Octagon Issue 7 2015-16

theOctagon

Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sacramento, CA Permit No. 1668

Sacramento Country Day School

VOL. XXXIX, NO. 7

2636 Latham Drive, Sacramento

April 26, 2016

New Head’s Priority: Parking is top concern

Students complain walk from American River Drive often makes them late

By Katia Dahmani Page Editor In a Nov. 2 Octagon poll, high schoolers were asked to rank the priorities for Lee Thomsen, new head of school. In this issue, the Octagon will explore the last of the top three choices in that poll. Increasing the school’s parking was the most popular choice, and is the final story in our three-part series.

I

t’s a Tuesday morning, and senior Sydney Michel is stuck in terrible traffic on I-50.

Michel planned to leave her house early in order to arrive early for her first-period AP biology test.

And she could’ve made it to school by 8:20 a.m. if it weren’t for the lack of student parking; Michel now has to spend extra time looking for a parking space on American River Drive.

Because of wasting this precious time finding a space and then walking to school, Michel arrives to her test 15 minutes late and is barely able to finish.

Michel isn’t the only high-school student who doesn’t like the parking situation.

Fifty-one of 129 high schoolers polled said that they want Thomsen to focus on increasing school parking.

Currently, there is an insufficient number of parking spaces for students, visitors and faculty members.

In the school’s parking lot there are 16 visitor spaces and 59 Kindergartner Sean and second-grader Jackson Whited enter the school for Open House with their grandparents. faculty/staff spaces for the 95 faculty and staff members.

Open House is one of the special events when SCDS families can park on Latham Drive. (Photo by Adam Ketchum) In addition, there are 30 registered student drivers in the However he said it was fun busting the students because he a year, and faculty members who are drawn have their own high school, all of whom are required to park off campus, acwas able to see the cars the students drove. parking space in the faculty lot for about six weeks. cording to chief financial officer William Petchauer.

Becoming familiar with students’ cars also made it easy to French teacher Richard Day is lucky enough to have won According to the SCDS High School Handbook, “students the gold spot several times both this year and last. are not permitted to park on Latham Drive or surrounding see if cars were improperly parked, Neukom said.

Senior Serajh Esmail, who has been driving since the mid“(April 15) I received an email in which I learned that I had streets”; however, students are allowed to park in a neighbor’s dle of his junior year, said the walk from American won a gold spot, which made me jump for joy,” Day said. driveway if they are given permission.

River Drive often makes him late to early morning Day said that he or his buddy, English teacher Ron Bell, Parking on campus or on Latham Drive can result in chamber-music rehearsal. has gotten the gold spot for about half the school year so far. students getting lunch detentions if it’s their first offense, Esmail said the walk is exhausting (especially if a “I make do (with the current parking situation),” Day said. suspension if it’s their second offense and expulsion if student has lots of things to carry). And he worries “Bell gives me the parking space if I really need it on any given it’s their third offense. about his car. day.”

Michel, who has been driving to school since she was “When parking on American River, we (student At Thomsen’s school (Rowland Hall in Salt Lake City, Utah) a sophomore, was one of 21 seniors polled saying drivers) increase the risk of getting they also don’t have enough spaces. they want Thomsen to prioritize parking. our car broken into,” Esmail said.

He said they have a designated parking lot for seniors that She said that she hates the daily 10-minute “If we were allowed to park on SCDS faculty also are impacted by is right across from the school, but underclassmen, like SCDS walk from her car to school, and that the lack of campus, there would be less limited parking. students, have to find parking on neighboring streets. parking results in unnecessary detentions.

They currently alternate their And, just like at Country Day, the Rowland Hall faculty “If we were allowed to park on campus, there lunch detentions given out to would be less lunch detentions given out to peo- people who wanted to park parking spaces throughout the week parking is filled to the brim, Thomsen said. with what Petchauer refers to as “Since my current school is in a neighborhood, we face ple who wanted to park closer to school,” Mi- closer to school.” their “parking buddies.” many of the same problems,” Thomsen said. chel said.

-Sydney Michel, senior But faculty members can catch a “Our biggest (parking) problem is the lack of space for visThere have been about seven lunch detenbreak from sharing parking spaces itor parking.” tions given out to students this year for illegally if they win gold spots in the lottery Likewise, visitor parking is a big problem at SCDS. Often parking, according to Patricia Jacobsen, dean of student life. the visitor spaces are filled on school days.

Former dean of students Daniel Neukom was responsible system that Petchauer is currently in charge of.

The system has been in place since before Petchauer startDuring events like the school’s annual Fall Family Festival for catching students parking in prohibited areas for many ed working at SCDS (nine years ago), and Petchauer says it’s or Grandparents’ Day, neighborhood parking is permitted. of years.

Nevertheless, visitors often hike many blocks to school after Students would get in trouble for parking fairly often (every an old manual system.

Petchauer draws around 22 names out of a hat six times they park their cars. few weeks), according to Neukom.

Seniors rush to complete graduation requirements

By Chardonnay Needler Reporter

Senior Emma Brown traces her self portrait onto a blank campus during studio art. (Photo by Adam Dean)

Senioritis: that pseudo-medical condition that saps second-semester seniors of the will to accomplish, well, just about anything.

Their hard work is done, and they can just relax and wait for the end of the year.

Wrong.

For many seniors, being in their second semester means that they have less than five months to tie up all those loose ends that stand in their way of graduating.

Of 24 seniors polled on March 22, 10 said they hadn’t fulfilled their requirements as of that date.

Half of those, including senior Max Schmitz, haven’t fulfilled the six-trimester athletics/P.E. requirement.

Schmitz said he was planning on getting his last two trimesters at once by joining both the golf team and the baseball team this spring.

“But,” Schmitz said, “I figured out that my baseball won’t count.”

Schmitz was asked to leave the team after missing a practice

without permission.

A transfer in the middle of his sophomore year, Schmitz played football at Davis High School the fall semester before he arrived and is confident that that his participation will fulfill the one trimester he lacks.

“I don’t feel stressed at all,” Schmitz said. “I know that everything will work out.

“And even if it doesn’t, I still know I’ll graduate.”

Senior Jenny Kerbs also will finish her requirements just in time for graduation. “(To complete my athletics requirement), I’m taking soccer,” Kerbs said, “which was actually something that I was going to do this year anyway.

“In the past, I haven’t been able to play it due to my academic and extracurricular commitments. But since I’m a senior now, I have more time.”

However, athletics isn’t Kerbs’s only remaining requirement.

She also lacks the year of visual or performing arts that all students are required to complete.

“I’m taking AP art history,” Kerbs said, “something I probably wouldn’t have taken if it wasn’t required.”

Although she said she’s enjoying all her classes, Kerbs said she wouldn’t do it this way a second time.

“I wish I’d fulfilled my requirements sooner,” Kerbs said.

“Cramming them all at once isn’t the smartest idea.”

See Senior, page 10

2Feature

The Octagon

April 26, 2016

At left, William Crabb holds a Pacific red octopus while leading a snorkel trip for a group of tourists in Alaska. Above, he poses in front of a Utah basin, where he participated in a wilderness living course.

(Photos used by permission of Crabb)

New substitute teacher ‘dives’ into classrooms

From recovering dead bodies to fighting fires, Crabb has witnessed it all

By Allison Zhang Reporter

“

I almost kissed a dead body!”

These six words are rarely combined in the same sentence, yet SCDS substitute teacher William Crabb managed to do so.

He moved to Sacramento in the fall, and has been subbing for all SCDS classes since then.

Before becoming a sub, Crabb created a painting company, cooked at restaurants, volunteered to fight fires, taught jungle and desert survival classes and was a wilderness guide.

And he recovered a dead body.

Crabb lived in San Luis Obispo for seven years as a child, but he never stayed in one place long because of his parents’ jobs.

“Growing up in that kind of environment made me want to travel,” Crabb said.

Crabb’s been to all of mainland Central America, Jamaica, Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Israel and Palestine.

But his one regret is not having learned another language.

“When you’re in a country, you can learn so fast,” he said. “You just have to be willing to make mistakes.”

While in Costa Rica, Crabb volunteered to join a search-and-recover team and recover a dead body at the base of a waterfall.

“None of my coworkers besides one volunteered to go,” Crabb said. “Everyone was either grossed out or afraid.”

He was recovering a man who had jumped off the waterfall as a dare.

Crabb said the body had been underwater for a few days before he and his team arrived, so he assumed it would be either tangled in roots or wedged between rocks.

“We went around the perimeter looking for the body, but it was murky because it was deep, turbulent and all the silt was getting kicked up,” Crabb said.

“That was everything opposite of what the police told us.

They said it was shallow, it was warm, and it had good visibility.”

Consequently, when Crabb and his team arrived at the site, they weren’t prepared.

“We needed big dive lights, but we had only little dinky ones to use to look in between cracks and roots trying to find this body,” he said.

After making their way around the perimeter without finding the body, Crabb and his dive partner, Wez, started a U-pattern through the center.

As Crabb was starting the pattern, he bumped into something.

“There were a bunch of roots and logs underwater, and I was kind of hoping that what I bumped into was going to be something like that, but just the way it felt - it didn’t feel like the rocks or roots I bumped into previously,” Crabb said.

His flashlight wasn’t providing enough light, so he tapped Wez and asked him to shine his, and there was the body.

“Thankfully his back was to me because I did not want to look at his face, and he was kneeling with mud up to his thigh,” Crabb said.

Crabb took a lift bag (a dive bag that when filled with air, floats to the surface and signals to boats that there are divers underneath), and tied it around the body. After filling the lift bag with air, the body shot up to the surface.

Crabb then started swimming to the surface. However, he soon saw fins and felt a rope sliding across his face.

wildlife researcher and student ones are intensive courses to improve skills.”

In the beginning, Crabb takes his students out on small weekend trips to practice. Then they go out for two weeks.

They bring dehydrated or freeze-dried food that is high in calories. Because they can’t bring two weeks worth of water, filters and iodine are also needed to treat the water they find.

Although Crabb has been around the world, he hasn’t been to Europe. He says he’ll visit those countries when he’s older.

“I’m young and willing to do more reckless things,” Crabb said. “I could be 50 or 60 years old and still enjoy Europe.”

In the mountains of northern Thailand, Crabb went backpacking and visited some of the tribes living there.

While visiting the Karen tribe, he went bat hunting.

“The guy that I went hunting with is the elder of that village, and we (played) games by candlelight at night to pass time,” Crabb said.

“We had a blast, and we ended up having dinner together.”

Assuming he wouldn’t like traditional food, the tribes served him dishes for tourists.

“I would ask, ‘What are you guys eating?

I want some of that,’” Crabb said.

It was there that Crabb sampled a bat, which he said was weird because there wasn’t much meat on the bones.

The colored land “I was asking them about masses are places where they get these bats,” William Crabb he said. “They pointed to has traveled to.

It was his boss this cave that they go (Graphic by Katia dragging the dead to and use big nets to Dahmani) body. knock these bats down, and asked if I could join “I frantically tried to swim out of the them. way. Wez saw this, he grabbed me and “They were happy that I was willing to try to learn some of he pulled me down, and the dead body went inches away their words and try to communicate. That’s the best way to from my face,” Crabb said.

“We were hysteric. I almost kissed a dead body! I was experience something new. Try to step off the beaten path.”

But now that he’s married and bought a house, Crabb may freaking out.” have to settle for a less exciting adventure - subbing!

But Crabb’s boss was upset. There was a dead body coming to shore, half the town was there, and it was supposed to be a solemn moment.

“He ended up cursing at us in Dutch,” Crabb said.

Crabb also took outdoor education classes during his undergrad years for fun.

He used the skills he developed to find work, starting as a diver. He learned and eventually taught kayaking, backpacking, survival, standup paddle boarding and ropes courses.

Crabb has taught different kinds of people in his survival classes, including tourists, sports teams, businesses, autistic children, at-risk youth, students and researchers.

“Tourists usually sign up for outdoor activities for the novelty and fun, and businesses and sports teams go for team building and communication,” Crabb said.

“Autistic programs are therapeutic, at-risk ones are for growth and development, and

April 26, 2016

News

The Octagon

Sophomore Project less restrictive; paper no longer requirement

3

By Jack Christian

Cultures teacher Bruce Baird decided to allow free choice of topics.

Baird is also a part of the project because he teaches he Sophomore Project was dramatically sophomore history. changed this year, as students no longer had to “The students worked on choosing a topic, finding a do both a paper and a presentation, and had a focus, then figuring out a topic that they could research, freer choice of topics. including an interview,” Fels said.

The project was much less restrictive, but that Last year the sophomores were required to write an 8-12 page paper, in addition to preparing a 5-7 minute posed another problem for many of the sophomores.

“There were a lot of things that I wanted to do, so PowerPoint presentation.

Patricia Fels, organizer of the project, said the change it was hard for a while to pick a topic,” sophomore was because a college-level paper was too hard for the Nina Dym said.

Other students believed that the project was disorsophomores to write.

“They are better served by writing lengthy paragraphs,” ganized.

Students said dates and assignments were she said.

Fels said the reason a “There were a lot of things I confusing.

But Fels said she received fewer compaper of that length was wanted to do, so it was hard plaints from sophomores than last assigned in sophomore year year. for a while to pick a topic.” was to teach research-paper though many aspects of skills.

—Nina Dym, sophomore theEven project were changed, the Those skills, including inpresentation aspect stayed the text citations, will now be same. taught in both AP and regular junior English in a position Like last year, sophomores had 5-7 paper assignment.

Many sophomores thought the change was an added minutes to explain the concept that they researched. bonus.

Even though she liked the results, Fels “It was super nice not having to write an 8-12 page pasaid she’s changing the project yet again per,” sophomore Harkirat Lally said. next year.

In addition to no paper, students also had a free choice She and Brooke Wells, head of high school, will of topics for their project. be in charge in 2016-17, since Wells is teaching Last year’s sophomores were required to read a biograone section of sophomore English next year. phy on a non-American over the summer.

The reformed project will consist of two genThey then picked a supporting character to do their eral topics, each of which will have many specifproject on. ic sub-topics for the students to pick from.

But Fels said the students began to complain that they The topics will be announced early in Sepwanted to do their project on something that they were tember, Fels said. interested in.

Once again the sophomores will be respon“The way the assignment was framed made it impossi- sible for only the oral presentation, Fels said. ble for the students to choose their own topics,” Fels said. However, they will be writing about their topBecause of the complaints, Fels and sophomore World ics throughout the year.

Reporter

T

Top 10 Sophomore Presentations From top to bottom: “A Deadly Year on Everest” Theo Kaufman “The Evolution of Photography” Nina Dym “The Impact of Psychology on Human Performance” Kyra Petersen “Music Therapy - The Effects of Music on the Brain” Nico Burns “Music Copyright Law” Annya Dahmani “The Life of Alan Turing and the German Enigma Cypher” Amalie Fackenthal “The Lack of Business Knowledge in Professional Sports” Rick Barros III “Selectively Breeding Dogs” Sonja Hansen “Sound Interpretation” Sahej Claire “Dreams” Lea Gorny

Graphic by Ulises Barajas

4Sports

The Octagon

April 26, 2016

Boys start season slow with overall 2-4 record

Inexperienced, freshman-heavy team needs more consistent hitting

By Jake Longoria Reporter

Team Stats

W

hen freshman Nate Jakobs predicted the boys’ baseball team would lose only three league games during the regular season, it seemed like an achievable feat.

That was before the Cavs dropped two games to the Faith Christian Lions, 6-5 and 11-9. And the boys have yet to face league powerhouse Valley Christian Academy.

The Cavs started the season off rough with a 14-0 loss to Delta High School in a non-league game.

Then the Cavs suffered a 14-9 loss to Victory Christian, after the Cavs gave the Vikings a 9-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

But the boys bounced back in their first league game of the season, vanquishing the Buckingham Charter Knights, 15-5.

Junior Zane Jakobs attributed the win to good hitting.

“We strung hits together,” Zane said. “We didn’t just get one hit in an inning. We consistently hit well when we stepped up to the plate.”

But consistent hitting isn’t typical for the Cavs due to the inexperience of the overall roster.

“It’s not easy to do,” Zane said. “It requires everyone to be on their game for that period of time.”

And the glory didn’t last for long.

The Cavs suffered back-to-back losses in a league double-header against the Faith Christian Lions on April 12.

Trying to come back in the seventh inning, the Cavs fell short, 5-6, after Zane struck out swinging.

Then the Cavs had to lace up their cleats for their second chance at beheading the Lions.

But the boys couldn’t capitalize and fell, this time in extra innings 11-9, with senior Jacob Durante striking out swinging.

Senior Ben Felix attributed the Cavs’ inconsistent play to inexperience.

“A lot of the people on the team have not played their whole life,” Felix said, “so they don’t have as much experience as other players in the league who have.”

And the Cavs have yet to face the true kings of the jungle, according to Nate.

The boys have two games against the Valley Christian Lions (Tuesday, May 3, and Friday, May 6), a team who has turned the Sac-Joaquin section into their jungle, making it to the finals of the 2015 Div. VII Sac-Joaquin Section Baseball tournament.

Nate called Valley Christian, currently 4-0 in league, the “baseball school of the section.” He also changed his previous projection of three league losses to four, saying they will lose to the Lions but win the rest of their games.

Although Nate made a bold start-of-season prediction, head coach Chris Millsback said his goal for the season was just to make playoffs.

And how will the Cavs do that exactly?

“Win more games,” Millsback said. “That’s how we reach our goal.”

And the Cavs made a good first step towards their playoff run by vanquishing the Trinity Prep Crusaders, 13-3.

But to claim the throne and a spot in the playoffs, the Cavs need every win they can get.

So when the boys face off against the Western Sierra Collegiate Academy Wolves on Friday, April 29, they will look to take over the Wolf den and make it Cavalier territory on their way to the section playoffs.

Fielding Percentage

.763 ERA

3.40 Batting Average

.296

On Base Percentage

.431 Home Runs

0

Stolen Bases

21

Pictured: freshman Nate Jakobs Graphic by Annya Dahmani

Sports Boosters’ Athletes of the Month Abby LaComb Abby, a freshman, is the leading scorer on the girls’ soccer team. She has scored 13 goals during the season. She also leads in assists in goals.

Ben Felix Ben, a senior, is the starting pitcher on the boys’ baseball team. He has six RBI’s so far this season and 20 plate appearances. Ben has a .267 percent batting average.

Athletes of the Month are chosen by the athletic department on behalf of the Sports Boosters.

April 26, 2016

The Octagon

Sports

5

Twelve new members bring in glory for track and field

By Mohini Rye

“You can hang out with your team members during the long periods of down time,” she said.

“You also meet some people you wouldn’t have othWith more than 12 members, the track and field team erwise.”

Domich agreed with Johnson, saying that meets go by is larger than it has been for a long time - especially compared to last year, when only senior Serajh Esmail, who much faster for the competitors when there are classmates to talk to. was hurt for most of the season, participated.

Sophomore Annya Dahmani said it’s great to have The larger size has made the sport better for both moral support. team members and coach Nick Donice having people watch mich.

“You feel like you are com- you“It’s run and cheer you on,” she said.

Domich said that his schedule at peting for your school (inSophomore Steven Wang agreed. meets is much more active now.

“You feel like you are competing “With two or three athletes who stead of just for yourself)” for your school (instead of just for only run two events each, there (was) a —Steven Wang, sophomore yourself),” he said. lot of dead time where I (had) nothing Domich said the increase in to do for 20 to 60 minutes between members is due to a variety of reamy runners’ events,” Domich said.

“But with more athletes doing three to five events sons.

“Some freshmen ran in middle school for me, and each meet, I am always busy.”

Moreover, with so many members, events like relays (Annya and sophomore Katia Dahmani) switched from soccer to track and field, which brought in some other are now possible.

Freshman Heidi Johnson said that it’s motivating to girls like (sophomore) Yasmin (Gupta), Anny and (sophomore) Nina (Dym),” he said. have teammates competing in the same event.

“After Steven and (freshman) George (Nguyen) told And junior Anny Schmidt said running with teamtheir friends about track, they wanted to join.” mates helps her as a first-year member.

Johnson said that the downside to the large team is “When there’s someone else from our school running in the same heat as me, I feel better knowing that there’s busy practices, since the middle- and high-school teams someone there who I can talk to right before and after practice together, but Annya said it’s nice not being the only one practicing. the heat,” she said.

“You can help each other be better athletes,” she said.

“It also feels good when someone else on the team As for the future, Domich said that he has no expectadoes well, even when you don’t.”

Johnson said the team also has more fun in the time tions. However, with a group largely composed of sophomores and freshmen, the prospects are optimistic. spent between events.

Reporter

To stretch their hamstrings and calves, senior Serajh Esmail, junior Jaelan Trapp, sophomore Steven Wang, freshman Kyra LaFitte and seventh grader Cash Taylor do high knees over hurdles during a track and field practice. (Photo by Adam Ketchum)

In a match against Western Sierra on April 19, junior Natalie Brown (right) scuffles with a defensive player. Freshman Abby LaComb (20) tries to break away from a Wolf.

Freshman starter Micaela Chen (24) charges a player. In the third quarter, junior Avi Bhullar (left) pushes the ball down field. (Photos by Adam Ketchum and Kevin Huang)

Despite multiple victories and hopeful outlook, girls fall to Cristo Rey, 0-2

By Jack Christian Reporter An 0-2 loss to Cristo Rey on April 21 marred what started as a resurgent season for the girls’ soccer team, due to a large number of talented freshmen and a new intensity.

The team had no subs for the game because many players were setting up for Open House.

However, “Impressive!” was the first word coach George Champayne said to the girls after their April 19 game against Western Sierra.

After winning their first two games, they tied Western Sierra - the number-one team in the league for four years - 2-2.

“This season is not even comparable to last season,” Champayne said.

“It’s the most solid team I’ve had in 10

years.”

Freshmen Lia Kaufman and Abby LaComb, who play competitive soccer outside of school, are both starters.

Kaufman has scored seven of the team’s 14 goals, and LaComb has scored four.

The team also has many skilled sophomores and returning players, according to Champayne.

“We now have four, five, six girls that actually know the game,” he said.

“It used to be I put all the pressure on one or two players.

“Now we are winning as a team.”

Champayne said he used to rely on junior Natalie Brown to hold up the team.

“Now it takes a full 16 or 17 players to win,” Champayne said.

The girls all work well together like a family, which is noticeable on the field.

“Everyone works well together on the game as we were missing five or six players.” field,” Kaufman said.

Champayne said that Naylor and seniors “We also have great shots,” freshman So- Elinor Hilton and Julia Owaidat have all imphie Naylor said. proved their game.

The team also has a new intensity.

In the game against Buckingham, the girls “People are actually showing up to prac- were shaking off their Spring Break rust, tice, which was rare in the past,” senior Mad- which was challenging. ison Judd said.

They struggled to The whole team is ener- “It’s the most solid team I’ve gain control of the gized to make it to the play- had in 10 years.” ball, move up as a offs. team and form plays.

—George Champayne, coach Even when the Cavs are Champayne said struggling, they manage to that the team now pull through. needs to work on building endurance.

In the second game of the season against For instance, in the game against Western Buckingham Charter, they were down by two Sierra on April 19, two girls were taken out of goals at halftime but came back to win, 5-4. the game due to cramps.

“A lot of players have stepped up this year,” “We really need to work on conditioning,” Champayne said.

Champayne said.

“They really helped us in the Buckingham “And then we’re golden.”

6

Centerpoint

The Octagon

Aprill 26, 2016

7

Why can’t we fix this parking problem already?

Sable Court Entrance The school has also explored creating an entrance on Sable Court (the cul-desac in between American River Drive and Latham Drive) that would allow people to drive in from that street.

This solution would resolve the green space requirement of creating an entrance off Munroe. However, the school would have to buy and bulldoze all 11 houses in that area.

Headmaster Stephen Repsher said this solution would greatly enlarge the buildable area of land the school owns, but that it would also come at enormous cost. (The cumulative price, according to Zillow, would be over $7 million.)

281 Munroe Street The owner of 281 Munroe St. (the undeveloped lot between Country Day and Lyon Village) has refused to entertain an offer on the piece of land, according to headmaster Stephen Repsher.

“The owner wouldn’t discuss selling, or even leasing, let alone a price, so that was the end of that conversation,” Repsher said.

Aboveground Garage Headmaster Stephen Repsher doesn’t believe that the surrounding community would approve of an aboveground parking garage, as it would be an eyesore.

“A big concrete structure, even if it was beautiful, would not be a fit within the neighborhood,” Repsher said.

He added that the school has spent the last decade repairing relationships with the neighbors and doesn’t want to break the good will that has been formed.

When the school was founded in 1964, the area around the campus was undeveloped farm land. But with added development, the school was hemmed in.

In the intervening half century, parking and traffic have become major problems.

In the ‘90s, the school and the surrounding community came to loggerheads over expansion, and the city ordered the school to keep car movements to 1994-95 levels. (The city continues to monitor traffic levels every few months.)

Below are some of the ideas, both old and new, proposed to solve the parking and traffic issue.

— Manson Tung

Uni/Congrelot

Munroe Street Entrance

Parking on Munroe Street

Underground Garage

In 1994, the school proposed building a grand boulevard-style entrance off Munroe Street through the current soccer field, including dedicated lanes both in and out and a roundabout at the tip closest to school. Parking would have flanked both sides of the entrance.

“We thought the neighbors on Latham would be happy,” director of communications Julie Nelson said.

However, other neighbors, namely those whose backyards fronted the school on American River Drive as well as the East Ranch community, notified the administration that previous headmaster Clayton J. Tidey (1969-83) had promised them that the soccer field area would remain green space with no development in perpetuity.

Subsequent legal action by the neighbors on Latham Drive revealed that the school was overenrolled by almost 80 students.

The Sacramento City Council eventually allowed the school to continue growing to 544 students, but the administration had to agree to limited events, staggered pick-up times, and a maximum of 144 students in the high school.

One way that the school has dealt with the current parking situation without adding a new lot has been increased parking on Munroe Street and American River Drive (west of the Munroe intersection).

In fact, headmaster Stephen Repsher himself has parked on Munroe.

“I think of it as good exercise, and because it’s on the same side of the street, I made the walk in three minutes,” Repsher said.

Although parking on Munroe is a minor inconvenience, Repsher stressed that it’s the cheapest, easiest option for expanded parking and better traffic management.

The cost of building an underground parking garage has been the primary impediment to construction, headmaster Stephen Repsher said.

A representative of Sundt Construction, Sacramento, estimates the cost of a 300-spot underground parking garage at around $10 million, provided the lot could be built on the soccer field and a new field put on top to comply with city codes.

“I’m just not sure it’s the best use of money, especially that much money,” Repsher said.

He cited feasibility as another key obstacle, as the school would have to sink the structure into land just half a mile away from the American River.

“There was a school in San Diego that hit the water table halfway through construction (of an underground parking garage),” Repsher said.

“They had to elevate their garage, so now it sticks out of the ground.”

Photos by Kevin Huang, Ethan Hockridge, Adam Ketchum Graphics by Manson Tung

Buried Power Lines Burying the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and Western Area Power Authority power lines would likely cost $1 million per tower, according to headmaster Stephen Repsher (the school has two towers on its land).

The original owner of the land the school sits on, Emil Clemens Horst, sold the rights to build the high-tension transmission lines for $8,000 in 1948.

Repsher said that although buried power lines would allow the school to turn the full lot (currently, only five of the 11 acres of land the school sits on can hold permanent structures) into buildable area, expansion of parking would require tearing down the high school and building new facilities.

Furthermore, expanded facilities would allow the school to increase the number of students, exacerbating the parking problem.

In the past, the school has used off-campus lots, namely the parking lot at the Unitarian Church (2425 Sierra Blvd.) and the lot at the United Church of Christ Congregational church (890 Morse Ave.) and run shuttles in between to alleviate the parking problem.

Jay Holman, director of the physical plant, said the school stopped running shuttles because students and faculty began parking on American River Drive after the Octagon published an article in December 2010 revealing that parking there was permitted.

After a few weeks of running empty shuttles, we made the decision to stop running them,” Holman said.

Former dean of students Daniel Neukom remembers other difficulties with the off-campus lots.

“There were some break-ins with the cars parked at the Unilot when drivers left expensive items exposed,” Neukom said.

“Two cars had their windows shot out when no one was in the lot.”

Neukom cited the large size of the Unilot parking as a reason the cars were unable to be secured.

Another problem with off-campus lots was the shuttle bus system.

Starting at 7:30 a.m., the shuttle would run the circuitous route every 10 minutes until 9 a.m.

Afternoon runs had to take place for an equally long period of time (3:30-5:45 p.m.) due to normal dismissal times and sports practices.

Moreover, students had to phone the school for special pick- ups at abnormal hours.

“It was very challenging trying to organize that and keep it all straight,” Neukom said.

While students and faculty no longer use the Congrelot, the school has continued to lease the space as part of its use permit from the city.

6

Centerpoint

The Octagon

Aprill 26, 2016

7

Why can’t we fix this parking problem already?

Sable Court Entrance The school has also explored creating an entrance on Sable Court (the cul-desac in between American River Drive and Latham Drive) that would allow people to drive in from that street.

This solution would resolve the green space requirement of creating an entrance off Munroe. However, the school would have to buy and bulldoze all 11 houses in that area.

Headmaster Stephen Repsher said this solution would greatly enlarge the buildable area of land the school owns, but that it would also come at enormous cost. (The cumulative price, according to Zillow, would be over $7 million.)

281 Munroe Street The owner of 281 Munroe St. (the undeveloped lot between Country Day and Lyon Village) has refused to entertain an offer on the piece of land, according to headmaster Stephen Repsher.

“The owner wouldn’t discuss selling, or even leasing, let alone a price, so that was the end of that conversation,” Repsher said.

Aboveground Garage Headmaster Stephen Repsher doesn’t believe that the surrounding community would approve of an aboveground parking garage, as it would be an eyesore.

“A big concrete structure, even if it was beautiful, would not be a fit within the neighborhood,” Repsher said.

He added that the school has spent the last decade repairing relationships with the neighbors and doesn’t want to break the good will that has been formed.

When the school was founded in 1964, the area around the campus was undeveloped farm land. But with added development, the school was hemmed in.

In the intervening half century, parking and traffic have become major problems.

In the ‘90s, the school and the surrounding community came to loggerheads over expansion, and the city ordered the school to keep car movements to 1994-95 levels. (The city continues to monitor traffic levels every few months.)

Below are some of the ideas, both old and new, proposed to solve the parking and traffic issue.

— Manson Tung

Uni/Congrelot

Munroe Street Entrance

Parking on Munroe Street

Underground Garage

In 1994, the school proposed building a grand boulevard-style entrance off Munroe Street through the current soccer field, including dedicated lanes both in and out and a roundabout at the tip closest to school. Parking would have flanked both sides of the entrance.

“We thought the neighbors on Latham would be happy,” director of communications Julie Nelson said.

However, other neighbors, namely those whose backyards fronted the school on American River Drive as well as the East Ranch community, notified the administration that previous headmaster Clayton J. Tidey (1969-83) had promised them that the soccer field area would remain green space with no development in perpetuity.

Subsequent legal action by the neighbors on Latham Drive revealed that the school was overenrolled by almost 80 students.

The Sacramento City Council eventually allowed the school to continue growing to 544 students, but the administration had to agree to limited events, staggered pick-up times, and a maximum of 144 students in the high school.

One way that the school has dealt with the current parking situation without adding a new lot has been increased parking on Munroe Street and American River Drive (west of the Munroe intersection).

In fact, headmaster Stephen Repsher himself has parked on Munroe.

“I think of it as good exercise, and because it’s on the same side of the street, I made the walk in three minutes,” Repsher said.

Although parking on Munroe is a minor inconvenience, Repsher stressed that it’s the cheapest, easiest option for expanded parking and better traffic management.

The cost of building an underground parking garage has been the primary impediment to construction, headmaster Stephen Repsher said.

A representative of Sundt Construction, Sacramento, estimates the cost of a 300-spot underground parking garage at around $10 million, provided the lot could be built on the soccer field and a new field put on top to comply with city codes.

“I’m just not sure it’s the best use of money, especially that much money,” Repsher said.

He cited feasibility as another key obstacle, as the school would have to sink the structure into land just half a mile away from the American River.

“There was a school in San Diego that hit the water table halfway through construction (of an underground parking garage),” Repsher said.

“They had to elevate their garage, so now it sticks out of the ground.”

Photos by Kevin Huang, Ethan Hockridge, Adam Ketchum Graphics by Manson Tung

Buried Power Lines Burying the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and Western Area Power Authority power lines would likely cost $1 million per tower, according to headmaster Stephen Repsher (the school has two towers on its land).

The original owner of the land the school sits on, Emil Clemens Horst, sold the rights to build the high-tension transmission lines for $8,000 in 1948.

Repsher said that although buried power lines would allow the school to turn the full lot (currently, only five of the 11 acres of land the school sits on can hold permanent structures) into buildable area, expansion of parking would require tearing down the high school and building new facilities.

Furthermore, expanded facilities would allow the school to increase the number of students, exacerbating the parking problem.

In the past, the school has used off-campus lots, namely the parking lot at the Unitarian Church (2425 Sierra Blvd.) and the lot at the United Church of Christ Congregational church (890 Morse Ave.) and run shuttles in between to alleviate the parking problem.

Jay Holman, director of the physical plant, said the school stopped running shuttles because students and faculty began parking on American River Drive after the Octagon published an article in December 2010 revealing that parking there was permitted.

After a few weeks of running empty shuttles, we made the decision to stop running them,” Holman said.

Former dean of students Daniel Neukom remembers other difficulties with the off-campus lots.

“There were some break-ins with the cars parked at the Unilot when drivers left expensive items exposed,” Neukom said.

“Two cars had their windows shot out when no one was in the lot.”

Neukom cited the large size of the Unilot parking as a reason the cars were unable to be secured.

Another problem with off-campus lots was the shuttle bus system.

Starting at 7:30 a.m., the shuttle would run the circuitous route every 10 minutes until 9 a.m.

Afternoon runs had to take place for an equally long period of time (3:30-5:45 p.m.) due to normal dismissal times and sports practices.

Moreover, students had to phone the school for special pick- ups at abnormal hours.

“It was very challenging trying to organize that and keep it all straight,” Neukom said.

While students and faculty no longer use the Congrelot, the school has continued to lease the space as part of its use permit from the city.

8 Editorial

The Octagon

April 26, 2016

“Training” by Jake Sands

My Angle

By Nicole Wolkov Being the outsider in a group of STEM friends

EDITORIAL: With no solution in sight, parking complaints are futile At Country Day, driving to school is an upgrade that comes at a cost - students gain independence and freedom, but sacrifice the convenience of being dropped off right in front of the high-school quad.

You all know what we’re talking about - being a student driver at our school means making the inevitable walk from American River Drive to Munroe Street to Latham Drive and back again. Every day.

Admittedly, “the walk” probably isn’t the highlight of anyone’s day, especially when it’s raining.

Consequently, alternative parking options are a semi-hot topic among the upperclassmen.

Why can’t we buy that lot on Munroe?

Why can’t we turn that empty lot behind the baseball field into a designated parking area?

Why do we have to walk so far?

Well, The Octagon has done its research, and we’ve compiled the answers to those questions and more in this issue’s Centerpoint. If you have yet to read the Centerpoint, it can be summarized in two words and a contraction: we’re boxed in.

Quite literally, too. Again, read the Centerpoint for details, but the school is entirely out of options when it comes to parking. We’ve considered building up, down and in several locations surrounding the campus, but nothing is available for even a somewhat reasonable price. That’s just the way it is, and it’s not likely that the situation is going to change any time soon.

So we could whine about our parking predica-

the Editors-in-Chief Madison Judd Manson Tung

Online Editor-in-Chief Zoë Bowlus

Octagon Manson Tung Marigot Fackenthal Sonja Hansen Ulises Barajas

Reporters

Manson Tung

Alexa Mathisen Allison Zhang Ben Miner Chardonnay Needler Grace Naify Jack Christian Jake Longoria Mac Scott Mohini Rye Nicole Wolkov Quin LaComb Sahej Claire

Annya Dahmani

Jake Sands

Business Manager Sonja Hansen

Feature Editor Madison Judd

Opinion Editor Marigot Fackenthal

Sports Editor Zoë Bowlus

Copy Editor Amelia Fineberg

News Editor

Social Media Editor Page Editors

Adam Dean Amelia Fineberg Annya Dahmani Katia Dahmani Madison Judd

ment, or we could realize that all things considered, we don’t actually have it that bad.

At many high schools, especially those in urban areas, student parking is out of the question.

The Urban School of San Francisco has extremely limited parking, and students are highly discouraged from driving to school. Not only is there no room for students to park, but also there is no allocated space for teacher parking, either. Teachers who drive park on the streets and move their cars every few hours when the meters run out.

At Gunn High School in Palo Alto, a student parking permit costs $125 per year. If caught parking illegally, students are issued $46 tickets. Palo Alto High School has a similar system, but only seniors are allowed permits.

In comparison to these and other schools, our parking situation really isn’t something to complain about. Everyone who wants to drive may park within eight minutes walking distance of the school with no permit fee, and with no serious penalty for parking in an off-limits zone.

And look on the bright side - we live in an area that has some of the best, most consistent weather in the country. It’s not like our walk is hindered by three feet of frigid snow, or even heavy rain and wind.

So let’s all just accept the long, long walk that’s bestowed upon us and enjoy the morning air.

Who knows? Maybe it’ll prepare us for college’s cross-campus treks.

Graphic Artist

Photographers Adam Ketchum Kevin Huang Ethan Hockridge

Adviser

Patricia Fels

The Octagon is published eight times a year by high-school journalism students of Sacramento Country Day School, 2636 Latham Drive, Sacramento, Calif. 95864. Phone: (916) 481-8811, ext. 347.

For more information (including The Octagon’s mission statement and policies for editorials, bylines, corrections and letters to the editor), visit scdsoctagon.com.

Orchids

&

Onions

I enjoy sitting down at lunch to talk with my junior friends. We discuss engaging topics such as world events and controversial issues. I’m always interested.

That is, until the conversation turns toward academics and career choices.

“What did you do on question five?” asks Shriya Nadgauda.

Immediately, Zane Jakobs rushes to the whiteboard and starts drawing out equations, none of which I understand.

Numbers, letters and symbols appear on the board. Their combinations don’t make any sense to me. It could be a foreign language for all I know.

An elongated “S” appears at the front of the equation.

Then more letters and symbols appear, raised to other numbers and pictograms.

Other times, I listen attentively to Quin LaComb and Nadgauda talk about plans for their future in engineering.

I try to follow as they discuss the best universities with programs in engineering and what specifically they intend to study.

More often than not, Jakobs jumps in, adding his opinion to the conversation.

“You know, Caltech has a particularly good aerospace engineering program because they have access to the JPL,” he says.

“Well, I’m thinking about studying biomedical engineering,” adds Arvind Krishnan.

My eyes dart to each person as they talk, and I don’t breathe a word because I can’t contribute anything. I know little about their world - the parallel universe of STEM. I’m a humanities person, after all. What do I know about engineering?

As education becomes more advanced in high school, it seems that the divide between STEM and the humanities grows wider. This isn’t the fault of the students or the teachers. It’s simply the way the subjects and classes are.

Students generally find themselves gravitating toward calculus and physics or toward history and languages according to their interests and/or strengths.

I would argue that I’m probably a stronger student in the humanities, but, more importantly, I have a passion for those subjects.

The love I have for history and literature surpasses the question of whether or not I receive A’s in those classes.

It is impossible to shut me up when a conversation begins about the Eastern Front of WWII. Science and math don’t interest me in that same manner.

That’s not to say that I find science boring, as I find it fascinating, but it doesn’t have the inciting spark of philosophy or politics.

As for math, I honestly wish it interested me. But it doesn’t in the slightest.

I eagerly await the day that it does, so that doing my math homework will be as easy as getting lost in the history of the Holy Roman Empire.

Until then, it’s the long haul.

I deeply value my friendships. But until you change the topic to something slightly more interesting, Quin, Shriya, Arvind and Zane, I’m tuning you guys out.

O

rchids to. . . the school for getting a new water dispenser and soda machine. With summer coming, it’s never been easier to stay hydrated.

O

nions to. . . people who are loud during their free periods. It’s very difficult to concentrate during tests when the doors are open.

O

rchids to. . . the Student Council for listening to popular demand and having Prom on a train. The seniors appreciated the extra effort that went into the special night.

nions to. . . the new wall pads in the gym. Because they’re extremely hard, they’re dangerous when people run into them, which, ironically, is their sole purpose.

O

April 26, 2016

The Octagon

Opinion

9

Need to relax? Students try floating, acupuncture

Epsom salt bath revives cynical, stressed senior

Junior lets stranger prick him with needles

When I walked into Capitol Floats (3513 Broadway), I was greeted by a man wheeling his bicycle out of the tiny entry into the street and another sporting a man-bun.

There was also a pile of 20-pound bags of epsom salt, lying on the floor near the door.

The atmosphere could be described in a word as “hippie.”

On the walls hung abstract art pieces and glass planters with delicate succulents.

I signed a waiver and the man with the bun led me on a brief tour - through the room where I could relax and readjust post-float (stocked with tea, art supplies and books) and into the room where I would float.

To float, as the Capitol Floats website states, means “to rest or to move on or near the surface of a liquid without sinking. To move or to hover slowly and lightly in a liquid or the air; drift.”

No one in their right mind is comfortable around needles. They’re slivers of metal that go into and under your skin.

So maybe it was a lapse of judgment, or more likely a temporary loss of sanity, that had me volunteer to get acupuncture.

“It’ll be exciting - a new experience,” I thought to myself. “People say you can’t even feel it.”

Well, they’re right.

But I didn’t know that when I walked into Adina Robinson’s Acupuncture and Wellness Center (1190 Suncast Lane, No. 9) for my appointment during Spring Break.

I was scheduled for a “stress buster” treatment, which was supposed to relieve stress and help with mental clarity.

I had looked around at many different acupuncture clinics, and the stress buster treatment was not only the cheapest, it also didn’t require 10-15 follow-up appointments.

Shortly after my mother (the volunteer photographer) and I arrived, acupuncturist Adina Robinson greeted us. She gave us a quick briefing about what would happen, and showed us into a room.

One can instantly recognize that the atmosphere’s sole purpose is to induce relaxation. There were windows, but they let in only enough sunlight to see. There were zen paintings lining the wall, and in the middle of the room there was a piece of furniture that I can best describe as a cushioned examination table.

Taking off my shoes and socks, I lay down on the table with two support pillows, one under my head and one under my back.

Robinson told me to relax, and I tried my hardest.

“Come on, you’ve had tons of shots,” I reassured myself. “This will be like them, but even less painful!”

Then she said that she was going to put only five needles in me (fewer than I thought), and proceeded to unwrap them. They had been sterilized to prevent any chance of infection.

The needles themselves were about two inches long but so thin that I could barely see them. Only a little piece of green plastic at the blunt end of each needle helped me make them out.

“I felt prepared to hibernate for interstellar travel.”

—Amelia Fineberg, senior I would spend the next hour in a pool of water with a thousand pounds of epsom salt dissolved therein, allowing me to float on the surface with ease.

Epsom salt baths are a common folk remedy for aches and pains. And according to the Capitol Floats website, floating carries a whole range of benefits, both physical and mental.

The float tanks also act as sensory deprivation tanks, cutting external stimuli, such as sounds and images, to minimal levels.

The tanks feature about 10 inches of water in a rectangular pool that’s big enough for a normal human to stretch out.

And the glowing blue light in my tank gave the whole room a very sci-fi feeling. I felt prepared to hibernate for interstellar travel.

After taking a quick shower to rinse oils off my skin and hair, I stepped into the pool.

It was comfortably warm, though the whole room had a slightly chemical scent.

Overall, it was a pleasant, though strange, experience.

The buoyancy of my body was the best part - I could easily drift around, reclining on a bed of water that supported my weight.

However, I made the mistake of getting water in my eyes and mouth within a few minutes of entering the pool. So my eyes stung fiercely, and I had to rinse them with a bottle of unsalted water provided for that purpose. And the taste in my mouth was horribly bitter.

The light in the tank could be switched off, so I tried floating in pitch-blackness for a while. Then I got water in my eyes again and had to fumble around, disoriented, until I could find the light switch.

Floating in the darkness was a bizarre experience, but in a good way. Separated from the sensory information, visual and otherwise, that usually informed me about my position relative to other things, I was adrift.

I couldn’t tell how much time was passing, and after a while I got a little anxious and bored, and considered getting out early.

But I stayed there, in my fluorescent blue space pod (or so it felt like).

I can’t say I had any dramatic revelations or shifts in perspective, but it was still relaxing to just…float.

I found myself thinking a lot; with my noisy mind free of distractions, I could follow a train of thought for longer than usual.

Capitol Floats recommends that first-time clients float at least three times before passing judgment.

I had time for only one, and I feel like I would appreciate it more if I tried it again.

At $65 for an hour-long session, it’s pricey, but definitely a novel experience.

It’s a way to escape the noise and stimulation of the outside world and spend some time focusing inward.

—Amelia Fineberg

“No one in their right mind is comfortable around needles.”

—Quin LaComb, junior

Above, senior Amelia Fineberg floats in an epsom salt bath at Capitol Floats. (Photos

by Adam Ketchum) Below, junior Quin LaComb lies on a table at Adina Robinson’s Acupuncture and Wellness Center with a two-inch acupuncture needle between his eyes. (Photo by Kathryn LaComb)

She proceeded to stick the needles into the fleshy part of my hands between my thumb and pointer finger, between my big toe and pointer toe, and right between my eyes. I couldn’t feel the needles in my hands or head, but the ones in my feet stung a little.

Then she turned on a CD with ocean noises and left me to my thoughts.

I lay on the table in a paralyzed state, worried that if I moved, the needles would get messed up. So I stayed still, looking like someone who’s been prepped for an autopsy.

My mom walked around the room taking pictures, making it seem all the more like a crime scene.

Robinson had told me that many patients fall asleep during their appointments. I wasn’t surprised - it was a sleep-inducing room - but my thoughts warded off my need for sleep.

I thought about everything from the ACT that I would take in two days to how many dots were on the ceiling (a lot, by my count).

Half an hour later, Robinson came back in and removed my needles. Just like their entrance, they made a swift and painless exit.

She bid me farewell, and I was on my way.

Did it work? Kind of. I didn’t feel any significant drop of stress, but then again, it was Spring Break.

However, I did feel clear for the rest of the day - and for a day or two afterwards. My mind was active and I felt refreshed.

Whether or not that was due to my treatment is uncertain, but I like to think that it worked. Maybe I just need to try it again.

—Quin LaComb

10 Remainder

The Octagon

April 26, 2016

Senior: Students grasp at any service hours (Continued from page 1)

Senior Emma Brown, however, likes that she’s fulfilling her requirements at the very end.

In her senior year, Brown has been taking studio art, a year-long elective.

“I haven’t taken art since middle school,” Brown said, “so it was a nice change of pace for my academic schedule.”

Other students are searching out tiny tasks to add to their already busy calendars to fulfill their 50-hour community service requirements. Senior Zoe Dym is one.

“I grab onto any opportunity,” Dym said. “I’ve done a bunch of little odd jobs. I’ve tutored (sixth-grader) Joe (White), cleaned the art room, taught the drawing class and I did a painting for the high school play.”

But Dym said she’s not anxious about finding enough hours.

“I’m not stressed about anything related to school,” Dym said.

Neither is senior Johann Dias, who said he appreciates having to deal with requirements.

Dias, who plans to tutor a St. Francis student to complete his three remaining community service hours, thinks that community service requirements teach students a lesson.

“I can’t really complain or promote (the community service hours),” Dias said, “but they

Senior Jag Lally (13) had to play lacrosse this year in order to fulfill the athletic requirements before graduation. (Photo by Katia Dahmani)

Thank you to our sponsors for keeping us in the black The Barajas Family The Bowlus Family The Christian Family The Claire Family The Dahmani Family The Fackenthal Family The Fineberg-Chiu Family The Hansen Family The Judd Family The LaComb Family The Longoria Family The Mathisen Family The Naify Family The Needler Family The Scott Family The Tung Family The Wolkov Family The Zhang Family

do teach us necessary lessons of giving and not receiving. That’s what they are to me.”

Unlike Dym and Dias, senior Keaton Ochoa’s requirements are causing him anxiety.

“I knew I needed one more (P.E.) credit going into senior year,” Ochoa said, “so I decided to do cross country. Very early on in the season, I realized that it was going to be pretty (taxing) on my knees, and after one practice I could barely even walk.”

Ochoa’s knee problems forced him to quit track and instead begin physical therapy, which he planned to use as independent PE. But his luck (and his prescription) ran dry.

“My physical therapy prescription ran out, and my doctor thought I (could) do the exercises on my own,” Ochoa said.

Although the doctor has allowed him to exercise at home, Ochoa must keep attending the clinic to follow through with the agreement.

“Going to physical therapy and paying money for them to watch me do exercises (I could be doing at home) is a waste, so I’m in a bit of a predicament,” Ochoa said.

He asked the clinicians if he could go to a gym to do the exercises, but was quickly denied.

“They didn’t even want me using the smallest weights for my legs,” Ochoa said.

Through all this, Ochoa has yet to actually get his requirement.

“The administration is typically very accommodating, but they haven’t been able to adequately help me with my PE credit despite the fact that I am dealing with a lifelong knee problem,” Ochoa said.

Country Day’s philosophy is Academics, The Arts, Athletics, Every Day. And that’s exactly what its seniors are scrambling to complete…every day… before graduation.

April 26, 2016

Community

The Octagon

11

Women still discriminated against in engineering Alumna faces lower pay, unconscious bias, harassment in workforce

By Marigot Fackenthal

the only thing that shocked Rahimian. She’s also been confronted with blatant bullying.

“Women who speak up are perceived as louder than men,” she said. “I’ve literally had men tell me to shut or all the future female engineers out up during meetings for trying to make a technical arthere, I’ve got some good news and some gument. bad news.

“I’ve never heard a guy tell another guy to shut up The good news is this: your field of in a meeting.” choice is an amazing one, and you’ll like your work Rahimian has suffered and witnessed wage discrima lot. Engineering will offer you a wide range of jobs, ination as well. As a manager, she could see that her and you are more than capable of succeeding in every female co-workers were being paid significantly less one of them. than their male counterparts - sometimes even less The bad news is that you may not like the environ- than their male inferiors. Rahimian herself has been ment you’re working in - or rather, the environment consistently paid 15-25 percent less than males in simmay not like you. ilar positions.

Marigot, Marigot, Marigot. Come on. What are In addition, she’s often been given promotions in you talking about? This is the 21st century we’re living work responsibilities without the corresponding title in. Discrimination against women in the workforce? bumps and pay raises.

That’s a thing of the past, isn’t it?

“I’ve actually had a really hard time having career Well, I thought so, too. But according to Sara Ra- advancement conversations,” Rahimian said. himian, ‘94, the work scene for female engineers isn’t “I’ve had managements that simply won’t engage in quite as hunky-dory as you might expect. the conversation of a woman becoming a director.

“Students hear a lot of enthusiasm about getting “Meetings to talk about career advancements were more women in tech, but that doesn’t really show the literally getting cancelled, or pushed out and pushed reality of the situation,” Rahimian said. out and pushed out. Or I’d walk in the room, ready “We hear about it as this thing that people are to talk, and (the higher-ups) would just take trying to make happen more and more, so it the conversation on a total tangent. feels like it’s just a matter of getting more “One time I sent an email to the VP of girls to join the workforce. People make Engineering saying that I wanted to talk it sound like that’s all we need to do, like about what reaching director level looked that’ll solve the problem. like. When I walked in, he said, ‘I don’t “But it’s actually not true. The industry like your hair. What did you do with your is just not a particularly friendly environhair?’ ment for women, even now. Very “Those sorts of personal attacks much now.” can be very disarming. It’s inapRahimian graduated from UC “I’m realizing that these are propriate for a work environment, Berkeley with a bachelor’s denot just anecdotes that hap- and that sort of comment would gree in electrical engineering and never be directed towards a male.” computer science in 1999, and has pen to a couple people - this After Rahimian and one of her worked as an engineer/engineering is definitely a real problem.” female neighbors (who, like Ramanager for various companies —Sara Rahimian, ‘94 himian, was a Senior Engineering over the last 18 years.

Manager, but at a different compaFor her, college went as expectny) realized that they’d “hit a wall” ed. The men outnumbered the women in her classes, and would not be permitted to advance, the two debut that was nothing out of the ordinary. cided to leave their jobs.

It was what lay in store for her after college that Unfortunately, Rahimian said, situations like these caught her off guard. can’t really be brought to justice. It’s very difficult to “Electrical engineering and software programming prove that a woman is being discriminated against have the lowest percentage of females,” Rahimian or, in this case, denied promotion - because of her said. gender, especially “if you’re not building the case as “But the thing that becomes clear once you come things are happening.” Rahimian’s co-worker, who’d out of schooling and start going into engineering jobs contacted a lawyer, was told that trying to argue her is how much worse the percentages are. It’s not like 10 case in court would be “career suicide.” percent (of women) start Rahimian understands that some of the discriminaout as engineers, and tion she’s experienced could be subconscious. those 10 percent remain “It’s called unconscious bias,” she said. “Basically engineers.” they’ve decided that a certain type of leader looks a The gender per- certain way. They’re playing to a stereotype they’re centages weren’t not even aware of.

“With women, there’s often this bias where they think that if you do a good job, it’s luck rather than competence - whereas with men, they think it’s because you know what you’re doing.”

In spite of her struggle to find an engineering company that’ll properly acknowledge and reward her efforts, Rahimian remains hopeful and does not regret her choice of career. For the most part, she said, she’s just disappointed that the hardest part of her job is not the work, but the social aspect.

“For me, it’s just been a very challenging road.

I love the job, I love the work, and when it goes well, I love the team dynamic and the collaboration. But there are things more at the personal level that make it very hard.”

Opinion Editor

F

Graphic by Marigot Fackenthal

College students majoring in STEM weigh in KJ Park SCDS class of 2012 Senior at UC Berkeley

Q: Is there a difference in the number of men and women in the engineering program at UC Berkeley?

A: Professors, yes. All of my core chemical engineering classes were taught by male professors except for one. Student-wise, it’s about a 70-30 percent ratio of men to women.

Q: Have you talked to anyone who has a job in engineering about this discrimination?

A: Yes, this is actually a topic that I feel very passionate about and have also experienced myself. My organic chemistry professor, who got her Ph.D. at Berkeley, used to work for a chemical company doing the same job as a male counterpart and was still paid less.

One of my engineering friends once said she did really well on one of the midterms, and her male friend told her that she must have gotten a better grade because her professor likes her boobs so much.

It infuriates me every time I hear stories like this because I feel women in the engineering field constantly feel the need to prove themselves. I feel that when we do a good job at something, we never get full credit for our hard work.

Q: Have you experienced this discrimination?

A: Yes, indirectly. I got into a research lab at Berkeley last year, and some people who were upset that I got in started a rumor that I flirted my way into the lab.

Firstly, this isn’t true. I work very hard and was more than adequate for the job. Secondly, I think this is a great example of sexism because if this rumor were true, I shouldn’t be blamed for it; my supervisor who hired me should be criticized.

If the roles were reversed and a male undergrad got into a research lab, the female supervisor would be blamed instead.

It is absolutely ridiculous how women engineers can work so hard and their work can so easily be undermined just because they are women.

Erin Reddy SCDS class of 2015 Freshman at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Q: Is there a visible difference in the amount of men and women in the engineering program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute?

A: Students, definitely. I’d estimate a 60-40 percent ratio between men and women. I know it’s gotten better from previous years, but there are still more men than women.

Q: Have you talked to anyone who has a job in engineering about this discrimination?

A: No, we do have a women’s mentoring program that I’m part of, and they hold clinics about the discrimination that still exists and dealing with that in the workforce. But I haven’t gone to any of them because I’m still a freshman.

Q: Have you experienced this discrimination?

A: No, not in terms of school. However, at an engineering school, there are fewer girls to begin with, and as a result, there is social pressure on women because the men are annoyed that all of the women have boyfriends.

—Sahej Claire

12 Feature

April 26, 2016

The Octagon

Who would be your celebrity roommate?

As seniors choose their future roommates, take this quiz to discover which celebrity would be your ideal college roommate.

What type of person are you?

NIGHT owl

EARLY BIRD

how do you feel about sharing clothes?

NO WAY!

WHY NOT? What level of messy are you?

Pick an activity

Go to a movie neat freak

not bad

beyoncé

karaoke night

It’s their room too!

extremely messy

seth rogen

how do you deal with heartbreak?

bill gates

Graphic by Madison Judd

ew, no!

Anne hathaway forget about ‘em

indeed

what’s a budget?

kanye west

what’s your opinion on over-night guests?

go home and cry

are you good at managing money?

drake

jennifer lawrence