational experience?

O P I N I ON S

Yes: M A H I M A P I R A N I , S TA F F W R I T E R

e have come a long way from stone tools and feather pens, even from typewriters and chalk boards. And while we may be nostalgic for the tools of our childhood and generations past, we appreciate the advances we have made since then, and almost obnoxiously flaunt them, boasting our role in the “technology generation” that has abruptly bid adieu to generations past. We, as a generation, have our own skills, our own dialect. Technology has characterized our generation, given us an identity. Naturally, it will do the same for education. Our education system should reflect changes in society, as it functions as a de facto middleman between our childhood and our entry into the “real world”, where we cannot avoid changes simply based on individual preference. In the real world, change is everywhere. Employers expect us to keep up. The competition forces us to keep up.

School is supposed to prepare us to keep up. Denying students access to the technology that has branded our generation and our futures would be an injustice. Similarly, it is only natural that we experience some growing pains along the way. At a time, computers and the Internet and printers were not common school supplies; at a time—within our lifetimes—three-foot thick television sets and cassettes were a norm. We have adapted, trekking through the transition as a society; but what if at each step, we naively whined about the nostalgia for the “good ole days”, we lamented the minor glitches and growing pains, we stubbornly grasped the antiquities that no longer have a home in our school system? These adaptations are not always so obvious either. We gracefully assimilated calculators and CrashCourse and Home Access Center into our education system—all of

which we would not have if we had surrendered to the growing pains. So, for the sake of the bigger picture, we must recognize that these are just growing pains; we will adapt, the classroom will adapt, society will. Even if Northview refuses to adapt, the rest of the education system will do so without us and leave us in the dust. And what a shame that would be, to be excluded from what could be the turning point of civilization, the brink of a total Technology Revolution; generations from now, our time will be studied alongside the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution. Smartphones and smart boards are the metal tools of our day and age; soon, there will be smarter everything: tutors, tests, textbooks, anything and everything we can imagine. The future is quite literally at our doorstep, and only our own ignorance can take us backwards in a society moving ever forward.

through movies and presentations instead of by bubbling answers on multiple choice tests. This contradiction creates a limbo for teachers. Teachers want to engage their students by using technology to go deep into each topic; however, doing so takes an extraordinary amount of time and effort that could be otherwise focused in covering the hundreds of educational standards. Some teachers also just do not know how to use their new technology. It is not their fault. Technology seminars can be hours long and teachers are already busy enough as it is. The additional strain of learning how to use and integrate technology into classrooms may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Despite these obstacles, new technology is dying to be used to elevate student learning experiences. For instance, Northview recently installed Smart Boards

in most of its classrooms. Smart Boards hold the potential to not only enhance the student’s learning experience, but to completely transform it. Instead of reading vocab from a textbook, a teacher can put up a Quizlet flashcard game. Jeopardy games can replace question-and-answer review worksheets. But in our school, Smart Boards are often used as glorified whiteboards. It is rare for a Smart Board to be used for activities that engage students, like interactive activities or educational games. Like iPads, their interactive applications can bring learning to life. Northview’s recent integration of new technologies in the classroom is a step in the right direction, but its poor implementation exposes the half-heartedness of the attempt. Without skilled users who are willing to cater to students’ varied learning styles, technology devices are useless.

No: J O E N I , S TA F F W R I T E R

echnology wields immense potential to both enhance and transform a student’s education experience. Unfortunately, in both Northview and across the country, most of this potential is squandered. State and national standards create the greatest restrictions on the use of technology. By nature, standards contradict technology in the classroom. Standards promote the fast-paced, rote memorization of basic information on certain topics so that the information can then be regurgitated onto whatever exam the national government deems appropriate. Technology, on the other hand, promotes a deeper level of research and understanding. The unlimited wealth of information available on any device connected to the Internet allows a student to explore the depth of any topic of his choosing. Interactive devices like iPads allow students to express their knowledge

THE MESSENGER | 27

O P I N I ON S

S TA F F E D I TO R I A L

Fashion meets fluidity I n the midst of the recent buzz surrounding New York’s semiannual Fashion Week, we may have more or less missed out on the men’s premier runway. After keeping the menswear collections in the backseat for years, New York has joined other fashion capitals, including Paris, London, and Milan, in officially celebrating its masculine trends in fashion earlier this July. Many critics noted that maintaining such separate showcases would only reinforce the strict line of divide between genders. On the other hand, the three-day venue has served as a flourishing platform for gender vogue. Brands such as “Public School” and “Theory” have showcased a variety of fashion styles featuring both male and female models with interchanging apparel: From florals to laced knits, designers did not hesitate to step over the boundaries that have previously set menswear and womenswear apart. Fashion and the everyday clothes we don are not only a powerful means of expressing the individual, but also contribute to the to growing awareness of gen-

der diversity across the globe. With New York as the heart of innovation in the arts and design, it is in the hands of its fashionistas to represent the genderless voice as well. For years, critics and designers alike have been intent on emphasizing the cutting-edge masculine and feminine extremes of the fashion industry; however, it is not long before our culture sheds light upon the fashion trends of those who cross and waver within the range of the gender span. For them, the urge to keep gender as two clearly defined labels may be convenient. However, gender fluidity no longer stands as label tags but rather as an entire wardrobe containing a wonderful, colorful spectrum. While it may not appear as big a hit as its female counterpart, NYMFW brings to light the truth of the vast diversity present in our culture. At times, fashion favors its old-woven conventions in many respects—yet it is only a matter of time before it will wholly embrace an androgynous platform, breaking down the existing barriers of traditional gender at last.

C O LU M N S

COMMENTS

Sesame Street Becomes a Toll Road

After a 45 year run of broadcasting on free public television, “Sesame Street” strikes a partnership with HBO, a service that most American families cannot afford. A N D R E W T E O D O R E S C U, O P I N I ON S E D I T O R

n the fall of 1969, a new show premiered on television sets in the houses of over seven million American children. Never before had a show with such direct educational value been broadcast over public television to such a wide audience. After two years of research, television producer Joan Ganz Cooney was able to raise a grand total of $8 million from private foundations and the federal government to subsidize “Sesame Street”, a flagship show of her newly-created Children’s Television Workshop. As effective as some preschool learning, the show taught, and still teaches, simple numerical and alphabetical concepts to children three to five. The mission of “Sesame Street” was to bridge the educational gap that divided rich and poor children even before they were sent to school. So, when “Sesame Street” announced its partnership with HBO, a paid television subscription service, in early August, the partnership hit Americans more personally than other recent movements to privatize education. The deal struck forces “Sesame Street” to air all new episodes via HBO, though the episodes will be available for stream and playback on PBS, the show’s home network, nine months following the original release date. An estimated 97 percent of American households own at least one television set, all of which broadcast the PBS network that “Sesame Street” is aired on five days a week. However, only 12 percent

of American households pay for an HBO subscription. Just to have the privilege to pay for HBO’s subscription service, a subscriber must already have paid television service. It seems easy to place the blame of this twisted situation on “Sesame Street” and those profiting off the show, but this is not a case of corruption and greed. The show is like any other show on air; it must meet a certain quota of views each season or it is at risk of getting cut. “Sesame Street” has been legitimately struggling because private funding has dwindled while federal funding for public broadcast television has remained relatively constant for the past several years. It also seems easy to place the blame on partisan politics, specifically the Republican party following Mitt Romney’s campaign promise in 2012 to remove federal funding of “Sesame Street” in favor of private funding. Although corruption, greed, and partisan politics could be factors at play in this unjust privatization of knowledge, free and accessible education for young children is a platform that we should all support. A comprehensive study released in June from the University of Maryland’s Melissa Kearney and Wellesley College’s Philip Levine shows that the positive effect of “Sesame Street” is especially prominent among children in disadvantaged areas. Systematically robbing children from poor families the access to free education, especially a free education that

benefits them more than rich children, is a disgrace to American ideals of opportunity and social mobility. The value of the lessons taught in “Sesame Street” has been compared to that of an effective preschool education, a service not easily afforded or even prioritized by many families. For over 45 years, the show has been a cornerstone not only in educational television, but also in American culture. Millennials have parents that grew up watching “Sesame Street” that decide to share the show with their own children. Elmo, Big Bird, and the Cookie Monster are all culturally relevant characters that have taught children countless lessons beyond the A-B-Cs and 1-2-3s. Granted, it may not be as bad as it seems—at least in a literal sense. Even though poor children will only be able to watch new “Sesame Street” episodes nine months after rich kids, there is still a wealth of 45 years worth of episodes that can be replayed to a young audience. An audience that cannot tell the difference between old and new episodes. But that is exactly where the problem lies. “Sesame Street” is not a show that relies on nostalgic classics to carry on its tradition; it invites new guests, discusses new cultural values, and constantly advances its reach in education. Poor children are being told that they deserve old textbooks and learning material while rich children deserve better. And that is certainly not a value that “Sesame Street” strives to teach. THE MESSENGER | 29

C O LU M N S

music

C A RO L I N E P E N N I N G T O N , S TA F F W R I T E R Interview Magazine/SPECIAL

Terrence Loves You Lana del Rey’s latest song, “Terrence Loves You,” released Aug. 19, features the singer’s characteristic drawn-out notes and breathy vocals. She named it as her favorite track from her upcoming fourth studio album, “Honeymoon,” due for release on Sept. 18. Del Rey built anticipation surrounding the album by slowly releasing details, including album artwork, the tracklist, and this single in a single week. The song follows the same airy feel as her earlier works, showing del Rey’s intent to keep focusing on and producing what she does best. Only the release of the album will tell whether del Rey will deviate from her path in the other 11 original songs.

Paper Mache Dream Balloon

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard released their newest single, “Paper Mache Dream Balloon,” as an early preview of their newest album of the same name due for release in November. The band’s layered and varied tempos and notes add to the song’s appeal, transforming it into a multidimensional piece. Fans of Tame Impala, the “Magical Mystery Tour” album by The Beatles, or The Doors will likely find themselves fans of this Australian band, members of the psychedelic garage genre. They have previously produced five full length albums, with “Paper Mache Dream Balloon” to be the sixth. The band has kept their upbeat vibes and sound-variation strong throughout their five-year career, keeping both longtime fans and new listeners engaged.

Interscope/SPECIAL

Depression Cherry

Urban Outfitters/SPECIAL

Beach House’s fifth album, “Depression Cherry,” set for release through Sub Pop Records on Aug. 28, carries their previous albums’ dreamy sounds and soft melodies. Prior to the official release, the band allowed NPR to stream the album on their website for early listening. The nine tracks take the album just up to 45 minutes, consistent throughout in the gentle yet lively beats characteristic of their dream pop genre. The duo expressed their desire to return to the simpler, original feel of their first two albums, the self-titled “Beach House” and “Devotion.” They have succeeded, as “Depression Cherry” maintains the feel of those albums without becoming trite. Every song carries an abundance of texture, as if every note and word was chosen carefully and placed wherever it would make the most impact all while adding to the quality of the song and album as a whole. Fans of Real Estate, The Antlers, or Coconut Records will find recognize the familiar lush yet light sound in Beach House’s newest album.

fashion C ON N I E X U, D E S I G N E D I T O R

01.

M: How would you

02.

style profile:

Sophia Choi

01. American Apparel Jeans & Backpack, Dog Dog shoes 02. Apparel K Sweatshirt, American Apparel Skirt, Hearts Sandals 03. J.s. New York Jacket, American Apparel Skirt, Juryudan Sandals 04. Forever 21 Jacket, Karen Scott T-shirt, American Apparel Jeans 05. H&M Jacket, Bodyline skirt, Dog Dog Shoes

03.

04.

describe your style? SC: I think that my style fluctuates a lot depending on my mood. One day, I want to look like a teenaged witch-intraining during the 90s, and another day I want to look like the kind of person who dresses in sportswear as a fashion statement but never actually plays any sports. Usually, I’ll go with a more conventional style with a little added flair to match my personality, like adding holographic shoes to an outfit that’s otherwise entirely black and white. M: Who/what are your biggest influences? SC: I’ve been taking a lot of inspiration from Japanese and Korean street fashion lately. Looking at street fashion helps me think of ways to dress in a way that’s appealing yet easy to wear. M: What are your favorite trends or brands at the moment? SC: I don’t particularly have any favorites, but I really love buying a few basic staple items from places like Forever 21 and American Apparel and combining them with pieces that are a little more out of the ordinary. I usually get those types of clothes from smaller indie clothing businesses, because it’s great to see the creativity that people put into designing clothing away from the restrictions of being a big name in the industry.

05. THE MESSENGER | 31

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