February

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Bridge Patrol

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Surf Safety

redwood high school ● 395 doherty dr., larkspur, ca 94939 ● volume LXI, no. 4 ● February 8, 2019 ● www.redwoodbark.org

National parks and forests affected by government shutdown

By Garrett Cook After a record-breaking 35 days, the government shutdown affected federal employees, the economy and, to the surprise of many, the national parks. An email sent out to the Marin County Parks Department on Jan. 4 outlined what could and couldn’t be done with the parks shut down.

“Due to the government shutdown, park staff is limited to maintain health and safety operations. Visitors are asked to Pack it In and Pack it Out … trash and bathroom services will be unavailable or closed entirely and additional facilities and areas may close at any time for the health and safety of park visitors,” the email reads.

Max Korten, Deputy Director of the Marin County Parks Department, says that since federal employees were not working during the shutdown, the national parks will most likely have lasting damage from the seemingly inconsequential effects.

“There are these short term effects like trash and restrooms, but if [the government] was closed for a long time you could have some really bad long-term effects.

For example, if there was a rainstorm there could be a mudslide, and if nobody is there to respond to it, it will go untreated,” Korten said.

Korten says that his advice for helping keep the parks clean is the same as the federal government’s, “pack out what you pack in.” The popular slogan encourages people to leave nothing that they brought with them behind when they leave a park.

“Anytime you are out visiting a park or open space, just remember to be light on the land … And of course, the county and state facilities are still fully operational so I recommend people check out their local parks,” Korten said.

Some civilians did their part by respecting the parks, but local government also took action to help out. The Board of Supervisors, who oversee local tasks around Marin, have struck a 14-day agreement to lend a hand to the national government. Supervisor Dennis Rodoni is in favor of the agreement, but some of his colleagues are not.

“The county was able to in two locations, Stinson Beach and Point Reyes Station, provide our county parks people to maintain and keep the bathrooms open and managed … But some members of my board feel like we shouldn’t be bailing out the federal government so we have been picking and choosing what the most important things to do are,” Rodoni said.

Rodoni also said that along with the environmental impacts, there have been economic repercussions caused by the park closures as well.

Photo by Garrett Cook

CLOSED DUE TO the government shutdown, national parks across the country were without funding or maintenence for over a month, resulting in unsanitary conditions.

“It’s a little hard to tell so far, but I am sure there have been some local economic impacts on stores and restaurants. One of the restaurant owners in Point Reyes Station told me that [MLK weekend] was kind of a key weekend for his business, but because of the shutdown not that many people were traveling out to Point Reyes and I’m not sure how well his business fared,” Rodini said.

For the people traveling out to the parks during a government shutdown or not, the supervisor also offered his own advice on what people should be cautious of. “[People] shouldn’t take any risks because there are lots of dangers like cliffs and things in all the parks and should someone fall off or be in a spot where they can’t get out it will really stretch the resources even more than are working. People should just pay attention, be smart and not do anything that they wouldn’t do when the park was open,” Rodoni said.

Despite the park shutdowns, junior Skylar Carey visited Joshua Tree, the Grand Canyon and Redrock with his family over winter break. Carey said having no park rangers patrolling the area impacted his overall experience.

“There was no waste management at any of the parks so there were trash cans overflowing everywhere and there was no toilet paper in the bathrooms … all of the visitor centers were closed so we couldn’t look at maps or buy any materials we might have needed … the parks were also free to get into, and people were camping anywhere they wanted which was nice but it probably raises some environmental concerns,” Carey said.

Carey also said that at times he felt like his safety was not as secure as it would be with a fully-staffed park.

“I realized when I was far into one of the parks that help was now much farther away than it usually is, and that scared me a bit… One time we realized someone had gotten hurt and needed a helicopter evacuation to get to a hospital. If there had been park rangers there, the person might have been able to get help on site,” Carey said.

Now that the national parks have been reopened, federal staff will return and try to reverse the damage done over the 35-day shutdown. gcook@redwoodbark.org

Admin, CEA team up to reform line Former Redwood principal, MCAL commissioner Jim Hanretty passes system and menu

By Jack Parsons

By Meera Srinivasan

When the controversial parking reform plan restricting students from leaving campus during lunch was first introduced in early September, concern over the alreadycrowded covered eating area (CEA) arose.

Though unclear whether the reform will prevent any potential future issues, the administration has constructed a new plan to control crowds in the CEA while making a few minor updates to the menu.

A key argument of the opposition seemed to be that the CEA would become too crowded and food could not be provided for the influx of students looking for a lunch alternative. This new plan will deal with the reorganization of lines and some simple changes to the current menu.

Before the system was modified, students would go up to windows, order their meal and pay there. Now, the system mimics that of a buffet line, where students pick up food in a line and pay at the end. For payment types, one line caters to students with cash and one to students with accounts.

Former basketball coach, Redwood principal and MCAL Commissioner, Jim Hanretty, passed away on Jan. 8, 2019 at the age of 92 due to natural causes. Known to the Redwood community as a vibrant and kind spirit, Hanretty was a cherished individual who transformed the lives of many Redwood students.

Before his involvement in the Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD), Hanretty fought as a Marine in World War II during the 1944 Battle of Iwo Jima. Upon his return to the U.S., he was awarded a Purple Heart for his service and an injury he sustained in combat.

Hanretty’s service did not stop there—in the early 1950s, he served as a lieutenant in the Korean War. Having grown up in the Bay Area and attended St. Monica’s Catholic School in San Francisco, Hanretty returned after his military service in 1957 and began his community involvement in Marin. Prior to his position at Redwood, Hanretty was

Photo by Jack Parsons

LINING UP TO get food in the CEA, students have given mixed feedback on the new system.

According to Principal David Sondheim, this change was necessary to speed up operations for the increased flow of students in the CEA during lunch.

Continued on page 2

principal of Tam High School from 1957 to 1981.

Fred Mack, the former athletic director at Tamalpais (Tam) High School, knew Hanretty as a coach, teacher and mentor.

“I always measured myself against him,” Mack said. “He was always a calm decision maker, always willing to spend time to help me in any area. When I fired two coaches in the parking lot, he covered for me. Whenever I had any trouble, he helped me out.”

One of Hanretty’s lasting legacies was his critical role in developing the Community Sports Complex when he was principal of Redwood from 1982 to 1985.

During Hanretty’s first year as Redwood principal in 1982, massive storms hit Marin, triggering mudslides, power outages and major floods. Nearly 100 students had to take shelter inside of Redwood’s gym; from this chaotic scene shone Hanretty, whose composure and creativity came in handy.

Continued on page 4

February, 8 2019 bark Page 2 • News Four medical marijuana delivery companies licensed to sell in Marin

By Shane Fricke On Jan. 7, ONA.Life, Express2You Inc., Elite Herbs Inc. and Mohave Distribution LLC were selected from a lottery of six semifinalists to get licensed by Marin County, allowing them to deliver medical marijuana in Marin.

However, they cannot start delivering quite yet, as each company has to possess a state license in addition to the local one in order to deliver throughout the county.

Two of the companies, ONA.Life and Express2You Inc., are at different stages of legally delivering cannabis.

ONA.Life has already acquired the state license, allowing them to deliver in Marin. Express2You Inc., on the other hand, is still waiting for their state license, which they could only apply for after recently getting the county permit.

According to the CEO of Express2You Inc., Alex Boggio, there is no precedent for how long getting the state permit will take, but he will be surprised if the company is making any deliveries in the next six months.

“The company is nothing right now, it’s waiting to get a permit,” Bogglio said.

For ONA.Life, this county license isn’t as important as it is for Express2You Inc., as they already have a license to deliver in San Rafael, which includes other parts of Marin. Redwood graduate and founder of ONA.Life, Nurit Raphael, thought that she would avoid the risk and applied for both permits instead of just one.

“I don’t believe that the lottery system was merit based; it is really up to pure luck, and I didn’t want ONA’s destiny to be determined by luck,” Raphael said.

ONA.Life has been delivering throughout San Francisco since 2015, but Raphael felt that it was important to expand her business to Marin.

“Every single [Marin] resident has either chronic pain, cancer, epilepsy, depression or anxiety. Everyone needs cannabis as medicine, and with the opioid epidemic happening, if we can [get] everyone on to plant-based • CEA Changes Continued from page 1

“That system allows for students to get through the lines faster. This benefits students, because they will have more time at lunch, and Foodservice people because they can serve more lunches in less time,” Sondheim said.

Sondheim’s support for the system’s

medicine, it’s just going to be a better world,” Raphael said.

Although it is a delivery business, Raphael also tries to educate the community about why medical marijuana is helpful. Raphael feels it is important that Redwood students are well informed.

“ONA would love to work with the PTA of Redwood. I think it is really important for us to educate the community, especially high schoolers, because it is going to be super confusing that there is medical and recreational cannabis and I think there needs to be more education brought to the schools,” Raphael said.

Marin resident and medical marijuana user Susan Johanna was excited to hear about the four licenses given out.

“I know there are a lot of people [in Marin] that aren’t mobile that use [medical marijuana] for serious medical issues, and it really helps them to have it delivered,” Johanna said.

Johanna also believes that it is important for medical marijuana to become more accessible because of its benefits compared to alternative medicine.

“I think that it [medical marijuana] should be more acceptable, especially since there has been research on the medical effects it has,” Johanna said. “I think it is a lot safer and it’s a lot closer to [being] natural than alternative medicines.”

Bogglio is excited to start delivering—not because the company can start to make money, but because he can help his community.

“It is certainly not about making money … if anyone was thinking of [delivering medical marijuana] to make money, it is not the right way to go,” Bogglio said. “It’s all about changing people’s minds and showing them that it is not about getting high, it’s about people [being] sick and they need help to get through it. When [people with

efficiency has proven to be valid. Before the reconfiguration, one window would serve an average of 43 students in 28 minutes, according to Food Services, which handles food for Redwood, San Andreas, and Tamiscal. With the new “speed line” concept, where students pick their meal before going to pay, 90 students can be served in eight minutes.

Photo by Jack Parsons

MANAGING AN ACCOUNT line, Food Services director Lisa Herberg (left cashier) waits for another student to pay.

Photo courtesy of ONA.Life

DELIVERING AS DISCREETLY as possible, ONA.Life places all its products in personalized bags.

Glaucoma] use cannabis, they can see, so imagine if you are blind and there’s something that could make you see.

You would want to have access to it.” sfricke@redwoodbark.org

According to Food Services Supervisor Lisa Herberg, this drastic increase in speed efficiency is due to the fact that students make their decision before getting in line to pay.

“The line used to be really long because students would make their decision while having a long line behind them, then a server would have to leave the cashier to get the food. With this system, they can make their decision, grab the food, and then get in line to pay, which speeds everything up,” Herberg said.

Before the changes in the CEA, there were 13 available options on the CEA menu; that number has shrunk to three.

Window 1 serves burgers (beef, grilled/ spicy battered chicken, black bean garden) and occasionally chicken tenders.

Window 2 serves various types of pizza (cheese, pepperoni and veggie) along with the option of a Smucker’s Uncrustable andwich. Window 3 serves either mandarin orange chicken or teriyaki chicken with steamed broccoli and a mixture of brown and white rice, depending on the day.

“We have three lunch employees that serve here, San Andreas and Tamiscal.

Having 13 menu options was simply unsustainable, so we shrunk the menu.

Once the employees learn [how to serve more menu items], we can build up from that number,” Herberg said.

Notable menu items that were omitted were cold sandwiches and salads. Despite having only three options at the moment, according to Herberg, outside food sources are being considered once the new system settles in.

“I’m getting price quotes from World Wrapps and a few other local restaurants and markets, and I am going to pick two to serve here once I get the quotes,” Herberg said.

According to Herberg, the CEA’s revenue has not changed since the implementation of the partially closedcampus policy. Although it is impossible to tell whether sourcing food from other restaurants or markets would lead to a larger customer base, Herberg is willing to take that chance. After all, the CEA is a convenient spot for lunch as it is located on campus.

Despite the stagnant revenues, regular purchasers of food from the CEA like senior Luca Traverso have noticed the change in speed and efficiency since the reconfiguration.

“At first I didn’t like the idea of having one big line to buy food in, but I have noticed that the lines actually go a lot faster,” Traverso said. jparsons@redwoodbark.org

Photo Survey

What are you most excited to do during ski week?

“Hang out at home.”

“Play video games.”

“I’m going to Bali, Hong Kong and Singapore.”

Lexi Sessions

Hugh Stevenson

Olivia Lane

freshman

sophomore

junior

“Catch up on homework and spend time with friends.”

Edgar Mateos senior

bark Community expresses concern as district plans to implement further budget cuts Page 3 • News

www.redwoodbark.org

By Drake Goodman and Ryo Weng Despite parcel tax Measure J passing in the midterm elections on Nov. 6, the Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD) announced that they will have to cut an additional $3 million for the upcoming school year.

The initial draft of the budget cuts, formed by the Fiscal Advisory Committee, would save the district a projected $2.9 million. The draft includes several reductions such as decreased spending on technology, certified staffing, maintenance, athletics and therapists. The proposal also listed several eliminations to the budget, namely cutting certified librarians, evening community classes, athletic trainers and limiting student schedules to seven-period days.

While these cuts will affect many students in the district, Superintendent Dr. Tara Taupier believes that the Fiscal Advisory Committee is fully considering the many impacts these cuts could have. The district also sent a survey to students, staff and parents in September to gather information regarding which areas would be least hurtful to cut.

“There was a lot of thought, and we have a whole committee that looks at myriads of things and took in the feedback from the survey. I think they were trying to take in a broader picture and focused on student learning,” Taupier said.

Since the budget reductions will ultimately affect the entire district community, Corbett Elsen, the TUHSD Chief Financial Officer, said that the district is trying to have as much community influence as possible in their decisions regarding the budget, a goal both he and Taupier have been trying to accomplish since starting their positions last August.

“My main goal is to communicate the complicated financial situation to our community and staff so they at least have an awareness. When I first came in, there was no awareness, and you can’t solve a problem unless you identify it,” Elsen said. “We have to show the community we are active. Then how do we go about getting student input, staff input community input and parent input? We have the Fiscal Advisory Committee of 14 individuals and over 1,000 responses on the LCAP (Local Control and Accountability Plan) survey that helped inform us where the community is at.”

After announcing the upcoming budget reductions, the district hosted community forums at Redwood High School, Tamalpais High School and Drake High School for feedback. However, there has still been significant pushback from the community regarding some of the proposed cuts and reductions.

Specifically, many community members and students expressed their concerns regarding the 50 percent reduction of the Bay Area Community Resource (BACR) services offered on campus. Junior Quinn Robbins, who attended Novato High School prior to this school year, emphasized the importance of having a high-functioning mental health support staff at the convenience of all students.

“I’m sure [Novato] had some training, but I never felt like I was getting the right support. They could only do so much, but the difference between that and seeing a therapist here once was that here they were so much more helpful because they are actually qualified to do these things,” Robbins said.

According to Robbins, the BACR counselors are essential to Redwood students because of their role in helping students cope with any difficulties they are experiencing.

“We didn’t have those wellness resources [at Novato] … I feel like if we’re taking away more things, there’s more opportunity for tragedy. They shouldn’t take any risk

Photo by Ryo Weng

PRESENTING IN FRONT of board members and students, TUHSD Superintendent Tara Taupier clicks through a slideshow.

Photo by Ryo Weng

TURNING TOWARDS THE back of the room, numerous students attended the board meeting on Jan. 16 during which ideas for budget cuts were shared. in possibly having something [bad] happen [if cuts are made to the wellness program],” Robbins said.

Furthermore, Redwood’s UCSF athletic trainer, Americ Alvarado, has taken action by outlining the drawbacks of eliminating all three trainers across the district in an email sent out to the parents of many Redwood athletes. In the email, Alvarado provided a link to a feedback form in order to generate input and support from the community.

The feedback form closed on Monday, Jan. 28 and will be forwarded to the Fiscal Advisory Committee.

“I think it’s unfair because there’s no plan moving ahead to at least have an athletic trainer. The plan for the district is to just cut it in general. If they were to say, ‘Hey, we understand the need for athletic trainers but we only afford two days a week,’ that would be better. But that’s not the case, and I feel like it’d be better presented if there was something we could work with,” Alvarado said.

According to Alvarado, having an athletic trainer on campus is especially vital to Redwood.

“I feel like it’s a necessity for student athletes to have some sort medical support. Forty percent of the student population plays some type of athletic event, so without having any support, these kids don’t feel like they can achieve or succeed in an afterschool activity,” Alvarado said.

There have been a few successful initiatives for combating some aspects of the proposed reductions.

Originally, limiting schedules to seven-period days would have affected programs at Redwood such as Leadership and Link Crew, both during zero period. However, Principal David Sondheim announced that both Leadership and Link Crew would remain as zero-period classes for at least another year, and students would still be able to take an additional seven classes.

Sophomore Isabelle Valdes is currently enrolled in Link Crew, a class geared towards connecting the school community and helping new students adapt to Redwood.

According to Valdes, Link Crew is crucial to Redwood as a whole.

“Link Crew is important because of freshman orientation and we are also trying to improve the culture of Redwood. We have Friday events and are trying to better link the groups and clubs within the school,” Valdes said.

If moved into the normal seven-period schedule, many current students in Link Crew would not have been able to take the class.

“I was a little sad at the moment because I realized that I was blocked for seven classes already and that I wouldn’t be able to take [Link Crew]. However, my teachers assured us that even though the class would be during the day, there would still be ways that they would contact anyone else that wanted to be in it so we could still go to the events and help organize anything,” Valdes said.

By not implementing the policy of moving Link Crew and Leadership into the seven-period day for this upcoming year, the administration and the teachers of those classes now have more time to plan on how to make both classes more equitable to students and available to everyone.

“It would have been hard to push both [Link Crew and Leadership] into the seven-period day. They think it would be better in the long-run, but for next year it would have been pretty big of a jump … the class is nice as a zero period because you can still take the same amount of classes as before,” Valdes said. “Now you can get a lot

of kids that are trying to do a lot and are taking a lot of classes, but are still interested in helping the community.”

While some classes will not be altered by the upcoming budget cuts, many students and staff will be impacted. The Fiscal Advisory Committee and Taupier will present their budget proposal to the Board of Trustees on Tuesday, Feb. 12. The Board will then vote on the final budget plan on Feb. 26.

bark@redwoodbark.org

bark

Page 4 • News

February 8, 2019

• Jim Hanretty Continued from page 1 The storms caused enormous reserves of mud and silt to pile up, necessitating removal by local construction companies. Aware of Redwood’s athletic field shortage, Hanretty requested that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dump the silt on what is now the Community Sports Complex. After raising $1.5 million in funding through the Community Fields Association, the multi-sport complex opened to the public in 1987.

Sue Chelini, a former Redwood administrator, said Hanretty was the primary force in ensuring the fields at Redwood were built.

“He stepped up for the community and cared about what was done to improve the school,” Chelini said. “He organized a committee, helped raise money and made sure something was being done to improve the fields. Without him, the fields wouldn’t have happened.”

Aside from Hanretty’s contribution to Redwood’s sports complex, he was a beloved faculty member as a coach, counselor and principal. To many who knew him, Hanretty was a welcoming presence who exuded positivity according to his former colleagues.

William Crabtree, a longtime teacher at Redwood,

fondly remembers Hanretty from the golf course.

“When he was golf marshal, I’d go up there to play and he’d let me play for free,” Crabtree said. “He was old school, but a great guy with a tremendous sense of values.”

According to Chelini, Hanretty was a friendly face when he became principal.

“It was hard to follow the first principal, Don Kreps, but he did it and the teachers were happy to see someone from inside the district,” Chelini said.

Mack especially remembered Hanretty’s calm, patient demeanor, which made him a great leader while working as the principal at both Redwood and Tam. “I saw him in a lot of situations and he never let his emotions get in the way. He was a good listener and he’d listen to all the opinions of the staff,” Mack said.

Jim Hanretty made a lasting impression on those who knew him and was a role model for many teachers and students in the community. His legacy remains a part of Redwood’s culture both in the fields and his impact on others. May he rest in peace.

Photo courtesy of Redwood High School

HANRETTY IS REMEMBERED by his gentle demeanor and contagious smile as seen in this photo from 1982 when he served as principal.

msrinivasan@redwoodbark.org

The end of an era for iconic landmark Lava House

By Olivia Brekhus A quiet place to read. An ‘original’ setting for a photo shoot. A secluded destination for morning sunrise yoga. A romantic location to take your special someone. Whatever Lava House is to you, it’s time to say goodbye as the property will soon be demolished.

Lava House in Tiburon is owned

by Jerry Ganz, a wealthy entrepreneur who marketed the seatbelt and has faced many legal issues over the years with the Belvedere city council. Ganz originally envisioned building a mansion on the property, but two years after he received approval on the project, construction came to a halt without explanation. From that day on, Lava House has remained an empty, unfinished mansion that sits upon imported lava rock from Hawaii. The fate of Lava House, however, is about to change: Jamba

Construction will begin tearing down the remains of the property on a date that is yet to be announced.

Although entering the grounds is illegal, many students in Marin have ventured to Lava House. Junior Katelyn Koch has enjoyed the views of San Francisco Bay from the Lava House property on multiple occasions.

“I have gone with my friends and watched the sunset while taking cool pictures. It is this place that has the weird, creepy story, like a haunted house but cooler, so I am bummed about it being torn down,” Koch said.

Some Redwood students consider Lava House to be one of the many wonders of Marin, along with well-known destinations such as the Marin Headlands, BolinasFairfax Ridge and the Hippy Tree. Growing up in Tiburon, junior Max Ross has visited Lava House many times.

Photo by Olivia Brekhus

WALKING ON THE grounds of Lava House, visitors enjoy the sunny views. The property offers panoramic scenery of the San Francisco Bay. Kristen and Tane Abbott Margaret Abbott Aaron and Randi Agenbroad The Alexander Family Charles and Kimberly Allen The Alylwin Family Sarah Ames and Peter Bouton Seth and Kelli Anderson Ann Aylwin Lisa Bacino Katheryn Baldwin Ingrid Becker Cammi Bell Helga Beyer The Blazei Family The Block Family The Blum Family Mari Bowler Donal and Brenda Brown Jason Brown Amy Brugger Liz Brusseau Rose and Chuck Bucklar Taissa Cherry and Jay Labourene Amy Cifarelli Compass Education Group William and Laura Conrow Bill and Laura Conrow Deborah Cook

The Corn Family Hali Croner and Eugene Palmer Joanne Desin Cyndi Deveraux Lisa Diener Shannon Donelan Laurie Dubin Douglas Epps Gus and Dee Ann Ezcurra Family Cuts Shelley and Kendall Fargo Sarah and Mike Fargo Courtney Finnegan The Fishbourne Family Thomas Fishburne Suzanne Fogarty Pamela Fong The Gilman Family Jennifer and Michael Ginsburg Judith and Bud Glickman The Glickman Family Emily Glidden Cynthia Goodman Jay H O’Conner and Heather Corcoran The Haggard Family Mark and Jacqueline Harris Joyce Hoelzle The Holbrook Family

“[The closure] is awful because it is kind of a landmark for teenagers. It is another good lookout spot and another view being destroyed,” Ross said.

About a year ago, Ganz contacted Mark Swanson, a Redwood parent and the President of Jamba Construction, to begin the project of clearing the whole property.

The company typically deals with residence projects that are considerably complex and unique and Lava House is no exception.

“I got approval to bring a barge in and then a landing craft down where those rocks are at the beach,” Swanson said.

“We are going to take all the material and all of the lava rock and all of the features and the concrete and bring it over to one of the houses [plots], and then we are going to transport it down a swale, like a natural depression. We are going to bring in barges and take it away.”

Jamba Construction had to get approval from the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BSDC) before they could begin the removal project.

Despite difficulties, Jamba Construction was able to get approval in five months.

The city of Belvedere granted Ganz one year to complete the project, but Swanson is aiming to finish it in eight months. He explained that this project will not take a long time because there are no building plans for the property.

“At least we are going backwards; we aren’t going forwards and trying to build something. [The trustees] have asked us to do some landscaping work so I am really just trying to beat the next rainy season,” Swanson said.

Despite protest from the teenagers who are fond of Lava House, Swanson said he has received significant support for the project from the local community.

Bark Patrons Maura Hughes Tamara Hull The James Family Lawrence and Teresa Jeffry The Johnson Family Sylvia Jones Van and Merill Kasper Nina Katz Jon Kawamura and Elizabeth Foley Stacey and Noah Kempler The Kimball Family The Kitzel Family David and Lisa Klein Ari and Nicole Klionsky Tammy Kornfeld Jodi and Guy Ladetzky Eugene Lewis IV Cynthia Lightfoot Jeffrey and Karen Loebbaka Bill Lowis Alice and Bob Marks Kerianne and Christopher McBride

John McCullouch Tom and Michelle McHugh Wendy McKinley Jon and Laura Mellberg Chris Michaels Denise Miller Jacqui Miranda The Newhard Family Annette Nielson Donna Norstad Denise Olson James Parker The Parsons Family Ed Pfeiffer Roxane Polidora Lesley and Tim Reidy Wendy Robinow The Rocha Family Walter and Ellen Sanford Lucia Sinatra Christina Smallhorn Robin Steele The Steele Family

Meanwhile many others are unaware of the plans for the estate because the project has remained fairly under the radar.

“One of the reasons we are trying to keep it quiet is because it is a private thing for Jerry. I try to respect it. I do try to manage and respect people’s privacy,” Swanson said.

From the perspective of the construction team, the property is a safety threat. Many parts of the property including steps and railings are falling apart. According to Ganz, the last thing he needs is more legal trouble.

“A couple of kids get stoned and they are running around at night and one falls off and smacks his head. It would be a total drag. This place is a total hazard,” Swanson said.

Trespassers may notice the large amount of beer bottles scattered throughout the property. Swanson said that whenever he is on site he usually sees people on the property, often doing graffiti art on walls.

He added that Ganz is aware of the fact that many people enjoy exploring the property, but he agrees that the safety of the community is more of a priority.

While this is a big project, Ganz, Swanson and the trustees are working well together and so far, everything is moving smoothly. “[Ganz] has been very supportive through the entire process and he has been great to work with,” Swanson said.

Interested visitors should schedule their final trip to Lava House soon. Swanson predicts that construction will begin in roughly two weeks. The sun is about to set on this abandoned lava rock wonderland. obrekhus@redwoodbark.org Geordie Stephens Lorna Strotz The Strotz Family Jackie Swoiskin The Tatum Family Cristiano Torresi Karol Towns The Tribolet Family The Tribuzious Family Kimberly Tully-Sutton Vickie Vann Helene Walters Holly Welch Jim Whelpley Patty and Dave Young The Zlot Family

If you would like to support the Redwood Bark, donations can be made by check and mailed to Redwood High School. Checks should be made payable to the Redwood Bark. See www.redwoodbark.org for an online payment option.

opinion

Page 5

Amazon dominates the board in real-life Monopoly Story and Illustration by Eislyn Snyder The United States’ population is currently around 328,075,070. Out of that 328 or so million, 95 million subscribe to Amazon Prime––including me, as my family has been subscribed to Prime since 2015. When the first day of school comes around, I buy my Pentel .5 pencils on Amazon rather than going to Staples on the side of the freeway, just like how I buy my makeup wipes in bulk and receive them in two days rather than driving to CVS in two minutes. While I type this, a six-pack of white tube socks is being sent to my doorstep from Amazon––they’re supposed to get here tomorrow.

A large amount of households around the country participate in the same online shopping my family and I do. In fact, 64 percent of all American households subscribe to Amazon Prime, according to Forbes, which is quickly diminishing the sales of major retail corporations such as Macy’s and Walmart. According to CNBC, Macy’s has closed upwards of 120 stores since 2015 due to Amazon’s expansion, and the Wall Street Journal reported that Walmart closed 154 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico in 2016. Retail overall has been struggling to keep up with Amazon, which is hurting its competition more and more each day.

If Amazon continues to grow at the rate they are currently, it could quickly leave both small businesses and large corporations in the dust––how far can the company spread before it crowds out everyone else?

While there are plenty of downsides to Amazon’s expansion, there is also merit to the different services that they provide. For example, college students only have to pay $44 a year for free two-day shipping of goods, which can prove to be handy with school supplies, or even food. Just under nine dollars a month for a regular Prime

membership, in the grand scheme of things, is not too sizable a price either for what one receives. Considering the variety of

g o o d s they provide at typically lower costs than retail stores, signing up seems to be a cheaper and more convenient option for families and individuals.

However, the fact that Amazon isn’t constrained to e-commerce can be often overlooked. Not only has the company created the Alexa and digital platforms like Amazon Instant Video, they’ve obtained Kiva Systems

(now called Amazon Robotics which creates robots for manufacturing). They’ve acquired an assortment of other companies as well, such as Whole Foods, Audible, Zappos and Twitch.tv. Most of these acquisitions may not seem very alarming and in fact rather harmless. However, there are other sectors that Amazon has begun venturing into that should raise more concern, specifically healthcare.

As a result of the inefficient and incredibly expensive U.S. healthcare system currently in place, Amazon has teamed up with J.P. Morgan Chase, a multinational investment bank, and Berkshire Hathaway, a long-term investment firm, to advance a relatively new form of digital healthcare.

This is the exact reason why Amazon bought PillPack, who, according to their website, “is a full-service pharmacy that sorts your medication by the dose and delivers to your door.”

That sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Its philosophy is exactly that of Amazon Prime’s, except instead of delivering pencils and tube socks to your doorstep, they’re delivering prescription medication. This is only one aspect of the proposed system, ABC (the nickname of the joint venture), as it will supposedly encompass the entirety of healthcare.

Amazon getting involved in healthcare, even with the aim of improving the system in place, poses the question of whether Amazon’s expansion is becoming so large that they may even exceed the term “monopoly,” and take on the term “empire.” According to The Economist, there’s a distinct reason why Jeff Bezos chose the name Amazon in the first place: “He called the firm Amazon because a giant river reflected the scale of his ambitions.”

esnyder@redwoodbark.org

And the Oscar goes to: a film that doesn’t deserve it some of the most notable films snubbed by the Oscars over the show’s long history.

These types of films are usually small and On Feb. 24, the most prominent faces independent, and often get overlooked at of the film industry will come together at the box office by people who will only see a the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles to attend film if it has the red “Marvel Studios” logo the 91st Academy Awards, a gathering better known as the Oscars. Since 1929, the Oscars have been the “it” ceremony for motion picture awards. Receiving one of the glistening eight-pound golden statues is one of the highest honors a film or person in the industry can receive. But to the disappointment of film lovers and industry professionals alike, the Oscars are awarded for all the wrong reasons.

Whether I am with family or friends, I am known as the guy who knows a lot about movies. Each year when February rolls around, I am asked the same question: “Garrett, who do you think deserves to win Best Picture at the Oscars?” on it. The Oscars are supposed to acclaim And every year, I give my pick for the the best of film and provide a platform award, then explain why my top pick will outside of the movie theatres where a film have no chance at winning even though it is can shine. But sadly, the award ceremony one of the most engaging, fresh and exciting is not serving its purpose.

According to Vanity Fair, the Academy films of the year. This is because the Oscars’ award system is based on the message of of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences votes on films based on a ranking system. First, films, not the quality or craftsmanship.

The Oscars are supposed to serve as a a ballot is sent out with the nominations to ceremony celebrating achievements in film. all Academy members. Then, the members When an awards show like the Academy rank their picks for each category from Awards has so much influence and fame, yet best to worst. The votes are sent back to doesn’t award on quality, the best in film are the Academy, which then removes the film unrecognized, underappreciated and quickly who received the least amount of votes.

The Academy then takes the number of forgotten.

Historically, the highest quality films votes given to the crossed out film and from a craftsmanship standpoint are almost gives the votes to the film that has the never recognized. “Citizen Kane,” “Singing second least amount of votes. The ballots in the Rain” and “Brokeback Mountain” are are sent back and the process is repeated Story and Illustration by Garrett Cook

until a winner is chosen. The process is unfair and confusing, but it’s the fact that films are nominated based on message, not quality, that are the larger problem.

The Academy routinely goes through phases of what type of films they want to

nominate. In the early 21st century, the Academy favored Holocaust films and war biopics, but has now turned to films about recognition for minority groups such as women and African Americans.

I am certainly not saying that giving much-needed representation to these groups is not important, but instead, I believe that a film shouldn’t just win Best Picture solely because its message is timely.

This year, the superhero film “Black Panther” has become the first in its genre to ever be nominated for Best Picture.

The film has earned over $1 billion at the global box office and started a powerful movement and conversation about Black representation in Hollywood. Instead of the stories usually told in “Black film”

about hardship and suffering as a result of historic abuse and marginalization, “Black Panther” looks to the future and portrays African Americans as strong, brave and capable of becoming superheroes. The impact of the film is undeniable, but is the film actually Best Picture worthy? I would argue no.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, it does not showcase a fresh enough approach to the superhero genre to justify it being the first film of its kind to be entered into the race for Best Picture. From a film standpoint, it is a good superhero movie, but it is no different in quality than the likes of “Iron Man” or “Wonder Woman,” neither of which were nominated in the Best Picture category in years past. The message of “Black Panther” needs to be heard, but it should not be the sole cause of recognition by the Academy.

With all of the influence and fame the Academy Awards command, they should focus on representing the best of films—not the best messages. If the Oscars won’t do it, then who will? Blockbusters and films with more prominent messages are represented in abundance at the box office and through media coverage, but the smaller, better films in terms of craftsmanship and quality are rarely recognized. Let the box office take care of the messages and the blockbusters, and let’s have the most recognizable film awards show actually do its job: award on quality, not message.

gcook@redwoodbark.org

Page 6 • Opinion

February 8, 2019

How college admissions offices allow lies to slip Story and Illustration by Katherine Muller Friends and family members huddle around an eager prospective college student at a computer. One click, a few moments of fear and anticipation and then, a burst of screams, cries and excitement. This is a college acceptance reaction video.

Thousands of these videos swarm media sites like YouTube and attract millions of views. According to YouTube, some of the most viewed decision reaction videos come from students at the T.M. Landry College Preparatory School in Louisiana, with students opening acceptance letters from Columbia, Harvard, Stanford and other elite universities.

After receiving some of my own college acceptances, I have personally experienced the rewarding feeling of knowing that my hard work has paid off. But what if my college acceptances weren’t based off of my accomplishments, but instead a bed of lies? That’s the reality for many graduates at schools such as T.M. Landry College Prep, as college admissions officers don’t put enough effort into reviewing many components of an application to check for accuracy and truthfulness.

According to The Wall Street Journal, many of these selective universities read a prospective student’s entire application file in less than eight minutes on average. After this initial reading, applications are flagged with either admit, deny or waitlist, and 85 percent of files are never reviewed again.

Eight minutes to review my admissions file is an insult.

Eight minutes is what it took me to write the leading sentence for my Common Application essay; it’s hardly enough time to read through an applicant’s personal information, demographics, grades and test scores, let alone the multiple several-hundred-word essays tied to an application. In the past four years, I’ve spent roughly 6,000 hours studying in school and 4,000 hours on extracurricular activities, not to mention the five months it took me to fill out my applications and the seemingly endless hours of homework every day. Is eight minutes truly enough time to review all of my hard work throughout my high school career? No wonder officials from T.M. Landry were never caught.

The private school, founded by former salesman and teacher Michael Landry and his wife, boasts a 100 percent college acceptance rate for its students and guarantees that working-class minority students will be put on a path to college graduation. While the Landrys’ mission laid out a promising end result, they tried to achieve that in an unscrupulous manner—through lies, intimidation and even abuse.

According to a recent investigation by The New York Times, the T.M. Landry School officials falsified students’ transcripts and accomplishments and encouraged students to write college application essays about fake hardships based on racial stereotypes.

While several admissions officers and college counselors from across the country say that the Landry case is extremely rare, it doesn’t eliminate the fact that this information slid past numerous readers from the nation’s top colleges. This is a result of colleges failing to factcheck and properly looking into an applicant’s official documents and extracurricular activities.

In an interview with The New York Times, Jim Rawlins, the admissions director at the University of Oregon, commented that essays are often read carefully, but extracurriculars are rarely verified.

“If [applicants] say they were on the football team from ninth to twelfth grade, who’s going to check it?” Rawlins said in the interview.

There’s a clear answer to that question; it’s the admissions officers’ job to verify these activities. They simply can’t rely on the honor system when it comes to such a competitive environment and assume teenagers will always do the right thing, especially if creating a white lie could get them into college.

Instead of looking further into claims made by applicants, many admissions officers rely on experience and intuition to spot inconsistencies within an application.

Katharine Harrington, vice president of admissions at the

University of Southern California, affirmed this tactic in an interview with The New York Times.

“If each component is not all pulling in the same direction, it kind of becomes a red flag,” Harrington said.

In order to successfully and thoroughly look through college applications, admissions offices need to change their review policies. This could be done by hiring more staff members or lengthening the review process by pushing application deadlines forward.

The University of California (UC) has also adapted to a new system that tries to discourage students from trying to falsify or exaggerate their accomplishments and should serve as an example t o other universities around the country. According to The Mercury News, every December, one month after the UC application deadline, approximately one percent of UC applicants (roughly 2,200 randomly selected freshman and transfer applicants to keep it both equitable and manageable for the admissions staff) are sent an application verification inquiry. This request asks the selected few for evidence to support claims made in their four Personal Statement essays and in other parts of the application, including honors and awards, extracurricular activities, financial and medical hardship, employment and even family death.

Failing to verify their claims or respond to the request results in having one’s application being withdrawn.

In an interview with Mercury News, Han Mi Yoon-Wu, admissions coordinator for the nine UC campuses, said, “We value integrity … students need to know that they might be selected, and they should make sure that everything on the application is accurate.”

Surprisingly enough, the UC System is the only higher education institution in the country that does this, according to Mercury News. If other colleges would simply use

t h e UC system as an example to adapt their review process, there would be a lower chance of these mistakes and a lower tolerance for schools like T.M. Landry College Prep and other individuals who try and cheat the system.

Receiving rejection and deferral decisions from universities are hard to swallow on their own. But what makes it much worse is that with the flawed review process, I could have easily lost a spot to another student who embellished and falsified parts of their application, a deed completely hidden in admission officers’ blind spots. Adjusting the application review method would not only make the college admissions system more equitable but also discourage students and officials from lying on applications. kmuller@redwoodbark.org

Cartoon: Fyre Fail

Illustration by Audrey Hettleman

bark

Illustration by Spencer Ferguson

Global Warning: a planet under siege

By Sydney Hilbush “Global Warning” is a column discussing climate policy under the Trump administration, focusing on the environmental repercussions of proposed legislation in the face of climate change. For more “Global Warning,” visit redwoodbark.org/globalwarning.

It shouldn’t take a climate catastrophe to care about the environment. But here we are—every year, humans dump 14 billion pounds of trash into the ocean, force 10,000 species into extinction, cut down 78 million acres of trees in the Amazon Rainforest alone and warm the planet by 0.13 degrees Fahrenheit, according to NASA and World Wildlife Fund. The human race is degrading our planet at an unprecedented rate—the same planet that provides us with our beautiful oceans, lakes, rivers, forests, beaches, hiking trails and everything in between. As humans have pushed our planet to the brink of catastrophe, caring about our climate is no longer an option, but an obligation.

We take nature’s natural services for granted and exploit the planet for our own monetary and materialistic purposes. We have turned a blind eye to the destruction of our world’s precious habitats and delicate ecosystems while producing greenhouse gases at a horrifying rate.

As we continue to melt the earth, America shrugs and turns back to the political turmoil that encompasses our media outlets. Although the prospect of an unlivable planet in the near future should be drastically alarming to the public, Americans have become consumed with the daily chaos of political upheaval, leaving climate change idle on the back burner of the mind. Global warming is not addressed with urgency in this country, as 54 percent of citizens don’t believe that climate change will pose a serious threat within their lifetime, even though half of those people will be displaced by 2050, according to the Atlanta Georgia News.

But how can we blame ourselves for forgetting about the planet when our nation is ruled by a president who disregards science and labels climate change as a “hoax?”

To Donald Trump, the future of our planet is a problem for the next president or the next generation. However, a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that the human race only has 10 years to save itself before climate degradation kicks in at full speed, gearing the human race towards an uninhabitable planet.

We will be spending at least two of those crucial 10 years under Trump. Suddenly, climate change doesn’t feel like a problem for the next generation, because without immediate action, there might not be a next generation.

Trust me when I say I could spend all day ranting about current climate policy and the selfish nature of humans. However, I did not come here to complain—I hope this ongoing column can serve as a platform for reliable information about environmental policy under the current administration, and what humans should be doing to slow the pace of global warming before we face a bleak planet (from a slightly biased perspective, I will say).

Believing in global warming is no longer a choice.

Climate change can no longer be a partisan issue, because at this point, it’s not about policy. It is about the future of our planet and the future of the human race.

shilbush@redwoodbark.org

Page 7 • Opinion

www.redwoodbark.org

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Redwood High School 395 Doherty Drive Larkspur, CA 94939 www.redwoodbark.org Editors-In-Chief Lily Baldwin Neva Legallet Saamya Mungamuru Emily Sweet Head Copy Editor Sydney Hilbush

Illustration by Natalie Cerf

editorial Budget mishandling cuts into our education District fumbles with funds

POLICY: All editorials are unsigned and have been approved by the majority of the Bark staff.

Despite Measure J passing this past November, the Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD) remains heavily in debt, prompting reexamination of budget decisions district-wide. However, there is an important voice largely missing from the discussion: the students’ voice.

The reality is that the students in the school district are not to blame for the mismanagement of money, nor unforeseen expenses that have landed the district in copious amounts of debt. Along with some faculty possibly losing their jobs, students are the ones sharing the brunt of the consequences, while simultaneously having the least say. We need to find sustainable changes that will continue for the children of our communities for years to come, and the best ideas for this may come from the students themselves.

It is crucial to involve students in the greater budget-cutting process, which requires greater communication between students and the district.

When asked in a recent self-reported Bark survey if students knew that they could attend board meetings to discuss the budget and debt, only 42 percent of students were aware of this; the platform available for addressing student concerns is widely underused. All TUHSD board meetings are filmed and published on their website. However, if the district took this effort one step further and live streamed the meetings, the opportunity for active involvement would encourage students to voice their opinions more frequently..

Additionally, the current lack of transparency has escalated tensions surrounding budget cuts.. The district saw the deficit coming, yet did little to prevent it. “We knew the deficit was coming. We knew we were going to see an increase in cost with our growing student population and the rising cost of portables and construction, which has gone up significantly,” Tara Taupier, the TUHSD Superintendent, said. Although the deficit was predicted, the board might have been hesitant to implement cuts before the situation became drastic, perhaps for fear that they would lose parental support. Had the community been made aware of the impending financial struggles, such as through community forums, this would have given us a chance to come up with solutions for the future that could be implemented directly at the onset of the crisis.

As pressures to address the deficit continued to increase, Measure J was introduced to the district as a seemingly fix-all solution. Measure J was implemented as a way to save the district $5.1 million

A BARK to “Big Mouth” releasing a Valentine’s Day special on Netflix. Who knows if it will be good, but you’re picturing it and we’re talking about it.

A BITE to the Connecticut woman who got a DUI for being under the influence of vanilla extract. Life doesn’t get any more bittersweet than that.

A BARK to the new dog breed that doesn’t bark. Now this section will have to be called Bites and Harder Bites.

A BITE to the FaceTime bug.

annually and was intended to uphold the high caliber of education that the TUHSD boasts, according to the Measure J campaign. However, this process isn’t as simple as it was presented to be. Some people saw Measure J as a complete solution to the deficit, however, there were an additional three million dollars that needed to be cut from the budget, mandating other impactful cuts. The description of the parcel tax should have explicitly stated that this amount of money wasn’t an end-all solution.

Although the district could have addressed fixing the deficit with greater urgency and community input, , we do not envy the superintendent, nor other board members who are now burdened with the unpleasant task of putting programs and people on the chopping block. We understand that the situation is equally tough for the adults working to reverse the damage that has been done. That being said, we as the students are calling on all adults to listen to our thoughts and opinions regarding budget cuts, as it is our education that is in their hands.

There is a level of responsibility and accountability that students must be held to as well.

It’s unreasonable for us to assume that we understand all of the intricacies of the budget breakdown, and so we must take the time and energy it requires to become fully educated on the topic before pointing fingers and throwing out unreasonable solutions.

Go to a board meeting, watch a board meeting online and share your thoughts with the district.

We need the district to know that this is our issue too. The fact is, this goes beyond just the one, two or three more years that current Redwood students have at this school. We need to take the initiative to make sure that Redwood lives up to its reputation as a distinguished school for the kids who will walk through the doors as freshman five, 10, even 15 years from now.

Have an opinion regarding anything that appears in the Bark or in general? We encourage our readers to submit letters to the editor. Letters to the Bark should be 500 words or fewer, typed if possible and signed. They must be submitted to room 177 or in the Bark mailbox in the facility. They may also be emailed to bark@redwoodbark.org.

Apple, meet my FBI Agent.

FBI Agent, meet Apple.

A BARK to Girl Scouts cookies. After eating these I will be neither thin nor in mint condition.

A BITE to the Florida couple who brought a WWII grenade to a local Taco Bell. Still not as explosive as the aftermath of a Doritos Locos Taco.

A BARK to Marin’s Jared Goff for making it to the super bowl, you’re the only Wildcat besides Troy Bolton I can respect.

A BITE to the people

romanticizing Ted Bundy.

He’s a serial killer, not your white boy of the month.

A BARK to Jay-Z and Beyonce for offering free tickets to one of their fans that adopts a vegan diet for a month. That’s a lot at steak.

BARKS and BITES are the collective opinions of the BARK staff concerning relevant issues. BARKS are in praise of accomplishments, while BITES criticize decisions or events.

Copy Editors Mika Beberman Jack Benbow Melissa Block Sabine Lloyd Katherine Muller Morgan Salzer Sydney Steinberg News Editors Maria Alexander Nate Charles Opinion Editors Maddie Loebbaka Ryo Weng Feature Editors Drake Goodman Eislyn Snyder Sports Editors Bennett Vasquez Sam Warren Review Editors Anna Compagno Aaron Kim Lifestyles Editors Skylar Strotz Josephine Yee Video Editors Harrison Segal Karl Somerville Spanish Editor Lauren Steele Podcast Editor Matt Smalbach Business Manager Justin Newhard Social media Manager Jenna Dahlin Survey Managers Jacob Klionsky Art Consultants Taylor Charles Max Gilberg Reporters Evelyn Bailey Olivia Brekhus Grace Bouton Emma Carpenter Garrett Cook Alexa Erickson Shane Fricke Dean Griffin Audrey Hettleman Emma Ingledew Lucie James Alex Johnson Devon McClain Julia Merron Amanda Morse Sachi Nahas Jack Parsons Alexandra Polidora Bella Roesler Alix Salzer Julia Scharf Meera Srinivasan Charlie Werner Sarah Young Senior Staff Writer Natalie Cerf Adviser Erin Schneider

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“Roma” más que un candidato al premio es un soporífero instatáneo Por Sydney Steinberg Traducido por Octavio Torres Es gris y nublado en México en el año 1970, y Cleo está chapoteando agua enjabonada en el suelo de azulejo.

Estos son los créditos de apertura de “Roma” por Alfonso Cuarón.

Publicado por Netflix Dic. 14, “Roma” se hizo un favorito con premios. Ya ha ganado varios premios incluyendo Golden Globes, y Critic’s Choices, y está nominado por 10 Oscars. Aunque me parece difícil entender porqué. “Roma” tiene cinematografía hermosa y el estilo refleja los problemas sociales, como raza y el tratamiento de gente de las clases menores, pero la historia es increíblemente aburrida. En dos horas y quince minutos, y con una historia mal planeada y previsible, “Roma” no merece estar nominada por todos esos premios.

“Roma” sigue la vida de Cleo, una Latina, trabajadora doméstica de una familia blanca en la Ciudad de México. La película está principalmente enfocada en el embarazamiento de Cleo y abandonamiento del padre del niño, pero también incluye varias otras historia. Aunque la historia tiene varios giros dramáticos, eran dispersados sobre un largo tiempo, que se sentía innecesario, y a veces demasiado dramático.

Varias historias secundarias eran incorporados arbitrariamente en la película y a veces se parecían como adiciones sin pensar. Esto, junto con la repetición de escenas dramáticas, como la patrona de Cleo constantemente agonizando sobre su matrimonio fallido, no asiste en mejorar la historia aburrida. Unas escenas parecían ser un intento desesperado de recuperar mi interés en vez de presentar material substancial. En general, aunque los temas grandes que se enfrentó Cleo eran interesantes, el uso de escenas repetitivas rápidamente perdió mi interés, y seriamente, me puso a dormir de aburrimiento.

Fóto cortesía de Netflix

DIRECTOR ALFONSO CUARÓN directa actriz principal Alitza Aparicio durante una escena fome, pero importante.

La mejor calidad de “Roma” es sin duda la se mueve. Aunque la filmación hizo la película más cinematografía. La película está presentada en blanco interesante, las tomas se convirtieron repetitivas y me y negro, junto, con logo de letras tradicionales, le dejaron queriendo más variedad. da un sentimiento del viejo Hollywood. Aunque lo En papel, “Roma” parece ser un competitor fantástico estaba viendo en Netflix desde mi sofá, las selecciones para premios. Pero la historia aburrida y larga me hace cinematográficas me hicieron sentir como si estaba en un cuestionar la integridad de quien es responsable por las teatro hace 50 años. El estilo separa a “Roma” de cientos nominaciones de premio. Si era mi decisión, las estatuas de otros dramas que aparecen antes de los premios, y creo doradas irían a otras películas, que son más entretenidas. que es la causa de su éxito.

Otro punto culminante de la película fue su estilo único. La primera escena muestra a Cleo caminando al aire libre. “Roma” está influenciado por viejos cineastas en esa toma suave y continua, que sigue a Cleo cuando ssteinberg@redwoodbark.org

El muro de Trump y retórica subsiguiente es dañino a los Latinos Historia y Ilustración por Audrey Hettleman

Traducido por Octavio Torres Ahora, oyendo al Presidente Trump llamar minorías o inmigrantes algo favorable vendría como sorpresa. Muchos se hicieron familiares con su retórica incendiaria hacia estos grupos durante los antecedentes de su campaña presidencial de 2016, durante que famosamente llamó a Inmigrantes mexicanos “violadores.”

Desde entonces, no ha parado o pausado sus esfuerzos para etiquetar estos grupos, específicamente inmigrantes latinoamericanos, como “otros” o una parte de los Estados Unidos que todos serían supuestamente mejor sin. Más recientemente, Trump etiquetó un gran grupo de migrantes Centroamericanos moviendo hacia la frontera de EEUU y México como “la caravana” previo a las elecciones intermedias de 2018.

Estos dos eventos enojaron a la base del presidente pero hicieron poco para unir al país. Lo que los dos eventos también tienen en común es que trump los utilizo para catalizar una conversación sobre un muro fronterizo, una promesa de campaña que se parece determinado para completar. Trump necesita dejar la idea del muro y parar de isolar a Latinoamericanos e inmigrantes con su retórica relacionada al muro. Al enfocarse en más soluciones pragmáticos, y menos simbólicos al problema, Trump puede evitar el incitación de tensión a los hijos de inmigrantes y gastos federales innecesarios.

El cierre de gobierno que empezó Dic. 22, 2018 y duró 35 días hasta En. 25, era el más largo de la historia de los EEUU. El cierre empezó desde las opiniones muy diferentes entre Trump y el Congreso sobre el muro. Su anegamiento de incluir $5.7 mil millones en la propuesta era la razón principal para el cierre.

Mientras que el muro ya ha promovido división en el

Congreso, la retórica de Trump es extremadamente dañoso para la salud mental, y bienestar de familias Latinx- sin importar el estatus legal. Un estudio por la Universidad de Nueva York encontró que hijos con estatus legal con a lo menos un padre viviendo en los EEUU ilegalmente, constantemente

experimentaron más estrés como resultado del discurso sobre inmigración. Trump isola a no solo los que entraron al país ilegalmente, pero tambien a sus hijos.

La retórica de Trump no solo puede afectar la salud mental de Latinxs, pero tiene potencial de dañarlos físicamente también. Según San Francisco Chronicle, en San Francisco sólo, crímenes de odio basados en raza o etnicidad han aumentado por 82 por ciento en el año pasado. Aunque otros factores pudieran tenido efecto en incitando estos aumentos en violencia, no puede ser solo coincidencia que ocurrieron el mismo año que Trump tomó oficio. Se hace más claro que sus actitudes y políticas favorecen a los que son blancos, y nacidos en EEUU. El hecho que sectores más extremos de este demográfico se sentían inspirados por su presencia a actuar en tendencias racistas no es tan inesperado.

Según una encuesta de Monmouth University, 44 por ciento de Americanos soportan al muro. Muchos, incluyendo a Sarah Huckabee Sanders, reclaman que construyendo un muro parará drogas y terroristas por llegar de la frontera. Otros como el presidente mismo, reclama que los números crecientes de inmigrantes están causando una “crisis de seguridad y humanitaria en nuestra frontera.” Pero estos problemas son falsos o simplemente pueden ser solucionados más efectivamente en otras maneras. Los 4,000 terroristas conocidos o sospechosos supuestamente llegando por la frontera quien Sanders citó en Fox, actualmente fueron capturados en aeropuertos. Según a Chris Wallace de Fox News, el departamento del estado no

ha encontrado terroristas llegando a los EEUU por la frontera. La meta de las políticas de inmigración de Trump no son para proteger a ciudadanos, pero para incitar miedo y división en la nación.

Si el objetivo de construir el muro es mejorar la seguridad fronteriza, hay maneras mucho más eficientes de hacerlo.

Los fondos deben destinarse a mejorar la tecnología que rodea la seguridad y encontrar formas de imponerla en terrenos difíciles de manera que las paredes no puedan. En las partes del país donde los muros son formas aceptables de seguridad fronteriza, como en algunas partes de California y Arizona, ya se han construido. Según un artículo de 2017 de la organización de derechos humanos WOLA, proporcionar sensores y equipos de comunicación avanzados a los oficiales de seguridad fronteriza será más barato y eficiente que un muro. Abogar por algo que es tanto divisoria física y metafóricamente y al mismo tiempo inefectivo, hace más daño que bien para el país en general.

El muro de Trump divide a 12 millones de Latinxs viviendo en los EEUU del resto de la población, poniendo los en un estereotipo que no los representa, Por negar a cambiar su posición, Trump está previniendo progreso en el financiamiento del gobierno, y uniendo nuestro país dividido. Por parar sus gran planes para un muro, él pudiera construir puentes con los millones de Latinoamericanos que han sido bloqueados por su retórica.

ahettleman@redwoodbark.org

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Misconceptions surrounding feminism perpetuate negative connotations sophomore English teacher, Kestenbaum embeds However, others such as junior Ashley Acosta do not concepts relating to feminism in her lessons believe that social media is skewing the true meaning of throughout the year. According to Kestenbaum, it is feminism. more than just a unit. In the 2017-18 school year, “I think the media has portrayed feminism in a good A modern rendition of feminism has birthed a new it was the throughline of her entire sophomore way, especially because a lot of media people show meaning, leading it to become a controversial term. curriculum, and this year she is further incorporating up at the Women’s March. I don’t think there’s much The negative connotations associated with feminism it into the Humanities program. negativity around it,” Acosta said. “I don’t think people are common among our generation, leading some to “Last year, I set out to design a curriculum for make jokes about it anymore. I believe that the word “feminist” sophomores that was all female authors and poets, don’t see feminism come up very is misrepresented by the media, which, going through the sophomore-approved often besides when the Women’s literature and politics. The true curriculum, there were not enough female writers March comes around, but I don’t meaning of “feminism”—the that are on the approved curriculum to fill an entire think there’s much negative advocacy of women’s rights on year,” Kestenbaum said. “It was really shocking. It connotation around it.” the basis of the equality of the made me realize that it was really important to have Acosta believes that politics sexes—has been lost over the stories of women being told and being shared.” have stunted the growth of gender years of misrepresentation, mainly As a teacher, Kestenbaum has the power to take equality, rather than the media. on behalf of the media. action and make a change within her classroom Acosta believes that President The media’s portrayal community, and allow her students to spread that Donald Trump has turned more of feminism is polarizing to change beyond her classroom walls. people against feminism and many, including junior Branden “A lot of associations come into sexuality as a that women are viewed again as Newhard. Though he is a believer feminist, a lack of education, a lack of understanding, objects. in gender equality, Newhard is and I think it’s great that we’re talking about these “All these ideas that were still hesitant in calling himself a issues a lot earlier and a lot younger,” Kestenbaum created in the past are coming feminist. said. back again, especially with ‘Make “I am pro-women’s rights, Branden Newhard America Great Again.’ [Trump] and I support their movement, just wants to make America how it but sometimes I don’t support junior iroesler@redwoodbark.org was, and if you think about it, a lot the way that they go about trying of things in America’s to explain themselves and hypervictimize themselves,” Newhard said. “Some people do it in a society weren’t good. respectable manner, but some people just don’t do that, Degrading women isn’t a and I think that’s what the media portrays. You see it good thing and now he’s on Instagram all the time, you see videos of [women] bringing it back and freaking out over small stuff. That’s why feminism has seeing us as a bad reputation.” objects,” Newhard’s perspective is common among teenage Acosta boys, as they are exposed to women being radical said. feminists through social media and the internet. Similar to Newhard, junior Kaden Gibbs believes in gender equality but does not call himself a feminist. According to Gibbs, his version of feminism is a world where everyone is equal.

“I think most people, when they think of feminism, think of the extremely intense feminists––the ones that hate men and want more than just equal rights. But in truth, that’s a really small part of the population and I think most women are actually trying to fight for equality,” Gibbs said.

In a recent poll by Refinery 29 and CBS News, 46 percent of the women surveyed considered themselves to be feminists, while 54 percent did not. The majority of these women believed in gender equality but “He’s making didn’t identify as feminists due to radical feminism, it seem okay to a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical think like that reordering of society in which male supremacy is when it’s really eliminated in all social and economic contexts. not. He’s making When Redwood English teacher Danielle it more acceptable Kestenbaum was in high school, she saw the stereotypes among boys to be associated with radical feminism. Kestenbaum thinks sexist, which is the negativity stemmed from stereotypes of the 1960s probably why a lot like ‘burn your bras’ or ‘don’t shave your legs,’ but for of teen boys think her, it’s just about fighting to have women at an equal it’s okay to be antiplace in the world. feminist.”

“On the first day of our high school sociology People like class, for the gender unit, our teacher asked us, ‘What’s Kestenbaum are a feminist?’ Everyone started bringing up all the pushing back on stereotypes,” Kestenbaum said. “What feminism [is] at the negativity the root is a belief in equal rights for men and women. surrounding I think there’s a huge misunderstanding about that. That feminism. was something that was really eye-opening. Feminism As a is such a simple idea that our country has complicated so much.”

In a 2015 self-reported Bark survey, 88 percent of students believed in gender equality in all aspects of life, yet 48 percent still did not consider themselves feminist.

The word “feminism” has been lost in translation.

“Feminist,” though, has many different interpretations.

According to Newhard, his view on feminism has been skewed due to the overexposure of radicalism in media.

“I think that radical feminism is something different than what real true feminists are. What’s portrayed on media is something that’s completely different and it’s changed my belief on feminism,” Newhard said. “I believe in equal rights for everybody and that everyone should be given the same opportunities, but I don’t think it’s fair to wish death on someone who isn’t always showing equality.”

Illustration by Max Gilberg and Lily Baldwin

By Bella Roesler

You see videos of [women] freaking out over small stuff. That’s why feminism has a bad reputation.

bark

Page 10 • Feature

February 8, 2019

Evolution of faith Declining rates of religious conviction among our generation

By Bella Roesler

“When I go to church if I’m struggling, I’ll say, ‘Jesus help me, come into my life and fix me.’ Nobody is perfect, it’s not like you’re expected to be perfect,” said sophomore Sarah Cretan, a devout Christian who attends church twice a week. “I want people to know that it’s an open religion. It’s very open despite what people say; it’s one of the most loving and beautiful things that I have in my life.”

Religion is a contentious topic, especially among high schoolers, many of whom are still discovering their version of spirituality. From 2008 to 2017, there has been a 7.8 percent decline in the rate of religious millennials across the United States, with an exponential growth of 6.7 percent in millennials unaffiliated with any religion, according to Pew Research.

Cretan was very open about sharing her perspective on religion, which she says is difficult for her to do on a regular basis.

“It’s really hard because Marin is not a very religious community and not a lot of people are open to religion.

Growing up I’ve had trouble with that and I’ve definitely been afraid to be open about my religion,” Cretan said. “Nobody wants to be criticized, called names or branded a ‘Jesus Freak.’ Some people aren’t very open about it; that’s just who they are. I’ve always been a very open person, with other things too, so I’ve always wanted to spread love.”

Cretan trusts her faith and is an ardent believer, but religion is polarizing in the eyes of many, including senior Niklas Korn, an atheist/ agnostic.

“From a logical standpoint, [religion] doesn’t make any sense. Hominids resembling man have been on this planet for 2 million years, and the world has been around for 4.6 billion years. And in 4.6 billion years of the Earth, there have been a loss of over 99 percent of all species that have ever lived on the planet,” Korn said. “Why would there be a God that would facilitate the death of 99 percent of all species, to come down and pick out one single species of mammal and say, ‘Hey, I created you and now you’re my subject.’ Not only does he control you, but he cares about who you sleep with, in what position and all these ridiculous things.”

Korn’s scientific argument makes a lot of sense to him, and many others who share a similar stance.

According to Cretan, she hadn’t noticed a declining trend in religion. Nonetheless, Cretan believes that this trend comes from the fear of the unknown.

“A lot of people shy away from religion because it’s scary to open yourself up to something that you might not even know is there. Sometimes praying is really hard for me because I don’t know if anything I’m praying about is being answered,” Cretan said.

“You just have to open your heart. It might not be what you want to hear, but it might be the right thing.”

Senior Angel Valeriano Hernandez Alonzo is a

passionate Christian and has also opened himself up to God. He has four tattoos dedicated to his faith. Alonzo says many people have questioned his tattoos in a judgemental manner, but he responds by stating that he believes in God and wants Him to be a part of his life.

“Every single tat I have has a meaning. I put [the tattoos] on me not to brag or show off, but so that people really know who I am and what I’m about,” Alonzo said.

Studies by Pew Research Center have suggested possible explanations for the age gap and decline in religion in younger generations. One of the studies suggests that people naturally become more religious as they age and approach their own mortality. Another points to societies becoming less religious as economic conditions improve and people face fewer anxiety-inducing or life-threatening problems. Therefore, since young people in steadily developing societies generally have easier lives than their elders, they tend to become less religious.

Another contributing f a c t o r to the decline i n

religion is parental pressure, according to Psychology Today. Junior Sarah Conant was raised Presbyterian but does not believe in God. Her parents, however, insist that she go to church.

“Growing up, once I gained my level of independence from my parents, I took a step back and realized that I didn’t necessarily want to go to church and worship a religion that I didn't believe in … [My parents] believe that it’s a sense of community and it’s a time for me to

self-reflect,” Conant said. “For me, church isn’t really that. I think self-reflection and community is very important; I just don’t appreciate it in the context of religion.”

This dilemma of growing up religiously and questioning one’s religion during maturity is common in the millennial generation. Junior Kendall Hermann, like Conant, also grew up Christian and disliked going to church.

“My dad is very religious; he came from a religious family in the midwest. I always went to church when I was little even though I didn’t want to. He still calls us Christian and everything—and I believe I’m Christian—but I haven’t gone to church in about a year and I don’t practice Christianity. I am just Christian,” Hermann said.

According to Pew Research, 60 percent of people interviewed from the baby boomer generation reported that religion is important in their lives and 38 percent attend church weekly. On the other hand, 38 percent of U.S. millennials born in 1990-1996 reported that religion is important in their lives, and 28 percent attend church services weekly. It is probable that the decline in religion is adding to the atheist or agnostic population, where Korn stands.

“There have been hundreds of different religions.

What makes one better than the other? All religions, despite their views, have one thing in common: they all have an equal amount of evidence, which is none,” Korn said.

According to Cretan, atheists have questioned her faith in God and constructed arguments against religion by using the Big Bang Theory or citing scientific evidence.

“I always say, ‘That’s what you might believe but this is what I believe.’ When dealing with people who are like that, I always go into it with a positive attitude. If they’re going to be negative, I just say that I’m willing to talk about it. There’s no reason to be negative about it,” Cretan said.

In the current landscape of religion, where people have strong emotions and construct developed arguments, each person is entitled to their own opinion. It can be

difficult to be public about beliefs, especially in a world where religion is declining. With their contrasting opinions, each source was respectful of the opposing perspectives on religion.

Despite his beliefs, Korn admitted that he believes there is some sort of spirituality, even in science.

“The spirituality in science is the mystery of the universe, the grandness and how incredibly fine-tuned the universe is, and how we want to know more about it. That’s where the spirituality comes in, due to the mystery aspect,” Korn said.

iroesler@redwoodbark.org

bark Altering public perception of abortion through the power of rhetoric Page 11 • Feature

www.redwoodbark.org

By Mika Beberman The abortion debate is a longstanding one, dating back to even before the famed Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case, which legalized the procedure nationwide. Initial talk of overturning abortion bans began in the 1950s, when the medical community called for more relaxed regulations, according to NPR. Women were forced to perform abortions on themselves in back alleys, and doctors couldn’t offer safer alternatives without facing legal charges.

Presently, abortion continues to be one of the most controversial topics in society. Events such as the Women’s March, held nationwide on Jan. 19, give women a platform to advocate their opinion. Many attendees sported pink pussy hats to proclaim their abortion rights, and occasional chants of “My body, my choice” pierced through the buzz of chatter for the duration of the march.

A large part of the debate, however, is about rhetoric. On Jan. 9, The New York Times published an oped written by Charles C. Camosy, a board member of Democrats for Life of America, the national organization for pro-life Democrats. He stated that he prefers to be called “pro-life” as opposed to “anti-abortion” because of the latter’s negative connotation.

Such rhetorical choices are also employed by several Redwood students, including junior Justin Langs. He believes ‘pro-life’ is a better word to use, because it is more supportive of the potential child, but he is pro-choice. “[I’m more likely to use] ‘pro-life’ because it has a positive connotation because you’re supporting a life you’re creating no matter what the situation is or the [mental health] of a baby,” Langs said.

However, junior Anya Klein, who attended the Women’s March in San Francisco, believes the opposite. As a feminist and the president of the Work It club, which helps women re-enter the

workforce after prison, she believes that the term “pro-life” is too aggressive and “antiabortion” is more factual of a word to use.

“I think when you say ‘pro-life,’ you’re directly insinuating that you are killing something, and I don’t agree with that. I think if you’re at a stage where you’re getting an abortion, [the fetus] is not a person yet,” Klein said. “It’s a little more aggressive to use the word ‘pro-life’ and it negatively reflects on the pro-choice [side]. It makes it look like it’s the side that’s ‘anti-life,’ and that’s not the case.”

Although the terms that are used conversationally when addressing both sides of the abortion debate have a hand in forming people’s opinions about the subject, the rhetoric used in the media plays a part as well. According to a recent Bark survey, 52

percent of Redwood students self-reported that what they see in the media somewhat affects their perception of abortion, and 24 percent self-reported that their opinion is heavily influenced by the news.

Klein sees rhetorical bias in the media in California, and believes the pro-life side is depicted inaccurately.

“Whenever I see [pro-life] people protesting against [abortion], they are depicted in a really negative way, which, even though I’m personally pro-choice, at the end of the day, you have the freedom to say what you think … I think people get depicted as crazy or uneducated,” Klein said.

Ann Jaime, who has been teaching Women’s History at Redwood sporadically since the class’s creation in 2004, believes the imbalance of language in the abortion debate to be a result of the emotional value of the topic.

“[Abortion] is a really emotional issue for people, so they tend to argue it with sort of loaded language, whether they’re more on the liberal side of things or conservative,” Jaime said.

“I’ve been reading about this for so long that I don’t even know what to think about it anymore … [the content] is sort of like white noise to me.”

As much as abortion may be a difficult topic to breach in the U.S., with strong opinions on both sides, Klein ultimately believes that they can both be referred to as pro-life.

“In reality, I feel like ‘pro-life’ could actually work for either side, because people getting an abortion a lot of times, it’s for their own lives, so it’s like ‘pro-women’s’ lives,” Klein said.

However, this view is contradicted by pro-life freshman Charlie Rehm’s perspective. He sees the media in California label the pro-life movement as anti-feminist, which he says is incorrect as he believes their intention is to save lives, not oppress women.

“I feel like pro-life people are described as terrible [and] against feminism, like masculinists or something,” Rehm said.

The difference between Rehm’s and Klein’s perceptions of the use of the word ‘pro-life’ lies in the art of definition.

The same rhetoric, when applied differently, can result in widely varying opinions from across the spectrum.

As a result, it only takes a single word, such as “pro-life” to spark a discussion. From one small word spouts a multitude of individual opinions and thoughts, but also nationwide intellectual conflicts. Rhetoric is a powerful tool, leaving nothing and no one untouched, least of all the abortion debate.

Rhetoric is a powerful tool, leaving nothing and no one untouched, least of all the abortion debate. mbeberman@redwoodbark.org

Start your engines: how startups are revving up and accelerating the economy

By Nate Charles Today’s economic sector is a conglomerate of multi-billion dollar companies that have hit it big and monopolized whichever service they are producing. Venture capital firms can decide whether a business lives or dies and everyone seems to have their own ‘get-rich-quick’ scheme.

This economic boom has precipitated the rise of the startup culture, one where innovation excels.

Despite the low success rate, startups are invaluable parts of the economy that can provide major boosts.

Advanced Placement (AP) Economics teacher and former Wall Street employee Paul Ippolito said that despite the low success rate, startups still have a high potential to impact the economy.

“Most startups will fail. We don’t care.

There’s probably 10 startups that fail for very one that succeeds, but [that] one becomes Google, Amazon, Facebook or Uber,” Ippolito said.

Junior Eric Maier is certainly a student who knows his way around business. As a freshman, Maier co-founded the Entrepreneurship Club, a club where students discuss how to be a successful entrepreneur through formulating business plans, coming up with ideas and developing ways to attract investors. In addition, Maier studied business abroad in the United Kingdom this past summer. He pointed out that startups are a key part of the economy.

“Startups are really important because that’s how industries grow and that’s how new ideas are formulated,” Maier said. “[They] are usually super intuitive and bring a completely new point of view to the table.”

As a result of their business ventures, young entrepreneurs have caused a growth in the prevalence of smaller and newer companies in the U.S. economy.

On the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge, regions like downtown San Francisco and Silicon Valley are synonymous with technological innovation, and startups are at the forefront of that growth. Both Ippolito and Maier commented on how important startups are to the economy and how they can impact it.

“Startups are great––they are the key to future

growth and the key to innovation,” Ippolito said.

Narenda Rocherolle, a cofounder of The Start Project, a Mill Valley-based incubator, and employee at Teck Inc., mentioned similar benefits, also pointing to the flexibility of startups as one of their most attractive qualities.

“I think they’re very important because it’s typically where you see new ideas because people are trying and experimenting and it’s typically easier in a small company than a very large company,” Rocherolle said. “The folks who started Twitter, they were at one point working for Google and they weren’t able to really start Twitter at Google, they were able to do that kind of out on their own as a small company.”

Maier said that the actual business of a startup is not what matters most, it’s the idea behind it. Without startups, Maier said, innovation in the economy would be stifled.

“A lot of people focus on the startup aspect … and starting small, but that’s really not what it’s about.

It’s about getting the idea out there and pushing the envelope as far as innovation,” Maier said.

While Rocherolle said that the supportive environment of an economy certainly provides many of the ingredients required for a business to excel, he singled out the individual as the most important factor in a startup’s success.

“I think Marin is a great place. A lot of folks move from San Francisco to raise families and there’s a lot of great schools … there’s certainly no shortage in the Bay Area of accelerators … [but] the hardest part is really inside of yourself, being ready to take that kind of a leap where you are your own boss,” Rocherolle said. “Usually you end up with someone who has a vision of what something could be and they have the persistence to keep chipping away at that.”

According to Ippolito, with other countries like China rapidly growing their economies, the U.S. needs to keep pace, and startups are a great way to promote innovation and growth.

“We have to out-innovate the world,” Ippolito said.

“What we do really well in this country is we innovate, and we need to make sure we’re the leader … and startups are key to that because they’re nimble and think outside the box.”

ncharles@redwoodbark.org

Infographic by Julia Merron

As the sun shimmers across the abundant body of water 220 feet below, layers of fog break into the bay through the towering cables holding up the vermillion orange structure. The architectural masterpiece stands as a token of the beautiful city of San Francisco—residing on the bucket list of travelers and attracting 27,000 visitors daily, according to Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District.

BUILDING THE BARRIER

Despite its historical and visual glory, the 887,000-ton bridge has a dark side: it has become an increasingly common place for people to commit suicide. This epidemic can partially be attributed to the developed magnetism of suicidal sites, meaning it tends to draw despairing people, according to the Bridge Rail Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Long left as an issue unaddressed, suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge has now become a topic of relevance. Since the opening of the bridge in 1937, the total number of suicides has surpassed 1,700, excluding 300 unconfirmed deaths and countless attempts, according to the Bridge Rail Foundation. More recently, the discussion has concentrated around the installment of prevention nets underneath the rail to deter individuals from jumping over the sides.

The prevention nets are scheduled to be installed by 2021 with an estimated cost of $211 million, according to the Golden Gate Bridge Physical Suicide Deterrent System proposal. Funding is being pooled from various sources, including the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Caltrans, the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, state mental health provisions and private donations.

Certain aspects of the proposal, however, have sparked controversy among some San Francisco residents, including issues with cost, efficiency and aesthetics.

Kevin Briggs, a retired patrol sergeant involved with suicide prevention on the bridge, expressed possible concerns regarding the net installations.

“Could that $200 million be spent in the Bay Area doing other things for suicide prevention? Yes, probably a lot,” Briggs said. “On the other hand, I have not lost a family member or friend jumping from [the bridge].”

Briggs also conveyed some community apprehension about the prevention efficacy.

“The big question is: will [people] go somewhere else? In my opinion, and when I was talking to the Marin County coroner, if they really want to [commit suicide], they will,” Briggs said.

John Brooks, a member of the Bridge Rail Foundation, became an advocate for the nets after losing his daughter, Casey Brooks, to suicide on the bridge 11 years ago. John holds a different perspective, stating that the nets would give people the opportunity to reevaluate their decision.

County, Briggs was not originally conscious of the role he would fill on the bridge, nor the stress and anxiety connected to such a high-stakes career. According to Briggs, his most stressful encounters were with individuals on the opposite side of the pedestrian rail.

“There’s a beam over the pedestrian rail we call the Cord. That’s where folks stand contemplating their next step. That’s somebody’s life and they’re going through a very tough time. They probably have been for some time now,” Briggs said.

Through FBI negotiator training and communication classes, Briggs developed communication techniques to help distressed people on the Cord.

“I look at it like they have blinders on like a horse. I don’t try to solve anything.

BRIDGE PATROL I don’t lie or anything with them. They’re According to the in a tough time; it’s not going to be fixed New Yorker, on overnight,” Briggs said. “But a v e r a g e , there is hope. It’s me talking to you

“Especially among young people and teenagers, suicidal ideation can be impulsive. It comes and goes,” John said.

“You can feel like your life is over one second, and if you have an opportunity to rethink it, the chances are pretty good that you won’t have a recurrence of that thought.”

According to the National Suicide Prevention Resource Center (NSPRC), 87 percent of attempts are impulsive.

Physical deterrents are a method of reducing the impulsivity often associated with suicide.

“If it saves one life and that happens to be your child or your loved one, hundreds of millions of dollars is chump change,” John said.

someone jumps from the Golden Gate Bridge every two weeks. Since the bridge’s construction in 1937, the responsibilities of the California Highway Patrol involving bridge safety have become increasingly important.

Briggs played an instrumental role while on the California Highway Patrol.

Having saved over 200 people from jumping off the bridge, he possesses firsthand insight on the topic.

First joining the California Highway Patrol in Hayward California and later relocating to the coverage of Marin

and I’ll listen as long as necessary. So if we can get them past that crisis moment, most of the time they won’t attempt [suicide] again.”

One of Briggs’ most memorable

interactions was with Kevin Berthia, who he saw climbing over the rail. On the morning of March 11, 2005, Briggs and Berthia had a 92-minute conversation while Berthia stood on the cord with a news chopper hovering overhead. In a Storycorps’ interview Berthia shared how Briggs’ composure aided him through his vulnerability.

“The compassion in [Briggs’] voice allowed me to let my guard down and have that conversation with him,” Berthia said.

Berthia’s conversation with Briggs inspired him to reevaluate his decision.

“My daughter is what got me to come back over. After I had spoken with Officer Briggs for that 92 minutes, I’d realized it was her birthday the

next month and that I needed to be there,” Berthia said.

On the Cord

Suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge Photo and story by Jenna Dahlin and Karl Somerville To this day, Berthia and Briggs remain in touch online.

While Briggs was often successful in persuading people to return over the pedestrian rail, to his dismay, he has witnessed a number of people jump.

“To watch someone jump to their demise, that has a big effect. When I talk to officers, I tell them not to watch it because that’s what’s going to be in your head forever,” Briggs said. “I did it because I wanted to mark the body.

Illustration by Saamya Mungamuru

I hate losing a body. That’s in your head forever. You don’t get that out.”

Since Briggs’ retirement, he has become a proponent of suicide and mental health prevention, talking to communities and schools across the world.

COMMUNITY/IMPACT

“Maybe you’ve heard of the ripple effect suicide [has]. I don’t see any ripple. I think it’s a tsunami.

The devastation that it does to folks, it starts with us.

That spreads out to the family and friends,” Briggs said.

According to the American Addiction Center Resource, suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults from ages 15 to 24. With such a large portion coming from the teenage population, the effect on parents and family members can be devastating. Families can often experience extreme feelings of anger or guilt, looking for answers to the loss of their loved one.

Briggs said that suicide bereavement is a deeply traumatic experience for families.

One interaction with a mother who lost her child stood out as particularly difficult.

“I went down and talked with the mother who lived in Mill Valley. I’ve never seen someone turn white. Being a parent of two teenagers here, [there’s] nothing worse,” Briggs said. “I’ve had cancer. I’ve had heart

surgeries.

I ’ v e been in some nasty motorcycle crashes. I will tell you, straight up, something happening to your children is the worst by far.”

John experienced the tragedy first hand.

His daughter Casey was born in Poland and adopted as an infant by John and his wife, Erika.

Casey attended Redwood High School and gained early admission to Bennington College.

Like Casey, Berthia was also adopted.

Growing up in Oakland, Berthia pushed back feelings and tried to hide his depression.

“It’s hard; as a child I had to deal with feeling unwanted and still deal with that feeling to this day,” Berthia said.

John said Casey had healthy relationships and was a socially active girl in high school, but like many teenagers, complications in her life led to household conflict.

“We had a big fight with her one night.

But parents fight with their kids, right? It was a pretty nasty fight. We said things to each other that I wish we could have taken back,” John said. “The next morning I woke up and found a suicide note on her desk. All it said was, ‘The car is parked at

the Golden Gate Bridge.’ And that was it.”

In light of her suicide, John said community responses worsened the situation.

“It just seemed like every institution failed us miserably. Whether it be school, church, neighbors, friends, family, you name it. The only people who really stuck by us were Casey’s friends,” John said.

According to John, the lack of community support was likely due to the stigmatization of suicide and mental health.

“They said Casey was a bad girl; only bad girls killed themselves. Casey had bad parents; bad parents produce bad girls that kill themselves. Well maybe it was drugs; maybe Casey hung around with the wrong crowd,” John said.

John specifically condemned mental health programs and preventative measures within Redwood at the time.

“I think the schools here do a spectacularly bad job of dealing with [suicide], either from a preventative standpoint or from a sort of a bereavement standpoint,” John said. “We had to fight with the principal just to give [Casey] an honorary degree.”

Briggs concurred that the stigmatization of suicide needs to be lifted through education and discussion.

“We always hear this, ‘Oh, I never saw that coming.’ Things were there. I’m going to tell you almost every single time there [were] some kind of signs; we just didn’t put it together,” Briggs said.

John reinforced that depression and other mental illness reaches across all spans of life.

“It’s who you least expect. It’s the brainy kid in Algebra. It’s the football star, the homecoming queen, the successful business executive, the housewife who seems to have it all. It’s the Robin Williams or [Anthony] Bourdain’s,” John said.

The National Suicide Lifeline is 1-800-273-82555

Prevention

For extended coverage, find the accompanying video at www.redwoodbark.org. bark@redwoodbark.org

sports

Page 14

Eleven-year varsity basketball coach makes his team a family

By Julia Scharf

For 11 years, varsity basketball coach Steve Compagno has been a staple in the athletic community at Redwood.

Watching Compagno passionately strut up and down the court, giving his players directions and shouting encouragements is part of the experience of attending a basketball game. Much of his fervor stems from the deep connection he feels to the Redwood community.

“Redwood has always been part of my life. My dad taught here, and I was the ball boy when I was eight through 12 years old,” Compagno said. “I wanted to come in and make the program something the kids were proud of, the school was proud of and really focus on relationships and the character they display.”

Compagno’s connection with Redwood goes further than his own attendance as a student when he was in high school. Two of his own children have attended Redwood, and another is currently a student, which made being the head basketball coach an experience to share with his kids.

“I got the privilege to coach my own son, Joe. It was really special, and I learned a lot [from] coaching him,” Compagno said. “Our relationship was dad at home and coach in the gym, and neither one of those filtered into the other side. We always kept it separate, which was great for our family.”

Despite there being some generational differences in the behavior of players Compagno has seen come through the program, core values he fosters have persisted.

“The basic fundamentals of the program are love your teammates [and] respect your coaches. Your attitude and effort are the only things you can ever control, and they are always your decision,” Compagno said. “That’s a requirement here. Execution is a bonus.”

According to senior Brandon Radu, creating an environment that emphasizes the importance of mutual respect and dedication is a contributing factor in why the players enjoy playing for Compagno.

“He gives us a big voice, so if we ever disagree on anything, or ever have any suggestions, he wants us to speak up. He wants to listen to us. So when it comes to our attitude and effort, you want to give it because you know it’s also for yourself because you have a say in how things are going,” Radu said.

Because he has been a fixture in the basketball program for many years, Compagno has developed meaningful

Photo by Karl Somerville

FIRING UP HIS players, coach Compagno delivers an impactful pep talk to his players before they take the court against the Drake Pirates. connections with his players as people. This adds to the it really rubs off on us. He reminds us every weekend that effectiveness of Compagno’s coaching; he and his players we can always call him,” Farrell-Martin said. are family. Despite having coached for many years, The way Compagno sees it, to function as a family and Compagno never fails to find ways to keep energy high. a team, there must be a healthy level of mutual respect, “He’s very good at getting us mentally prepared. I’ve love and compassion for one another. never had a coach who was as good at firing his guys up “We have a really tight-knit group, and the guys really and putting them in the game mindset,” Radu said. “A lot care about each other, and I think that’s really important,” of coaches I’ve had in the past haven’t had much to say pre- Compagno said. “We talk about family, because this game, aside from the cliché, basic stuff, but every game is their basketball family, and we’re going to have he’s always got something new for us to get us going.” disagreements and arguments, and we’re not always going Senior Chance Farrell-Martin believes that the to be on the same page, but communication is vital, and I relationship he and his teammates have with Compagno do communicate with them and tell them the truth.” goes beyond just playing basketball. He said that At the end of the day, it’s family and comradery that Compagno acts as a mentor for many of the players and is matter most to Compagno, and which guides his team available for help both on and off the court. through all of their success.

“He’s a real family guy—it must be in his blood—and jscharf@redwoodbark.org

Rory Daly transitions from Novato team to Redwood girls’ varsity lax

By Grace Bouton Before 2009, Rory Daly had never played lacrosse, let alone coached it.

However, when his niece’s Novato varsity lacrosse team needed a coach, Daly entered into the domain of the sport. Ten years later, the same Novato girls’ team who had three back-to-back losing seasons prior to Daly, were undefeated in MCAL and ranked first in the state and 12th in the nation, all under the leadership of Daly. Although he had an unconventional start to coaching, Daly has proved to be one of the top coaches in the state at both a high school and club level and has decided to bring his experience to Redwood this year.

Daly, however, is not taking over the Redwood girls’ varsity lacrosse without

prior knowledge of the team. Not only has he coached as an opponent of this team of lady Giants for four years, but he also has coached the majority of the senior Redwood girls on a Bay Area club lacrosse team, Tenacity. According to Daly, though the club and high school games are different, this familiarity with the team is a benefit heading into the season.

“The high school game is a different animal. I’m with those girls two hours a day, six days a week, so you get to know the kids much better and you form a culture, whereas in club I’m with them one day a week for a couple of hours,” Daly said. “However, I know some strengths and some weaknesses of each of those girls and having that relationship with them already will make the transition for them

Photo by Grace Bouton

STANDING WITH HIS seniors Caroline Soja (middle) and Lucy Robbins (right), Coach Daly adjusts to his new team.

and myself much easier.”

Caroline Soja, a senior on varsity lacrosse and past player of Coach Daly’s on Tenacity, believes that his knowledge of Redwood’s team as well as his dedication to coaching are factors that could finally help deliver an MCAL title to Redwood.

“The connection that he makes with each player is something you can’t find in other coaches. He always wants people to work hard but believes in team bonding and creating a positive culture which makes everyone feel comfortable,” Soja said.

According to Soja, Daly’s understanding of his players and the game in combination with his attitude help create a level of dedication in the team.

“He is able to understand how people play very quickly and is able to offer help and advice instantly. But the main thing is that he has such a good personality [so] that even though he makes the season really hard and has high expectations, he makes it worth it to the players,” Soja said.

According to Daly, finding a balance between the physically demanding side of the sport and the technical aspect is a difficult part of coaching that he’ll have to tackle at Redwood. However, with Stein, a workout program designed and administered by a local trainer starting in December, lacrosse players at Redwood are put through various pre-season cardiovascular and strength training circuits that often include exercises with TRX equipment. This extra level of fitness and strength entering the season makes that balance between working on skill and fitness easier for Daly to navigate, while also giving Redwood an advantage over other teams in early games.

“I think it’s extremely beneficial because it’s such a short season so you

have a huge amount to pack into a small time. So if kids can come into the season in shape, I think that gives you a jump on most other programs where they have to take the first couple weeks to get into shape,” Daly said.

Junior Lauren French, a returning threeyear varsity player, has not been previously coached by Daly, but his reputation at Novato and presence at Stein have made her optimistic for the season.

“He works the girls really hard in workouts and everybody has to be really committed to the sport. The girls there take it really seriously so we’re all going to have to step up our game. Also, because he’s so dedicated to the sport and he coached Novato, we know that he has a lot of potential,” French said.

According to Daly, even though it’s his first year at Redwood, he has high standards for the lady Giants going into this season.

“Without high expectations, I don’t think it’s worth doing, and high expectations aren’t solely on winning. I think there’s incredible talent at Redwood and my goal is to get them to buy into the system I run,” Daly said. “I‘ve played against this group of seniors for the past four years and I know what they’re capable of and I don’t think they’ve ever reached that full potential so I think a successful season would be getting the full potential out of the team this year.”

Having already achieved great success at Novato, Daly will begin his attempt to lead Redwood to that same success this spring with the Lady Giants first game on Feb. 15 against Marin Academy. gbouton@redwoodbark.org

Page 15 • Sports

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Freshman Lydia Kallas has the balance for success

By Aaron Kim Ever since her introduction into gymnastics at the age of two, freshman Lydia Kallas has been unwilling to retire the sport that a majority choose not to pursue.

The countless injuries, grueling practice hours and struggle for perfection are all factors that would deter the ordinary athlete, but for Kallas, they are all imperative to shaping the resilient work ethic that has allowed her to succeed on and off of the gym mat.

“I get home at 9 p.m. every night after gymnastics and have to grind to get everything done. It is super tough

but because of it, I’ve become a lot tougher,” Kallas said.

Kallas is now a level eight gymnast, with 10 being the highest rank. In order for a gymnast to move up in levels, their coach must deem their skills worthy of being in a more competitive pool of gymnasts. She competes every weekend in addition to practicing four out of the five weekdays without seasonal breaks, as gymnastics is a year-round sport. As a result of her dedication, Kallas has received 19 top-five finishes over her career, with five of those being first-place finishes. During the competition, gymnasts are scored out of a maximum amount of 40 points with the vault, beam, bars and floor having a maximum of 10

Photo courtesy of Lydia Kallas

FRESHMAN LYDIA KALLAS attempts a switch leap during a floor routine at the 2018 Regional Championships, where she scored a 9.25 out of 10.

bark

points. After each specific skill, scores from each category are added up and the gymnast with the most points wins. If Kallas wants to continue her success, she will have to strive for perfection in every aspect of every skill during practice.

“At practice every day, we try and perfect every aspect of a certain skill. This way whenever we go into a competition, we’ve already done the skill hundreds of times and it makes it so much easier and less nerve-racking,” Kallas said.

Five-year teammate EllieAhnemann, who attends Miller Creek Middle School, believes that Kallas’ success has been a direct result of her determination and perseverance.

“She is always so determined and willing to try new skills. Every day she ends on a clean routine or skill no matter how long it takes,” Ahnemann said.

Kallas’ coach, Mike Nichols, who has coached Kallas her entire life, also believes that it is more than just talent that has gotten her to where she is today.

“Lydia has heart. She does have talent, also, but heart is what it comes down to. Heart is the pure love of the sport, and the dedication to see it through each day, good and bad, day in and day out in the gym. Talent will get you so far, but without heart, it won’t get you all the way,” Nichols said.

As for the future, Kallas could potentially compete at the collegiate level, but she hopes to explore her other options before committing to gymnastics.

“Obviously if I were to be offered a scholarship somewhere for gymnastics I would consider it because I love the sport. On the other hand, it is a lot to commit to and I just don’t know this early on in my high school career,” Kallas said.

Nichols believes that Kallas has the potential to pursue a collegiate career if she continues down her current path.

“Lydia is on track to be a solid level 10 gymnast by her junior or senior year in high school. From there I hope to see her find a good home on a college team. It is such a great experience and a super fun way to top off your gymnastics career,” Nichols said.

As Kallas progresses through her career, she hopes to win as many tournaments as she can. However, it is not going to come easily as she competes against people at or above her age level. Kallas’ next gymnastics meet is the Novato Classic on March 9, where she looks to bring home her sixth overall win.

akim@redwoodbark.org

Varsity strikes gold with perserverant captain Justin Neustaetter

By Amanda Morse With a predominantly German heritage, senior co-captain and varsity athlete Justin Neustaetter has always appreciated the sport of soccer as it holds lots of importance in his culture. Growing up, it was an extremely large part of his family.

Ever since he was first introduced to playing the sport, he knew it was something special to him that he wanted to pursue.

“It was just something I’ve always been interested in,” Neustaetter said. “My dad enjoyed coaching me and I enjoyed playing it.”

When it came time to try out for high school soccer freshman year, Neustaetter felt prepared. Going into tryouts, Neustaetter aimed to make the JV squad as a field player, but came to find out that there were many other competent athletes looking to do the same thing. After tryouts ended, Neustaetter was cut as a field player, but was offered a different opportunity.

“Freshman year I played goalie on JV. That kind of allowed me to be on the team, but I wasn’t on the team with what I wanted to play—on the field,” Neustaetter said.

Although he was not able to play his preferred position of center back initially, Neustaetter continued to work hard to move up. After playing goalie on JV his freshman year, he was a field player sophomore year and eventually worked his way up to becoming a starter on the varsity team both his junior and senior year, according to varsity coach Dave Siracusa.

“Last year he won a starting spot ... I started eyeing him for next year’s captain because of his ability to not lose composure and his teammates would play hard for him,” Siracusa said.

This season, he has started all of their games as a center back leading the defense and has two goals in total, one against Novato and another against San Rafael, according to MaxPreps. His personality allows him to standout as both a captain and a teammate, according to senior co-captain Nathaniel Kuffner. “[He has] persistence and character,” Kuffner said. “As a whole, he’s a very committed person and he is always working super hard. He runs dead sprints on all of the sprints. He’s pretty much always first and he is just a straight to business, no nonsense type of person.”

Although he does not play an attacking position, Neustaetter explained the importance that the back line has on a soccer field, especially when holding a leadership role.

“It helps being defenders because we can see the whole field and relay what we want to say to the team,” Neustaetter said. “Having a strong defense and being able to not let any goals in motivates the team to do better and even just building out of the back.”

According to Kuffner, having played most of the season in the backline together last year he helped coach Siracusa see the impact he and Neustaetter made.

“Justin and I were starting center

Photo by Devon McClain

SHOWING OFF HIS dribbling skills, senior Justin Neustaetter defends the ball from a teammate during a practice drill. backs and we played pretty much full only have three games left in league so I minutes every single game ... we kind of just have to be in their ear and say, ‘Hey showed through with having potential you know what, it’s crunch time now,’ leadership opportunities last year and they’ve known that all year I make because being center backs, you kind an example of the seniors,” Siracusa said. of command the field,” Kuffner said.

As they head into their last few games They both know exactly how to in the regular season, Neustaetter hopes to lead the team and through their work continue leading and pushing his team for ethic, set an example for the rest of the the final few times before he graduates. team to follow, according to Siracusa.

“I don’t have to push either one of them because they are seniors and they know that the time is running out. We amorse@redwoodbark.org

February 8, 2019 bark Page 16 • Sports Girls ride past adversity in male-dominated mountain biking

By Maria Alexander Dismounting from her bike after an exhausting yet thrilling race at the state championships, sophomore Haley Randel heads outs to the side of the track. Stringing 12 cowbells to a tennis racket, she devises her own noisemaker, ideal for cheering on the rest of the Redwood team. The pings and dings of the bells mix with chants as Randel watches the boys speed through the finish line.

The mountain biking team is not an official Redwood sport, but rather a club that competes in National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) races. In 2018, Randel won 1st place in the NorCal race, and although the club’s race season is just starting up, she has already won 1st place in two of her 2019 races. This year, she will be

Photo courtesy of Haley Randel

SPEEDING THROUGH THE track, the crowd cheers around sophomore Haley Randel.

competing on the junior national team and if she performs, she will move on to represent the U.S. for international races. Randel has been successful on the mountain, yet she is one of few girls participating in the club. At Redwood, mountain biking is generally a male-dominated sport. The girls compete in separate events, but both boys and girls train together during the spring to prepare for upcoming races. The overall team is composed of about 25 riders, according to Randel; however, only six of them are girls.

Although this is a small number, Julia Violich, director of the team for 18 years, said that it varies from year to year. She described the number of riders on the team as a fluctuating process that is based on how involved the girls on the team are.

“I think that women are much more tribal and I think women love community and that’s the way women have been for centuries. Women are the gatherers and they sit together and make the baskets together. This is why it ebbs and flows because I have a core group and they get more girls into it, which gets more girls into it. Then it will completely flow. If a bunch of girls graduate and we haven’t been recruiting, then it will ebb and we just got a couple [of girls],” Violich said.

Randel attributes the fact that there are currently not many girl riders on the team due to commitment to other sports.

“When most girls get to high school, they are already invested in a sport like soccer or something where it requires you to have been playing your whole life. So many girls are participating in their sports and they are able to make the Redwood team and that prevents them from being able to join the mountain biking team,” Randel said. “With a lot of the boys, they joined the mountain biking team because they didn’t make the soccer team or something like that.”

Sophomore Isabella Heinemann, who joined the team in eighth grade, believes that fear may be another reason that stops girls from participating in the sport.

“I feel like a lot of people also just haven’t grown up riding bikes or mountain biking. Whenever they do see mountain bikers, they’re mostly just boys who are going really fast and are kind of intimidating. I don’t think it even crosses most people’s mind that they could mountain bike as a sport because it’s not a school sport that you can see all the time and then sign up for,” Heinemann said.

With the girls usually surrounded by boys on the mountain, Randel has used the gender disparity to

challenge herself, as it offers preparation for races.

“You always want to be riding and training with someone faster than you. It’s really great to be able to practice with [the boys] and chase them around and try to keep up. It’s really good for fitness and for skill,” Randel said.

One takeaway that both Randel and Heinemann mentioned is that the club is open to new girl riders and most girls start with little experience. Like official Redwood sports, racers can ride for varsity, junior varsity, or freshman competitions, and can choose to opt-out of racing all together if they choose.

“Don’t worry about how your skills are or how good you are or how fit you are. Mountain biking is an exponential sport, so you get good quickly. We’ve had top girls join freshman year that didn’t know how to ride a bike and ended up racing varsity. You don’t have to race; there’s no pressure. It’s for fun in the end, so they shouldn’t feel scared or worried about joining the team,” Randel said.

Sophomore Mady Gordon recently joined the team this year. She learned how to ride a bike when she was 10 and decided to sign up for the team at Club Day this fall. After a rough beginning, Gordon eventually became comfortable on bike. Besides mastering the techniques of riding, she also learned how adapt to co-ed practices on the mountain.

“I remember the first time I practiced with the team; I was really intimidated by all the boys who were going really fast and really far ahead, so I felt pressure to go as fast as they were. I’d push myself too hard and burn out halfway through the ride and the rest of it would be really tiring,” Gordon said. “I’d think, ‘Oh gosh, I don’t want to do this anymore.’ [Haley and Isabella] told me to understand that the boys would be a little bit faster, but I’d eventually keep up with them. You just have to stick with it.”

Although girls on the team may face some initial challenges, like in any sport, Violich values their presence on team.

“Guys get a little edgy, a little competitive, and I think girls bring humility. Like it’s okay to fail, it’s okay to not be as fast, it’s okay to not have the right day. Women are more forgiving, kind, and welcoming. They add diversity.

You just feel like you are more part of a family,” Violich said. malexander@redwoodbark.org

Boys’ varsity rugby ranks top ten in the nation and continues to climb

By Olivia Brekhus Since 1980, the Marin Highlanders Rugby Club has attracted students to the sport with high-intensity training, a tight team dynamic and an opportunity to develop leadership skills. The sport is often popular among athletes that also play football because the vigorous training keeps players in shape for the season, as well as improves tackling and fitness which are beneficial skills.

Junior Nick Janowsky has been playing rugby and football since third grade. In order to stay fit, he plays both sports year round.

The boys’ varsity team consists of 35 players this season, and 15 players are on

the field for each 80-minute game. The Marin Highlanders have already played a couple scrimmages and four games vs. Bishop O’Dowd, Silicon Valley, Lamorinda and Pleasanton. In addition, they recently competed in a tournament in Los Angeles, where they beat some of the best teams in the nation. According to Norcal Rugby, Marin Highlanders are currently ranked number seven in the North Coast and number 42 in the nation.

Janowsky believes that due to the dominant skill level of the team this year, their ranking could drastically improve, especially with the strong coaching skills of head coach, Sean Silveira, parent to Photo by Olivia Brekhus

SPRINTING THROUGH TRAFFIC, junior Nick Janowsky fights through a tackle in a drill for the Marin Highlanders.

Riley Silveira, a senior at Terra Linda High School who also plays on the team.

“The thing about rugby is that you have a lot of guys like us who have played for eight to 10 years and then you also have a lot of guys [that] are just picking it up in high school. So we have to get everyone on the team to a level that is good enough to play and compete against really good teams,” Janowsky said.

Sean explained that the social aspect of the team is really strong, enabling the boys’ ability to support one another.

“The difference between a good player and a great player is [that] a great player makes other people great. If you are already good, then take someone else along with you and help them out, lead by example and help the guys who are new become better,” Sean said.

The relationship of the team is one of the reasons many boys join the league, according to Janowsky. Senior Cole

Rehm said that his team motivates him to stay focused and take on leadership roles throughout the season.

“The relationship of the players on the team is one of the main reasons I have played throughout high school. The bond between the players is like no other sport I’ve played,” Rehm said.

Sean explained that the talent on the team is better than it has been in past years.

According to Rehm, the energy from everyone is what makes the game exciting and makes the team successful.

The boys practice three days a week, at both Hall Middle School and College of Marin.

For more information on the team check the Marin Highlanders’ website at www.marinhighlandersrugby.org.

obrekhus@redwoodbark.org

bark Diving team plunges into season with ambitious attitude Page 17 • Sports

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By Bennett Vasquez As the water glistens below the diving board, senior Lauren Smart inhales and elegantly lifts up her arms to compose herself. With a sharp intake of breath, she anticipates a hurtling launch down. After launching off the board, the world slows down to Smart, and an eternity passes before crashing back down into the water.

She is cautious, though, of the dreaded experience of hitting the board—not going far enough over the water or hitting her head on her flip down. That thought lingers in the mind of many divers, but Smart says it is a mental challenge that must be overcome.

“The biggest challenge is getting yourself to go as high as you can, close to the board, and then come back down on your hands and head. I know a lot of athletes struggle trying to land on their head because we are so used to landing on our feet especially in gymnastics,” Smart said.

Photo by Bennett Vasquez

SOPHOMORE WALKYR BERESFORD prepares to dive during a practice at Drake High School.

Redwood’s diving team is most attractive to ex-gymnasts and parkour students as well as to former members of the swim team, according to Smart.

In past years, the diving team would have been lucky to fill in the eight spots on their roster, however, this year they had nearly 20 divers try out, all of them with various abilities and skill levels.

The team is led by coach Miranda Mass, who has been involved in the sport for over 28 years. A highly acclaimed diver, Mass has five world championships, three world records and 25 national titles.

She is also the coach for the Drake diving team, so divers practice at Redwood’s pool on Mondays and Tuesdays, and then travel to Drake for the rest of the week’s practices to master their dives.

For Mass, diving is a nuanced sport that requires mental toughness in addition to physical fitness.

“Diving is super fun. I mean, it is really cool to be able to surprise yourself that you can do flips and twists. It is a huge challenge. I think when people look at diving they think it is probably easier than it is and then when they try it, they realize that it is a mental sport,” Mass said.

There are only two returning divers this year, and Smart is one of them. Smart was a level eight gymnast but was forced to end her career after a devastating shoulder injury during her sophomore year. As she could no longer pursue gymnastics, she made the decision to transform her expertise in flipping and spinning on the diving board last year.

Being an excellent gymnast, however, is not a requirement in order to join the diving team, according to Smart. Basic dives are taught during tryouts, and Mass evaluates each diver regardless of skill.

“If you’ve never dove before, you could get all the basics down, and throughout the week the coach evaluates you and sees if you have potential, like if you are putting yourself out there and seem dedicated and are learning through what she is telling you to do,” Smart said.

Diving plays a large role in returning sophomore Nic Murgel’s family. His mother dove in college and encouraged him to join the team during his freshman year. Since then, he has fallen in love with

Photo by Bennett Vasquez

SOARING THROUGH THE air, senior leader Lauren Smart jumps backward off the diving board. the sport despite the occasional back flops who have already dived before joining that come with it. He made all of his 11 the team, a sentiment echoed by Murgel.

“The different mindset will affect required dives to make MCALs last year, but broke his foot before playoffs started. me by giving me more responsibility “I’m going to look at it as more of a for my dives and I think the team will serious sport because last year I kind of hopefully follow in my footsteps and just messed around and this year I see it take it seriously by pushing themselves as an actual time commitment. So I am to try out new dives,” Murgel said.

The team has grown closer this year by practicing my dives on my neighbor’s trampoline and on Thursdays I’m carpooling together to practices at Drake going to go to Juan’s Gym and practice and having team lunches, according to with their foam pit,” Murgel said. Smart. She thinks the more cooperative This year, the team hopes to qualify community will help the new divers more divers so they can move beyond feel more comfortable on the board.

“On the car ride home I’ll give them their regular season. More committed individuals on the team will allow more tips like, ‘You need to stay relaxed,’ divers to advance on to MCALs, something ‘Fall backwards,’ ‘There is not much only Smart was able to do last year. effort needed’ [and] ‘You just stay tight “The determination and focus were and trust the process’,” Smart said.

The diving team is preparing pretty weak so we struggled a lot to get to against our 11 dives. I was the only one who made for their first matchup on Feb. 15 at Drake. it all the way, which was a bummer. So it Novato is nice to have new people,” Smart said.

Smart already sees an improvement in the team’s focus with more athletes bvasquez@redwoodbark.org

Sports Spotlight: Paris Dong carries his weight to state ranking

By Maddie Loebakka

It started with 18 kilograms, or 40 pounds. A lightweight set meant only for beginners. Since lifting the lightweights, senior Paris Dong has increased the weight of his powerlifting by hundreds. After his two-year-long journey, on Dec. 8, 2018, Dong lifted 230 kilograms, or 507 pounds in a state competition, landing him at second best in the state and 15th in the country for powerlifting.

It’s a numbers game for Dong: the kilograms lifted, the reps completed and hours spent at the gym. He uses the game to his advantage, however, by creating steady goals and new personal records to assure he reaches his ultimate ambition: set world records. “[Powerlifting teaches me] dedication towards a hobby, because I train pretty much every day. I spend two to five hours a day, every day. Even the days when I don’t want to go, I push myself to always try my best,” Paris said. “It’s given me a great mindset that anything is possible as long as you’re willing to put in the effort.”

Dong has been powerlifting for two years and progressed rapidly among long-time state rankings.

Though he has improved quickly, he has done so without a coach.

“I am 100 percent selftaught.

I make my own rules and follow my o w n schedule,” Paris said.

Dong credits all his learnings to YouTube and various fitness b o o k s .

Ed Dong, Paris’ father, was an Olympian hopeful in the 1980s for Judo, a form of martial arts, and was the one who initially introduced Paris to the sport of powerlifting.

According to Ed, the absence of a coach stands out noticeably in competitions, for many powerlifters can come from teams or organizations with coaches to represent them at meets.

Photo courtesy of Ed Dong

LINING UP HIS grip, senior Paris Dong prepares to deadlift during training.

“I see his competitors with coaches and teammates and Paris is sitting there all by himself, no representation, and he goes up there and he beats them all,” Ed said.

Though his independence might stand out to his father and other fellow powerlifters, Paris prefers it because of the self-reliance it provides him.

“I don’t have to rely on anyone. If I want to succeed, I have to do it. No one’s going to help me with it. It gives me independence. I just keep reminding myself that if I really want something, I have to keep going.

Go through the pain, go through all of it,” Paris said.

Powerlifting is unique from most mainstream team sports in that it differs in the sense of community and togetherness, according to Ed. “With a team, you have the support of all of your team members, it’s a different focus. The focus is teamwork, there’s not an ‘I,’” Ed said.

Paris’ sister, Sabrina Dong, agrees with her father that a different culture exists around powerlifting that is not found in other sports. She finds that many of its traditions and methods are unique to the sport.

“There’s a whole different culture around competitive lifting. I went to one of Paris’ competitions and it was really, really interesting to see how all these people hype themselves up before they lift the weight, all the little things you do before you powerlift,” Sabrina said.

According to both Sabrina and Ed, Paris takes that culture and translates it to determination and dedication.

Every day after he gets home from school, Paris can spend up to three to five hours in the gym training.

“He takes a lot of pride in being really dedicated to something. Seeing the results in a physical way is just one benefit. He just gets a lot of pride in being able to do these competitions and do really well,” Sabrina said.

In addition to his powerlifting, Paris is also an active member of the drama community and a twotime member of the Micetro cast. He noted that sometimes it is difficult to balance both activities. “[Micetro] was definitely a change because it limited the amount of time I could train because I would have after-school practices and then spend a couple hours after practice [training] and usually get home around 11 or 12.

That doesn’t even include doing homework,” Paris said.

Though time management can be difficult, Paris’ first priority will always be powerlifting.

“I feel like school is just a stage in your life,” Paris said. “But powerlifting is what defines me.”

Ed can see the dedication evident in Paris’ accomplishments. In every one of Paris’ competitions that Ed has attended, he has felt immense pride seeing his son take on the difficult task of powerlifting all on his own.

“Once he’s on that platform, it’s just him against the world. Him against himself,” Ed said.

mloebbaka@redwoodbark.org

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Page 18

HOW TO SURVIVE VALENTINE’S DAY THROUGH FILM

By Emily Sweet

It can be difficult to organize a successful Valentine’s Day in general, especially when it falls on a weeknight.

Whether you’re saving your big plans for the weekend or looking for a mellow way to enjoy it, you can’t go wrong with a movie. Because Valentine’s Day seems to bring out a range of emotions like no other holiday, below are a few picks for a variety of moods to help cater your Valentine’s Day to exactly how you’re feeling.

If you’re in the mood for romance:

“SIXTEEN CANDLES” OR “MOONRISE KINGDOM”

If you’ve decided to fully embrace the Valentine’s Day spirit this year, I would recommend picking a movie that will give you your fill of romance. “Sixteen Candles,” directed by John Hughes and renowned as a classic teen movie from the 80s is my first personal pick. With recognizable faces like Molly Ringwald leading the way, it’s not difficult to connect or empathize with the characters.

The romantic storyline between Ringwald and Michael Schoeffling is a real heartwarmer, and “Sixteen Candles” embodies a feel-good rom-com to the tee, complete with a killer soundtrack.

If you’re seeking something a little off the beaten path, I would suggest “Moonrise Kingdom.” In the classic manner of director Wes Anderson, the storyline has a melancholy tone to it, following two completely enamored preteens who run away from their island homes to the surrounding wilderness. The stand-out aspect of this movie is the essence of innocence portrayed through their young love, backed by a strong group of supporting actors including a young Lucas Hedges, Edward Norton and Bill Murray. It will for sure give you the thrill of an exciting romance, but also defies a typical love story in many ways.

If you’re into indie movies, have enjoyed Wes Anderson’s other films or are looking for a less predictable romance, I would highly recommend this.

If you’re happy to be single:

“GONE GIRL”

Photo courtesy of Colombia Pictures Corporation

JONAH HILL AND Michael Cera deliver extensive laughs and a touching friendship in “Superbad.” It’s the perfect comedy to watch with your friends on Valentine’s Day. climactic ending. If you’re in the mood to celebrate your lack of a relationship status, you’ll be extremely satisfied.

If you’re in the mood to love yourself:

“LEGALLY BLONDE”

“Legally Blonde” is such a classic that it’s only fair that it makes it onto the list. There really is no better movie to help you appreciate yourself. Led by Reese Witherspoon and oozing with empowerment and quotable lines, “Legally Blonde” is the story of sorority president turned Harvard Law student. The greater message about embracing yourself is what makes it worth the watch, and though it has its cliché moments, overall it provides a unique and entertaining hour and a half of fashion and self-love. Because it’s such a household name, even if you’ve seen it previously, it’s still worth the watch, and if you’ve never seen it, this is the perfect time to give it a try.

“Gone Girl” was adapted from Gillian Flynn’s bestselling book and trails behind Nick Dunne as the search for his missing wife, Amy, is underway. The shroud of mystery surrounding her disappearance leaves many in their community pointing fingers at Nick, and him desperate to find Amy. It provides what I believe to be Ben Affleck’s best performance as the leading man, and is also a chilling tale of love and manipulation. “Gone Girl” works on built up suspense and an engaging mystery that If you’re in the mood to love your friends: propels the plot forward throughout, and it provides an “SUPERBAD” insightful message about artificial romance and modern love. The plot itself is incredibly witty as well as eerie, There really is no bigger celebration of friendship than and the movie itself is beautifully shot and works up to a watching Jonah Hill and Michael Cera try to get some

action before they leave for college. While this movie definitely has its romantic moments, the overarching storyline of two friends coming to terms with their last year of high school is quite touching and a perfect pick if you’re spending the night with your best friends, especially for seniors who are beginning to reflect on high school. Jam-packed with stars, ranging from “Saturday Night Live’s” Bill Hader to Emma Stone, this movie has endless funny moments and one-liners. “Superbad” builds its best moments on the basis of extremely sexual and raunchy humor, so if high-school-boy humor isn’t your thing, you might want to pass on this.

If you’re close to watching “Twilight:”

“WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS” If you’re feeling like a vampire movie, save yourself the bad acting and cheesy romance that “Twilight” brings and opt for the cult classic “What We Do in the Shadows.”

Set in New Zealand, it’s filmed in a mockumentary style about four vampires living together in a flat. As one of my personal favorite movies of all time, it’s a much more refreshing take on the vampire genre than the overdone, cliché love stories you often find. The movie is so absurd and radical it fits alongside classics like “This is Spinal Tap” and “Best in Show.” While there is not an overwhelming romantic aspect to the film (though friendship is a key theme), the dark and offbeat humor is ultimately more satisfying than wondering if Bella and Edward will get together again, and it easily could be the perfect way to round out your Valentine’s Day. I would honestly say this movie makes for a well-spent evening to fit any mood.

If you’re in the mood to reject romance altogether:

“THE SHINING”

Photo courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

REESE WITHERSPOON PORTRAYS an independent law student at Harvard Law School in the uplifting and empowering “Legally Blonde.”

Not only is “The Shining” regarded as one of the most terrifying movies ever made, but it is also a cautionary tale about romance. Based on the Stephen King novel by the same name, “The Shining” portrays the deterioration of a family that is watching over an empty hotel in the Colorado winter. Antagonist Jack Torrance’s past of domestic abuse, his son Danny’s psychic abilities and his wife Wendy’s determination and wit blend together to create the perfect storm of a psychological thriller with many layers of depth to both the plot and characters. It’s a great movie to fully engross yourself in, and if you’re sick of Valentine’s Day, it’s disturbing (in a good way) to watch the Torrance family fall apart. One plus about this movie is that you can really take out of it what you want, and the aspect of love specifically is not an overbearing message. You can spend hours afterward avoiding Valentine’s Day by searching for theories about the major plot twist ending. esweet@redwoodbark.org

bark Say goodbye to the rainy day blues: activities to spice up the stormy weekends Page 19 • Review

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By Sydney Hilbush When you’ve exhausted your go-to rainy day movie list and find yourself tired of sitting inside all day waiting for the storm to pass, look no further than this review to start crafting your ideal rainy day itinerary away from Netflix and your bed. Whether you have always wanted to try out a cooking class, make pottery, blow glass or simply find yourself feeling adventurous, here is a list of five unconventional activities perfect for any rainy day!

#1: TAKE A YOGA CLASS

Sometimes the best thing to do on a rainy day is self-care, beginning with yoga! While there are many different types of indoor exercises, yoga is unique.

Not only does it provide mental and physical benefits, but it also teaches breath awareness, called pranayama, along with a variety of techniques to help you maintain energy and strength throughout your day. My favorite yoga studio to visit is YogaWorks, as the relaxing ambiance, cheerful staff and wafting smell of incense are healing for the mind and the body.

For a relaxing yoga session, I recommend trying Vinyasa Flow 1 or 2, as this class is intended to relax your body while still providing a workout. However, if you are in the mood for an intense class, I recommend trying Hatha Yoga or Iyengar Yoga, as these classes will quickly raise your heart rate while still allowing a release from outside stresses. No matter what class you take, you will leave the studio feeling refreshed and clear-minded regardless of the afternoon showers.

#2: DE YOUNG MUSEUM SAN FRANCISCO If you’re up for a rainy day city adventure, the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park is the perfect location for a relaxing, rewarding and dry indoor experience! The de Young offers a variety of exhibits for viewers to wander through, and even though I don’t consider myself an art guru, I found myself intrigued by many of the featured artists and exhibition rooms.

I visited in mid-January, and the museum offered a Gauguin exhibit, which featured

some of the artist’s most prominent works that cannot be found in other museums.

This exhibit is displayed until April 7 of this year, but if you prefer more modern or impressionist art, the de Young will be offering a Monet exhibit starting on Feb. 16. The cafe at the de Young also includes a variety of different pastries and coffees, which are delicious, but also fairly pricey—I only ordered a plain croissant and my total was $5.47. Although this price seems costly, the museum ticket price itself is more reasonable—general admission is only $6 for students aged 17 and under and $15 for adults. After a few hours, if you get tired of the museum, the de Young is located right next to many other mustsee San Francisco attractions, such as the Botanical Gardens and the Academy of Sciences.

#3: I MADE IT! GLASS CREATIONS I Made It! Glass Creations is a beginner friendly walk-in, no appointment needed, fused art glass studio that is open every day from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Located in San Rafael, this indoor glass studio is a familyfriendly rainy day activity, where you can create beautiful and functional fused glass art at a reasonable price, offering over 100 different projects that start at under $10.

From window sun catchers to coasters, bike bells and plates in addition to the friendly staff, I Made It! Glass Creations offers a variety of options for your rainy day. Glass creations made by customers of all ages illuminate the walls of the studio with bright and reflective colors, and it almost feels as if you are walking around a glass-blowing factory. The community tables located near the back of the studio provide for a comfortable and inclusive ambiance, where cheerful tunes of Jack Johnson playing softly in the background drown out the noise of mid day showers.

If you are planning on including a visit to the studio for your rainy day, make sure to allow a good chunk of time for parking, because there is limited space around the studio. With a visit to I Made It! Glass Creations, your dark and dreary afternoon will become colorful and memorable.

Photo by Sydney Hilbush

THE ACADEMY OF Sciences is located adjacent to the de Young Musuem, which offers a variety of different exhibits to explore on a rainy day. choose to access the Canyon from Dark #4: HIKE IN Park, parking can be difficult, so make sure MADRONE CANYON to wake up early in order to secure a close parking spot close to the trailhead.

If you’re willing to get a little wet, this hike is more than ideal for a rainy day, as #5: MILL VALLEY the abundance of trees surrounding the POTTER STUDIO canyon create a canopy of Redwoods, which shades hikers from rainfall. Within Madrone Canyon you can find waterfalls, Feeling creative? A great way to get which will be flowing heavily on rainy your creative juices flowing while stuck days, while also enjoying a quiet and inside is a quick visit to Mill Valley Potters serene walk through tall Redwood trees, Studio. Located in the heart of Mill Valley, where if you’re lucky, you might just spot the studio offers a variety of pottery classes a Northern Spotted Owl. You can access while also giving customers the ability to Madrone Canyon through Dark Park in walk around and admire different types of Larkspur, or hike down to the Canyon from pottery created by professional artists at the Crown Road Trail in Kentfield. I enjoy this studio. When you first walk in, a friendly hike, especially on rainy days as the paths feel encompasses the atmosphere, and do not get too muddy or slippery, like most guests are immediately welcomed into the along the shore do, but instead, the rain warm studio. Workers are shaping every creates a forest adventure that illuminates type and color of clay imaginable, while the color of the leaves and adds a serene fun creations line the walls of the studio aspect to your afternoon hike. Madrone for admiration. Pottery making classes are Canyon is also great for dogs regardless of offered Tuesday through Saturday for two the weather—I love to bring my dog hiking hours at a time, but these classes can be with me, and Madrone Canyon is one of costly. For example, a set of five classes is the few places I can let her off leash and $318 for students aged 14-17. However, the trust I won’t find her in a puddle of mud. unique experience of building and shaping Additionally, the canyon offers a variety your own pottery may be worth the price! of hikes to choose from, with some being walks along the valley floor, while others climb elevation and wind along the canyon to connect with other trails nearby. If you shilbush@redwoodbark.org

Future shows no surprises with new studio album “The Wizrd”

By Jack Parsons In a recent interview with Genius, Future, the charttopping Atlanta rapper, announced that he had quit Lean, a powerful opiate concoction of promethazine codeine syrup and soda, formerly a defining characteristic of Future. His lyrics were about his love for and addiction to Lean, his beats were often heavy and slow and he even named two albums after the drug. He noted that he was hesitant to tell his fans about his addiction out of fear that they would expect him to drastically change without codeine. These fears proved to be inaccurate. With his new studio album “Wizrd,” Future is back and has not changed, despite kicking the styrofoam cup.

That being said, this album is not the kind that would win Future any new fans; If you are one though, like one of his 23 million monthly Spotify listeners, this album will meet your expectations but won’t exceed them.

Personally, I found the album to be fun and refreshing to listen to, but nowhere near the caliber of some of his previous work like “Dirty Sprite 2” or “Beast Mode.”

In the album, Future shows a vulnerable side, rapping about life struggles—drug addiction, divorce and depression—all while bragging about the normal measures of success for most rappers: Bentley coupes, Rolex watches, strippers, penthouses, you name it.

Future’s lyrics show a deeper, more realistic side to his persona than those of other hot rappers such as Migos.

Unfortunately, I did not recognize that side of his music as much as I’d hoped for in this album.

One interesting aspect that stood out to me was the production for this album. Historically, Future has relied heavily on big name Atlanta producers like Metro Boomin’ and Zaytoven. For “Wizrd,” however, Future departed from that status quo for this project. While still having Southside and TM88 (808 Mafia) produce a few songs, Future relied heavily on newer (or previously unpopular)

producers, like Wheezy, Tay Keith and especially ATL Jacob. Despite having different production, all songs have the similar sound of 808 drum-heavy Atlanta trap beats.

Though the lyrics of most of Wizrd’s songs boast about wealth, drugs and sex (“You see these chains on my neck, look like Mardi Gras” - Call The Coroner), Future still reminds listeners of his humble beginnings and relentless hustle in the streets of Atlanta’s Zone 6 (“I don’t get no sleep, I made love on these corners” - Promise U That) to achieve the material success he has today.

One reason why the shallow lyrics did not bother me as much as I would have expected is because they represent a comeback for Future. For long-time fans of his, it became very obvious that he has struggled with depression in the past. This mood was reflected in many songs from past albums, but especially in his “HNDRXX” album, on which Future spoke heavily of his split with Ciara and battle with drug abuse. Whether it was his newfound sobriety or moving on from ex-girlfriend, the mood in “WIZRD” is dominant and boastful, but that is why I love Future.

My standards for a Future album are very high; for me, a “great” Future album is one where I actively like and listen to nearly every song on the album. “Dirty Sprite 2,” “Beast Mode” and “FUTURE” all fit that criterion.

“WIZRD,” however, was not amazing—but that’s also taking my high standards into account.

Needless to say, there are bangers on this album. My personal favorite of these several songs is “Rocket Ship.”

For this track, which is the third on the album, Future uses a simple beat from ATL Jacob and devotes the lyrics to highlight his drug-filled lifestyle, both as a user and seller. With lyrics like “I took four, I feel like a rocket ship,” Future uses creative wordplay in “Rocketship” to reminisce about his times when he was a user and getting higher than space. The lyrics contrast his life as a user to his sober life now.

Another song that I’ve found myself playing a lot is

Photo courtesy of Pitchfork

FUTURE’S NEW ALBUM, “The Wizrd,” features 20 different tracks with bass-heavy trap beats and crafty lyrics.

“Krazy But True,” on which Future raps lyrics like “I never depended on these rappers, they biting me anyway,” to stress his frustration with the fact that the new Generation of Atlanta rappers copy his style, lyrics and even fashion.

After all, this album charted eight of its songs on the Billboard top 100 list and was also the sixth number one album of Future’s career. While this album was not my favorite of Future’s, it certainly hasn’t made me lose hope for the artist in the times to come. While I appreciate the boldness and confidence that pervades in Future’s lyrics about his lavish lifestyle and hard-worked come up, I hope that in his next album he revisits a deeper, more vulnerable side.

jparsons@redwoodbark.org

February 8, 2019 bark Page 20 • Review The Bark’s 2018 Grammy predictions are hitting all the right keys Donald Glover, otherwise known as Childish Gambino, brought an original perspective on racism and violence in America that yielded an impact beyond topping charts.

Ingrained cultural references to past shootings, protests and laws within Glover’s lyrics famed the music video and embodied the evolution of the racism within America.

The 2015 Charleston shooting of nine African Americans in a church was one specific event that was symbolized in the video. Other lyrical and visual references to Jim Crow, a character created to oppress African Americans after the abolishment of slavery, and lyrics such as “Don’t let you slippin’ up” illustrate the barbarity and harshness black men have been subject to since the origins of the United States. Reaching almost 500 million views on Youtube, “This is America’s” lyrics highlight the origins of conflict over race and how bias and a level of inhumanity are still prevalent in today’s society, making it one of the most impactful songs of the year and the most deserving to take home the Grammy.

By Grace Bouton With the release of the 2018 Grammy nominations, there has been celebration as well as controversy. A lack of nominations for artists such as J. Cole, a veteran rapper, and Juice WRLD, a commanding new artist, coupled with nominations for mainstream artists such as Cardi B, caused fans of hip-hop to question how in touch the Grammys are with the essence of each genre.

However, with beloved R&B singer Alicia Keys hosting, and nominations for upcoming artists such as H.E.R., the Grammys can still be expected to attract lovers of music to the celebration of the industry. Below are my selections for the four main Grammy awards: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist.

Record of the Year Prediction: “God’s Plan” - Drake “God’s Plan” was yet another one of Drake’s recordbreaking hits, debuting at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and remaining at the top for 11 weeks straight. Through its steady intro and abrupt vocals that lead up to the famed line, “She said do you love me/ I told her only partly/ I only love my bed and my mama, I’m sorry,” Drake cites all those in the industry who failed to challenge his reign at the top and shows how his dominance in the hip-hop industry is all a part of “God’s Plan.” The song’s memorable lyrics and concise beats have allowed “God’s Plan” to become only the second song in history to be streamed on all platforms 100 million times in one week, making it the nominee that clearly surpasses all others.

Best New Artist Prediction: H.E.R.

Releasing her first album, “H.E.R. Volume 1” in 2016, H.E.R (Having Everything Revealed) has made a name for herself within the R&B scene as both a solo and featuring artist. Well-known “Best Part,” a collaboration with Daniel Caesar, showcased the varied range and depth of H.E.R as a vocalist as well as her ability to produce a commercial success. Other songs such as “Focus,” “U” and “Avenue” did not reach the same level of tangible success, however, they all demonstrate the unique sound of H.E.R as well as the enormous potential her work has.

With chart-topping productions as well as a consistency Album of the Year Prediction: “Beerbongs & Album of the Year Prediction: “This is America” - of unique vocals and lyrics, H.E.R. has been able to carve Bentleys” - Post Malone Donald Glover, Ludwig Goransson & Jeffery Lamar a future for herself in the music industry, making her the most deserving nominee for Best New Artist.

Williams With a record-breaking debut, “Beerbongs and Bentleys” was the first album in history to have nine Not only a commercial success, “This is America,” by gbouton@redwoodbark.org songs break the top 20 ranking on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Songs such as “Psycho,” “Paranoid” and “Rich and Sad” not only offered memorable soundtracks, but also meaningful lyrics paired with Malone’s unique husky voice. Collaborations with artists such as Swae Lee, Nicki Minaj, G-Eazy, YG and 21 Savage produced chart-leading hits such as “Rockstar,” “Spoil My Night,” “Same B**ches” and “Ball For Me.” Malone’s sophomore album not only topped the charts but also demonstrated his deeper lyrical talent, ultimately making it the most qualified choice for Album of the Year.

Crummy Keto diet: High protein, high fat and high levels of pain

By Evelyn Bailey Embarking on a diet is like running a marathon. I was enthusiastic in the beginning, but eventually gave up in the end, running out of steam to finish. This month I challenged myself to try the Keto diet: a high-protein and high-fat regime which cuts out almost all carbohydrates.

Tthe most advertised effects of the Keto diet are benefits in health, performance and weight loss. The concept of the Keto diet seemed intense but definitely worth trying, so I took a chance and said, “Why not?”

The Keto diet is named after a reaction that the body produces when it is deprived of carbohydrates, causing it to enter a metabolic state called ketosis. Once there is no more blood sugar circulating from carbohydrates, the body resorts to breaking down the stored fat we already have into ketone bodies (a compound produced during the metabolism of fats). Because of its fast weight loss results, it is has been a popular topic in the media recently, and according to HealthLine, it is superior to a high-carb diet as it provides a metabolic advantage.

The Keto diet seemed simple at first, although the extensive amount of meat and fat consumption sounded undesirable and I knew that it was not sustainable in the

long run because of how restrictive it was for my lifestyle.

No pasta? I mean, come on!

When planning my meals, I checked out various online lists with the suggested Keto foods and meals and wrote down everything that sounded appealing to me.

Planning meals was a key part of embarking on this diet so I wouldn’t fall off track due to lack of Keto food in my fridge. For breakfast, I ate four main foods: coffee, bacon, eggs and sausage. For lunch and dinner, I typically ate ham, chicken, turkey, steak or other meat. Along with the meats was a substantial amount of cheese, which also made for a great snack. Butter, cream and healthy oils were allowed, though without bread to pair them with, they seemed pointless. Nuts and seeds also proved to be a sufficient snack packed with protein, ideal for someone on the Keto diet.

The first three days of the diet were the hardest and proved to be extremely challenging as I quickly realized how dependent I was on carbohydrates. My meals became dramatically denser as I was swapping out carb-heavy foods for more meat and cheese. During those three days, I found myself initially grabbing for food filled with carbohydrates and then consciously swapping them out for a cheese stick or guacamole, a habit that I quickly

Photo by Evelyn Bailey

AS THE KETO diet requires an immense amount of protein and fat intake, foods such as salmon, avocados, butter and olive oil are extremely common throughout all meals.

developed and sustained.

While exercising, I felt myself getting tired faster for the first few days of the diet which was extremely inconvenient. After three days I felt myself finally in the Keto stage, my energy felt more stable and I felt more focused in class on the material, not the food. I found I was not craving food as often or not just eating out of boredom, and I didn’t feel very hungry when waking up in the morning as I usually do. For the time that I was on the diet, I felt more energized and clear headed than I expected.

The worst parts of the diet were the beginning—due to the long assimilation time—and the end, when I tried to revert back to my old habits. Once I was finished with the diet, I indulged on a carbohydrate-filled muffin and felt sick to my stomach. When going off the Keto diet I would highly suggest weaning off of the fat and meat gradually and not just all at once as I did. Feeling sick from eating just one muffin made me realize that my body was no longer used to eating so many carbs at once and was urging me to limit them even off the diet.

With such a restrictive diet plan, I was forced to try new foods and, as a picky eater, I was far out of my comfort zone. Luckily, eating out was not challenging, as most of the restaurants I went to always had some sort of Keto option. For example, at breakfast, I could get an omelet but would have to skip the potatoes and toast. For dinner, I would get meatballs—pass on the spaghetti. Eating Keto at restaurants was doable for a few days, but later proved to be difficult because I was forced to start repeating meals when eating out.

As I pushed to continue the diet, I found myself getting extremely tired of the foods I did like. I began experimenting with different meals such as zucchini pasta, which was something I was not expecting to enjoy. But despite the slimy texture, it turned out to be an excellent dish. However, when I was eating high-fat and highprotein food, the taste seemed significantly more bland compared to eating carbs. While eating all protein and fat, I felt particularly heavier because I was eating such solid food.

Although my experience with the diet was short-lived, I am glad I tried it because it allowed me to be more aware of my regular eating habits, try new foods and experience a different approach to eating. As for the future, I would highly consider attempting another diet in order to experiment more with my eating habits and their effects.

Ultimately, I gained a deeper understanding and respect for the people who actually practice this diet regularly, while also discovering how dearly I need pasta and bread in my life. ebailey@redwoodbark.org

lifestyles

Page 21

Nonprofit’s success enhances African-American relations with law enforcement

By Neva Legallet

Windchimes and ceramic statues adorn a front yard in the Golden Gate Villages apartments of Marin City, with colorful decorations spilling onto the cracked sidewalk outside—a stark contrast to the rest of the nondescript housing units around it.

This spot of vibrancy, however, isn’t an eccentric resident, but a highly successful nonprofit called the Phoenix Project. The Phoenix Project was founded by Felecia Gaston under her previouslyexisting nonprofit, Performing Stars, and aims to create community connections and supportive infrastructure for the African-American community of Marin City, mostly by getting clients off probation and Felicia Gaston, making them founder independent.

“The issue between men of color and law enforcement has historically been an ongoing issue over decades, going way back to segregation and Jim Crow. There’s a lot of misunderstanding,” Gaston said.

“Law enforcement has impacted these men’s lives over the years, and we need to have some kind of solution.”

Working with local agencies—law enforcement, the probation department, public defenders, the district attorney, the Marin Housing Authority and Marin County Sheriff’s department—Gaston works to break the cycle of incarceration, release, probation and re-incarceration that she says is especially prevalent among African-American males.

“The law enforcement agencies make [the success] happen, and that’s what’s unique about [the Phoenix Project]; you normally don’t get a community-based agency that involves black males and law enforcement working together,” Gaston said. The Phoenix Project is one of few

such organizations that has such a tightknit relationship with law enforcement according to Gaston.

Michael Daly, Chief Probation Officer for Marin County, says the relationship between Gaston’s organization and his department has been invaluable.

“It’s a good opportunity to connect with the residents of Marin City for community outreach, as well as with the folks on juvenile and adult probation whereby we can utilize folks who have grown up in that community and are well-trusted, and they work with our probation officers to assist those people currently on adult or juvenile probation,” Daly said.

Addressing such a large-scale problem requires ongoing aid for at-risk youths and males of the area, and Gaston’s work includes supporting these demographics in all aspects of life.

“Some have been in the probation system since they were juveniles, and it became a revolving door. What I found was that an intervention was necessary: making restorative justice available and accessible.

If there was more intervention in between they wouldn’t stay in the system,” Gaston said.

This intervention comes in the form of mentors, as the Phoenix Project is based on a mentorship model, and Gaston recruits older community members to work with her clients.

“The men who are the case managers, they’re older than who we’re serving but they’ve also grown up in this community and so they have a positive relationship [from the beginning]; there’s a trust factor,” Gaston said.

Federico Cortez is one such community member who began working for the Phoenix Project after finishing his

“Law enforcement has impacted these men’s lives over the years, and we need to have some kind of solution.”

I had to stick up for myself, and that’s how I ended up in the juvenile system.”

Although Cortez did not utilize the resources of the Phoenix Project before he began volunteering and later working there, he says Gaston has provided the same for him that her nonprofit hopes to provide for the larger community: stability.

“I’m off probation now, and I don’t think I could have done it without Felecia.

She’s done so much and made my life so much easier and more stable. She’s given me a direction and a positive outlook in an environment I had no control over growing up,” Cortez said.

Strengthening the Phoenix Project’s community connections is its location directly in the housing projects; Gaston says that this makes its resources more accessible to the community.

Clients are often walk-in, but the nonprofit will also receive referrals for Photo courtesy of Felecia Gaston cases.

As an administrative assistant, Cortez FOUNDER OF THE Phoenix Project, Felicia Gaston, has integrated various determines what “stage” the client is at local components, including law initially, and he says most come in at enforcement, in order to serve the Stage One, which focuses on short-term, stability-focused goals like obtaining community through her nonprofit. proper identification such as a driver’s license. probation time.

“I walk “[Gaston] [clients] was a real help through to me too. I’ve resources I grown up in would have Marin City as and should a low-income have taken minority kid advantage living in public of myself,” housing all my Cortez said. life. I’m gay, “ I t and it was hard helps me growing up [to] expose where people in a whole my community younger could see I was generation to gay before I even things they knew I was,” don’t know Cortez said. can be taken “I was picked Federico Cortez, advantage on and teased, administrative assistant oF.” and I grew up F r o m fast and rough, there, longand it got me term goals into fights where can range from simply becoming fully independent to attending school and obtaining a GED or degree.

“I think the variety of services and connections are important. We help people obtain security: a driver’s license, a job, an apartment. We work for self-advocacy,” Gaston said.

Gaston’s efforts for her nonprofit have garnered tangible successes, quantifiable in the form of a historic low in probation referrals for the county.

The relationships built between the Probation Department, the Phoenix Project and its service providers [have] led to a record low amount of persons currently on formal probation in both the juvenile and adult systems,” Daly said in an analysis of the project. “We appreciate the partnership and so does the community. We all benefit.”

Statistics support this assessment as the number of Marin City youths referred to the Juvenile Division of the Marin County Probation Department has significantly decreased from 2009 and 2010, with highs of 76 and 85 respectively, to a low of 10 referrals in 2018 according to a report by the department.

“I’m glad for all the success stories,” Gaston said. “It makes me happy to see that people’s lives are changed with the proper support.”

“I was picked on and teased, and I grew up fast and rough, and it got me into fights where I had to stick up for myself, and that’s how I ended up in the juvenile system.”

Photo by Neva Legallet

LOCATED IN THE the Golden Gate Villages apartments of Marin City, the Phoenix Project offers a range of resources to assist those on probation.

nlegallet@redwoodbark.org

bark Stoked on surf safety: preparing for dangerous conditions Page 23 • Lifestyles

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conditions in the water.

“I’ve had some long swims where “I’ve seen plenty of people putting I’ve lost my surfboard and it’s taken me themselves out of their comfort zones, 25 minutes to make it [to shore] because usually on the days where there’s more you get caught in these [riptides] and you swell. I’ve seen them struggle on the have to pay attention to the waves that are inside, get caught under waves gasping breaking,” Cohen said.

Cohen advises individuals to first for air. Just this winter, someone died at Ocean Beach and there was another understand their own abilities and limits person hospitalized,” Thomas Durtschi, before entering the water and to make sure a senior that frequently surfs at Fort that they can swim sufficiently.

“You can be several hundred yards Cronkhite, said.

Some Redwood students choose from shore, and when you get separated from your board, you to brave the cold have to be prepared to temperatures of the swim and I think a lot Northern California of people lose sight of waters to get the that. Boards break and most out of the surf leashes break. It’s just season. Experienced a part of the game,” surfers like Durtschi Cohen said. and junior Zan According to Curleigh surf about Curleigh, co-president three to five times of the Surf Club, safety per week. However, is highly encouraged with such easy in the surf community access to California’s with sayings such as, notoriously surfable “Know before you go” waters, less- Thomas Durtschi, and, “When in doubt, experienced people senior don’t go out.” may find themselves “The most common in a dangerous mistake is really situation. inexperienced people “It’s good to be pushed out of your comfort zone, but going out who think they’re going to be sometimes people go too far. They try to safe even though they’re not, then they go surf waves bigger than they are capable out when it’s really dangerous,” Curleigh said. of and it gets dangerous,” Durtschi said.

According to CBS San Francisco Bay During the winter when the swell rises, Advanced Placement Area, on Dec. 7, a surfer died after surfing Environmental Science teacher Mitch in rough conditions on the south side Cohen goes surfing at least twice a week. of Ocean Beach—an area most surfers Even with 30 years of surfing experience, usually try to avoid.

“That [event] just shows someone Cohen still encounters unpredictable

By Julia Merron

“It’s good to be pushed out of your comfort zone, but sometimes people go too far.”

not knowing what they’re going to get themselves into. Northern California water can change so fast. Someone who’s experienced sees that but someone not as experienced has a totally different outlook,” Curleigh said.

In order to prevent surfing in waves above your ability, Durtschi suggests a heavy amount of research. Durtschi said that before surfing at new beaches, he checks websites like Surfline to find out conditions and finds the best spot to surf based on the swell and tide. When approaching a beach, he takes several minutes to watch the sets and look at where other people are surfing.

“You have to be able to read the ocean before you even get in the water.

You can see these currents because sand gets sucked up from the bottom of the water and the water’s kind of choppy,” Durtschi said.

Cohen stated that overall, it’s important for beginners to learn their limits over time.

“When you go skiing you don’t start on the black slopes. You progress from the green to the blue to the black, and surfing is the same way. You get experience with time, with experience you get confidence, and with both of those you get safety,” Cohen said.

jmerron@redwoodbark.org

Photo by Julia Merron

WALKING DOWN TO Rodeo Beach, seniors Thomas Durtschi (right) and Hunter Bueman (left) prepare to stay safe in the water by surfing with a friend.

Three lovable recipes to treat yourself this Valentine’s Day Story and Photos by Lily Baldwin With Valentine’s Day barreling towards us like an unstoppable love-train, the scramble for gifts has begun. Whether you’re in search for the perfect present for your significant other, a sweet gift for a parent or friend or you simply want to treat yourself for the holiday, these recipes provide the Pinterest-worthy indulgence you’ve been looking for.

You Have My Heart-Shaped Rice Krispie treats

You Cake Me Crazy Red Velvet Cookies

Sprinkled with Love Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients: Three cups Rice Krispies cereal 1 1/2 tablespoons butter 2 cups mini marshmallows 3 tbsp heart-shaped sprinkles 12 full-size marshmallows 12 skewers with pointed tips removed

Ingredients: 1 box red velvet cake mix 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour ½ cup canola or vegetable oil 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup powdered sugar

Ingredients: ½ cup smooth peanut butter ½ cup powdered sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla extract ½ teaspoon salt 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1 chocolate bar, chopped Red, pink or white Valentine’s Day sprinkles to top

Directions: In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.

Add the mini marshmallows and stir until melted. Turn off the heat, then add in the cereal. Mix until cereal is completely coated with melted marshmallow, adding in portions of the sprinkles until all are added and fully incorporated. Spoon the mixture onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Press down to flatten the cereal and allow to cool. Once cooled, using a heart-shaped cookie cutter or a knife, cut the Rice Krispie treats into small heart shapes (about two inches across). Place one full-size marshmallow onto each skewer, then place the heart-shaped Rice Krispie treats on the end of the skewer above the marshmallow. Present the treats by tying multiple skewers together with a ribbon of your choice and placing the treats in a cellophane bag.

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together flour and cake mix until the lumps are gone. Add in eggs, oil and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Roll dough into balls about a tablespoon in size. Roll each ball in powdered sugar until fully coated and place the balls on the baking sheet two inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cookies begin to crack. Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for two minutes before removing, then use the cookie cutter to cut out a heart shape from each cookie (recommended: eating the leftover cookie edges).

Place the cut-out cookies onto a wire rack to cool. Once completely cooled, package in paper boxes as gifts or serve on a platter.

Directions: Lay out three dozen miniature cupcake liners. In a bowl, mix the peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and salt until smooth. Melt the chocolate chips and chopped chocolate bars together in the microwave, stopping every 20-30 seconds to stir the mixture. Place a spoonful of the melted chocolate into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Let them set for 15 minutes. Spoon in a small amount of the peanut butter mixture into the center of each liner. Then, place another spoonful of the chocolate over the top of each peanut butter center. To decorate, top with Valentine’s Day sprinkles before the chocolate cools. Refrigerate the peanut butter cups in their liners until they are set, about 15 minutes. Once cooled, remove the peanut butter cups from their liners. lbaldwin@redwoodbark.org