Redwood High School 395 Doherty Drive, Larkspur, CA 94939 www.redwoodbark.org
Editors-In-Chief
Olivia Dominguez Shiriel King Abramson Bella McWhorter Matt Ross
Copy Editors
Review Editors
Kayla Aldridge Aaron Halford Macrae Sharp Rebecca Smalbach Caleigh Stephens
Julia Cherner Heidi Roenisch
Spanish Editors Madison Barsi Henry Tantum
News Editors
Camille Kawawa-Beaudan Megan Millard Gregory Block
Video Editor Hayden Blum
Social Media Manager
Feature Editors
Kylie Kvam
Annie Forsman Nicole Stock
Snapshot Editor Chloe Wintersteen
Opinion Editors Eric Ahern Geneva Gist
Web Developer/ Newsletter Kevin Makens Sam Slade
Sports Editors Ovie Crum Adam Kreitzman
Business Manager Sarah Kimball
Lifestyles Editors Hannah Blazei Ella Cook
Survey Manager Keely Jenkins
Adviser
Erin Schneider
Reporters
Isabella Alioto, Danny Avins, Michael Benz, Addison Brady, Kaylee Bushell, Emily Cerf, Catherine Conrow, Luke Dahlin, Sabrina Dong, Jason Fieber, Annie Fogarty, Jenna Herz, Andrew Hout, Max Josef, Maxime Kawawa-Beaudam, Isabelle Marmur, Robin Naylor, Anne Pritikin, Kendall Rhoads, Sam Sheridan, Sydney Soofer, Cosmo Taylor, Mary Winnick, Simone Wolberg, Pearl Zhong
redwood
bark. redwood high school
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Lake County Fire
395 doherty dr., larkspur, ca 94939
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volume LVIII, no. 2
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Girls’ Rowing
Juniors achieve noteworthy scores on SBAC Standards Met on the SBAC
By Max Josef Juniors from Redwood scored much higher on the 2014-2015 Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) than juniors from the rest of the Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD) and Marin County, according to the California Department of Education. The SBAC is a test designed to provide reliable and fair assessments aligned with the national Common Core Standards, and was given in place of the STAR test. The test consists of four parts––two English and two math––and is administered through the computer. According to the California Department of Education, 84 percent of 11th graders at Redwood are proficient or advanced in English and 70 percent in math, compared to 69 percent and 48 percent of all Marin juniors, respectively. Districtwide, the results were lower, with 78 percent of eleventh graders deemed proficient in English and 62 percent proficient in math. Across California as a whole, 56 percent of students were proficient in English and 29 percent were proficient in math. The TUHSD ranked below Acalanes, Los Gatos-Saratoga, and Palo Alto districts, but ranked above the Mountain View-Los Altos school districts by percentage of students who were proficient in English. Additionally, the TUHSD was ranked below all the same school districts in percentage of students who were proficient in math. Only 3 percent of 11th graders at Redwood failed to meet the core standards for English and 12 percent failed to meet the standards for math, compared to 15 percent for English and 30 percent for math for Marin. In comparison, 8 percent of 11th graders in the TUHSD did not meet the core standards in English and 18 percent did not meet the standards in math.
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october 9, 2015
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International Studies
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news box. • The Valley Fire burned 76,000 acres and destroyed 2,000 structures. • The Mill Valley film festival is from Oct. 8-18. • There have been nine confirmed deaths due to the South Carolina floods. • John Boehner is set to resign as Speaker of the House at the end of Oct.
Infographic by Sam Sheridan
REDWOOD JUNIORS PERFORMED better than juniors from Tam, Drake, and San Andreas in this past spring’s Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). One part of the math and one of the English is multiple choice. The test adapts the difficulty of multiple choice questions based on the number of questions a participant answers correctly. For the other English and math parts, which are performance-based, students are given a 30-minute lesson and are required to use skills they learned in the lesson. Assistant Superintendent of Education, Tara Taupier, noted that while many people think of the SBAC as a substitute for the STAR test, the tests are completely different. “You can’t really compare the SBAC test to the STAR test because they are completely different tests,” said Assistant Principal Katy Foster. Foster explained that usually when new standardized tests are administered, test scores go down briefly. “Tests scores always experience an implementation dip, which is where tests
scores go down as schools learn the new standards, but I don’t think we experienced one [with the SBAC],” Foster said. According to Taupier, the new test was implemented so that there would once again be some common measure of achievement across the country that could be benchmarked. “The standards for the STAR test were the state standards and the SBAC standards were more national common core standards,” Foster said. “We are lucky we are in a district in which there are lots of computers and because we have so many resources, it didn’t take as long [to administer the online tests] as it would have without those resources,” Foster said.
• Pope Francis visited the U.S. from Sept. 22 to 27. He is the fourth pope to visit the United States. • Several countries, including the United States, agreed on the controversial TransPacific Partnership trade agreement. • U.S airstrikes destroyed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan. • Turkey has admitted over 2.2 million Syrian refugees.
mjosef@redwoodbark.org
By Heidi Roenisch Leadership announced that it will host Redwood’s first ever Breast Cancer Awareness week from Oct. 19-23. Senior Maggy Kepler, head of the subcommittee in charge of the event, said that the week will consist of pink spirit days and center around a girls’ volleyball game night on Wednesday, Oct. 21. “It’s a big home game against Marin Catholic that night, and the giveaway will be pink t-shirts so we’ll have a ‘Pink Zone’ instead of the Red Zone,” Kepler said. Kepler stated that the event’s primary goal is to show support for the cause. “We’re going to sell wristbands to raise some money for local groups, but this event is mainly to promote awareness. It’s not going to be a huge fundraiser,” she said. According to Leadership advisor Jennifer Madden, the Breast Cancer Awareness week will replace the sock donation campaign from previous years. “We’ve been doing Socktober for the last couple of years, and it has been really successful, but the class voted to do something different,” Madden said. This decision to focus on breast cancer reflects a prevalent issue in Marin County. According to the Northern California Cancer Center, breast cancer rates among Marin women are about 40 percent higher than the national average of 124.8 new cases per 100,000 women and 30 percent higher than the rest of the Bay Area. A UCSF report also found Marin to have the highest breast cancer rate in the United States based on data analyzed from the early 2000s. “Breast cancer is something that impacts a lot of people in our community, so we wanted to spread more awareness and show support for those who are going through it,” Madden said. A January 2015 Bark survey showed that 62 percent of Redwood students know someone who currently has breast cancer or has battled it previously, including 36
Statistics by UCSF, Northern CA Cancer Center, National Cancer Institute , Jan. 2015 Bark survey
Leadership to debut Breast Cancer Awareness Week
Infographic by Heidi Roenisch
percent who have a family member affected by the disease. Although the entire month of October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, the leadership class chose to limit Redwood’s event to one week. “We decided to just do a week because of everything that’s going on in October. We didn’t want it to be overshadowed by other events like Homecoming, so
doing it as its own week will make sure that people are really paying attention to the message we’re trying to get across,” Kepler said.
hroenisch@redwoodbark.org
bark
Page 2 • News
October 9, 2015
Photo Survey:
What is the best Halloween costume you’ve ever had?
“I went as Mini Me with a bald cap.”
Wilder Brooks freshman
“I was Lady Gaga.”
Leah Gustafson
“I was a kidnapper with a great, big net”
“I was a mix of a hippy, chicken, and pig”
junior
senior
Robert McInnis
sophomore
Mia Samson
Valley Fire now 100 percent contained, evacuees return By Gregory Block and Henry Tantum The Valley Fire, which has devastated Lake County since it began on Sept. 12, is now 100 percent contained, permitting some evacuees to return home and evaluate the destruction of their property and possessions. The fire began in Lake County, about an hour north of Marin, and has since spread to over 76,000 acres of land in Northern California, according to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It is now ranked among the top three most destructive wildfires in California history, with four civilian deaths and large scale destruction in several small communities. Evacuation centers in Calistoga, Kelseyville and Middletown have provided temporary homes for the residents of the 1,958 structures which have been destroyed in the fire and the 3,043 homes which were threatened before the fire was contained. Middletown, one of the most heavily impacted towns, was opened to the public Tuesday, allowing evacuees to slowly trickle back to what is left of their property. Middletown High School was not damaged by the fire, and school resumed Sept. 28. Like many evacuees, Edelin Hernandez, a teenager from Hidden Valley who is residing at the Calistoga site, said that she was unsure about the damage to her family’s home.
Photo by Gregory Block
MIGUEL CORDÓBA VOLUNTEERS at the Calistoga evacuation site, collecting donated goods at a booth. “We don’t know anything. It’s kind of worrying,” Hernandez said. “We don’t know anything about our home. We don’t know if we lost our home. They said we could go up and check our house for 15 minutes, but it’s two hours to get there.” According to Roy Sabraw, another evacuee at the Calistoga site, the lack of information has made the evacuation process difficult for many. “There’s a lot of misinformation flying around,” Sabraw said. “At one point you
may get your hopes up in hearing some good news, maybe on the television or on the radio, only to find out that the information is totally incorrect and all of a sudden your hopes, boom, right back down again.” Autumn Duarte, a local teacher whose house was destroyed, said that finally knowing the state of her home gave her an opportunity to grieve. “Some of the worst days were just not knowing. Is the house still standing? Is it
gone?” Duarte said. “I’ve heard there are still some people out here that don’t know if their home is standing. That uncertainty is horrible because once I found out I could grieve.” Besides the Calistoga site, which closed Tuesday, other evacuation centers include Grace Church in Kelseyville and Twin Pine Casino in Middletown. According to Mickey Thibodeau, who was living at the Calistoga evacuation site after fleeing his home in Middletown, treatment and care at the site have been excellent since he had arrived. “What a fantastic group of people here. Anything you need, people going around giving food, asking if you need anything,” Thibodeau said. “In fact, a lady just came by who had gone out and bought underwear. Three meals a day, great food. I had the best burger here last night I’ve ever had.” The sites are run largely by local civilians and volunteers, many of whom were not directly affected by the fire. Information continues to be released about the fire and the resulting damage. Many civilians are still staying in the evacuation sites until they are allowed access to their homes. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. To date, nearly 3,000 fire personnel have been deployed. bark@redwoodbark.org
New Wellness Coordinator steps up to launch program The top five service recommendations for the overall student population are a break zone, individual counseling, workshops, an interactive website, and school-wide New to campus, Wellness Coordinator Jennifer Kenny- events, according to the 2015 survey. Baum has partnered with Wellness Director Jessica Colvin “We came to a place where we felt like, ‘Yes, this is to launch the Tamalpais Union High School District’s something that the students and the community would (TUHSD) first Wellness Center. The exact date of the like,’ and so we went to the Board and we were granted launch has not yet been determined. funding for the program,” Colvin said. Kenny-Baum has taken the position on campus to Kenny-Baum and Colvin said they are focused oversee development within the Redwood community, on creating a space where students can relax and feel and Colvin is now overseeing district-wide health and comfortable seeking counseling. wellness development. “The number one request from students was what The Wellness Center will be they called a ‘chill space,’” Colvin a resource for students to use for said. “Students can come in and get a individual counseling, preventive, and snack—we will have everything from educational health services. stress relief tea, to cold water and Kind “[My goal] is to make sure that every bars—and they don’t necessarily have kid who walks in the door feels some to share what’s going on, but there level of support, and that if kids have a will be information available and it need, there is a way to meet it,” Kennywill be a safe space.” Baum said. “Ideally, I want every kid According to Kenny-Baum, to know what the Wellness Center is. I once the Wellness Center launches, want them to be informed about what it there will be individual counselors is.” present from local agencies who will Colvin spent the 2014-15 school year provide direct counseling to students, observing the district and conducting Jennifer Kenny-Baum, including mental health services and needs assessments and surveys with Wellness Coordinator reproductive services. students, parents, staff, and community Colvin said the Wellness team is members for each of the three high working with an attorney to create schools. seven different contracts, one for According to the 2015 Wellness Center Needs each new provider of services to the district. Once these Assessment for Redwood, 979 of 1604 students contracts are approved by the Board of Directors, Colvin participated in a survey that asked questions regarding will be able to begin bringing individuals onto campus. their wellness needs. “It’s going to be this big, exciting program offering a The top three perceived needs for the overall student lot of services to students,” Colvin said. “We want to be population were academic stress, social challenges, and really inclusive in our decision making.” anxiety, according to the 2015 Wellness Center Needs Colvin and Kenny-Baum said they saw a need for Assessment results. education about general health, mental health, substance By Macrae Sharp
[My goal] is to make sure that every kid who walks in the door feels some level of support.
Illustration courtesy of Jessica Colvin, sketches by Jen Mahoney
abuse, and reproductive health throughout a student’s four years at Redwood, not just during freshman year when students are required to take Social Issues. “We aren’t here to judge, but we are here to educate and to help students be as safe as they can be, and they need that information more than just during their freshman year,” Colvin said. Colvin and Kenny-Baum are focusing on educating and helping the student body to improve health and wellness. “Imagine once Wellness is all together, what it will be. Right now, we are working in partnership with the counseling office to expand the support services that are already present,” Kenny-Baum said. Prior to starting at Redwood this fall, Kenny-Baum worked as a Wellness Coordinator at Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco for 10 years. msharp@redwoodbark.org
bark Youth film curators sit on Mill Valley Youth Reel jury Page 3 • News
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By Walter Gehm-Torrez Cub Reporter
Sophomore Jack Green is one of many students who has curated films for the Youth Reel that will premiere Oct. 17, in association with the Mill Valley Film Festival. The program in which the students participated, the California Film Institute Education’s Young Critic’s Jury threeday intensive, involves the critiquing and organizing of over 150 films for the Mill Valley Film Festival Youth Reel. Before Green could become a part of the jury, he had to attend a week long
film camp called Summerfilm at the who participated in the curating of the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center, Youth Reel last year, recalled a funny also known as the film about a guy eating Rafael Theater, in July. chicken with a swirl as “There were agents, a background image. there were directors, “There were editors, sound people dramas about people and for a week they dying, and [then] just did little seminars there was the other that were actually side of the spectrum really interesting,” with the swirls and the Green said. “It was chickens,” Keaney said. kind of like a camp The deciding but not really. It was Sophie Keaney, factor for whether more classes and you’d or not a film was senior sit in those and then selected was the plot, once you did that for which Keaney viewed a week then they’d let as more important you sign up for the judging.” than the production value. The curators were assigned to view “How the story was brought to life the submitted films, rate them on a scale --that was really the turning point for of one to ten, and then write the things all of us,” Keaney said. “If the story they liked and didn’t was something that like about them, everyone could relate according to Green. to or it was something They also organized that seemed really the selected films in a important we probably 90-minute reel that will ended up putting it be shown on Oct. 17. in [the festival].” According to Green, an aspiring festival guidelines, film director, looks the films had to be forward to participating original, preferably in the film industry on a under 15 minutes, and more professional level made by filmmakers 18 Jack Green, once he graduates from years old and younger. sophomore Redwood. In particular, In return for he has an interest in participating in the the audio of movies. critiquing of the “I definitely want Youth Reel, Green was given free tickets to do something in the film industry. I to the shows that looked promising. love sound, I love making music and The films submitted in the festival I like working with different sound came from a wide variety of genres, from effects,” Green said. “I’d either want drama to comedy. Senior Sophie Keaney, to do follies which is where you’re in
How the story was brought to life was really the turning point for all of us.
I definitely want to do something in the film industry.
Photo by Walter Gehm-Torrez
Senior Sophie Keaney participated in the curating of the Youth Reel last year.
Photo by Walter Gehm-Torrez
Sophomore Jack Green was a part of the Mill Valley Film Festival Youth Reel jury. the studio banging on stuff to get cool noises out of it or doing scores for films.” Green currently films for Redwood TV and works for Patsy Northcutt of Northcutt Productions. As many members of the community do, Green looks forward to the release of the Youth Reel films, as well as the Film Festival in general. The 38th Mill Valley Film Festival begins Thursday, Oct. 8, and runs through Oct. 18. wgehmtorrez@redwoodbark.org
bark
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October 9, 2015
Redwood seniors fail to qualify as National Merit Semifinalists By Anne Fogarty On Sept. 9, The College Board announced the names of the 2016 National Merit Scholar Semifinalists, none of whom were Redwood students. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) selected 16,000 semifinalists nationwide, giving them the opportunity to advance to the finalist round. The selection is determined solely by current seniors’ 2014 Preliminary SAT (PSAT) scores, according to the NMSC website. Each year approximately 1.5 million juniors take the PSAT, and less than one percent are named Semifinalists, according to the College Board. College and Career Specialist Paula Vantrease said that Redwood’s results do not reflect negatively on the school or impact its reputation of academic achievement. Vantrease said that these results were unexpected for both Redwood and the district as a whole. “It’s very surprising, but it is not just Redwood. There was only one semifinalist from the Tam district,” Vantrease said. Ryan Leary, a senior from Tam, is the only student from the Tamalpais Union High School District who has qualified to move on to the semifinalist round. Last year, five Redwood students of the class of 2015 were selected as semifinalists. In the past two years there has been an 89 percent decrease in the number of TUHSD students awarded semifinalist titles. In the class of 2014, nine TUHSD students were titled semifinalists, and then seven in the class of 2015.
Students who reached National Merit semifinals by year
Data from TUHSD
Infographic by Sam Sheridan
The semifinalist pool consists of the highest scorers within each state. Semifinalists have the opportunity to advance to the finalist round, where 7,400 National Merit Scholarships worth $32 million will be awarded, according to the NMSC. This year, California had a higher semifinalist cut-off score than in previous years, at 223 out of a limited 240-point scale. The cut-off score is different for each state and is the score needed to be in the top percentile Finalists will be named in February
of 2016 and scholarships will be awarded beginning in April. Though no Redwood students were semifinalists, NMSC announced commended students in late September. Approximately 3 to 4 percent of students typically receive the commended student award. This year the commended student title cut off score was 202. According to Vice Principal and PSAT Coordinator LaSandra White, 197 juniors (48 percent) and 212 sophomores (49 percent) participated in the Redwood PSAT, a similar number to previous years.
This year Redwood will host the PSAT exam on Oct. 14, a Wednesday, because the College Board will not offer the test on Saturdays, as in years past. All juniors are enrolled and will take the test for free. Weekday testing is an effort to increase equity and opportunity among students, according to The College Board. In 2016, however, The College Board will once again offer the PSAT date on a Saturday. afogarty@redwoodbark.org
Parking permits to be distributed to all upperclassmen By Caleigh Stephens
All juniors and seniors will receive parking permits despite the lack of spots, according to a newsletter Principal Sondheim sent out on Sept. 14. The emailed newsletter said that every upperclassman who applied will get a permit, but will not be guaranteed a parking spot. “As has been true for a number of years, more permits will be distributed than we have parking places meaning having a parking permit is not a guarantee of a parking place,” the newsletter stated. “Rather, a parking permit means a student has permission to park on campus.” In an attempt to find a solution to the issue, Assistant Principal Larry Pratt will be meeting with a committee composed of students, staff, and administration in the coming months. “[The committee] is to review the current process for assigning parking permits and to explore alternatives,” Pratt said. “Basically it is an exploratory committee looking for a more viable alternative.” Pratt is currently taking requests for those interested in joining, and is looking for a balance of different grade levels to ensure representation. According to Pratt, it is difficult for the administration to predict exactly how many students will apply for parking permits each year. As enrollment at Redwood grows, Pratt foresees that parking will become more of an issue. “There’s a growing student population, but the amount of parking spots are finite,” Pratt said. According to Pratt, there are only 325 parking spots available for student use. The permit applications totaled
Trish Brady The Carswell Family Stacie & David Cherner Pavlo Gesmundo & Christine Gregorak The Cico Family Clay & Katy Colvin Kristina & Steve Compadonico The Conrow Family The Corn Family The Corren Family Will & MIlena Dixon The Dudgeon Family The Duncan Family Mark & Janet Epstein
Photo by Caleigh Stephens
CINDI CLINTON DISTRIBUTES parking permits to students. All upperclassmen who applied will receive a permit, but not all will be guaranteed parking. 455, with 171 of the requests coming from juniors. Parking permits have been available to seniors since Sept. 10, but until Sept. 14 there was no word from administration on whether juniors would get them. Initially, the administration allowed only seniors to
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The Foehr family The Fogarty Family The Goldwasser Family Lisa Hannah The Herz Family Jim & Tami Jackson Sylvia Jones The Josef Family The Kimball Family Mike & Coral Kisseberth The Kreitzman Family Bill & Cori Lewis Kirby Bartlett & Lisa Choy Joan Lubamersky
pick up parking permits, and this led to massive outrage in the junior class, as many assumed that no juniors would receive parking permits at all. The junior class Facebook page was filled with angry comments and plans to protest, which included parking on the South Lawn and parking sideways in spaces, according to junior Mary Bello. “[The junior class] all banded together on social media, over Facebook and text, on how we were going to revolt,” Bello said. “People were angry, so extreme ideas popped up.” All information on the topic, erroneous or accurate, was spread through the group page, and according to Bello, rumors arose that not only would no juniors receive permits, but that the administration would be ticketing all permit-less cars that parked in the lots the day after permits were first handed out to seniors. Bello believes that the solution to hand out permits to all upperclassmen was good, as many juniors need to drive to school. “Many of us do extracurriculars and without driving our own vehicles, how are we going to get to them if they are far away?” Bello said. “If we want to [drive legally] and not carpool to those extracurriculars, then we have to have parking permits.” The junior class was brought together by its shared anger at the administration, according to Bello. “None of us have talked in the group Facebook page these whole two years as much as we have just now over these parking permits,” Bello said. “It was a really funny way for all of us to come together.” cstephens@redwoodbark.org
The Madison Family The Massik Family The McBride Family The Mogilnicki Family Barbara & Christina Owens Janet Raiche & Alan Perper Karin, Scott & Alex Peters The Petri Family Karin Rosen The Ross Family Jack & Ramelle Sholl Louis Smith Michelle & Alan Sullivan Paul & Paula Trish
Jim Granger & Yu-Ling Wang The Wintersteen Family Amy Young The Zhong Family
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Meet the 2015 Homecoming Court... Matt Ross
People know him as the accent extraordinaire, speed-stack king, and “Jeopardy” fiend. You can find Matt out on the soccer field practicing his shots or hanging out in the comfy chairs in the Bark room along with his fellow editorsin-chief. Matt has a passion for history and a secret love of cantaloupes. Matt loves the show “Between 2 Ferns” with Zach Galifinakis and hopes to one day pull off suspenders. Matt is currently perfecting his Australian accent, and has already mastered his Borat imitation. Don’t be shy about asking him if he’s grilling some shrimp on the barby out in the outback—he needs the practice!
Kendra Loo
Kendra Loo lives up to her title of being a “big joiner” by being part of the Leadership class, Peer Resource, and Redwood TV. As if that wasn’t enough, she also plays varsity lacrosse and field hockey. Kendra is Klooless when it comes to giving directions, but will do everything she can to welcome you to the Redwood community, even if she can’t find what class you are looking for. Her family members are her “home dogs” and her biggest support system. This support system likes to call her Hermione because they think she is a know-it -ll, but she doesn’t completely agree. Chris Evans is her celebrity crush at the moment.
Maxwell Glenn
The Will Ferrell-esque senior class secretary has participated in Leadership for three years, and also swims for the varsity swim and water polo team. Outside of the pool, he never stops believing, just like his favorite band Journey preaches. Few know that Max’s room is plastered with posters of Scarlett Johansson (shh don’t tell Erin). This year’s senior class’ Homecoming theme of “undercover” resonates well with the covert prince, due to his passion for James Bond films.
Bella Vega
You can find Bella scouring shops in Japantown, looking for inspiration for her fashion line that she wants to go to Japan to pursue. She’s even learning Japanese right now to prepare her for her future endeavours. She calls herself a “yogini”, which by definition is a female yogi. Bella can be at one with herself and with the dance floor as well. She has been dancing all her life and freshman year took a break-dancing class with a bunch of 6th grade boys…#goals. After high school, her plan is to move to her favorite place, New York, to jump start her fashion career.
Kenneth Wong
“When I was little, I had a chronic fear of showers,” said Kenneth Wong. “So my mom thought it was a good idea to sign me up for swim team.” If not for his mother, Kenny wouldn’t have found his passion for swimming. When he’s not in the water, Kenny can be found lighting up the drama stage with his contagious sense of humor. He calls himself a “somewhat competent chef” and still loves to cook all the time. He tests his recipes out on a guinea pig (a.k.a. his twin brother). Wong identifies with Jackie Chan because “he is the real MVP” and is not afraid to pursue his dreams-not to mention Wong’s grandmother met him.
Isaac Perper
“Tom Cruise is the most amazing person in the world, I don’t think he ever dies in his movies, so he’s invincible like me,” said Isaac Perper. Known for his luscious locks, the varsity soccer player will be taking control of the pitch in his second year as captain. He lives his life in the fastlane-but not on Highway 101. Isaac can whip up a mean lasagna, and with much persuasion is willing to share his coveted recipe. As if having luscious locks, culinary skills, and being a soccer stud isn’t enough, his GPA is out of this world. If you ever have any questions about life, Isaac and his ohso-beloved mane are willing to help you answer them.
Story and photos by Sydney Soofer
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Adelaide Shunk
“I don’t have time to live by quotes, I barely have time to eat meals,” said Adelaide Shunk. This is true-Adelaide is very busy as ASB president as well as a member of the varsity volleyball team. Believe it or not, the overachiever sucked on a pacifier until the age of four and a half and is still embarrassed about it. Adelaide has a passion for hiking, and also considers herself an AP U.S. history and biology nerd. One of her unexpected qualities is her extreme clumsiness. “Jennifer Lawrence usually falls on her face just like me, so props to J-law,” she said. She really looks up to Emma Watson and what Watson is doing to empower girls in the workplace.
Jason Seavey
Jason is quite the baker. Blondies, raspberry cake, brownies-you name it, Jason can bake it! The captain of the slam poetry team is striving to expand the slam poetry community and give the underground artistic community more coverage. Not only does Jason have a way with his words, he can also play a mean solo on the trumpet. He has a very long tongue and can pick his nose with it. He considers himself a leader when it comes to helping people achieve their musical goals, and aims to stimulate the artistic community at Redwood. He also identifies with Jason Segel, not only because they have the same name, but because of their eerily similar personalities.
Erin Gray
If anyone has a 1904 penny, let Erin Gray know because it’s the only coin she’s missing in her collection. The fouryear Leadership student enjoys suiting up in her unisuit for Marin Rowing and brightening peoples’ days. She’s currently the senior class president, and was part of the drama program at Redwood for three years. She plays the most portable instrument known to man, a crisp and to-the-beat percussion instrument, also known as the “clap.” Gray idolizes Emma Stone because she is a red-head like herself, and there aren’t that many cool ginger actresses out there. Gray also participates in the long-time Redwood tradition of hacky-sack.
James Cruz
Whether he’s cracking jokes during drama rehearsals or having a dance off with his friends, James never fails to make people smile and says that his natural high is making people laugh. He is an avid exerciser, who participates in martial arts and basketball with his friends. James looks up to Robin Williams and admires William’s quote, “Maybe the happiest of people are also the saddest of people because they know what it feels like to be sad, so instead they make others happy so they don’t feel the same sadness he sometimes does.”
Kim Vela
Kim Vela is known for being an “open book” and for co-producing Redwood TV for the past two years. She has a passion for filmmaking and acting and is currently producing the feature film “Flounder.” Kim also swings for the varsity golf team, which she thoroughly enjoys being a part of, even if she isn’t a Jordan Spieth. Interestingly enough, Kim can dislocate her collarbones on command as well as lick her elbows-a rare trait. It brightens her day to be able to see people’s reactions to Redwood TV every other Monday morning, and it motivates her to become a filmmaker.
Elly Lundberg
“This one time in Mexico this guy thought I was Bella Swan and kept chasing me around and calling me Bella,” said the allstar volleyball recruit Elly Lundberg. Elly radiates a light and fun vibe that she uses to go out of her way to be weird and help other people feel comfortable. Off the beach volleyball court, you can find Elly curled u p at her house watching “Vampire Diaries” and admiring the glistening and ageless skin of Damon and Stefan Salvatore. “My life is like a highway-speedy and fast,” Elly said. Elly is not afraid to be herself and doesn’t let the negative things that people say get to her. ssoofer@redwoodbark.org
opinion
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Syrian refugee crisis demands help from privileged By Catherine Conrow Since 2011, Syria’s bloody civil war has raged on. Approximately 12 million Syrians, more than half of the population, are in desperate need of assistance, according to the United Nations. Four out of five Syrians live in poverty, unemployment is at more than 50 percent, and four million Syrians have been displaced, creating a crisis unparalleled to any other refugee disaster in recent history. But not enough is being done to help the crisis. Why is it that we only started to wake up four years after the civil war began, when the images of a Syrian toddler’s dead body were trending on the internet? Or when the shocking images of the Keleti train station in Budapest were splashed on the front pages of international newspapers? These images tell a tragic story, one that can only hope to have a happy ending once the international community wakes up. The photos of the 3 year old’s body went viral under the hashtag #KiyiyaVuranInsanlik, a Turkish expression meaning “Humanity washed ashore.” It is a saying that seems to be an all too accurate description of the international community’s attitude towards the Syrian refugee crisis. These images are painful reminders of the ongoing tragedy and the overwhelmingly insufficient response on behalf of the world’s most powerful and wealthy countries. Instead of reacting to this severe crisis, we as Americans have been focused on the Pope’s travel schedule and the presidential race. The 2016 presidential election is more than a year away, but the Syrian Civil War is happening right now and the
refugee crisis requires immediate attention. Countless times I have heard people say that it is not the United State’s responsibility to provide support for refugees. However, I am forced to argue otherwise. I am from Armenia, a tiny Christian country east of Turkey and north of Iran. Many of my friends and family members moved to Syria following the Armenian Genocide in 1915. Syria provided my family refuge in their time of need, but they have since been forced to escape back to Armenia since the civil war broke out. This summer I talked to a Syrian friend of mine about the recent crisis. This girl looks like any other blonde 19 year old at Redwood, but her slight accent and war stories reminded me of how different her life in Syria was from our lives in Marin. She told of how, in recent months, it had became increasingly dangerous to leave her heavily guarded house in Syria–– her family had received threats because they were Christian. It is incredibly difficult for students in Marin to comprehend the dangers that Syrian refugees are fleeing. Most of us can’t even imagine what it would be like to witness the beheadings of neighbors, family members, and friends. Perhaps it is the scope of the brutalities that Americans are not supportive enough of refugees. We simply don’t understand their situation and the horrors they have to endure. And while one may argue that my personal ties to the refugee crisis is what has shaped my views, my response is: So what? We as Americans, and even more so as students, often think that because a crisis is so far away it is not our problem. But our world is interconnected in every way. We can ignore world crises as much as we want, but eventually these tragedies will make a global impact that affects us in the long run.
Illustration by Ella Flax
American foreign policy has ultimately contributed to the global refugee crisis. We have been arming Syrian rebels but have failed to keep the peace. It is for these reasons, along with the fact that the United States is the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world, that our assistance to refugees is long overdue. However, Americans are failing to pressure leaders to take action to help stop this global crisis. America’s response has been incredibly inadequate considering our country’s potential to make positive change. The United States has only welcomed 1,500 out of the four million Syrian refugees since 2011, according to the New York Times. The United States takes in approximately 70,000 refugees from all over the world, but will take in 85,000 refugees in the fiscal year 2016 and 100,000 in 2017. These are just slight changes, considering that the U.S. population is
nearly 320 million. Governments will not make changes to help refugees if citizens do not pressure them to do so. Students need to take action in order for meaningful change to be made, whether it be writing letters to representatives in Congress, signing petitions, or donating money to organizations that aid refugees, such as the Migrants Offshore Aid Station. Even the smallest actions can make a difference. We must remember that borders are just lines drawn on a map and are ultimately irrelevant. The suffering of people, regardless of their faiths, nationalities, genders, or politics, should never be ignored, especially by those of us with the luxury of safe homes and the power to help.
cconrow@redwoodbark.org
Religion isn’t justification for discrimination in court By Maxime Kawawa-Beaudan For the past month, a low-ranking government official has dominated the headlines of major newspapers. Kim Davis, a county clerk in Rowan county, entered the limelight when she continued to deny marriage licenses to gay couples after the Supreme Court’s ruling that gay marriage is a constitutional right. Last week, Pope Francis paid Davis a visit, arranging the meeting in secret and greeting her with a hug. The pope gave Davis a rosary, and reminded her to “stay strong.” He later said that the comment was a show of support for what he referred to as Davis’s use of conscientious objection. The entire meeting seems jarring, out of place—Pope Francis has become known for his progressive mindset and his forward thinking agenda. His liberal stances on social issues are difficult to reconcile with his tacit support for Davis’s disapproval of gay marriages (a disapproval that stems from her religion). Redwood students live in a community that, generally, models what acceptance and social tolerance should look like globally. Not only does San Francisco foster a sizable lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, but the Bay Area population maintains a largely welcoming and tolerant mindset. However, this is not the case in much of the United States. According to Pew Research’s 2013 survey, 92 percent of the LGBT community believes that society has become more accepting of their sexual orientations, but Davis and her supporters have proven that tolerance isn’t such a common virtue. Davis has already spent five days in a jail cell due to her actions, and this in itself is a laudable result. But the outcome of the national debate regarding this issue is more telling than the legal repercussions. If Americans continue to accept vacuous religious justifications as acceptable
Illustration by Simone Wolberg
explanations for intolerance, then we have a problem as a nation. Davis has attracted both widespread disapproval and support—after she was arrested and placed in a county jail, hundreds of Christian supporters gathered to demand her release. Their signs were pasted with the slogans that, unfortunately, have become familiar in the gay marriage debate—“Sodomy equals sin” and “Homosexuality is an abomination to God almighty.”
Davis and her lawyers supported her refusal to give out marriage licenses with largely abstract and ideological arguments about gay marriage betraying the demands of her “conscience.” But since when does one person’s “conscience” allow them to deny the pursuit of happiness for others? The entire debate boils down to this: there shouldn’t even be a debate. Davis is a government official. She’s a public servant, and her salary is provided by the taxes paid by American citizens (including gay citizens). Separation of church and state, as an exact term, was coined in the early 1800’s by Thomas Jefferson—though the central idea can be traced back even further than that. Two hundred years later, we as a nation shouldn’t even be having this discussion. Religious belief is simply not an acceptable or mature justification of a refusal of a Supreme Court decision. As a government official and public servant, Davis’s occupation has many similarities to that of a clerk at the DMV or a police officer. The salaries of these personnel are paid for by tax dollars, and fall under the umbrella of some government agency or another. Consider how ridiculous it would seem if a DMV clerk refused to give you your driver’s license because their “conscience” wouldn’t allow them, or if a police officer pulled you over because he was a Buddhist and your bumper sticker didn’t sit well with him? These arguments just aren’t valid—they’re insubstantial and inane. Government officials have no right to call upon “God’s authority” to defend their actions, and if they do, they seriously misinterpret the fundamental principles of their positions—public servants are extensions of the government’s decisions, not arbitrators of right and wrong.
mkawawa-beaudan@redwoodbark.org
Page 7 • Opinion
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Teacher tenure detrimental to student learning By Aaron Halford In a country that claims to provide equal opportunity and promote the general welfare for citizens of all socioeconomic classes, our education system does quite the opposite. In America, the socioeconomic divide between the lower and upper classes stems almost exclusively from the many flaws in our public education system. “As it stands now, more affluent children get better public schooling, which is against everything the country is supposed to stand for,” said economics teacher Paul Ippolito. “We don’t have equal opportunity if we don’t have equal access to education.” The growing gap between social classes results from our American public school system, in which progress is very slow and impactful change is nearly impossible. In the current, inflexible system, there are too many checks and balances. Schedules are difficult to change, bad teachers are difficult to get rid of, and teachers obtain tenure too easily. Within the system, ineffective schools generally continue to be failing schools for decades. Part of the issue schools face is that after teachers obtain tenure, much of their incentive to teach to the best of their ability goes out the window. In the free market, if a business or a restaurant does not earn sufficient profit, the owner is forced to close it, and the “invisible hand” of the economy will guide customers to competing businesses. In this sense, businesses have a natural check and balance. In the public school system, however, competition like this is unseen. “What is going to force a school to do better? There isn’t a lot because most employees in a school can’t really be fired. Most people don’t get bonuses if kids learn more. You’re not forced to improve,” Ippolito said. In California, teachers can obtain tenure in just 18 months, or two school years. Two years is not enough time for teachers to prove that they are capable of properly educating students. “It shouldn’t be that you work somewhere for two years, and you have a job for life. That’s not really true in any other industry,” Ippolito said. “It’s extremely hard to get rid of teachers who aren’t effective.” Last year, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge proposed laws declaring teacher job security unconstitutional, as well as detrimental to student learning. His attempt, however, was appealed by Governor Jerry Brown, as well as teacher unions that are extremely influential, as the National Education Association is the largest, and arguably most powerful union in the United States.
One of the keys to success and improvement in life is evaluation, which is something public schools do not do extensively enough. In order to progress, teachers need to have someone informing them about ways that they can improve their teaching, as doews a football team with post-game tapes. In addition to the lack of thorough evaluation of teachers, the effect an evaluation has on a teacher’s job is extremely minimal. Regardless of whether a teacher’s evaluation shows that their students are not learning the course material properly, their job security is practically unaffected. Substantial teacher evaluations should not depend on quantitative measurements like test scores, but on qualitative measurements such as student and additional peer feedback. Principals should have more flexibility in their ability to fire teachers with job security, and there needs to be a more free-flowing, creative system in the way teachers are evaluated. Furthermore, schools can’t be one-size-fits-all. The way Redwood can effectively teach its students to learn the course material successfully should not be the same way a school in a small town in the Midwest or a school in the inner-city should be managed. Schools need more flexibility, more local control, and a more supple workforce. During my three-plus years at Redwood, I’ve had at least one tenured teacher each year who is completely uninvested in their students. A few of my teachers have shown up late to class regularly, and some don’t even know my name by the end of a year of taking their class. Some won’t stay before or after class to help their students, and it seems as though the best teachers are those who make themselves constantly available to
ensure their students’ understanding of the course material. Generally, it seems that the teachers without tenure are trying to prove themselves as worthy of obtaining job security. As a result, they are the ones willing to stay before and after class to ensure the success and learning of their students. With tenure comes a lack of incentive for teachers to do their job well. While I understand many teachers believe tenure is necessary to sustain a suitable lifestyle and have peace of mind that the next paycheck is coming, tenure has been detrimental to the quality of students’ education. Change is slow, and if a tenured teacher’s students are not learning, not much can be done in the current system. The country’s education system has veered away from the goal of student understanding and learning and instead has shifted toward job security for teachers. In order to close the current socioeconomic divide that exists, and create equal opportunity for the country’s youth, we need to remove tenure in California public high schools.
ahalford@redwoodbark.org
Illustration by Olivia Sinclair
Don’t let isolation prevent us from clique-ing into place By Sabrina Dong The drama department’s recent premiere of “Heathers,” a musical that satirizes the exclusive scene and culture in high school, makes us examine the clique culture that is present in our own school. The plot of the musical chronicles the experiences of a girl named Veronica who is a member of the most popular clique in school. She begins a relationship with a rebellious boy named JD who pulls her into an elaborate plot to kill the popular students who bully those of lower social status. Though the events in “Heathers” are highly hyperbolized, the core ideas presented in the movie seemed familiar, as I have seen subdued versions of these exclusive posses since the beginning of my freshman year. While Redwood does not have a distinct social hierarchy based on stereotypes, as in “Heathers,” there are still many groups of friends who form tight-knit circles that are hard to break into. While it’s wonderful to feel close to a group of people, problems arise when people feel that they don’t belong anywhere. Feelings of isolation can lead to loneliness and depression in students, which can create a negative school environment. In Link Crew, we talk about how most of the bad experiences surrounding the culture at school stem from feelings of exclusion or social isolation. Contrary to stereotypes of high school bullying, as those shown in “Heathers,” physical bullying is
not a prevalent issue at Redwood. According to a September Bark survey only 29.27 percent of students have reported being bullied, while 60 percent of students have reported feelings of exclusion from a group or event. This is not surprising, as research suggests that tight-knit posses are common at schools like Redwood. According to studies on high school social dynamics by Stanford
researcher and education professor Daniel A. McFarland, students who attend smaller schools with less variety in class choice tend to be more inclusive. Larger schools that offer more electives and give students more freedom with everyday choices tend to have more cliques. It seems that students at Redwood tend to hang out with whomever makes them feel comfortable. These people may have common interests, be friends from middle school, or share the same gender,
age, or race. I have even heard people refer to different departments, such as Drama, Leadership, or Peer Resource as “cultlike.” Yet for some people, especially transfer and exchange students, it can be hard to find a place to belong in our social scene. It’s easy to dream of a perfect world where high school students from completely different social groups would join hands and sing “Kumbaya.” But that just wouldn’t be natural. According to many psychological theories, people have an innate need to form groups in order to feel like they belong. One well-known theory in psychology, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, says that humans are naturally motivated to satisfy basic needs.
Illustration by Eric Ahern
According to this theory, the need to belong is one of the most fundamental necessities of human existence, second only to physiological needs like food, water, and shelter. It is necessary to meet these needs in order to fulfill one’s full potential and find happiness. When students are isolated and left out of groups, they cannot fulfill their need to belong, which can negatively affect their mental health. According to a 2010 study in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, clique isolation is linked to loneliness and can lead to symptoms of depression. In the interest of the overall health and happiness of the student body, we should re-evaluate the way we interact with each other. We need to be more aware of the people around us, and reach out to those who seem lonely or isolated. Talk to somebody who you usually wouldn’t talk with. Invite that shy kid in your math class to lunch. A small act of inclusion could completely alter a person’s mood, and making an effort to help people feel like they belong can positively transform the culture at our school. Every student matters; we should make it a goal to not let any of our fellow classmates continue feeling alone or isolated. Each student is truly an important piece in our school puzzle and we must all come together to make each other feel connected. And then things will finally “clique” into place.
sdong@redwoodbark.org
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Page 8 • Opinion
October 9, 2015
bark
Redwood High School 395 Doherty Drive Larkspur, CA 94939 www.redwoodbark.org E ditors -I n -C hief
Olivia Dominguez Shiriel King Abramson Bella McWhorter Matt Ross
Friday night football games will light up our school spirit editorial Clear eyes, full hearts, bright lights, can’t lose!
Barks & Bites
It’s Thanksgiving Day, 1962, and 9,500 fans have come out for the Redwood football game. The bleachers are packed, the crowd is cheering, and the cheerleaders are tumbling. Friends sit together in clumps of red and black, and young kids watch eagerly, looking forward to the day they too can go to a school with so much spirit, where they can be a part of something larger than themselves. Unfortunately, Redwood hasn’t seen that level of enthusiasm in recent years. Crowds at Redwood tend to consist only of a small group of dedicated friends and family members of the players. This Saturday afternoon, there is likely to be a similarly dismal turnout at the Homecoming varsity football game. This football game is one of the traditional focal points of Homecoming week, where Redwood football will (hopefully) be victorious on our own field and the Homecoming King and Queen will be announced. And yet, past attendance at football games suggests that few students are likely to show up. Whether it be because we expect the game will be boring or think our friends won’t want to go, we dismiss these opportunities in favor of things that may seem more exciting or socially acceptable. With the extraordinary variety of activities in the Bay Area, it seems there is always some trip to Tahoe, bonfire in San Francisco,or house party to attend instead. In contrast, on Friday, Sept. 25, about 100 Redwood students showed up to Kezar stadium in San Francisco to watch varsity football play Mission High School for the “Under the Lights” game organized by the Pigskin Club, parent boosters of the athletes. Despite the bad traffic and hour-long drive to the stadium, many upperclassmen made the trek to watch their team play. While 100 students isn’t a large turnout compared to what other high schools might get, it is more than Redwood can usually brag about. This outpouring of support for the football team has been mostly unparalleled in recent years. But what if the high turnout at Kezar Stadium wasn’t such an anomaly? If Redwood could host night games on our own football field, which is much more accessible than San Francisco for most students, we could gather the student body together in whole-hearted support of our team. It could prompt a resurgence of school spirit that Redwood has been lacking. Recent attempts to add lights to Piper Park sporting fields were flooded by complaints of potential noise and unwanted loiterers, according to minutes of a meeting of the Larkspur Parks and Recreation Commission in 2012. Similar attempts to install them at Redwood in the early 2000s were blocked by neighbors, especially those in Greenbrae A BARK to NASA for confirming the existence of flowing water on Mars. Wet. A BITE to South Carolina for its major floods. If you don’t want the water, we’ll take it! A BARK to the varsity football team for beating Novato for the first time in 19 years. It looks like the hornets just got stung. A BITE to the SF Giants for not making the playoffs and ultimately having no World Series title. What will be our excuse to skip school and go party in the city now? A BARK to the rally and a “Giant” shoutout to the
Hills, according to Mike Dibley. However, what these neighbors might not consider are the potential benefits that lights and nighttime football games would bring to the Larkspur community. Not only could the lights boost school spirit, but they could also foster a sense of community among neighbors, parents, and students. The Redwood community has proven itself to be supportive in the past. Students have been enthusiastic about the volleyball and basketball teams as well as events such as the 2014 lip dub, showing that the student body has the potential to be at least as supportive of other sports and Redwood as a whole. Additionally, nighttime football games would provide an alternative to partying and drinking, something that would benefit the surrounding neighborhood as well as the community as a whole. With the police station right across the street, there is less risk of the rowdiness and danger that many parents and community members worry about. The idea of uniting our community through sports, especially football, is not radical. When one thinks about the the quintessential American high school experience, widely attended football games are a central theme. And while much of this expectation stems from exaggerated portrayals of high school in popular culture––“Friday Night Lights,” for example, depicts massive crowds attending high school football games––it does remind us of the ability of sporting events to bring together a community. For those seeking that type of community, allowing Redwood to install lights on the football field could promote the same school-wide spirit glorified in popular culture, but on a more realistic level. With a supportive crowd to cheer them on, the football players could continue to succeed and even improve, which could facilitate higher attendance to games, fostering an even stronger sense of community. We urge the surrounding community to reconsider their opposition to lights being installed on the football field due to selfish reasons. With lights to draw enthusiastic crowds, we could boost school spirit, and, more important, unify Redwood and our local community.
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 the Bark mailbox in the facility. They may also be emailed to bark@redwoodbark.org.
homecoming court. A BITE to Leadership for changing the name of Powder P u ff t o K l a s s y K i c k o ff . Congrats, you changed it from one stupid alliteration to one that’s even more stupid. A BARK to the Pope’s bowel movements. Holy sh*t. A BITE to the Homecoming theme for being “Underwhere,” not “Underwear.” We thought we finally had a chance to show our Calvins. A BARK to the fact that Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. A headache in the morning is better than a cavity.
A BITE to stores that already have holiday decorations. You just remind us how close finals are. A BARK to the decorated hallways for Homecoming week, they are heavenly. Led Zeppelin would approve. A BITE to people who ask for homework pictures every day. If you’re not gonna do the homework then neither are we. 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.
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Erin Schneider P O L I C Y: A l l e d i t o r i a l s a r e unsigned and have been approved by the majority of the Bark staff.
Page 9 • Feature
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Youth Activists: The voice of tomorrow
SENIOR RUBY ELSON recruits members for WORD during club day with the help of Anne Gamboni (left), a member of their San Francisco chapter. Photo by Chloe Wintersteen
By Jenna Herz In recent weeks, Facebook and Twitter have been flooded with long rants and supportive pictures in response to the Planned Parenthood funding debate. Teens have overlayed their profile pictures with “I stand with Planned Parenthood” filters, as well as posted diatribes against those with different views on the matter. This outreach by the youth community is not in any way new. In fact, youth activists have spearheaded many social and political movements throughout the centuries. “Teenagers feel things so strongly, so if they see something that seems unjust or unfair or wrong, they want to [make it right] and I just think that that drives students,” said guidance counselor Lynne Kennedy. “They don’t have some of the cynicism that some adults can have after they’ve weathered a few bumps.” There are many different reasons why people become activists, according to sociologist Susan Rahman, a professor at College of Marin. “It could be frustration with the system that they’re living in and wanting to see it different. I’ve also seen it where people join because their friend is doing it and so they end up getting into it,” Rahman said. Psychologist Mary Ann Barr said that because adolescence is a period of finding oneself, teenagers are more compelled to join strong political movements. “What we all go through is a period of time when we’re trying to find our identities,” Barr said. “It’s basically through the period of adolescence to early adulthood.” According to Rahman, activism is usually something that people get involved in during college. However, in recent years, high school students have been getting more involved through student clubs that bring to light a lot of world issues, Rahman said. An outspoken member of the activist community at Redwood is senior Ruby Elson. “The stereotype is that teenagers are angry, but the reason why we’re so angry is because we’re growing up and realizing how [expletive] the world can be,” Elson said. Elson spent her summer interning
at an organization called ANSWER, an acronym for “Act Now to Stop Wars and End Racism.” The organization partners with a program called WORD, “Women Organized to Resist and Defend,” which Elson has turned into a club at Redwood. “A common question I get is: What are we resisting? What are we defending? My response to that is: We’re defending our autonomy as women and we’re trying to resist our socialized conditions under the patriarchal rule,” Elson said. Elson has always considered herself a feminist and activist, and said she draws inspiration from her childhood. Her father ran a free health clinic at Haight and Ashbury for 15 years, and her grandfather defended both the Black Panthers and Mario Savio, and did pro bono work for criminals facing the death penalty. “I remember going to protests when I was little,” she said. “I went to one about genocide in Darfur when I was 7.” People who have a life long upbringing in doing work in the service of others have a good chance of going into activism themselves, according to Rahman. “For people who are brought into [activism] at a very young age, it’s just normal,” Rahman said. “Activism in the
Photo by Jenna Herz
JUNIOR LILY KANE-DACRI addresses the Amnesty International Club during a weekly Friday meeting.
family is a good way to fuel activism in people, but I don’t think it’s the only way.” To Elson, being a feminist means refusing to let women be told how they are allowed to live their lives. “Abortion rights and healthcare and reproduction rights are being called into question ––we are still working our butts off to defend our rights,” Elson said. “It sucks not being able to do what I want because of perceived gender construction.” According to Rahman, an essential part of being an activist is finding your voice. “ H a v i n g Lily Kane-Dacri, your voice heard junior is [important] especially for teens,” Rahman said. “Being a teenager often is a time where people don’t listen to you and it shouldn’t be that way. To be an activist and to be asking for things and using your power is really nice.” Elson is not the only Redwood student who chooses to confront world problems through activism. Junior Lily Kane-Dacri is an active member of the Amnesty International Club at Redwood, which campaigns for political human rights issues in order to bring awareness to global human rights violations. Former president and now treasurer, Kane-Dacri said she’s an activist because she believes it’s her duty to try to fix the problems she sees in the world. Kane-Dacri said that being born in China makes her more interested in learning about international events. “I know a lot of my friends don’t even know what’s happening in the world and I think it’s really important to become an adult who understands the full picture,” Kane-Dacri said. “I think it’s just being educated, bringing awareness to others, and being involved. I really feel a part of some of the issues, especially in China. I think that’s one of the reasons why I’m really drawn to foreign human rights violations.” According to Rahman, the amount of information available nowadays makes it
easier for teens to be more informed on what is going on in the world. “Even if you live in Marin County, you can see what’s going on in Ferguson or in Oakland where there’s police brutality,” Rahman said. “Maybe that makes you angry so maybe there are ways that you can get involved with Black Lives Matter,” As a member of the Amnesty International club, Kane-Dacri participates in activities, like human rights scavenger hunts and letter writing to corrupt governments that use templates from the actual Amnesty International organization. “We write letters to governments saying, ‘Hey, we’re out here and we see what you’re doing and it’s wrong,’” Kane-Dacri said. Kane-Dacri believes teens join activist movements because once they become educated, they feel compelled to solve problems “I think there’s a very small percentage of youth who actually understand what’s happening and those small groups want to do something,” she said. According to Kane-Dacri, being an activist is about being educated, bringing awareness to others, and being involved. Yet, according to Barr, when activists make change in their communities, they are not only affecting those around them–– they’re increasing their own senses of belonging. “None of us want to be out there alone. No matter what age you are, whether you’re five, 15, 20, or 65,” Barr said. “You feel like you have to belong to something. Along with a sense of belonging, a mental and emotional benefit can be gained through activism, according to Rahman. “Doing good work is karmically good for people,” Rahman said. “If you do any sort of work where you volunteer or help in anyway you feel good inside. That gratification is something that feeds people and gets them interested in doing activist work.”
There’s a very small percentage of youth who actually understand what’s happening....
jherz@redwoodbark.org
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Page 10 • Feature
October 9, 2015
‘Master cell’ may hold key to longevity, disease prevention By Simone Wolberg Hearts, lungs, neurons: all essential to life, all irreplaceable –– until now. Known as “master cells,” stem cells may hold the key to tissue regeneration, organ replacement, and disease prevention, according to recent research from local labs. Greer Gurewitz, Redwood alumna and biochemistry major at Washington University in St. Louis, sees the benefits of stem cells. “Stem cells are really the state zero of cells. They can be induced and made into any other type of cell,” Gurewitz said. “The whole point of regenerative medicine is that cells can go back in the body, replace unhealthy cells, and thereby cure disease.” As an intern for the Buck Institute, a Novato-based center for aging research, Gurewitz saw “master cells” at work. Findings from the Buck’s Zeng, Ellerby, and Jasper labs, along with data from its new stem cell bank, the largest in the world, help further this medical frontier. Dr. Xianmin Zeng, head of the Zeng lab at the Buck Institute, hopes to cure Parkinson’s disease with the help of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). iPSCs are adult cells that have been genetically reprogrammed to an embryonic stem cell–like state. “My lab uses pluripotent stem cells to generate neurons lost to Parkinson’s disease,” Zeng said. “The hope is that these nerve cells will function as normal dopamine-producing neurons.” By replenishing dopamine levels in
the brain, it is expected that patients will recover motor functions lost to Parkinson’s disease. Zeng’s lab is currently using its own perfected methods to modify its nerve cell preparations for possible human treatments, such as cell replacement therapy. Huntington’s disease, another neurodegenerative disorder that inhibits movement, may also be cured through iPSCs, the Buck Institute postulates. Gurewitz assisted in testing this hypothesis during her internship at the Ellerby lab her senior year. The Ellerby lab is replacing neurons damaged by Huntington’s disease with healthy neurons derived from pluripotent stem cells. “I stained iPSCs and analyzed them through special computer programs during the week of my internship,” Gurewitz said. “Staining stem cells is a lot harder than it seems. They come in a dehydrated form so you first have to hydrate them, then discern the different regions within the cell, and then stain correctly.” After Gurewitz stained the slides, the neuronal stem cells were analyzed for Huntington’s disease under a microscope. Not only are specific diseases in study, but so are greater relationships. In the Buck Institute’s Jasper Lab, head researcher Dr. Heinrich Jasper is exploring the link between stem cells and aging. According to Jasper, stem cells stop functioning due to damage within the cell or altered conditions within the aging body. Each type of stem cell degenerates differently with age. “There are stem cells in the intestine, the skin, the blood system, etc. All of these
Graphic Courtesy of Piktochart
Infographic by Simone Wolberg
stem cells tend to behave differently with age,” Jasper said. “For example, in the blood system we see a lot of stem cells become hyperactive and actually become skewed in shape, so that they differentiate into the wrong type of cell. This leads to dysfunction.” Jasper is studying ways to prevent such dysfunction in flies. He is specifically monitoring the effect of intestinal stem cell conditions on the overall health of flies. “We have found ways to improve how the flies absorb nutrients by manipulating certain genes within their intestinal stem cells,” Jasper said. “We can essentially bring the fly’s tissues back to a more youthful state, improving their metabolic
health.” While these efforts and results are promising, Jasper believes it will be a while before stem cell technologies are perfected. “Stem cell therapy, the use of stem cells to treat or prevent disease, is already in practice. It has potential, but I think it will take another decade until it is used on a large scale,” Jasper said. “Stem cells, if wrongly prepared, can turn cancerous. We must solve these problems before we use stem cells to repair major organ tissues.”
swolberg@redwoodbark.org
An inside glimpse: Seniors open up about Peer Resource By Camille Kawawa-Beaudan Peer Resource has been a relatively quiet force within the Redwood community. Taking an inside glimpse at what the class stands for and what the class wants to accomplish, two students discuss the stigmas and accomplishments of the group. It was during his sophomore year that Laub was first introduced to Peer Resource, or PR. The occasional poster hanging around the school and small promotional videos reminded him of the class’s existence. But it wasn’t until his junior year that he became interested in the class after hearing players on his basketball team talk about PR. Now a member of the class, Laub has come to realize the variety of things that PR does, which includes preparing for events and working with the Wellness Center directors to organize a resource that Redwood students need and will use. “I know the stigma is we do nothing, and I understand that because we’re not going to be in everyone’s daily lives. The Bark releases newspapers all the time, Redwood TV is on every other week, so all these extracurricular groups are functioning, and we’re kind of just there,” Laub said. Senior Hall Darden, a returning PR student, said the stigma around the class revolves more around the topic of drugs and alcohol. “People think that we’re hypocrites, especially with drugs and alcohol,” she said. “Something that we want to stress [about] drugs and alcohol [is] we’re not saying don’t use drugs and alcohol. We’re just here to make it a safer experience for you. It’s your decision, we’re not there to tell you not to do it.” Additionally, Darden believes that Redwood students have a negative view about counseling, which she believes leads to fewer people using PR and the counseling office. “I think that there’s a stigma of getting help at Redwood, which is sad because I believe that talking to someone is a great way to help yourself heal or get through things,” Darden said. “I see that there’s a big bubble around the counselor’s office, and when you go in there, there’s this whole misconception that something’s wrong with you.” PR students sign confidentiality agreements stating that any meeting between a student and a Peer Resource student will be confidential between the two. The class also signs a confidentiality agreement among themselves, which Darden and Laub feel allows for a more trusting environment. “One quality that follows every year is our importance of trust and confidentiality. That’s the base of our class, because nothing is going to happen if no one trusts each other,” Darden said. “The class is solely built upon our
Photos by Camille Kawawa-Beaudan
SENIORS NICK LAUB (above) and Hall Darden (below) share stories about their experience in Peer Resource.
lives and what we share in class. When someone opens up, they are telling people that they trust them, and that makes other people more comfortable.” The trust that PR students have in each other, combined with the class’s enthusiasm, has created a tight-knit family according to both Laub and Darden, who describe their peers and themselves as compassionate and willing to help others. “I feel that PR is effective [because] you’re talking to someone who is being confidential and does care,” Laub said. “I genuinely do care about all the people in my class and anyone who would ask to be helped or just talk.” However, willingness to help doesn’t mean PR students will give peers the answers to all their problems, according to Laub. “We are not here to give you solutions or ideas to solutions because everyone’s issues are different, and ways to find solutions for everyone is different,” Laub said. The class is to be used as an additional resource for students who want to talk to someone but aren’t
comfortable talking to an adult. “I think that having a peer instead of an adult is a different feeling because talking to an adult is great and they may have great ideas, but I feel more comfortable opening up to a friend of mine or someone who’s my age than telling all the things I might have done wrong to an adult,” Laub said. However, training and spirit isn’t enough to make the program work. According to Darden, Peer Resource has tried every year to market the class in an effort to broaden its presence at Redwood. “This year we’re really going to try to get the word out, even though we try every year, but we’ll try it again,” Darden said. “Everyone is really pumped up and I know I can tell you that every single student wants to be there and wants to make a difference at Redwood. I’m really excited to see what happens because we have a lot of potential to actually make a difference.” Despite Peer Resource’s relative lack of use, Laub is hopeful that it will become more commonly used within the next couple years, especially with the opening of the Wellness Center. “There are going to be counselors who will be working with PR,” Laub said. “These counselors are for mental and psychological support and things that you want to talk about or things you want to get off your chest.” Like in Peer Resource, the counselors won’t offer solutions to problems, but rather listen and help students find their own solutions. Additionally, the Wellness Center will have a space for students to sit and relax, grab some water or a bar, and find time to be calm and sort out their thoughts. “Our hope with the Wellness Center is that it won’t just help the kids with an eating disorder or a mental illness, but rather help everyone at Redwood, which will also help those kids by making them not feel alienated by going,” Laub explained. Over time, Laub has come to realize that although many believe Peer Resource to be a place to talk about issues with a peer, it can also be a place to talk about major accomplishments that they would otherwise be too shy to talk about. “Peer resource is both a great way to express yourself in things that are going poorly in your life but, one thing I didn’t realize, [also] when things go well,” Laub said. “I think it’s a place to share, not just to talk about issues, and I hope that’s one thing about PR that people find out about.”
ckawawa-beaudan@redwoodbark.org
bark Senior diagnoses the current health care controversy Page 11 • Feature
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“Acting hypocritic when you should be hippocratic” RALLYING AGAINST POOR conditions and patient care, health care workers take part in a two-day rally in front of the San Rafael Healthcare and Wellness Center on Aug. 21. Photo by Annie Forsman
By Annie Forsman
Malpractice
“Hey Nana Mimi, it’s Jace. I love you... I am really going to miss you,” said Jason Seavey to his coma-stricken grandmother, seconds before hanging up the phone in disbelief. At 10 years old, Seavey did not know what to make of the experience, let alone the thought of death itself. Minutes prior to the phone conversation with his ailing and unconscious grandmother, he had been playing video games at his friend’s house. However, after the unforeseen final conversation with his grandmother, Seavey’s innocence was shaken. It was not until a few years ago that his father explained to him the full truth behind his grandma’s passing. Seavey, a senior, said he always thought of his grandmother’s death as a sickness induced by cancer or old age. Nana Mimi, or Mary Seavey, had a life cut short in the fall of 2008 due to malpractice. Medical malpractice occurs when a health care provider engages in professional negligence, meaning that they perform a procedure in a medical facility that is below the accepted standards of practice, causing in most cases medical error, such as death or injury. This could mean a doctor uses unsanitized tools during a procedure, leading to the patient contracting an infection, or a doctor could act hastily and fail to engage in thorough presurgery steps, resulting in a mistake during the procedure that causes serious injury or permanent damage to the patient. “The doctor made a mistake. On one level it was just a human mistake that cost the life of my grandmother,” Seavey said. “On the other hand, what if there had been a failsafe or some sort of structure put in place to ensure that things like that do not happen?” Seavey said the malpractice was due to a lack of communication between doctors regarding a missing medication. His grandmother’s doctor neglected to cross reference with her medical history to find out what medications she was on, so the procedure put her body into shock.
Photo by Annie Forsman
SEAVEY PERFORMS his slam poem at a health care strike, by request of his uncle, who works for NUHW.
Physician Rebecca Shunk, a Redwood parent and Associate Chief of Staff for Education at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, educates medical professionals on how to reduce common medical errors that lead to an estimated 100,000 deaths and severe injuries annually. According to Shunk, medical errors can be avoided by implementing basic, fundamental communication techniques and training between teams of doctors, similar to the communication norms seen within fast food companies. “When they ask at In-N-Out Burger what you would like and you tell them what you want, they read it back to you,” Shunk said. “We need to implement those same things in health care. It seems really silly, since as a health care consumer you may assume it’s happening. Unfortunately that kind of training is not that commonly implemented.” Seavey’s new understanding of the events leading to his grandmother’s death brought him face to face with the controversial issues surrounding modern health care.
Unions
Another reason why Seavey became interested in health care reform was the influence of his uncle, Fred Seavey, who holds a leadership position at the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) as the Research Director and Executive Board Secretary-Treasurer. “What [Fred] is doing is representing janitors in hospitals, or nurse practitioners, the people you don’t think about in hospitals, who are still there,” Seavey said. “Often times because of the way health care is set up and because of the relationships between big time unions and health care corporations, those people often get left behind.” After discovering the truth behind his grandmother’s death and speaking about the controversies with his uncle, Seavey composed a slam poem about his take on the health care system for the Tri-School Poetry Slam Competition last spring, where he received overwhelming applause and numerous standing ovations. On Friday, Aug. 21, Seavey performed his slam again at the second day of a strike at the San Rafael Healthcare and Wellness Center, by request of his uncle. “My experience [with the health care system] is something that is very personal to me,” Seavey said. “Obviously malpractice is in a different category than the mistreatment of health care workers or health care unions, but for me it is just one more reason to look deeper and get to know other people’s stories.” Several red and white NUHW signs bobbed in the hands of protesters, containing thick black wording, such as, “Enough Greed,” “Pay Us What We Are Worth,” and “Standing Up For Our Patients and For Our Jobs.” The two-day event consisted of 60 NUHW workers, community leaders, and caregivers striking against the facility’s owner, Bruis Healthcare Service, which operates more than 80 nursing homes in the country. Workers were rallying against poor conditions, decreasing patient care, and extreme understaffing in the local nursing facility, which was given a onestar ranking out of five from Medicare,
according to NUHW. “I think my poem related to [the workers’] struggles in that it was critical of the massive injustices that occur throughout modern health care,” Seavey said. “It wasn’t as much something where I was pointing fingers as much as it was trying to represent all the people who get left behind, the complaints that go unanswered, and all the hurt that goes ignored.” Furthermore, Seavey said that the strike was primarily rooted in the fact that employees had been working without a contract for about 18 months, due to the recent switch of workers from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to NUHW, the rival union. “Since the leadership has changed, there has been horrible, horrible miscare. At times the patient to nurse ratio will be 49 to one, and there has been a steep rise in bedsores and other issues rising out of neglect,” Seavey said. “Basically, all these cost-cutting measures are having a real human effect, which isn’t fair and isn’t representative of the care they deserve.” After interning this summer for several weeks at Schneider Wallace, a national law firm that protects low-wage workers, Seavey said he began to recognize how unions have power to enact change for health care workers. According to Seavey, one wage worker may not have the funds or Jason Seavey, the courage to hire a senior lawyer and go after big health care companies, such as the ones listed in his poem’s line, “Rounding back to rubbing alcohol, which heals through pain, I think Kaiser, Cigna, Aetna, United Health, Blue Shield, and Humana should take a dose to clear their name.” In a union, however, an assembly of people can possess considerable influence due to the quantity of their voices and arguments, that can eventually lead to social change. Senior Erik Renner, Seavey’s classmate, explained that many of the issues in today’s health care system are due to misplaced incentives in businesses. For instance, due to the Affordable Care Act, signed by President Obama in 2010, businesses with more than 50 full time employees must offer qualified and affordable health benefits or pay a tax penalty. This new act has placed an incentive on smaller marginal businesses to keep their staff smaller than 50 or use mainly part time employees, Renner said. “There should be measures taken to make sure there are not as many loopholes [in the health care system reform], or that the incentives are rightly placed, so that we gain the most out of what we are doing,” Renner said. “We just need to make our health care system more efficient and make it cost less.” Senior Stevie Becker thinks that the current health care system has a “mind boggling” level of inefficiency that has resulted in health care workers with insufficient salaries and pensions, as well as patients with poor quality health
coverage and care. “I think [the inefficiency] is due to classic crony capitalism, where because of the private nature of the system, the big health care companies and the big health care insurance companies are able to work together. The end result is that the pensions of the workers are reduced and the consumer gets a worse product,” Becker said.
Government Seavey said that the entire structure of the current health care system is so convoluted that reform in any direction would be positive. Seavey alludes to this notion in his poem when he states, “I think those health care providers should take a dose of germicide, since their issue have become an infection, grade A certified. Though that rub in the right direction may hurt their bottom line, I believe change in any way, nationalized or laissez, would benefit the generation after yours and mine.” In this line he is looking forward to the future of health care reform. Almost everyone involved wants the same thing: the best care for the most people. However, according to Seavey, liberals and conservatives cannot seem to agree on the ultimate form of the solution. Seavey believes that instead of turning this issue into a controversial conflict between two parties, people should take a utilitarian approach. Similarly, Becker said that he began to really think about health care reform after hearing Seavey’s slam poem last spring. “It’s just sort of this general picture I have of a young 20 something or a homeless person or a retired person who just has no access to the health care they need. Not just need in sort of a soft sense, but it is vital to their very survival,” Becker said. “I think that [health care] is something that should be guaranteed and procured for every citizen.” According to Seavey, health care is a great issue for high school students in our area to become involved in because it’s a local, national, and global issue. “You could go over to the inner-city and help make sure that homeless people are getting the care they need, or you could go up to San Rafael and participate in a nursing home strike,” Seavey said. “It crosses boundaries. You can really be involved in health care reform no matter where you are.”
You can be involved with health care reform no matter where you are.
aforsman@redwoodbark.org
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UP IN F
THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FU
High winds, dry ground put Marin County at fire risk By Andrew Hout and Keely Jenkins Burning 76,000 acres at its peak, the Valley Fire flew across dehydrated land, edged on by 25-mile-per-hour winds. The third most devastating fire in California’s history, the Valley Fire has destroyed approximately 2,000 homes in Lake County, injured four firefighters, and killed four citizens. Fires have been numerous throughout the summer and despite being alleviated from the drought, Marin remains at a high fire risk. Marin’s vulnerability to large fires is prompted by record-breaking drought conditions, all of which have caused the Marin County fire department to consider Marin to be at a high fire risk. With an Indian summer creating a hotter climate and drying vegetation, aspects of the Valley Fire could repeat themselves here in Marin County, under the right weather conditions, according to Larkspur Fire Captain Tom Timmer. “The winds come off the valley, off Sacramento; they’re all offshore so they push the fog out into the ocean and the wind decreases. That’s when the fuels dry out,” Timmer said. If a vegetation fire like the Valley Fire were to occur in Marin County, a high population density along with the small, one-way roads in areas such as Ross would lead to utter disaster, according to Kelly Maurer, a Valley Fire victim who previously worked at Marin General as a trauma nurse. Maurer, whose son and daughter were in the vehicle with her, drove across a golf course and through a wall of fire in order to escape the flames. She was among multiple residents of Lake County who experienced panic and traffic congestion because of the last-minute notices to evacuate their homes. The speed and ferocity of the fire forced those fleeing to be hasty. Many residents did not have enough
Photo by Keely Jenkins
DESPITE THE RECENT loss of their homes, the residents of Lake County pay tribute to the firefighters who helped them . time to grab pets and important belongings. This disorganization could be observed in Marin, as 54.5 percent of Redwood students have a precautionary evacuation plan according to a September 2015 Bark survey. “A lot of people wait until the last minute to evacuate, which is extremely dangerous. You should never try to do that. You should never try to save your home,” said Fernando Herrera, a Captain with Cal Fire who was stationed at the evacuation center at the Napa Fairgrounds. “We heard stories of people waiting until the last minute. Luckily they were able to make it down to a safe area, but then there are probably a lot of people who didn’t make it,” Herrera said. Timmer also emphasized the importance of not procrastinating when evacuating from a fire. Maurer said it interferes with the firefighters trying to battle the flames and jeopardizes the safety of the people. “If there’s a fire anywhere near, just
Inforgraphic by Andrew Hout
grab all your stuff and get it in the car and just go. Don’t wait for evacuation notices––we didn’t get one,” Maurer said. Citizens can perform a number of safety measures to protect their homes, like watering down their houses and clearing the surrounding bushes, according to Herrera and Timmer. One 75-year-old Middletown resident, Roy Sabraw, immediately took action to save his house when he received news of the fire. “A friend and I at the ranch were up quite late Saturday night cutting the firebreak out in the back pasture and hosing down the buildings until we had to leave at about 11 o’clock when the electricity went out and we had no more water pressure,” Sabraw said. “I’ve found that our houses are still standing, thanks to our efforts Saturday night. We have a home to go back to.” In the Lake County area, many patches of houses were completely burned to the ground, while others in the middle of the fire’s path were unscathed. The burned areas look like they’ve been demolished by bombs, with possessions barely detectable among the ashes. “When you go to town now, a friend’s house will be standing in the middle of the block [with] no damage at all, but everything around it is gone,” Sabraw said. “It’s almost eerie how the fire picks and chooses its targets, where it’s going to go and what it’s going to do.” Herrera recommended Sabraw’s prevention methods and listed a number of other precautions homeowners should take. Among other precautions, residents can trim trees away from roofs, remove dry shrubbery from the perimeters of houses, move propane tanks at least 30 feet, and keep gutters clean, according to Herrera. Marin County’s susceptibility to fires is apparent when looking into the past of the Bay Area. In 1991, the Tunnel Fire in the Oakland Hills consumed 3,469 homes, 2,000 vehicles, and 25 lives, making it the worst fire to burn in California, according to Cal Fire. The fire, which was spurred
on by winds, occurred just across the bay. Taking place during the middle of a 6 year drought, which lasted from 1987-1992, rainfall levels fell to fewer than 40 inches, according to the Marin Municipal Water District. “We have similar topography to that. We have similar areas, but it’s all about the weather and the right condition so hopefully that will never happen,” Timmer said. Nevertheless, fires have burnt through Marin before. In 1929, The Great Mill Valley Fire destroyed 110 homes and caused more than a $1 million in damage. During that year Marin County saw extremely low amounts of rainfall (fewer than 30 inches) and it marked the beginning of a 6 year drought (1929-1934). This was the first drought of the 20th century. It was a hot summer day of 98 degrees and winds were up to 35 mph. This fire was the most disastrous fire of Marin’s history, from a monetary standpoint, even though it was contained at 1000 acres. The largest fire in Marin’s recorded history occurred in September of 1923, when flames engulfed 40,000 acres from Novato to the Alpine Dam. The next year had the lowest amount of rainfall in Marin’s recorded history: fewer than 20 inches. Although last year Marin County received fewer than 40 inches, the amount is still not enough to replenish the brush or end the drought. All of these fires occurred in years of low rainfall and show that fire risk is more prominent when in the midst of a drought. Marin is no exception, since dry grounds with the addition of an Indian summer indicates that the possibility of a vegetation fire, like the one that destroyed Lake County, is alarmingly high.
bark@redwoodbark.org
FLAMES
UTURE OF CALIFORNIA FIRES
Dealing with uncertainty: Fire victims respond to sudden tragedy By Gregory Block and Henry Tantum A truck melted to the ground. A house burned to ash. A lone street sign, looming over a deserted road. The night of the fire, people were forced to leave everything behind to raging flames. And then, they were forced to wait, uncertain of what would come. Everyone affected by the fire has a different story to tell, some of escape, some of loss, and some of uncertainty.
Just Get ‘er Done “Sort of the country way of doing things. You band together, pull together, just get ‘er done.” Roy Sabraw sits on the bed of his truck, his dog at his feet, with glints of sadness in his eyes. He ponders his own good fortune, but also the losses of his friends and community. Sabraw’s home was one of the few that survived the Valley Fire in the first few nights of the disaster in early September. Thanks to his efforts the night the fire began, his house withstood the blaze. The fire impacted Sabraw not through physical loss, but through the emotional toll of uncertainty. Sabraw, 75, is a Middletown resident who lives on a ranch in the area. As the flames approached, Sabraw cut a firebreak and hosed down buildings on his ranch to increase the chance it would survive the fire. Although his house was untouched by the fire, he was unaware of this until many days after the evacuation. For Sabraw, that uncertainty made leaving very difficult. “Leaving like that is rather strange in a way that when you go away for a weekend or a week... you have a home to come home to,” Sabraw said. “But when you don’t know if you have a home anymore, [it’s a] strange feeling. I’m 75 years old and I’ve never had that feeling before.” Uncertainty was pervasive throughout
the evacuation camps. Most residents were ordered to evacuate with very little notice due to the rapid pace of the flames. They were forced to leave behind the majority of their possessions as well as their homes, with little idea of what would happen. To make matters worse, most evacuees were unable to receive information about the state of their homes or belongings, according to Sabraw. Although his home did not perish, Sabraw said his friends lost barns, homes, and livestock. The more time he spent in the evacuation site, the more he wanted to return home. “Right now all of us here just want to get back to our homes. It’s difficult to try and explain,” Sabraw said. S a b r a w ’ s experiences encompass the wild, uncontrollable aspect Roy Sabraw, of fire that will never resident cease to terrorize, confuse, and destroy. “It’s almost eerie how fire picks and chooses its targets, where it’s going to go and what it’s going to do,” Sabraw said. “In one spot sat a relatively new ford pickup burned to the ground, nothing left. Melted wheels and everything. Right beside it was a backhoe… the flames didn’t even touch the tires, didn’t touch the paint.” For Sabraw, life in the evacuation site was an emotional rollercoaster. “The first few days here were interesting, sort of an adventure,” Sabraw said. “But then after a while you settle into this sort of dull routine and realize that you really don’t have too much control over anything you do.” He said this dependency on others was a challenging adjustment. Once he returns home, he said he will continue to do whatever he can to help the
people who weren’t as lucky as he was. “I’m going to help my friends rebuild best I possibly can. Do whatever I can do to help them,” Sabraw said. “Sort of the country way of doing things.You band together, pull together, just get ‘er done.”
A Teacher’s Loss “For the Middletown kids, their lives are totally different. They are trying to have some sense of normalcy, but it’s hard when they aren’t in their house, they aren’t in school, and they don’t see the people they usually do on a daily basis.” - Autumn Duarte
It’s almost eerie how fire picks and chooses its targets.
Autumn Duarte is surrounded by her students and a basket of art supplies. As she describes her own tale of the fire, her students paint swirling streaks of red and orange on their papers, depicting their views of the fire that raged just miles away. Ever since her home was destroyed by the flames, Duarte, a first-grade school teacher, has visited the Calistoga evacuation camp every evening to spend time with former students who also lost their homes to the fire. Her experience is one of tragedy, but also of resilience. As the fire grew close to her Middletown home, Duarte and her husband grabbed the family’s five pets, some clothes, and fled. The couple spent several nights at a nearby community college before hearing Tuesday night that somebody had seen their home still standing. But Duarte’s joy was short-lived. The next morning she received a call that the fire had spread overnight and her house was burned to the ground. “It was very devastating for us,” Duarte said. “My husband and I have our pets, but everything else is gone.”
Photo by Gregory Block
MAURICIO BORGES PAINTS his house in flames, serving as an example of the impact the fire has had on people of all ages. As soon as she heard about the loss of her home, Duarte, who is not staying at the camp, returned to the evacuation site to be with former students––every night she went to the fairgrounds to read, draw, and spend time with them. For Duarte, this was her coping mechanism. “Coming here in the evenings, it’s not only for them, it’s for me too,” Duarte said. “That’s where I can forget about my own problems, where I’m going to live now. I can forget about that for a while because we are all kind of experiencing that.” Not all of Duarte’s students lost their homes in the fire, but according to Duarte, every student knows someone who was affected, and felt the pain and the heartbreak of their friends and families. “For the Middletown kids, for instance, their lives are totally different,” Duarte said. “They are trying to have some sense of normalcy, but it’s hard when they aren’t in their house, they aren’t in school and they don’t see the people they usually do on a daily basis.” Normality may be difficult to come by in a community that has been ravaged and destroyed. But Duarte, who continues to help others despite her own tragic losses, is trying to do what she can to ease the communal pain. bark@redwoodbark.org
Photo by Keely Jenkins
SURROUNDED BY BURNT houses, a play structure in Lake County remains standing, likely because of the surrounding gravel.
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bark
Page 14 • Sports
October 9, 2015
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SENIOR NINA SEGEDIN rows with her varsity boat during practice. Photo by Kaylee Bushell
Tong and Segedin verbally commit to UCLA for rowing By Kaylee Bushell It was never something they planned on doing. It just happened one day and it clicked. A year later they were hoping to continue their passion in college. This past month, seniors Haley Tong and Nina Segedin verbally committed to the University of California, Los Angeles for division one women’s rowing. Segedin and Tong both targeted UCLA as their first choice back in the spring of junior year. Tong will be attending UCLA as a coxswain, the director of the boat, and Segedin as a 3-seat, who is the third person from the back of the boat, with Amy Fuller Kearney as head coach. Though each had offers from other schools, it was easy for both to narrow their sights down to UCLA. Tong also received offers from University of Southern California and University of San Diego, but UCLA was her top choice. “I loved the school environment when I visited along with the school’s academic rigor. I also wanted to stay in California, so it ended up being a great fit,” Tong said. Segedin had similar reasons for pinning UCLA as her first choice early in the recruiting process. She said she was drawn to Nina Segedin, the academic rigor senior and overall school environment at UCLA. Currently, Segedin and Tong are in the same boat at the Marin Rowing Association. If they end up in the same boat at UCLA, their previous experience rowing will lead to strong chemistry, according to Tong. Tong said she does not know yet what boat she will be in because there are multiple. Segedin and Tong each started their rowing career for different reasons, but both quickly fell in love with the sport. Tong started rowing her freshman year while Segedin started during her sophomore year––both were on the novice team. After that, they moved on to JV, and then Varsity, eventually ending up in the same boat. “I used to be a gymnast, so after I stopped I needed a new sport to do. I
thought I would give it a try. Also a lot of my friends did it,” Segedin said. Both Segedin and Tong fell in love with the sport right away. “I love being a part of something where people are so passionate about what they do and I enjoy watching people improve. It’s a lot to juggle, but I love it,” Tong said. Segedin said Marin Rowing has made her feel part of a community outside of school and that it has given her friends with similar passions. Segedin and Tong’s passions for rowing quickly transitioned to wanting to row in college. According to both, the UCLA coach never attended any of their races. Tong and Segedin each sent emails to the rowing recruiting director with a resume, and Tong had to send a recording of herself during a race because she is a coxswain. “It’s particularly hard to choose a coxswain. The coaches are looking for those with the good motivation and intelligence,” Tong said. The Marin Rowing Association is highly regarded in the rowing world, which was a big factor in the recruiting process, according to Segedin. The UCLA recruiting coach attended a Marin Rowing Practice to evaluate Segedin and Tong. After, they both talked to the coach, furthering the process, and a few months two verbal commitments were made. Segedin also visited the campus to meet with the coach and academic advisor of the team before committing. Tong said it will be hard for to make an impact on the boat because she faces more competition upon entering UCLA due to her place in the boat. Since a coxswain dropped out last year the coach has taken more coxswains this year. This will provide for more competition for particular boats, according to Tong. Overall, Segedin and Tong are tremendously excited. “I am really looking forward to meeting all the other athletes and students. It seems like such an interesting community,” Tong said. “I feel so relieved now,” Segedin said.
I thought I had a pretty good chance of getting in, but I wasn’t totally sure.
“At first, upon talking with the coach, I thought I had a pretty good chance of getting in, but I wasn’t totally sure, so it was definitely stressful to wait.” Before they go off to UCLA in the fall of 2016 they will be finish off the season at Marin Rowing, attending several races. Their next race, Head of the Port, will be in Sacramento on Haley Tong, Oct. 11. Last year senior they attended the same race and placed on the podium. Tong says she hopes they will replicate their success in the upcoming race. “We are a stronger and faster boat and usually place well in all our races. We are training hard and looking to get on the podium” Tong said. Our biggest race of the season is the Head of the Charles Regatta, a two day event that takes place in Boston on Oct.18. The event attracts more than 1,000
athletes and 400,000 spectators. “I think overall we have been training really hard and we have a strong team to begin with, so I think we will do really well,” Tong said. The varsity boat, Tong and Segedin’s boat will be racing against teams from all over the states. Before their last season at the Marin Rowing Association nears an end both hope to make the best of it. Tong is looking to finish out the season with the big races in the spring season before she heads off. According to Tong the spring is the team’s sprint season and the biggest race is Youth Nationals in June.
I love being a part of something where people are so passionate about what they do.
kbushell@redwoodbark.org
Photo by Kaylee Bushell
SENIOR HALEY TONG sits in the front of the boat while giving instructions to rowers during crew practice.
bark Hard-hitting safety Alex Wilson bolsters rejuvenated football team Page 15 • Sports
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By Adam Kreitzman The wide receiver caught a quick screen pass and turned upfield, but was met full speed by a pair of hard-hitting shoulder pads. Alex Wilson, a freshman at the time, leveled the wideout behind the line of scrimmage during his first play as a safety. Since then, Wilson, who is now a junior, has taken most of his reps at safety and become one of the best safeties in MCAL as a result. He has demonstrated his abilities on the field by intercepting four passes in five games. Wilson began his high school football career as a quarterback, but constantly badgered his coaches for a shot to play defense. When they finally obliged, he made the most of his opportunity. “Since I was playing quarterback when I was a freshman, they didn’t want want me to play defense because they were afraid that I would get hurt,” Wilson said. “After I nagged them a lot they finally let me play safety on defense. Since then, it is where I have spent most of my time.” Wilson aims to play football at the next level, but acknowledges that competing with other college football prospects is a daunting task that isn’t going to be easy. “I wake up every day at 5:30 a.m. to go to the gym and workout,” Wilson said. “After school, I even try to get a workout in before Alex Wilson, practice.” junior During the football offseason, Wilson doubles down as a basketball player, and will run track later this year as well. “I try to keep myself busy with sports so that I can stay in top shape,” Wilson said. According to Wilson, his initial inspiration was the consistent positive reinforcement of his mom, but watching Alex Kosinski and Jake Curhan work to get recruited pushed him to work even harder. “[Curhan] has played a big role in helping me get recruited,” Wilson said. “He has introduced me to multiple coaches, such as Jacob Peeler at Cal and one of the
coaches at Duke. He even took me to the Cal game against San Diego State and I got to talk to the players and coaches before the game.” Curhan said he resonated with Wilson’s situation as a junior attempting to get recruited. “I felt the same way he did when I was a junior,” Curhan said. “Every time a coach would come by to talk to [Kosinski] I would make sure to introduce myself. Now that he is in the same position I want to help him get as much attention as possible.” Wilson said that seeing Curhan get recruited and ultimately choose Cal has made his goals seem attainable. However, Wilson remains set on turning around the Redwood football program so that they can end their postseason drought and finally have a winning record. “I’m willing to put in whatever it takes to have a winning season,” Wilson said. “This year we need to play as a team rather than a bunch of individuals. We need every player going 100 percent on every play, even if they aren’t the one who will make the tackle.” According to Curhan, Wilson has stepped up and become one of the best safeties in MCAL. “[Wilson] has really focused on his ball skills and reading the quarterback’s eyes,” Curhan said. “That’s why he has four picks this year through five games, which is incredible.” Wilson added that he wants to break the MCAL record for interceptions. “I had two [interceptions] against Terra Linda, as well as one each against Maria Carrillo and Mission,” Wilson said. “It would be cool to go down in the record books in MCAL even though it will be a difficult task.” Along with his prominence at the safety position, Wilson contributes on the offensive side of the ball as a wide receiver. Alex poses a unique threat as someone who can catch the ball deep down the field, according to junior quarterback Trevor Foehr. “Whenever the play breaks down, I can always look down the field and find [Wilson],” Foehr said. “He is always open down the field and he is a big target with very good hands.” Jesse Petersen, a junior offensive lineman, noted that Wilson’s motivation has helped him develop into a skilled safety. “It seems like he is always in the right spot to make a play and usually does,” Petersen said. “He is really motivated to contribute to the team so that we can come out with a win.” Curhan added that he hopes Wilson will be one of many more high school players from Marin to play college football. “It’s nice to see a pipeline develop out of Marin,” Curhan said. “Obviously it started with guys like
SPORTS SPOTLIGHT
I’m willing to put in whatever it takes to have a winning season.
Photo by Adam Kreitzman
JUNIOR ALEX WILSON, a starting safety on the varsity football team, has recorded four interceptions this year. The football team’s record is currently 3-2. Jared Goff, Morgan Mahalak, Manny Wilkins, and Andrew Celis. Now that guys like me and [Kosinski] are going to play Division-1 football, I hope that college coaches will pay more attention to MCAL football, because it is a high-level conference.” Wilson has the potential to be a very good player, according to Curhan.
“If he continues to put in the work that he has been, he could definitely make it at the next level,” Curhan said. “If he keeps putting together highlight reel plays, his tape could definitely jump out to a number of college coaches.” The football team has put up back-toback wins by large margins, amassing a total of 93 points in their last two games en route to a 3-2 record. They will look to get one step closer to the postseason this Saturday in their homecoming game against a sturdy San Marin squad. Wilson attributed their recent threegame winning streak to the increased chemistry. “A lot of us have been playing together for a number of years,” Wilson said. “Now that all of us are on varsity, we are starting to piece it together.” According to Wilson, expectations for their season are at an all-time high. “Our players are much more motivated this year,” Wilson said. “Now that guys like Nick [Calzaretta] and Enzo [Tallerico] are healthy, this team could be the best team Redwood has had in awhile, and hopefully it will show on the field. I think we have the potential to win out.” akreitzman@redwoodbark.org
Photo by Gregory Block
VARSITY FOOTBALL PLAYERS huddle before their game against Mission High School at Kezar Stadium on Sept. 25.
Photo by Adam Kreitzman
bark
Page 16 • Sports
October 9, 2015
Cheer rallies for new season, looks for new leaders By Kendall Rhoads After the freshman and JV football teams combined, the cheer team’s season is in full swing, with the switch affecting them minimally. Heather Brabo-Long, the cheer coach for the past nine years, said the JV team will now be cheering for the freshman/sophomore football team. The combination of the two football teams affected the cheer team less than expected, according to senior Jenna Hassell, captain of the varsity team. The group of girls were split into the same JV and varsity teams as previous years. The varsity team lost nine graduating seniors from the team last year, leaving a team consisting of mostly sophomores and a smaller number of juniors and seniors. “I’m just looking for leadership in the girls who were voted as captain who have been here since the beginning as freshmen,” Brabo-Long said about the loss of the nine seniors. This year, the JV team consists of 27 girls. The majority of the girls are freshmen, which is more than previous years, according to Brabo-Long. “When I was on the JV team as a freshman, I had to cheer for the JV football team and I didn’t really know any of the players,” Hassell said. “But all the freshman girls on JV get to cheer for people in their own grade, which is exciting.” In preparation for the year, the team practiced all summer with the varsity team at Redwood and also attended a cheer camp at UC Santa Cruz. “The girls did amazing,” Brabo-Long said. “Varsity scored all superior [highest ranking] in all their evaluations, which kicked off to a great start.” Hassell tried out as an incoming freshman, making the JV team and later made varsity her sophomore year. “As a team, we get to do a lot of things like representing our school in home and away games, being in the parade, and getting to compete in several competitions,” Hassell said. Whether or not the teams will be participating in competitions is undecided, according to Brabo-Long.
Photo by Kendall Rhoads
CHEERLEADERS HOLD UP a flyer during practice for preparation of this year’s homecoming game performance. Despite the loss of the JV football team, the program remains strong. “The [competitions] are really intense,” Hassell said. “It’s more of the competitive side to cheering. A lot of people are seriously in it to win it. It’s less about cheering in a game and it’s more about stunts and trying things that are really hard for the group.” During competition season, the girls compete against different star teams from all across the country. The teams are preparing extensively for the homecoming game and rally, according to Brabo-Long.
“A lot of the bases of stunts were seniors who left, so now we’re all with a bunch of different groups of girls who can do different things and are working our way back to the same skills we had,” Hassell said. The girls practice three days a week, and prepared new routines for the homecoming rally. krhoads@redwoodbark.org
Best picks for a successful 2015 Fantasy Football season By Adam Kreitzman
By Gregory Block
By Andrew Hout
It is no secret that Julio Jones is one of the most talented wide receivers in the NFL, and this is the year he will finally prove it. With Roddy White getting older, Jones will continue to establish himself as the clear-cut number one wideout on the Falcons. In addition, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan has a track record for heavily relying upon his X-receiver, which is why the much-less talented Pierre Garcon led the league with 113 receptions in 2013 occupying the role that Jones is currently in. Despite his size (6-3, 220 lbs), Jones’ exceptional route-running ability coupled with Shanahan’s dependence on him is evident in the first four games where he caught a combined 38 passes for 478 yards and four touchdowns. Jones has also displayed great chemistry in his fifth year playing with quarterback Matt Ryan, who has frequently targeted him down the field for massive gains, including a 45-yard touchdown. Don’t look for Jones’ production to slow down any time soon, as he should continue his dominance until the last snap of the season. Don’t be surprised if Jones becomes the first wide receiver in the history of the league to have 2000 receiving yards.
Fantasy owners across the country cringed Sunday as they saw Ben Roethlisberger being carted off the field in St. Louis. The Steelers’ offense was one of the most electric in the league to start the 2015 NFL season, and Roethlisberger was arguably the biggest reason why. It may appear that the Steelers’ offense will be doomed without its leader under center. However, any Fantasy owner who has Antonio Brown or Le’Veon Bell has no reason to worry; the Steelers’ offensive weapons will continue to excel, no matter who their quarterback is. Brown, the league’s best wide receiver, has started off the 2015 season where he finished last season, already having caught 34 passes for 478 yards and two touchdowns. Offensive coordinator Todd Haley has designed a system that allows Brown to succeed, calling short bubble screens and quick slants that allow Brown to get into the open field and make defenders miss. Le’Veon Bellis is back from his two-game suspension, and he also looks healthy and ready to perform. All Michael Vick, the new Steelers backup, has to do to keep the Steelers’ offense from falling is get the ball to his two main playmakers: Brown and Bell.
For my Fantasy football team this year, I picked six of my players from the stacked Green Bay Packers’ lineup. As the descendant of a Wisconsin-born parent, being a Packer fan runs in my blood. While the Packers players possess a high upside, each provides consistent results, with week-by-week dependability. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ short passing and precise accuracy has been a large contributor to my Fantasy team’s success this season. While running back Eddie Lacy has started slow, the Packers’ undefeated record and promising schedule makes him a viable option. The Packers’ wide receiving core of James Jones and Randall Cobb has also been extremely effective, and has been a large contribution to my team’s success this season. Randall Cobb has scored more than 20 points in two of his last four games. Both the Packers’ defense and kicker Mason Crosby have put up good numbers as well. As the Packers continue their dominance in the NFL, their core players remain top options in Fantasy football.
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ahout@redwoodbark.org
By Aaron Halford
Despite Calvin Johnson’s age, “Megatron” will continue to be an elite wide receiver in the NFL this season. The seasoned veteran remains unguardable, despite a lackluster offensive line. The Detroit Lions’ offense depends heavily on quarterback Matthew Stafford’s arm, given that the team lacks a running threat, and Johnson will continue to be Stafford’s top target. The 6-foot-5-inch giant still poses the greatest deep threat in the game, and will continue to record the usual 1,200 plus yards and eight plus touchdowns. The Lions, currently at 0-4, have started the season playing most of their games from behind. I expect this trend to continue, which will mean that the Lions will depend on Stafford’s arm and Johnson’s hands to try and come back from large deficits late in the game. While he may not have the near-2,000 yards he did in 2012, he will continue to be one of Fantasy football’s most productive wide receivers. At this stage, Johnson is a great buy-low candidate relative to past years, and is a wide receiver essential to anyone’s Fantasy lineup. While the Lions remain at the bottom of the NFC North, Johnson remains a generational talent and a freak of nature nobody should pass up. ahalford@redwoodbark.org
bark New rugby team provides empowerment for women Page 17 • Sports
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O’Connor believes that as a female coach, she provides a level of understanding that the girls would not be able to get elsewhere. In a time of progress and empowerment for women, “I think that from the girls’ perspective, I provide a sport traditionally perceived as a man's game has been a different outlook as far as coaching is concerned,” adopted by a group of Marin girls. O’Connor said. “A majority of coaches tend to be male The Marin Highlanders Rugby Club even in female sports and I think it's has launched the beginnings of a girls’ important to have that relatability in the team and is in the process of recruiting player-coach relationship.” young women to join the new program. The goal is to create a team that is Rugby allows girls to be physically and able to compete. To do this, the team mentally strengthened, and at the same will need to have enough players on the time prepares them for a much-needed pitch as well as develop the skills of role in the athletic world, according the players, most of which have never to Marin Highlanders coach Lauren played the sport before. O’Connor, who will coach the girls’ “We want to be able to field a team. team,” O’Connor said. “From that The team, once past the recruitment aspect, I’d like to see the team grow stage, will practice at Piper Park in Lauren O’Connor, in terms of their skill level and being Larkspur or Town Park in Corte Madera girls rugby coach able to compete...people need to learn and play games on the Redwood to play who have never played before.” football field. According to Melissa Hardiman, a To start, the team will play “7s,” a faster paced, shorter Marin Highlanders board member who helped spearhead version of rugby with seven players on the field. Once the the creation of the team, the club has wanted to create a program is big enough, however, they will play “15s.” girls’ team for many years, but for several reasons it was This is a more traditional version of rugby that includes never possible until now. 15 players on the field, is longer, and generally allows for “It was always a matter of resources. Do we have more diversity on the pitch. enough fields? Do we have coaches? We live in Marin The team will play other girls’ teams in the Bay County... and we don't see a lot of girl football players out Area such as the Danville Oaks and there. So I just thought, ‘How is that Pleasanton Cavaliers. going to happen?’” Hardiman said. The creation of the team provides The recruitment of Marin girls is a unique sense of empowerment to an essential part of building the team. the young women involved, according To do this, O’Connor, Hardiman and O’Connor. It not only allows the girls team members such as Pritchard put to grow physically and mentally, but up posters and held meetings to spread to break past barriers that may exist the word. regarding perceptions on what girls By recruiting from schools around should be allowed to play, she said. Marin, the girls are given a unique “You're allowing a group of women opportunity to form a close bond with and girls to play a sport that builds upon girls from around the county that does Megan Pritchard, different strengths and weaknesses, not exist in many place, according to whether that has to do with physical senior O’Connor,. abilities or mental capabilities,” “The other part of that is to grow O’Connor said. “You're essentially a community within the high schools proving to a person or individual that they are capable in Marin,” O’Connor said. “It's a unique sport in that it of accomplishing something they didn't know they could allows us to pull from various schools, leading to girls before.” being able to hang out with people they would have never Senior Megan Pritchard, who recently began playing ever met before.” rugby and will be one of the members of the new team, With increased growth, O’Connor and Hardiman hope was motivated to join because of the gender boundaries to be able to develop a vigorous program that caters to broken down by the team. girls of all ages from all around the county. “It really gives empowerment to women. You get “From a larger level it would be great to see it evolve really strong. I would honestly say you could get as strong to where you have all age groups playing together, and as guys, if not stronger. It makes you a lot stronger as a all age groups mentoring each other, and really creating person, mentality wise too,” Pritchard said. a team.” By Emily Cerf
The other part of that is to grow a community within the high schools in Marin.
I would honestly say you could get as strong as guys, if not stronger.
Photo by Emily Cerf
SENIOR MEGAN PRITCHARD practices rugby fundamentals such as passing and catching. Women’s rugby will be appearing in the 2016 Olympics for the first time in 92 years, which has provided a need for more collegiate athletes in the sport and created scholarship opportunities for players. “I’m so excited about this year because I’m reaching out to colleges, and hopefully going to be [able to] to play with colleges,” Pritchard said. Additionally, as the Olympics are likely to create a rise in the popularity of the women’s sport, girls who have already been playing will have the upper hand in obtaining scholarship and sponsorship opportunities that will likely arise, O’Connor said. Unique opportunities such as these are what make rugby so appealing, according to Hardiman. “[Rugby] is probably one of the most exciting sports in the world,” Hardiman said. “There are wonderful opportunities that surround it. That includes relationships and schools…[the girls] would enjoy not only the game of rugby but the family and community that is built around it.” ecerf@redwoodbark.org To become a part of the Marin Highlanders girls’ rugby team, students can contact Melissa Hardiman at 415-847-7651 or 415-924-2555 . There is no experience necessary to join the team.
Golf swings into 2015 season with new female coach By Jason Fieber The girls’ golf team begins the 2015 season with an optimistic outlook following last fall’s postseason run. The varsity team finished second last year in MCALs and qualified for a spot in the NCS playoffs. Their season is already off to a strong start, with a record of 9-1 thus far, as well as a victory over Tam, another one of last season’s NCS qualifiers, by a score of 212 - 229. First year head coach Kelly Smith has set her eyes on a repeat of last season’s success, as she hopes to see her team play competitively at both the MCAL and NCS levels. “Their play will need to improve––they know that and they will admit that,” Smith said. Smith, a Richmond golf instructor, stepped in this year in hopes of helping carry the team to another postseason run. Her background as a golfer has helped make this transition smoother. “One benefit I have is that I have a lot of golf knowledge,” she said. “I have been there. I have played high school golf. I have taught a lot of junior golfers in my career.” Smith said this aspect of her field also helped her relationship with the team. “My goal is always to make them better,” Smith said. “I spend about four days a week with most of them for a couple
Photo by Jason Fieber
JUNIOR JULIA WADDINGTON tees off during the girls’ golf team’s recent tri-match in which they defeated Novato and Terra Linda. hours a day. I know their personalities.” Audrey Genest, a senior who is entering her third year on the team, said she expects the team to play as well if not better than last year despite losing top players from last year. Genest additionally stressed the differences that come with having a female coach. “It is different having a female coach on an all-female team,” Genest said. “It brings the team together a lot more.” There has been no issue with chemistry
among teammates, according to Smith. “I think the camaraderie of the team is really good,” Smith said. “The experienced golfers are helping the younger golfers because they, at one point, were that younger golfer,” The team received an influx of players this year, many of whom have little previous golf experience. Smith hopes to quickly integrate these players into the team. “That is how every team starts, by having girls on their team who have never
picked up a golf ball before,” Smith said. She hopes that this will happen especially through work in the offseason. “That is where they will become a better player and be more helpful for the team next year,” she said. Despite a new crop of players with minimal golf background, Smith still views the team’s experience as their main strength. However, with that, she says, comes one potential weakness. “We might expect more or not play to our best ability during some of these matches,” she said. According to Smith, the players need to just keep working and to know that by getting better as a team the players will get better individually. Genest, on the other hand, saw the team’s dedication as their main strength. She said the team devotes time to practice during the weekend and the offseason because that is where the players will develop individually. With their eyes set on a playoff run, the varsity team must first look to their biggest upcoming matches. Smith said that she sees a match against traditional powerhouse Justin-Siena as one of the most important matches of the year. She also foresees a competitive match against Tam despite their early victory.
jfieber@redwoodbark.org
review
Page 18
‘The Intern’ addresses serious issues with a serious lack of depth By Anne Pritikin After failing to fill the growing emptiness in his life following retirement, 70-year-old, widowed Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro) is hired as a personal intern to Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway), the CEO of her self-created online fashion start-up, in director and screenwriter Nancy Meyer’s latest movie, “The Intern.” At the start of the film, Ben quickly grows in popularity with his younger coworkers due to his affable personality and hard-work ethic. The only person who is not immediately in favor of him working at the company is Jules. Nonetheless, she is soon won over by Ben’s charm and helpfulness and a budding friendship begins in which Ben helps her solve problems at work and in her personal life. “The Intern” is a reliable, feel-good movie that captures the viewer’s interest and De Niro and Hathaway do an excellent job of building emotional connections between the audience and the characters throughout the 121 minutes. The film, however, is moderately comedic and leaves the viewer with mixed messages. On the surface, the plot is well-constructed, but lacks depth, and many loose ends remain untied as Meyers glosses over the struggle of balancing a career and family. Furthermore, Ben’s chivalry extends far beyond the realm of possibility. He never misses a beat, never makes a mistake, and he even helps instruct the younger men at the office in the art of being a gentleman. Even when he and two other coworkers break into the house of Jules’ mother to delete an accidently sent email, he remains portrayed as morally unblemished. Jules seems to have it all, managing both her family and her career, but behind her near-perfect image, she struggles with keeping her home life together. Ultimately the film resolves her marital problems far too quickly and simply to be realistic and the difficulty in maintaining a strong mother-daughter relationship while having a fulltime career is practically ignored. In addition, the movie allocates almost all the comedy to three characters: Ben, and two coworkers Jason (Adam Devine), and Davis (Zack Pearlman), and contains quite a few cliches, such as Jules’ cold, unaffectionate mother and the patronizing stay-at-home moms at her daughter’s school who make condescending comments about Jules’
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
BEN WHITTAKER (Robert De Niro) works with Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway) in the recent film “The Intern,” and though entertaining, it lacks substance and satisfies only on a superficial level. parenting. And, of course, an obvious stereotype is that because Jules is a successful business women, she must work in the fashion industry. This intergenerational film is predominantly about friendship, a refreshing alternative to rom-coms, but does not withstand scrutiny and is quickly reduced to superficiality when one delves a little further into the messages of the film. Additionally, “The Intern” does not garner enough laughter to be considered a full-fledged comedy, but instead straddles flighty drama and sparse humor. The film does bring up important questions about how society can combine traditional values with modern life. Meyers, however, explores this in such a superficial manner that it becomes ridiculous when Jules, inebriated, laments about what has happened to the male species, as if the fact that millennial men do not wear handkerchiefs is a tragic loss.
Despite the movie containing some feminist aspects, the contradiction that the self-sufficient career woman ends up relying on a man (even only as a friend) undoes the notion that Hathaway, a smart and savvy woman, can succeed independently. Although the movie was quite enjoyable to watch and is overall well-done, Meyers seems to use the film as a platform to voice her opinions on the dying breed of gentlemen by making Jules her mouthpiece and using Ben as an unrealistic model of such a gentleman, leaving the charisma of the two main actors as one of the few factors holding up the film’s flimsy foundation. Similar to the life of its female protagonist, the movie has a flawless facade, but behind it lie issues with the focus of the plot and the message the film conveys, but unlike Jules it does not have a guardian angel to rescue it. apritikin@redwoodbark.org
Lana Del Rey’s ‘Honeymoon’ allows her voice to outshine production
LANA DEL REY’S fourth studio album features dark themes from previous works, but expresses them with a newfound sense of independence.
is hauntingly beautiful, but seems out of place in the middle of the album. It would have worked better as a prelude, but is still a nice respite from her usual lyrics about partying and fame. Del Rey is at her best when she pulls all of her past experience from old albums together in “Religion,” which draws on the heavy production of “Born to Die,” the swelling strings of “Paradise,” and the evocative vocals of “Ultraviolence.” In “Religion” she sings that, “It was never about the money or the drugs/ For you, there’s only love.” This noirish longing for lost love is apparent in the rest of the album as well, though “Religion” isn’t as fervently sung as other songs and can occasionally sound lethargic rather than impassioned. A standout song is the regretful “God Knows I Tried.” With calm guitar strumming, a slow tempo, and slightly manipulated vocals, Del Rey sings lines like, “Sometimes I wake up in the morning to red, blue, and yellow skies/It’s so crazy I could drink it like tequila sunrise.” “God Knows I Tried” is a truly haunting song and a highlight of the album. “Honeymoon” is an album that will primarily appeal to those who are already fans of Del Rey because it draws on many production techniques that she used in previous releases. Most of the songs on the album are not radio friendly, but they are excellent nonetheless.
album that she has primarily written alone because the lyrics are excellent. This is also the first album where Del
rsmalbach@redwoodbark.org
By Rebecca Smalbach Lana Del Rey’s newest album “Honeymoon,” released Sept. 18, is the singer’s most artistic effort yet. The tone of the album takes listeners on an emotional rollercoaster between the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Del Rey projects a glamorous façade of ethereality with lyrics like, “Club queen on the downtown scene/Prowling around at night” from the song “Art Deco,” reminding listeners that beauty and agony can be closely intertwined. Del Rey’s previous album, “Ultraviolence,” focused on dark and gloomy subject material with no respite. In “Honeymoon,” Del Rey has the same bleak outlook in many songs, but her lyrics are more powerful and better express her autonomy and independence. She wants to let listeners know that she is no longer a passive girl, but a strong woman. This independence is best exemplified in “High By The Beach” when Del Rey sings, “Lights, camera, acción/I’ll do it on my own/Don’t need your money, money/ To get me what I want,” showing that she doesn’t need anyone to baby her. This independence is even more apparent when looking at the songwriting credits on the album. Rick Nowels is the only person credited besides Del Rey, compared to “Ultraviolence,” where more than six other people were given songwriting credit. Del Rey’s original lyrics are provocative and otherworldly, and it’s surprising that this is the first
Photo courtesy of Interscope Records
Rey has recited a poem, and it is very aurally appealing, though slightly unusual. “Burnt Norton,” originally by T.S. Eliot,
Page 19 • Review
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Fall TV Preview
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By Ella Cook
Scream Queens Fox
Fox’s newest show continues a recent trend of bringing horror to mainstream television. Twenty years after the death of a sorority sister, another mysterious death occurs on the Wallace University campus, prompting a full-blown investigation. The sisters of Kappa Kappa Tau, the top sorority on campus, are all suspects for the murder. One of the highlights of the show is its well-known cast, including Emma Roberts as the president of Kappa, and Jamie Lee Curtis as university president. The cast also includes popular singers Nick Jonas and Ariana Grande, both portraying students. Each character in the show plays a distinct, convincing role. Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts), President of the Kappa sorority, plays her role as a snobby rich girl realistically. On the other hand, Grace Gardner (Skyler Samuels) plays a more soft-spoken character in a realistic manner, as a new member of the pledge class. Despite the humor, some scenes can be too gory to watch. Each time anonymous murderer “Red Devil” kills a character, the show becomes very graphic––in the first episode, a girl was decapitated by a lawn mower. “Scream Queens” airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on Fox.
Life in Pieces
Limitless
Quantico
CBS
ABC
With an original platform, “Life in Pieces” follows the story of three adult siblings and the challenges each sibling’s family faces. Each episode is split into four parts, with commercial breaks in between. Each break adds a unique format to the show. The first portion follows Matt Short (Colin Hanks) in his pursuit of settling down with a girlfriend. The second section follows Greg Short (Thomas Sadoski) and his wife Jen (Zoe Lister-Jones) as they adjust to life with a newborn baby. The next portion follows Heather Short (Betsy Brandt) and her husband Tim (Dan Bakkedahl) and their journey of realization that their three children are growing up. Finally, all three stories culminate in the last portion of the show. In the pilot episode the three siblings and their respective families come together for their father’s funeral. While this portion starts on a sad note, it is quickly made clear that the father is actually alive and oddly enough wanted to be there for his funeral before he dies. Similar to most popular sitcoms, “Life in Pieces” integrates comedy nicely into the plotline. However, too much of the material feels overly similar to “Modern Family,” making it difficult to remain entertained for an entire episode. “Life in Pieces” airs Mondays at 5:30 p.m. on CBS.
Based on the popular drama film “Limitless,” released in 2011, the main character Brian Finch (Jack McDorman) is offered a new pill, NZT48, which allows people to access 100 percent of their brain. But, the FBI is hoping to stop the use of the drug. The series proves to be thrilling, as Finch is often seen running away from the FBI by means of jumping from tall buildings, among other escape stunts. Finch plays his role as an ordinary person with extraordinary powers through the pill in a convincing manner. Other than Finch, there is not a variety of main characters, making it easy to follow the plot. The show is fast paced and most scenes only last a few minutes. Additionally, the narration helps to add to the speed of the show. This gives a gripping, cliff hanger mood to the series. Despite the perks of the quick pace, the scenes are often choppy and too many different camera angles are used, making the show difficult to watch at times. On the other hand, the use of special effects, such as cloning characters on the screen, is engaging and visually appealing, captivating viewers “Limitless” airs Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. on CBS.
“Quantico” centers around a diverse cast of characters training to become part of the FBI. The first episode, “Run,” begins as Alex Parish (Priyanka Chopra) is lying among the rubble of an explosion in New York City. The episode then flashes back to the beginning of the training at Quantico. The episode continues to alternate back and forth between these two scenes until it becomes clear that the members of Quantico are under suspicion of being responsible for this explosion. Despite the original flashback platform, it’s hard to distinguish current events from past events. Each character at Quantico takes on a distinct role. Ryan Booth (Jake McLaughlin) seems to hide information about his background from other members, fulfilling the role of the mysterious character. Within the first episode, the characters are thoroughly developed. For example, Shelby Wyatt (Johanna Braddy), one of the FBI trainees, lost both her parents on 9/11. These details help to gain a better connection to each character. Contrasting the dramatic tone to the show, the music choices are upbeat, with groups such as “Cold War Kids,” and “The Wind and The Wave” featured. “Quantico” airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on ABC.
CBS
‘Dumplin’’ serves up sass in coming of age tale By Rebecca Smalbach “Really, the criteria is simple. Do you have a body? Put a swimsuit on it,” reads the back of “Dumplin’,” a new coming of age novel by Julie Murphy, published Sept. 15. This sentence accurately represents the tone of the bookone of confidence and positivity with a heavy dose of Southern sass. Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson, affectionately called Dumplin’ by her former beauty queen mother, has always felt comfortable in her own skin. Life is uneventful for Willowdean and her best friend Ellen until Willowdean takes a job at a local fast food joint, Harpy’s, instead of at the mall with Ellen. At Harpy’s, she meets a boy. While the plot could easily veer into a stereotypical teenage romance story at this point, it fortunately does not. Instead, the boy, Bo, forces Willowdean to confront her insecurities by dragging her out of her comfort zone. But Willowdean has never been someone to wallow in her insecurities, so she tries to gain back her confidence in the most surprising way: she enters the same beauty pageant her mother once won. “Dumplin’” is a painstakingly honest portrayal of Willowdean and her relationships. It doesn’t romanticize teenage life, nor does it victimize Willowdean. Though at times Bo and other male characters can seem two-dimensional, Murphy excels in portraying the friendship between Willowdean and Ellen. Willowdean and Ellen don’t have a perfect friendship, but the bumps that arise in their relationship from miscommunications and rash words only serve to emphasize that the best of friendships can outlast even the largest of crises. Their relationship is intensely honest and realistic,
Photo Courtesy of Balzer+Bray
“DUMPLIN’” AVOIDS the usual coming of age cliches by featuring a down to earth main character, Willowdean. and Murphy is adept at avoiding the pitfalls that can often cause teen books to be sickly sweet and unrealistic.
However, Murphy does make some grand leaps of logic in the middle of the book. During one scene in which Willowdean and some friends visit a drag show, the girls must confront their fear of drag performers, but then Murphy assumes that this scene is sufficient motivation for the drag performers to assist the girls with the beauty pageant later in the book. Unfortunately, it isn’t sufficient motivation, and the follow-up with the drag performers seems overly contrived and reliant on coincidence. Fortunately, these small plot weaknesses in the book are made up for by the vivid imagery Murphy uses when describing where “Dumplin’” takes place. Murphy’s greatest strength as a writer is her ability to describe the book’s setting, a small town in Texas. From the ever-proffered sweet tea to the omnipresent Dolly Parton songs, every detail she mentions screams small town life, though never in a way that is degrading or insulting. With these details, Murphy exquisitely sets the stage for a story that is, at the core, a celebration of self-acceptance and empowerment. The end of “Dumplin’” is equally refreshing: Willowdean doesn’t lose a lot of weight or win the beauty pageant. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say either of those things because Willowdean never pretends to be anything other than herself, and “Dumplin’” never pretends to be anything other than authentic and honest. There is no grand conclusion to “Dumplin’,” and that is what makes it so appealing. “Dumplin’” is a feel-good book that is unusually realistic for its genre, and though at times there are small missteps in terms of character development, it offers an inspiring ode to the power of self-confidence and staying true to oneself. rsmalbach@redwoodbark.org
October 9, 2015 bark Page 20 • Review Apple drops new fruit: iPhone 6s and iPad Pro By Annie Fogarty Apple released its new iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, and iPad Pro on Sept. 25 with innovative technologies, but without the desired improvements in battery life.
iPhone The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, priced at $649 and $749, respectively, unveil the new “3D Touch” system, the next generation of “Multi-touch.” It is by far the most noteworthy feature of the new iPhone, allowing the user to make different commands by applying varying pressure on the screen. For example, with the “Peek and Pop” feature, one can preview an item before actually opening it or take a shortcut from the home screen with a popup window. Though innovative, the question is whether these new functions are practical. The idea is creative, but it remains to be seen whether these features are actually usable. In terms of price, the phone is expensive, but costs no more than previous generations. When released, the iPhone 6 was priced the same, but can now be bought for $199. The camera quality has improved, transitioning from an eight to a twelve-megapixel camera. Video quality has also advanced, now at 4k, which Apple claims to be four times sharper than the older 1080 HD. Despite these improvements, the camera’s biggest change is not in its quality, but with its new “Live Photo” feature, where the camera records a few seconds of video and audio before and after a photo is taken. Thus, when one presses down hard on the image, one can bring the moment to life – the picture briefly animates. The front-facing camera now offers a flash, meaning one does not have to rely on the low-quality Snapchat camera for front flash. Furthermore, the front-facing camera has upgraded dramatically from 1.2 to five megapixels. The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus remain the same size as the previous iPhone 6 and 6 Plus with 4.7 and 5.5 inch screens, and have no major advancements in screen quality either, sticking with the Retina HD display. The rumored sapphire crystal screen, a stronger, less breakable glass, is not present either. The phone is more durable, however, with a tougher aluminum alloy shell. Although there are many new technical features, the most buzzed about upgrade is not in tech, but in hardware: the new color “rose gold.” The highly anticipated color offers another level of customizability, allowing the new iPhone to stand out from the monotonous sea of silver, gold, and space gray. However, in person, the color is more of a sophisticated pink than the hot pink it’s made out to be in photos. The major fault in the new iPhone is that the
improvements did not include the extension of the battery life. According to “IPhone 6s Review: A slightly better iPhone 6,” an article written for the Wall Street Journal by Johanna Stern, the battery life lasts eight hours while using the internet, the same as the previous model. Stern conducted several tests on charging capability and battery life, and found that the phone still takes two hours to charge and the battery is actually smaller than before. The 6s has increased by .7 oz. while the 6s Plus has increased by .5 oz. The change is not major enough to put holes in pockets, but every ounce is noticeable. It could also be argued that the extra weight is beneficial because it makes the phone sturdier. The 6s and 6s Plus are more durable than the iPhone 6 (which could bend in the pocket of your skinny jeans), as it now has a new 7000 Series aluminum alloy shell. Apple markets the new iPhone with the slogan, “The only thing that’s changed is everything,” but that’s not really true. The phone has the same look, same battery life, same size, and the same function. If you look past a few minor additions, not much has changed. Investing in the new iPhone is worth it only to someone excited about the minimal new features it offers.
iPad Pro The iPad Pro, unlike the iPhone 6s/6s Plus, is an extreme update from the iPad Air 2. It is advertised as an entirely new line of products. The iPad Pro has the functionality of a laptop and the mobility of a tablet, making it a great fit for anyone from a high-school student to a business executive. Though Apple claims the Apple Pencil to be a revolutionary creation, Androids have had styluses for years. Apple consumers have always balked at the “excessive” accessory. But since Apple has unveiled
their new pencil, people have been in awe. Androids have consistently done things first, from the larger phone, to dual screen, to the stylus. Though Apple has always been a little behind the times, when they make a change, they make it right. They do the same thing but with twice the class. This stylus is nothing ordinary. The Apple Pencil has tilt and pressure sensors so it can detect exactly what the user is trying to achieve. Though ideal for artists, it also has other uses, from gaming to annotating. Whether it’s shading by tilting your hand or varying line weight by pressure, achieving both precision and accuracy is now realistic. The stylus is highly responsive, and using it feels exactly like a real pencil. “3D touch” technology that interacts with the Apple Pencil to further its versatility. The pencil has 12 hours of battery life and can be charged simply by plugging it into the iPad Pro. The one fault is that it is only compatible with the iPad Pro and no older iPad models. Photo courtesy of Apple Along with “3D touch,” there is also a new dual screen feature that allows the user to split the screen and use two apps at once. It seems like there are few occasions when one would actually need to use this two-window feature, but in those situations, it would be very helpful. Overall, the iPad Pro is a good investment. From the large 12.9 inch screen to the new Apple Pencil, the iPad Pro brings a lot to the table. Its uses don’t stray far from those of a laptop or iPad, but the combination of the two in a single device makes it a worthwhile purchase. The iPad Pro and Apple Pencil will both be released in November––the iPad price starts at $799 while Apple Pencil will be sold separately for $99. afogarty@redwoodbark.org
Drake and Future surprise with superb mixtape By Michael Benz “What a Time to Be Alive,” a mixtape collaboration by Drake and Future, was unexpectedly released Sept. 20, and immediately climbed to number one on the iTunes Album chart. This is not unfamiliar territory for artist Drake, as his last surprise mixtape, “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late,” also reached the top spot earlier this year. This collaboration came almost out of nowhere, as the two are extremely popular, and are experiencing massive success as individuals in hip hop. “What a Time to Be Alive” is the best collaboration by an American and Canadian since pancakes and maple syrup. “Jumpman,” the ninth track on the mixtape, peaked at number 8 on the iTunes song chart, the highest of any song on the album. Though lyrically this song is neither intelligent nor eloquent, it shines as a composition. Drake and Future put together a masterpiece, including their own styles and flows while also using catchy tunes throughout each of their own verses. When “Jumpman” first plays, the continuous repetition of the word “jumpman” throughout the song is almost annoying. However, the catchiness of the song eventually overcomes the repetitiveness, a reason why this song is outselling the other 10 songs on the album. The second song on the album is called
Photo courtesy of Republic Records
DRAKE AND FUTURE dropped “What a Time to Be Alive” unannounced on Sept. 20 and it quickly climbed to the top of the charts. “Big Rings,” and it peaked at #35 on the iTunes song chart. Although not as popular, this song is
the best on the album, as it features another one of Drake’s memorable choruses. The lyrics are centered around the need
and want for money and big rings, and also include a tinge of confidence that borders on cockiness. Although the lyrics are somewhat typical, Drake and Future manage to use their contrasting styles to put together a unique song. Although there are many bright spots and potential hit songs, “30 for 30 Freestyle” brings down the overall quality of the mixtape. Drake and Future break the usual idea that a mixtape is for songs that didn’t make the album or side projects, but “30 for 30 Freestyle” feels like a filler 11th song that doesn’t belong. The slow tempo, lack of a real chorus, and lack of Future, who makes the album, makes this song egregious. This song is an immediate skip and downgrades the overall quality of the project. According to Billboard, “What a Time to Be Alive” sold 375,000 copies in its first week of sales. This is the third largest first week for any album so far in 2015. “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late”, Drake’s first album of the year, had the largest first week of 2015, totaling more than half a million sales. Overall, this collaborative masterpiece by Drake and Future is sitting atop good company as the potential best hip-hop album of the year.
mbenz@redwoodbark.org
Page 21 • Review
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bark
Find your inner yoga master: Best places to pose in Marin By Isabella Alioto A quintessential Marin County workout, yoga is offered at many local venues. The Bark attended classes at different yoga studios in Marin and ranked them based on rigor of workout, helpfulness of instructors, and overall quality of studio.
Marin Power Yoga The session at Marin Power Yoga was the best of the four. Located in downtown San Anselmo, this studio is spacious enough to hold nearly 30 people. Due to an attendance of fewer than 10 people, however, participants could spread out and take advantage of individual attention from the instructor. Throughout the hour-long session, the class performed a small variety of poses that we held for four to seven minutes, each one requiring maximum effort. Though this was difficult, the class was more effective than the others because of this stamina building. The instructor was very encouraging and he adjusted the workout for the whole class a few times depending on how difficult each pose was for the students. Sign-ups for this class are online and cost $15 to $20, depending on the type of class.
Yoga Works Of the four, YogaWorks was the least athletic class. Throughout the course of an hour and 15 minutes, the class did fewer than ten poses. However, the poses were meant to relax –– students held poses for anywhere between three and seven minutes. The instructor kept all of the students engaged by thoroughly explaining poses and helping students when needed. One downside of this class was the crowdedness –– while this YogaWorks location in Larkspur Landing has a spacious studio, the instructor seemed to have allowed too many people in the class. The room was almost completely full, forcing all participants to be pushed up against walls and windows. YogaWorks classes and memberships can be registered for online.
Photo courtesy of Marin Power Yoga
STUDENTS AT A Marin Power Yoga class practice posing as their instructor monitors. Marin Power Yoga ranked the best of the four locations, due to its spacious rooms, class difficulty, and encouraging instructors.
Yoga Mountain Studio
Lululemon Yoga
Yoga Mountain Studio, located in Fairfax, was very similar to YogaWorks in style and rigor –– it was focused on teaching participants to be calm and relaxed as opposed to achieving a good workout. However, unlike YogaWorks, the class was not overcrowded. The room at Yoga Mountain felt the most like a yoga studio because it was spacious and natural light filled the room. Though the encouraging instructor didn’t spend as much time giving individual attention, she was very thorough in explaining all of the poses, making everything easy to understand. A drop-in class costs $18 and monthly passes can also be purchased.
Every Sunday morning, the Corte Madera Lululemon employees push aside clothing racks to make space for a free yoga class. There are several different instructors who switch off teaching the class each week, and people of all ages attend. This class had the highest attendance, and the crowded room made for a distracting environment. While the instructor was enthusiastic, it was nearly impossible for her to give individual attention to participants. The routine itself was fairly basic, cycling through several different poses.
Bark Beats
ialioto@redwoodbark.org
By Pearl Zhong
Oh Wonder Oh Wonder This London pop-duo’s debut album features an atmospheric, synthpop tone with soft vocals that are easy on the ears. The entire album is composed of twovoiced harmonies presented in simple octaves which, although somewhat repetitive, emphasize their modest style. Syncopated, subdued beats mix with personal and passionate lyrics, unveiling the chemistry between the two. The album experiments with instruments including piano, saxophone, violin, and electronic effects which maintain the listener’s interest. Recommended: “Dazzle” Brimming with short electronic beats, “Dazzle” effectively uses sound effects from a casino setting, as clinking coins and beeping slot machines are subtly incorporated. High-pitched electronic voices are layered on top of each other, differing from the duo’s typical two voice harmony. The song ends with a sudden electronic riff that catches the listener’s attention.
Wild Troye Sivan With his highly anticipated sophomore EP, Australian singer, actor, and YouTube star Troyes Sivan has matured since the release of his first EP. A combination of alternative and electronic pop, Wild incorporates Sivan’s hallmark mellow voice, which contrasts nicely with the futuristic background tracks. The melody of the verses are somewhat generic, but the choruses express originality. The song Ease features the New Zealand duo Broods, who served as backing vocals and the bridge of the song. Recommended: “Fools” “Fools” is clearly the standout song of Wild. The piece begins softly, gradually building up until the chorus, when time electronic instrumentals and beats richly coordinate with Sivan’s voice. “Fools” incorporates poetic lyrics, “I see swimming pools and living rooms and aeroplanes/ I see a little house on the hill and children’s names,” which enhances the sophistication of the song.
Caracal Disclosure The brother duo released its second album on Sept. 25. Caracal is certainly a step up from their debut album Settle, as the two experimented with deep house styles. Although the album does contain steady electronic beats, there is a lack of rhythmic diversity, as many songs mimic an Abercrombie & Fitch store atmosphere. Caracal features popular artists including The Weeknd, Lorde, Sam Smith, and Miguel. Despite the variation in voices and singers, the duo successfully maintained a collective album feel. Recommended: “Omen” After the single “Latch” successfully topped the charts in 2013, Disclosure reunited with Sam Smith, releasing the single “Omen.” Maintaining a pop and deep house aura, Smith’s vocals brilliantly pair with Disclosure’s rich beats, diverging from his typical mellow style. Catchy and bold, the chorus is undoubtedly the spotlight of the song, as it is repeated until it gradually fades away at the end.
Fetty Wap Fetty Wap After “Trap Queen,” “679,” and “My Way” successfully made the Billboard Top 100 chart, Fetty Wap’s album was highly anticipated. This lengthy album includes 20 tracks, many of them featuring the singer Monty. Wap’s bold and unique voice maintains the album’s originality and manages to mask the monotonous beats. However, the lyrics lack individuality and variety. Wap uses his voice as an instrument, as he incorporates many sound effects created by his voice, whether it be high pitched shouts or runs. Recommended: “Again” Although “Again” is not a single, it is a radio-ready track. With a catchy chorus and plenty of Wap’s trademark sound effects, it encompasses a constant electronic synth-beat throughout the song, which nicely connects with the hip-hop beats. Wap has included lyrics from his hit single “Trap Queen“ that intertwine the tracks throughout the entire album.
bark
Page 22• Lifestyles
Random Facts of Redwood 84 percent juniors met the
English standards on the SBAC test last spring.
70 2 1306
6
percent of Redwood juniors met the Math standards on the SBAC test last spring. is the amount of times Jason Seavey’s slam poetry team has won the trischool tournament. is the number of trophies Kim Vela, homecoming princess has on Clash of Clans. is the amount of times homecoming princess, Kendra Loo has recieved stiches.
the number of bees 38 ishomecomig princess Elly Lundberg has been stung by.
October 9, 2015
Senior abandons footwear to raise awareness that ditching footwear is for everyone. “It’s a lot of work if you go to school or work full time...physically it’s not a What began as walking barefoot for hard thing to do, but it’s really socially one day to raise money for an organization unacceptable, so you have a lot of evolved into senior Kelly McCormish’s problems, for example the administration, decision to forgo wearing shoes for almost or teachers, or if you work somewhere they a year now. probably require you to wear shoes, which While scrolling through Instagram, they can,” McCormish said. McCormish stumbled across a post related According to McCormish, sometimes to the Soles4Souls’ annual Barefoot4Them people will whisper, stare, or point at her. day, during which participants go barefoot “I think a lot of people are just to raise money for children without uncomfortable when people do things adequate footwear. The post inspired her that are out of the norm, especially at high to abandon shoes and she has continued to school… a lot of people think it’s dirty or walk barefoot since Oct. 10, 2014. gross or unhealthy,” McCormish said. “I’m “When I was researching [being not really one to care that much about what barefoot], it seemed like people think of me, so a lifestyle that a lot of it doesn’t bother me people, after they started all that much.” doing it, really enjoyed, During her junior so I thought that it could year, McCormish’s be something I enjoyed decision to remain as well and something barefoot made it that could have a purpose difficult to attend and serve other people,” school and specific McCormish said. classes because of the After participating District’s dress and in the annual barefoot Kelly McCormish grooming policy. day,McCormish decided However, her senior to ask people to sponsor teachers did not her for each day she notice that she was went barefoot to collect barefoot until months money for Soles4Souls. She raised just after school had begun. less than 600 dollars from October 2014 to “[My teachers] would be like, ‘Hey, June 2015. where are your shoes?’” McCormish said. Although her fundraising project has “And I would be like, ‘I haven’t worn ended, McCormish continues to forsake shoes in this class ever.’” shoes as a personal choice. She walks Once her teachers became aware almost everywhere barefoot, with the that she was always barefoot, problems exception of some restaurants and stores arose because students are supposed to that require footwear. McCormish said she wear shoes at all times, according to the keeps flip flops in her car at all times. Tamalpais Union High School District McCormish stated that she has never Policies and Administrative Regulations had an infection or a severe injury due and the 2014/2015 Parent/Student to not wearing footwear, citing only Handbook. stubbed toes and one bee sting as her most “It was quite a battle to be able to be significant injuries. To keep her feet clean, allowed to [be barefoot] and I had a couple she washes them daily after she arrives of teachers who wouldn’t let me in class home. without shoes, so I ended up missing a lot Although McCormish has encouraged of class,” McCormish said. her friends to participate in the Despite missing some school due to Barefoot4Them day, she does not think forgoing footwear, McCormish did not By Anne Pritikin
Physically it’s not a hard thing to do, but it’s really socially unaccpetable
Photo by Anne Pritikin
SENIOR KELLY MCCORMISH has gone shoeless since Oct. 10, 2014.
have to drop any courses. Instead, she kept up with her classwork by emailing her teachers and getting help from friends. “[My parents were] totally supportive, except when I started missing school. They wanted me to wear shoes, but they still understood why I wouldn’t and I never got in trouble for it,” McCormish said. Looking toward the future, McCormish does not know how long she will continue to go barefoot, but says she will carry on foregoing footwear as long as it is convenient and enjoyable for her. She plans on participating in both the Barefoot4Them day on Oct. 16 and the National Barefoot Day on June 1, 2016. If you would like to donate to Soles4Souls, visit https://soles4souls.org/ get-involved/give-money/. Every dollar provides a pair of shoes to someone in need. apritikin@redwoodbark.org
Twins transfer to international world improvement schools By Sarah Kimball Juniors Ludovic and Magali de Bruyn have embarked on a new journey for the rest of high school by attending United World College (UWC) in New Mexico and India, respectively. UWC is a two-year program for juniors and seniors that focuses on sustainability, peace and comprehension among cultures, according to Magali. It is an International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum-based school enabling students to earn a two year pre-university diploma, and has locations in 15 areas worldwide. For both Ludovic and Magali, attending UWC has been an interest ever since they heard about it four years ago, after moving to Marin from Belgium. “We were having a meeting [with Belgians who had immigrated to the United States] in San Francisco and since we had just arrived, [the Belgians] introduced us to the area. We started to do hikes with them and little by little they told us about UWC. My sister and I started to become interested and we both decided it was something we wanted to do,” Ludovic said. According to Ludovic, he first became interested in UWC due to its focus on teaching students to change the world. “Here you learn to work with people in juvenile halls. You meet people who have completely different backgrounds, who at one point might have faced racism, and you start learning about religion and their beliefs,” Ludovic said. For Magali, the daily culture immersion experiences were the main draw to the program, although she also was interested in the worldly impact. “You get to learn and read and talk with people from all over the world who have different backgrounds, which I think is just amazing,” Magali said. “ It is a really unique experience because you live with people all around the world and the school tries to provide you with the skills to
Photo courtesy of Magali de Bruyn
JUNIOR MAGALI DE BRUYN (right) attends United World College Mahindra in India. Her brother, Junior Ludovic de Bruyn (not pictured) boards at UWC-USA. make a positive impact on the world.” Although students come from all across the world to each UWC campus, they all have the same goal, Ludovic said. “Almost everyone at this school comes to meet new people, comes to learn about new cultures, new languages,
and about new people who are from countries they have never heard of,” Ludovic said. Due to the the variety of cultures coming together in one location, students react differently to the unaccustomed traditions they are being introduced to, according to Ludovic. “For example when we first came to the cafeteria, someone from Senegal was amazed at the amount of food there was. For some people it was more of a culture shock than for others, but in the end everyone is happy,” Ludovic said. For Magali, their was no hesitation in deciding that she wanted to attend UWC Mahindra in India. “It was the perfect opportunity to do something new that was totally different than what I knew back home. This is the way that I would learn the best: by going somewhere very different. I had heard a lot about India, and I thought it was very different than back from in the U.S. and Belgium,” Magali said. “It is such an amazing country with such large diversity.” Ludovic had a harder time deciding which campus he wanted to attend, though he knew he wanted to be at a different campus than Magali. “Magali wanted to go to India and I thought the experience wouldn’t be the same with her––it would be different by myself. I thought that it would be better if we were not together,” Ludovic said. In the end, it came down to two choices for Ludovic. “I was hesitant between UWC-USA and Costa Rica. One of my close friends got accepted the year earlier to UWC-USA so I talked to him and he convinced me to go to UWC-USA instead of Costa Rica,” Ludovic said. After graduating UWC, each twin plans to attend a four-year college in the United States.
skimball@redwoodbark.org
bark Face-to-Face: Should feminism be called equalism? Page 23 • Lifestyles
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FACE
By Hayden Blum Face-to-Face is a feature that allows two members of the Redwood community to grill each other, argue, or simply converse about a relevant issue or event. We provide the topic, and they do the rest. This month’s participants are Junior Claire Schulberg and Senior Ruby Elson. The two discuss whether or not the feminist movement should be rebranded as “eqaulism.”
TO
FACE
Do you consider yourself a part of any gender equality movement? Claire Schulberg: I am for equality, which means that gender is equal between both sexes. I believe that equalism is this umbrella and feminism is under it, and equalism includes everyone whether it’s gender, sexual orientations, trans, or race. I believe that feminism is almost an archaic term now because equalism includes everyone, no matter their gender or race or sexual orientation. Ruby Elson: That’s a great idea, but unfortunately that’s not the way it works. The definition of feminism is a belief in the socio, political and economical equality of the sexes. If you want to go into gender, that would mean we’d be focusing more on LGBTQIA rights. As much as I’d like to work together on both, and many feminist groups do, it just doesn’t work that way. CS: I am a feminist, but I also believe that we need to include everyone in order to receive gender equality. We cannot fully empower women and girls without having men included. Men are the other side of the gender and 50 percent of our population. In order to really achieve gender equality, we need to include men. How do you think changing the focus of the movement toward equality, from feminism to equalism, would impact male involvement?
Claire Schulberg - vs Ruby Elson CS: If equalism was the new word for feminism, it would include a lot more people and a lot more people would be advocating for it because it not only includes the equality of females and sexes, but it also includes the equality of everyone, whether they’re transgender, gay, black, or white. I think equalism would be a broader term and it would be easier for us to accomplish the task, whether it’s gender equality, race equality, or sexual orientation equality. RE: If people don’t want to label themselves as a feminist then they don’t believe in the equality of the sexes. It’s that simple. CS: But they can be equalist and not feminist. They can believe in the equality of the sexes but they don’t need to be feminist. RE: One more time, I’m just going to make sure that we understand that the word feminist means the belief in the –– CS: Equality of sexes. So they could either be called feminists or equalists.
RE: No, because the fact that people want to change feminist to equalist shows that there’s already some sort of reaction that people don’t want to be associated with being feminine. That’s kind of the root of the issue because femininity is being attacked by being open and saying “Hey, I’m a feminist, I believe that everyone is equal.” If men aren’t part of the movement today, then they’re not going to be part of it tommorrow just because we’re calling it something different. How do you think the feminist movement would be different in 5, 10, or 20 years if the movement were relabeled? What would change? CS: I think if we relabeled [feminism] as equalism there would be a lot more done. There would not only be gender equality but there would also be equality of everyone. In order to achieve that equality, we need to be equal with one another and we need to include men because men are the other side of our population and we cannot just rely on women to achieve gender equality. If equalism was the term 10 years from now, gender equality would be higher. Countries have already seen this in gender equality. Countries with a higher sense of gender equality are higher on the happiness scale and mostly eastern European countries. If we reached gender equality, we would not only be happy, but we would also reach a level of success with gender equality. RE: By calling it equalist 10 years down the line, it’s going to be the same shit, but a different day. Feminism is still sociopolitical economic equality of the sexes. No matter if we rebrand it, it’s still femininity that’s being attacked.
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Freshman looks to spread sustainable living at Redwood By Eric Ahern Freshman Sam Jackson stands alone among the sea of ninth graders who recently made the seemingly monumental transition from their final year in a middle school to their first year of high school. Unlike most students in his class who, fewer than four months ago, were learning about the plight of the pilgrims while sitting behind desks in Redwood feeder schools, Jackson was learning about environmental sustainability all the way across the globe in Bali, Indonesia. Following his graduation from Kent Middle School in 2014, Jackson and his parents decided that he was not ready for the progression into high school just yet. After conducting weeks of research and considering multiple alternative educational options, the Jackson family decided that the best choice for Sam was Green School in Bali, a private K-12 school that emphasizes an environmentally Sam Jackson, friendly philosophy. According to its freshman website, Green School was founded in 2006 by environmental activists and spousal duo, Cynthia and John Hardy. Located 25 minutes Southeast of Ubud, Bali, the establishment is mostly powered by solar energy and is entirely constructed out of recycled materials all the way from the bamboo buildings down to the white boards made from old wind shields. While attending Green School, Jackson and 11
of his peers resided in an open-aired, high quality bamboo hut with wi-fi. Despite the fact that the students at Green School spend a great deal of time learning about eco-friendly and sustainable living practices, which may seem like an easy, enjoyable curriculum to some, Jackson noted that the academics were at least as competitive and rigorous than the way things are at Redwood. “It was tough. It definitely wasn’t easy,” Jackson said. “But it was for sure worth it.” On an average school day, Jackson would wake up in the early morning and walk the five minute path past the river that lay in between the facilities and the student boarding houses. Besides the standard courses such as math and English, Jackson and his peers were also taught methods on how to live a positive, green lifestyle, which he plans to bring to Redwood. Jackson left Bali and now attends Redwood with a renewed sense of care for our environment, something he wishes to spread throughout the student body. To achieve this goal, Jackson recently founded and serves as the president of the Sustainability Club. “In my club, we’ll be focusing on raising awareness so your everyday person can actually make a difference,” Jackson said. Jackson is prepared with a multitude of ideas and plans for how he and the members of his club will make an impactful change at Redwood.
If every person brought a reusable bottle we’d be saving tons of plastic.
Photo courtesy of Sam Jackson
FRESHMAN SAM JACKSON stands with a preschool student inside of Green School, in Bali, Indonesia. Jackson spent last year at this school studying sustainable living. “So many people come to school with plastic water bottles and that is just so much waste right there, just think about how many people are at our school,” Jackson said. “If every person who brought those brought a reusable bottle instead, we’d be saving tons of plastic.” First year art teacher Douglas Dammarell, who teaches Jackson’s Art Exploration class, will be serving as the staff advisor for the Sustainability Club. “It’s going to be a really cool thing,”
said Dammarell. “[Jackson] has got a lot of energy and a lot of good ideas.” Jackson aspires to see change at Redwood before he graduates in 2019. “I would just like to see people actually caring, not throwing their trash on the ground. I just want to see the everyday person changing their practices to become more sustainable.”
eahern@redwoodbark.org
Student teaches TRX at new local exercise studio By Addison Brady Senior Auz Zadoff started teaching Total Body Resistance Exercises (TRX) classes earlier this month, joining the energetic team of trainers at the brand new Multimodality studio in Corte Madera. New Om World (NOW), started by Marin Power Yoga instructor Susan Hauser, had its grand opening on Sept. 5. NOW is located on Tamal Vista Boulevard near Redwood. Zadoff, who specializes in teaching TRX, is one of the many young trainers who teach classes including kickboxing, power yoga, and Tabata. “I started doing TRX freshman year, and have been hooked ever since,” Zadoff said. “To be a certified TRX trainer at an intense studio is certainly a dream job for many; I’m lucky enough to have this job in high school.” Hauser’s classes consist of high intensity yoga exercises, many of which are not typical in the conventional yoga style. “I mix the spirituality of yoga with getting a good workout,” Hauser said. “The liveliness and loud music gets people grounded and focused, and there is still a clarity of the workout despite the live energy. That’s something that cannot be copied.” According to Zadoff, the main attraction to the studio is the complex and intense mindset the participants have when they take the classes. “I’ve always been into fitness and difficult
workouts, but NOW it is on a whole other level,” he said. “The way I run my classes here is different from an introductory class for all levels. When people come into the studio, they’re aware that they’re going to be pushed into challenges outside of their fitness Auz Zadoff c o m f o r t senior zones to become better athletes.” Personal trainer and Redwood varsity lacrosse conditioning coach Stein Skaar will also be teaching training classes at NOW. Skaar said he anticipates teaching athletes the tools that they need to continue a healthy lifestyle for not just the next five or ten years, but for life. “Some of these kids I’m working with, I’ve known since sixth or seventh grade,” Skaar said. “Now I see them working hard, [Zadoff] included. They’re getting fitter and stronger and there’s nothing more rewarding to me to see them at their full potential.” Skaar started his own fitness company, “Skaarfitness,” and also trains at Mt. Tam Racquet Club nearby the NOW studio. He emphasized the importance of working out for a healthy lifestyle, and not
just for physical appearance. dedication, and that to me “Sure, it’s great to look is the number one factor to good in the mirror, but it’s not a healthy body and mind.” about that. It’s about being a fit, healthy person from the inside, abrady@redwoodbark.org too,” Skaar said. NOW holds classes every day of the week, and offers discounts to all students. “I think NOW will change the way people view fitness,” Zadoff said. “The trainers here want nothing else but to witness their athletes improve from hard work and
I started doing TRX freshman year, and have been hooked ever since.
Photo by Addison Brady