Highlander Newsmagazine

HIGHLANDER

No more free parking. inaugural issue | may 2019 | carlmont high school

HIGHLANDER LETTER FROM THE EDITORS newsmagazine Editors-in-Chief Nisha Marino Emma Romanowsky Editor Emeritus Sophie Lynd Faculty Adviser Justin Raisner Editors Andrea Butler Molly Donaldson Francesca D’Urzo Kimberly Mitchell Kathryn Stratz Sean Vanderaa Staff Writers Ben Balster Maya Benjamin Samantha Chu Sarah Cheung Samantha Dahlberg Anna Feng Talia Fine Kaylee George Joseph Gomez Lizzy Hall Sam Hanlon Nina Heller Mandy Hitchcock Sam Hosmer Rachel Hunter Nihal Karim Ry Lei Ailee Lim Kylie Lin Rachel Matatyaou Briana McDonald Veronica Roseborough Alena Ruhstaller Andrew Shen Victoria Valle Remond Taisiiaa Yakovenko Highlander is a newsmagazine dedicated to providing Carlmont students, staff, and the community with high-quality news, features, and opinion articles. We want to keep our readers informed on important issues ranging from events at Carlmont to international news, and want to engage them with unique stories and designs. Highlander is a publication completely run by the students of the journalism classes at Carlmont High School.

Story ideas are generated by the students and the published content is up to the direction of the editorial staff.

Dear Reader, Our names are Emma Romanowsky and Nisha Marino, and we are so excited to introduce ourselves as next year’s Editors- in-Chief for Highlander newsmagazine.

We are piloting this issue in a new format: a newsmagazine.

A newsmagazine is exactly as it sounds; it is a combination of a newspaper and a magazine. We made the decision to convert to this format to ensure that we would continue to deliver interesting stories to the Carlmont community, but that we could package them in even more visually appealing ways.

In this issue, you will see elements of our old publication — The Highlander — as well as more aspects of design. Next year, you’ll get eight issues of Highlander newsmagazine, fully in color, which we are thrilled to bring to you.

While Highlander newsmagazine has done away with the themed issues seen before, we have incorporated aspects of our featured section, “Scotlight,” into our front and inside page designs.

We hope you enjoy the inaugural issue of Highlander newsmagazine.

Sincerely,

Nisha Marino Editor-in-Chief

Emma Romanowsky Editor-in-Chief

Carlmont High School 1400 Alameda de las Pulgas, Belmont, CA

in this issue... lifestyle 5-7 Americans visit France Foods aren’t as healthy as they seem How teenagers get to sleep

features 8-13 Checking in on Paradise The chicken takeover Disney’s domination Is Chick-fil-A homophobic?

Kindness matters

sports 20-22 Sports strengthen athletes mentally Athletic achievers Football season starts early

opinion 28-30 Pride is being commercialized Global connections are important A letter to Monty

SCOTLIGHT: “adulting” Scotlight is Highlander newsmagazine’s in-depth cover story section. In this issue, Scotlight is focused on “adulting” — explaining to our graduating seniors how to go out into the world. This Scotlight tackles the simple things in life, like the importance of vote, paying taxes, doing laundry, balancing a checkbook, and using a credit card. Scotlight was designed by Sophie Lynd and written by Andrea Butler

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Bonjour France, au revoir US “I got to experience two different cultures: French and American.”

Valentine Errante French Exchange Student

Courtesy of Valentine Errante

Valentine Errante came to the U.S. and Carlmont for two weeks for the French exchange program.

Courtesy of Shiina Sugioka

Shiina Sugioka will be visiting France as an exchange student this summer.

Nihal Karim It’s your first day at your new school.

There’s not a person you know in sight, but you are determined to make new friends and adjust to the school’s environment.

Now picture that first day of school being in a different country. You can’t even speak the language.

Valentine Errante is just one of a few French students who visited Carlmont through the French Exchange program.

Errante, like other students visiting the U.S., stayed with a host family for two weeks.

“I have decided to participate in the program because I love traveling abroad and I wanted to discover a new culture,” Errante said.

Upon arriving to the U.S., Errante noticed many differences, especially when it came to school.

“Carlmont is very different from all the schools in France. [It] is very big and has a lot of different students.”

Errante has also noted that in addition to the size of the school, there are some differences in the school life itself, such as class structure and sudent life.

“In France, we can’t use our phones during class, get up without permission, or eat during class. We also don’t get a choice in lunch food and can’t decide which classes we want to take because of the curriculum,” Errante said.

“Students here have more freedom and independence.”

In addition to what Errante noticed at Carlmont in terms of academic and social life, she has also witnessed cultural differences between France and the U.S. “I think that American people are very nice and welcoming. They are always smiling,” Errante said.“It’s really different and it’s really cool to see a person always smiling at you, and as a French student, it’s really nice.”

After leaving the U.S., Errante said that she has gained valuable skills and insights through her experiences as an exchange student.

“I think I was very lucky to do this. I got to experience two different cultures:

French and American. Both are very different and I didn’t know what to expect American culture to be like. My English is also better now,” Errante said.

The French Exchange program works in two directions. In addition to hosting French students, some Carlmont students taking French III will have the opportunity to visit France as exchange students during the summer.

Shiina Sugioka is one of the Carlmont students who will be visiting Reims, France, for two weeks.

“I am so excited to go to France over the summer,” Sugioka said. “Other people from my French class and I are going to be staying with our host families for 10 days, after which we will be going to Paris with our teacher.”

Since this will be Sugioka’s first time in France, she does not know what exactly to expect during her stay.

“Personally, I am very excited to go to Reims and to Paris. I can’t wait to experience the French culture and explore the cities,” Sugioka said.

Though exciting, the trip to France can also be intimidating.

“I think that because of the language barrier, it might be a little hard at first,” Sugioka said. “We can only speak French once we’re there, so communicating in the beginning might be a little challenging.”

Although foreign language might seem like an issue, it is overshadowed by the opportunity to visit a new country and experience a new culture.

“Not only do I get to learn about the culture, I also get to improve my French, so I can’t wait to visit France,” Sugioka said.

Both the French students and the Carlmont students visiting France feel like they will come out of this experience with extended knowledge about the culture, life, and improved language of the place they visited.

“I didn’t know how different [American] culture would be. After returning back home, my language has improved and is better now,” Errante said. “I brought [American] culture back with me.”

MAY 2019 HIGHLANDER 5

No rest for the weary

Teens use drugs to combat sleepiness Veronica Roseborough The bell rings and she promptly leaves class, goes to practice, and rushes home to mounds of homework, studying, and not enough time.

When she finally finishes, getting the recommended nine hours of sleep is impossible, and so she tries rest for what little time she can before the cycle begins again. But her body won’t shut down, her mind won’t stop racing.

It’s not that Kaimei Gescuk doesn’t want to sleep, she can’t.

“I didn’t always have sleep problems,” Gescuk said. “It just started this year when I had a ton of homework and then a ton of stuff with running so I was just very activated at night.”

Gescuk finds that with all of her daily obligations, she has little to no time in between to relax, which contributes greatly to her insomnia.

“I just don’t have a lot of transition time between my work or workouts and sleeping.

So, a lot of times, I’d just get done with a workout or with homework and then five minutes later, I’d have to put myself to bed. For the body, it’s really hard to transition that quickly,” Gescuk said.

While there are various treatments for insomnia, as of now there is no permanent solution.

One that is recommended “as needed” by doctors such as Dr. Hana Grobel, M.D., is melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone that regulates sleep cycles within the body.

Research suggests that a melatonin supplement may

provide relief for those suffering from insomnia; however, there is currently insufficient evidence to support that theory, according to a study by the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

Still, Gescuk resolved to try various medications in attempt to restore her circadian rhythm.

“I started with low doses of medication like herbals and then Benadryl,” Gescuk said.

“Then my body kind of adapted to that, so I started getting stronger stuff like melatonin, which was working for a little while. Then I started taking higher doses of melatonin and eventually it stopped working.”

According to Grobel, the body can even stop producing melatonin if it becomes too used to the supplement.

Due to the inconsistentcy of medicine, some choose to combat the effects of insomnia with a substance proven to stimulate the tired mind: caffeine.

At least 83.2% of teenagers age 13 to 17 consume caffeinated beverages on a daily basis, according to a Food and Chemical Toxicology report.

This may be because, although it is a drug, it is not classified as an “addictive substance.”

“I drink coffee every morning, or at least on weekdays because it helps me actually stay awake during my first period,” Eddy Yeretnov said.

Since he switching to caffeine, Yeretnov hasn’t found as much of a need for sleeping aids. However, the body does not fully process caffeine until six hours after intake which can

6 HIGHLANDER LIFESTYLE

Veronica Rosebough

undermine efforts to rest.

Regardless of its origin, insomnia treatment is different for everyone. One method that has proven to be reliable is regulating one’s sleep schedule, or what Grobel calls “sleep hygiene.”

“If you can’t fall asleep, or if you wake up multiple times, we call it ‘20 minutes.’ So, for 20 minutes, read or do something like meditation and then try to sleep again for 20 minutes, then 20 minutes read, and so on,” Grobel said.

With the lack of long-term success from medication,

Gescuk turned to a similar method to battle her insomnia.

“Recently, I’ve been trying all the natural ways of falling asleep first. So, I give myself like maybe 20 or 10 minutes of just relaxing, breathing, listening to music, drinking tea, and I try to go to bed a few nights like that,” Gescuk said.

Whether one’s inability to sleep is due to caffeine, stress, or just not enough hours in the day, insomnia is not a problem that will disappear overnight and each individual must carve their own path to a good night’s sleep.

Warning: may contain lies Samantha Chu We live in a world of deception. There’s a hidden side to almost every aspect of modern society, and the food industry is no exception.

The nutrients a person consumes affect how their body functions. Because of this, the type of food that someone eats is significant to their health.

However, many people do not pay attention to this and eat whatever they want, which is often unhealthy.

“I choose to eat a lot of junk food because it’s convenient for me. [...] It’s an easy way to get quick calories before practice,” said Parker Rianda, a junior. “I know junk food is unhealthy, but I also believe that some are worse than others.”

Some foods can be better for a person’s overall well-being than others. For instance, baked chips are healthier than a pack of Twinkies, but baked chips are still not healthy.

According to the Food Network, baked potato chips contain three times the amount of acrylamide, a cancer-causing chemical, than traditional fried chips.

Many don’t consider what is actually in the food they’re eating and blindly follow whatever the front of the package says.

Large food corporations often take advantage of this and try to trick consumers by promoting harmful eating habits.

“I watched a lecturer a couple of weeks ago that said that when

Samantha Chu

his wife was pregnant, the doctor gave her a pamphlet on all the ‘healthy’ foods she should be eating, and basically it was composed of red meats and dairy,” said Grace Heck, a senior. “The guy got suspicious and read farther into the pamphlet and found that it was funded by the National Beef Cattlemen’s Association.

Huge corporations can just pay people like doctors to enforce unhealthy diets.”

Furthermore, the main goal of most food brands is for the consumer to buy their product.

“A lot of these so-called healthy snacks trick people by having their packages say that the food is healthy, but the snacks either have a higher sugar count than protein or about three servings per package, so I feel that it is really important for people to check the nutritional information” Rianda said.

In recent years, Carlmont has worked to improve its lunch menu by implementing a salad bar into the cafeteria to give students better food options.

Salads are known to be healthy, but that’s not always the case. For example, adding too much cheese, croutons, or dressing makes the salad extremely fatty, and many people do just that to add flavor into their meal.

Salads are still healthier than most junk food, but a lot of people are unaware of the excess fat they consume when adding these components onto their salad.

Apart from salad bowls, smoothie bowls are also a

popular meal that many consider to be healthy.

Most of these smoothie bowls contain acai berries, which have many benefits for the body such as improving cholesterol. But, like salads, they can turn into an unhealthy meal.

“I think that [smoothie bowls] are good for you, just not as healthy as advertised.

It’s much better than having a cheeseburger for lunch, but some of the bowls have a lot of sugar from the fruits and granola,” said Sophia Krackov, a junior.

A lot of people also believe that specific diets guarantee a healthy body. One of these diets is the vegan diet, but most manmade vegan products tend to be the opposite of what people think they are.

“A lot of vegan foods aren’t actually that healthy. For instance, Oreos are vegan, but they’re obviously quite unhealthy,” Krackov said.

Regardless, food is one of the fundamentals of life, which is why it is essential to understand where it comes from and what it does to the body.

“A lot of kids just eat whatever they want, and that’s not always good for their bodies,” said Sami Gingher, the health aide at Carlmont. “What you eat affects your mood, energy, and academic performance so everyone should be aware of what they are actually putting in their body because it matters.”

MAY 2019 HIGHLANDER 7

Paradise fire victims rise from the ashes Highlander checks in on rebuilding efforts in the areas affected by Camp Fire Anna Feng For a month, Paradise, Calif. became a living hell as the small town was flattened by the deadliest California wildfire ever. Six months later, the residents of Paradise are picking up the pieces of what remains of their former homes and lives.

Joe Kimmel, a resident of Paradise, woke up on Nov. 8, 2018 to a pitch black sky and a reddish glow in the distance.

“I said, ‘There’s something wrong,’ went back inside, turned on the TV, and they said there was a fire in the mountain,” Kimmel said.

Although Kimmel was one of the first to hear about the fire, he didn’t leave until nearly 10:30 a.m.. The fire had spread to his backyard, but he didn’t think about evacuating yet.

“I had just gotten out of the hospital the Monday prior to the fire, so I was on a drug that made me really high and I was confused and everything,” Kimmel said. “A big fire truck came down, and this young guy stuck his head out the window and I yelled up at him, ‘Hey, there’s a fire in the backyard!’ I really didn’t know how big it was at the time — I just knew that it was dark and the sky to the north was reddish.”

Meanwhile, the Morrows, another family at Paradise, were also evacuating. Javin Morrow, the eldest son, was home sick and was woken up by his family’s commotion.

“I was supposed to go into the hospital the day of the fire,” Morrow said. “I woke up the morning of the fire to, ‘Javin, there’s a fire, we have to leave!’ and I was like, ‘What? There’s no fire!’”

The Morrow family packed their bags and left at 8:30 a.m.. Their house caught fire about an hour later.

Nearly half a year later, the town is still struggling to rebuild.

Several stores have already been remodeled, but rubble and melted cars still remain on sidewalks and old parking lots.

Despite the town’s commitment toward rebuilding, steps must be taken before construction can begin.

153,336 acres burned. 17,000 buildings were destroyed.

There were 86 civilian fatalaties.

According to Cal Fire this was the deadliest fire in California history.

“The first priority is to get all the debris cleaned up, and our second priority is to staff our building department so we can process all the applications for building permits that are coming in,” Mayor Jody Jones said. “We’ve issued eight building permits so far, and we have about 40 in the works. We got a grant to subsidize building permit fees, so each family gets up to a $3,500 discount on 8 HIGHLANDER FEATURES

Rows of mailboxes line the road next to an abandoned gas station. their permit fees. We’ve also applied for another grant to help pay the cost for additional fire resistant building materials.”

The city council meets several times a month to discuss the plan for rebuilding the town. According to reports of the meetings, Paradise identified the need to create safer street networks, promote local businesses, and improve utilities, among others.

“I like to focus on what’s remaining in Paradise: the businesses that have re-opened, the buildings that are still standing, the lots that have been cleaned, rather than the destruction. A lot of progress has been made in five months,” Jones said.

In the meantime, schools have re-opened. Morrow goes to high school in Chico, which is roughly a 22 minute drive from Paradise.

“What [the school board] did was that there was a Paradise charter middle school, and we combined their middle school with our middle school so we had shared facilities,” Morrow said.

After the fire, donations and support came pouring in.

“A lot of the teachers were actually really sympathetic. My American Sign Language teacher actually took me out to lunch a week after the fire and checked up on me. It really showed me how much people cared, especially because he was a teacher and I didn’t expect it,” Morrow said.

In addition to charitable donations from regular civilians, companies such as the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company donated food, clothes, and other items. Kimmel was one of those who benefited from such donations.

“You get a lot of gift certificates from a lot of different organizations to help you along, which is great because it’s going to take a lot to rebuild your home, and then you’ve got to furnish it,” Kimmel said.

No matter what, there was one thing that brought many of the residents back to Paradise.

Morrow said, “No matter what it looks like, it’s still where we grew up. It’s home.”

The

Coop d’état Mandy Hitchcock Fluffy plays with a grape like it’s a football. Fern is a lovebug. Duchess enjoys follow-the-leader. Lola demands a banana daily. Midnight guards against danger.

These are just some of the experiences mother and kindergarten teacher Estrella Raddeveros discovered by playing house to her nine chickens in her Belmont backyard.

“The chickens definitely have their own personalities and I didn’t expect that.

They’re really easy pets and I can’t imagine our lives without them because they’re so much fun,” Estrella Raddeveros said.

Despite a growing population of software engineers and startups, Silicon Valley homes have come to embrace a unique lifestyle acknowledging one’s agricultural roots.

Stephanie Cozzolino is a co-owner and grower for Cozzolino’s, a wide expanse of farmland and landscaping services stationed in Half Moon Bay. “It’s a great way for people to connect to nature and understand where their food comes from,” Cozzolino said.

Currently, dogs and cats typically grace the households of many families. However, assistant manager of the Half Moon Bay Feed and Fuel, Brianna Camozzi, predicts a future where buying a couple of hens will be as normal as getting a puppy.

“It seems like owning chickens is continuing to grow more and more. I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon. And it’s becoming more of a pet type ownership rather than for food,” Camozzi said.

Andres Raddeveros, a junior, has also become more aware of the role chickens play in the community.

“People are starting to have a bunch of

concerns about whether eggs are organic or cage free. Will chickens suddenly become the new norm? I know on my street alone, there’s four or five people who have chickens,” Andres Raddeveros said. “It’s kind of cool; to me, it’s just like having a dog.”

With growing agricultural mass production, parents worry about what goes on their children’s plates. Of course, many are hesitant to welcome a coop and a few clucking hens into their backyard as part of the solution.

“I think people get into their head that it’s harder than it actually is. ‘The chickens are dirty, messy, smelly.’ Some people are scared of birds,” Andres Raddeveros said. “You need to commit to being responsible, but I think people should just go for it. As long as you respect them, they’ll respect you back.”

The reality of raising hens is easier than most think, a trend seen at the Half Moon Bay Feed and Fuel.

“In the last 10 years, people have been more geared towards managing chickens as pets, and it’s becoming more popular. So we do get a lot of customers from small farms, backyard farmers, and community gardens looking for our poultry and small coops,” Camozzi said.

Although taking on a project such as this may appear daunting, the rewards should be considered.

Collecting fresh eggs each morning is something the Raddeveros household has come to cherish.

“When you’re out in the g a r d e n working, you’ve got c o m p a ny — they’re the ladies,” Estrella Raddeveros said. “I also feel healthy eating their eggs because I know

what went into the chickens, so I know what my kids are eating.”

What separates Cozzolino’s farmers’ market eggs from the ones found in a Belmont backyard is the scale. Otherwise, her care of some 800 hens daily runs parallel to how a backyard coop can be looked after, and she encourages homeowners to explore that route.

“Just see if that’s something that appeals to you; research online, there are some who explain from step one on how to raise chickens,” Cozzolino said. “Build a coop and have fun.”

Regardless of whether a backyard is full of clay flower pots or astute garden gnomes, any suburban resident has the ability to bring a bit of farmlife into their homes.

“Here in Belmont, they allow us to have our hens and I think it’s great because you come back here and you feel relaxed and happy. You hear the sound? It’s peaceful,” Estrella Raddeveros said. “I’ve always wanted to have a farm. Here’s part of my farm.”

MAY 2019 HIGHLANDER 9

Sarah Cheung What does chicken have to do with ethics?

Actually, a lot more than you might think.

As Americans rave about the fast food restaurant Chick-fil-A, they could be supporting more than just a chicken sandwich. Alongside its acclaimed meals and customer service, the chain restaurant is notable for its Christian practices and its support of traditional values.

Founded by Truett Cathy in 1946, its Christian heritage initially influenced its business practices with the decision to close on Sundays. Truett Cathy intended to give his employees the opportunity to spend one day of their week resting and worshipping, and the restaurant still upholds this practice today.

More controversially, Truett Cathy created the Winshape Foundation in 1984 to donate to various organizations, some of which are seen as threats to the LGBTQ community.

Two such organizations are Eagle Forum and the Family Research Council, both conservative interest groups who inform policymakers about their belief in traditional marriage and familial structures.

Current Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy fueled the controversy in a 2012 statement to The Baptist Press, saying, “We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. I think we are inviting God’s judgement on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.’”

As a result of their public stance on marriage and family, Chick-fil-A has been met with boycotts, university protests, and a “National Same-Sex Kiss Day” in front of the restaurant.

The 2012 event consisted of same-sex couples traveling to Chick-fil-A locations to post pictures and videos online with their significant others as a form of protest.

Others, like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, instead called it “Chick-fil-A 10 HIGHLANDER FEATURES

Appreciation Day,” and flocked to its stores in the name of free speech.

This conflict persists today, and can be particularly seen in students protesting that the restaurant’s presence on college campuses fails to promote inclusivity.

As the debate persits, Americans still struggle with an essential question: how far are we willing to accept free speech, and at what point should it interfere with our food?

Adrian Harris, a senior, is disappointed in Chick-fil-A’s actions but doesn’t think it necessarily means all support for the restaurant must be eliminated.

“As a member of the LGBTQ community, it certainly has made me very sad to see such a popular restaurant openly support anti-LGBTQ organizations,” Harris said. “I used to go quite regularly but after finding out about their support of anti-LGBTQ organizations, I have limited how much I go there and have not been in a while. But I’m not going to lie; I do still eat at Chickfil-A.” While many see the donations of the Winshape Foundation (and in turn, Chickfil-A) as direct opposition to the LGBTQ community, others interpret them a little differently.

Nathaniel Pon, a senior, is a member of Carlmont’s Christian Club. He mainly supports the business for its food, but does believe Chick-fil-A’s actions have been misread.

“Just because you don’t donate to someone or you do donate to someone does not mean you hate something, it just means you support one thing over the other,” Pon said. “The common misconception is that Christians hate gays; they are against the practice, but not the people themselves.”

Chick-fil-A would agree. In fact, it eventually took a less rigid approach in its donations. According to the executive director of Campus Pride, one of the nation’s leading LGBTQ organizations for college campuses, the Winshape Foundation revealed its 990 tax form documents from 2011.

The documents showed that while they continued donating to marriage enrichment

programs, “the most divisive, anti-LGBTQ groups no longer existed” on the list of Winshape’s beneficiaries. Although the executive director acknowledged his opposition to the foundation’s funding decisions, he claimed that some of the groups, like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, don’t operate with such harsh political agendas as Winshape’s previous grantees.

Chick-fil-A has also posted a statement on its website saying, “While some have questioned the motives behind our donations, we want to take a moment to reiterate the mission and focus of the Chickfil-A Foundation, which has always been and always will be to donate to programs that support a diverse array of youth and educational programs nationwide.”

As well as funding groups like the Salvation Army and Junior Achievement, the restaurant awarded $15.3 million in scholarships to its team members in 2019.

And in an attempt to rewrite the negative reputation it has accumulated, Chick-fil-A reportedly turned down multiple offers to participate in political campaigns.

David Farmer, the vice president of menu strategy and development, said, “There are several candidates who would like to use us as a platform. We are not engaging. Chickfil-A is about food, and that’s it.”

Chick-fil-A’s new focus on their less harsh practices could be seen as a reinvention of their reputation. But for some, like the students petitioning to remove the restaurant from their universities, its traditional views on marriage do not qualify as free speech so much as a threat to the LGBTQ community.

While Harris doesn’t believe in supporting homophobic businesses, he doesn’t think that every customer holds correlating ideologies.

“I think it genuinely makes a comment about our society and how we value food over ethical equality,” Harris said. “I do not necessarily believe that the people who eat at Chick-fil-A are homophobic; however, I do believe that they should be more well educated on the topic and limit how much they support it.”

Be kind.

Small acts can make tangible differences Alena Ruhstaller You walk down C hall and spot someone from your math class.

“Hey, did you get a haircut? It looks great,” you tell a random kid.

They smile and walk away. It may have seemed like a minor compliment, but little do you know that you may just have made their day and maybe even your own.

According to Community Home Health Care, smiling is proven to be contagious, reduce stress, and promote kindness and well-being.

“If someone’s feeling down one day and someone makes an effort to be kind to them, it can really lift their spirits and make them a lot happier,” said Andrea Brehovska, a sophomore. “Any compliment or smile can turn their bad day into a good one.”

However, the foundation of random acts of kindness are not created equal.

Researchers at Brigham Young University and the University of Missouri surveyed 500 teens two years and concluded that the teens who were more helpful towards family members and strangers tended to stay out of trouble more often than those who didn’t.

Teens who commit random acts of kindness benefit from simply helping other people out and improve their own mood and actions in the process.

“So many people are just wanting that connection, empathy, and kindness.

When people give it and are accepting and inclusive, it helps everyone, because it makes our school safe for all of us,” said Shelley Bustamante, the Therapist and Students Offering Support (SOS) coordinator at Carlmont.

As one of the many resources for students at Carlmont, Bustamante and the student members of SOS aim to reach out to students and provide peer counseling, mediators, and presentations on different psychological topics relating to adolescence.

Bustamante believes that despite the size and density of the student body, students can still find a sense of belonging through the network of student clubs and

collaboration.

“The spread of kindness and the feeling of belonging all just boils down to the human connection, and joining clubs is a great place to start,” Bustamante said. “Mr. Kelly gives opportunities for these clubs to come together, like Heritage Day and allow people who aren’t feeling included to find a club and family to be a part of.”

Whether or not students join organizations available at Carlmont, many still strive to make Carlmont a more welcoming and friendly place for all, even it’s just a smile.

However, possessing self-kindness has been found to be just as important as spreading love and kindness to others.

According to Positive Psychlopedia, self-kindness is a way to find peace and acceptance in a personal situation and further teaches us how to support others.

“Students need to find their voice when they feel that things aren’t okay, like when they feel like they’re getting too much academic pressure and stress in the way of homework, or from parents or from trying to keep up with their friends,” Bustamante said. “They need to take a breath and realize that their life is not just about a grade. If your mental health is compromised, your ability to function in school is going to be compromised and your ability to make relationships will be as well.”

Despite how little the notion of kindness may be, it could mean the world to someone.

“You never know what’s going on in a person’s life,” Cindy Chen, a junior, said.

“You never know what that comment or that smile could do and never know what they need that day.”

“When you’re kind to someone they’re happy and everyone can be together.”

Cindy Chen Junior

Molly Donaldson

Before telling her that she’s beautiful

Molly Donaldson

After telling her that she’s beautiful MAY 2019 HIGHLANDER 11

The inevitability of Walt Disney Victoria Valle Remond

With “Endgame,” Disney broke its own record for the umpteenth time this decade. The implications of their empire are Disney has all the Infinity Stones, and there are no Avengers to made clearer than ever: in the span of a single weekend, the box office of “Endgame” has turned Disney into the studio responsible stop them.

In a single decade, Walt Disney Studios has arguably become for what may be the highest grossing film in history.

Understanding the magnitude of a billion dollars is crucial to the most powerful entertainment conglomerate and is showing no signs of slowing down. With billions of dollars to spare and understanding the enormity of Disney’s influence. An analogy assets to be gained, Disney is spreading through the entertainment developed by behavioral consultant David Stanley puts the finances into perspective. industry like the plague.

According to Stanley, if every dollar were a second of time, it In 1993, Disney was already making steady acquisitions both in companies and in property shares, but they remained just another would only take 11 days to get to a million. It would take 32 years studio competing in a diverse pool of talent. However, the last 15 to get to a billion.

Based on this analogy, it would take 7,879 years to attain Disney’s years have quickly laid the groundwork for Disney’s domination.

The latest addition to Walt Disney Studios is 21st Century Fox, current net worth of $246.2 billion dollars.

It’s not just the film industry that has made Disney so valuable. purchased in March 20, 2019 for a staggering $71.3 billion. Disney Since its acquistions also include properties and has been inching towards a monopoly of the market shares, Walt Disney Studios has also film industry for years, but this acquisition become a formidable mogul in television and brings startling implications. entertainment media.

The purchase of 20th Century Fox, will now According to sources from Deadline and make Walt Disney Studios responsible for 35% Vox, the companies and subsidiaries owned by of the entertainment industry.

Disney as of 2019 are as follows: For many filmgoers and franchise superfans, Disney retains complete ownership over this is no victory. If anything, it’s a catalyst that Touchstone, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, and speeds up the deterioration of the film industry.

Hollywood Records. This means total control of “I think things have gone downhill since franchises like Star Wars, Marvel, the Muppets, Disney acquired Lucasfilm, and it looks like Indiana Jones, and all Pixar movies. now they’re doing the same to Marvel,” said The properties of Walt Disney Studios Spencer Andersen, a junior. include an 80% stake in ESPN, a 50% stake in In 2009, Walt Disney Studios acquired - Caroleene Block the History Channel, a 16% stake in Vice Media, Marvel for $4 billion; in 2012, they bought Junior and a 50% stake in Lifetime. As of March 15, Lucasfilm for just over that same amount. Since 2019, Disney upgraded from a 60% stake in then, Marvel and Star Wars films have smashed Hulu to total ownership. virtually every box office record and established In addition to this, Disney is licensed to distribute Studio Ghibli new standards, only to be broken the following year.

According to Daniel Roberts, a writer from Yahoo Finance, content in the United States but does not own it.

The influence of Walt Disney Studios extends almost everywhere.

9 of the top 10 biggest U.S. opening weekends ever were Disney For some, becoming aware of Disney’s growing supremacy means franchises. Six were Marvel movies.

Yet box-office records continue to evolve with every Disney facing the possibility of a bleak future for the entertainment success. A study from IMAX reported that “Avengers: Endgame” industry.

“It’s a very bad thing when one company starts to own everything broke its worldwide opening night record with $91.5 million, 92% above previous record-holder “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” A because that means there stops being competition,” said Caroleene CNBC article by Sarah Whitten further states that the total global Block, a junior. “It can become a stagnant pool; nothing original can come from it if all the content is being recycled.” weekend gross of Endgame was $1.2 billion dollars.

For others, it’s harder to villify Disney so quickly. Not only has their prosperity revived the American economy, but the success of

“Now, they’ve become a company focused only on how to make money.”

Disney franchises at the box office continue to strike down the decades-old myth that theatregoing is dead.

“Disney has reinvigorated the entire Star Wars franchise and has taken Marvel to new heights,” said Steve Pomeroy, Ralston Middle School’s animation teacher. “But I do worry about any company having too much influence over a market.”

Both filmgoers and industry leaders share one main grievance about Disney’s domination: where there are millions being gained, there is quality being lost. Often times, Disney’s formulaic blockbusters lack authenticity, and are for the most part superficial. Instead, the creators are investing in computer graphics and repetitition, with a single goal: to appeal to as many demographics as possible.

“Disney used to be kid-centered. At its roots, it was always about the people, about the content being put out. Now, they’ve become a company focused only on how to make money and how to appeal to the audience in the most general of ways,” said Block.

The big fish are eating each other, and soon there may only be one left. Even then, in the face of the seemingly inevitable, some remain hopeful that the future of entertainment media will still be diverse.

“There are many creative and talented filmmakers in the world, so I think there will always be competition,” said Pomeroy.

But, the world may soon see a resurgence of independent professionals assembled and ready to restore balance to the universe. Only time will tell.

?

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ADULTING How do I play?

1. Register to vote 2. Set a budget 3. Pay your taxes 4. Do your laundry Land and money are dealt, but in real life assets last for more than only two hours.

Turning 18 doesn’t immediately make you an adult because becoming a functioning adult in society takes time and experience.

No one’s going to wave a magic wand and change you in a day; it’s something that every person has to figure out for themselves.

Even when you’re legally an adult, mentally you’re years away from thinking

like an adult. No matter the maturity of the individual, the brain itself isn’t fully developed until your mid-twenties.

According to an article by the University of Rochester Medical Center, teenagers make decisions with the amygdala, which mainly deals with emotions.

Adults think with the prefrontal cortex which “responds to situations with good judgment and awareness to long-term

consequences.” It also states that teens don’t begin to use the rational part of their brain to think until age 25.

Burdened with the responsibilities of being an adult, yet still approaching life the same way as a freshman in high school makes trying to be an adult pretty tricky.

In effect, adulting is pretending to be an adult until you fake it for long enough that people can’t tell you’re pretending.

Graduates make the trans YOU DO NOT GET TO COLLECT $200 WHEN PASSING

GO

REGISTER TO VOTE:

COMMUNITY CHEST Register to vote One of the most important responsibilities is voting, both for state assemblies, local positions, and, of course, president. Voting keeps you involved in the political sphere and enables people to elect the people they feel should represent them in the government.

If people want to change something, they’re going to vote for someone who will create the policies that each individual feels should be in place. As changes occur, new policies and laws need to be made, and voting allows for people to decide on which policies they feel should exist.

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sition from child to adult NOT-SO-FREE PARKING Set a budget & Pay taxes Adulting is rough, no matter if it’s in college or for a job. With all the newfound time, either with easy classes or no work on the weekends and no test to study for, having a schedule and sticking to is practically impossible.

Or so it seems. Having a routine doesn’t mean every minute of a day is scheduled precisely, it could just mean that breakfast is always between 8 a.m and 9 a.m., or that laundry is done every three days instead of once a month. To have something consistent in daily life helps to mediate problems of doing many unfamiliar things for the first time.

There are other benefits to having a routine that many people probably aren’t aware of. According to Northwestern Medicine, following some sort of schedule can lead to manageable stress levels, better sleep, improved overall health, and as a bonus, also sets a good example for those who don’t have structure.

Another possibility to include in a

How to Budget:

routine is when to eat out versus eating in or at a cafeteria. Keeping concrete times when you spend more money versus staying in and saving a bit not only helps with routines, but also when to save versus spending money.

And just when you think you’ve got your budget all figured out, it’s tax season!

Many people first encounter taxes when they get a part-time job in high school and have to fill out a W-4 form.

What it a W-4 you ask? In summary, it’s a form that tells your employer how much of your paycheck to withhold for federal income taxes.

This amount varies and is very difficult to get perfect, but as long as you get close, any amount you’re under or over can be remedied by either sending more money if you’re under or receiving a payment from the government if you gave too much.

However, this only applies you if your annual income is over a certain

threshold, which changes depending on if you’re a dependent or not. If someone, like your parents, claims you as their dependent, then the income threshold to pay taxes is lowered.

Other than taxes, there are a couple of other financial obligations you should keep tabs on, mainly credit card bills and your checkbook.

Checkbooks aren’t that hard to balance nowadays with online services that make it easy, but it’s still an important thing to do regularly.

Credit cards are similar, but instead of balancing a checkbook, it’s paying your credit card on time every month.

If you’re consistently late, your credit score goes down, and many services trust you less to pay installments or mortgages on time.

Finances are hard to keep track of and tedious to complete, but it’s worth it primarily so that you don’t go to jail for tax evasion, or have to buy a lousy house due to a low credit score.

3. Use a calendar 1. Determine why you want a budget to mark large annual expenses 2. Take a deep 4. Add up all look into what income you’re currently 5. Identify finance spending on goals

Athletic growth goes beyond the field Talia Fine Daniel Friis was not at peak athleticism when he started playing baseball freshman year.

“I was about 5 feet 6 inches with a high voice, and I was very weak,” Friis said. “I started noticing a difference junior year.

I had grown to be 6 feet 2 inches, and I realized that I was able to throw the ball harder and farther.”

When she first joined the soccer team, Samantha Tolu’s passing average was just that: average.

“I only got stronger as each year went on and was in really good shape by senior year.

My skill definitely developed, and I became a much better passer,” Tolu said.

It is a given that the high school years are a pivotal time for improvement in the lives of young athletes.

Still, no matter their development, the numbers don’t support their athletic success beyond high school. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, of the estimated eight million high school student-athletes in America, fewer than 500,000 of them will go on to play in the NCAA. Far fewer will play beyond that.

If the goal of sports were merely to develop skill, physique, and strength then statistically it’s not really worth it. But some of Carlmont’s senior athletes are here to talk about what they’ve gotten out of their sports beyond athleticism.

“My cross country teammates are my best friends. When you spend about an hour a day running with someone, you get to know them really well, and it has definitely brought us closer together each

Freshmen

year,” said Kyle Dimick, a senior on the cross country and track teams.

Friis experienced the opposite when he got onto the baseball team. He only knew one person on the team when he joined, and worried about breaking into already formed relationships. But, like Dimick’s experience, things changed over the years.

“The same guys I barely talked to freshman year are now my greatest buds.

I’m even rooming in college with one of them,” Friis said.

There is something special about the sports dynamic that draws people close enough to live together.

Nico Franchi, a senior, was able to realize a few of his own core values among his friends on the football team.

“Starting off, you wonder how much of the work is actually worth it when it comes down to the season. Throughout the varsity levels, the workouts and practices became necessary to acquire playing time and be a positive contribution to the team,” Franchi said.

The true value of his hard work manifested itself in the amount of time he could play the sport he loved, and the way in which he could help his teammates achieve their goal together. The reality check of finding hard work and dedication in one’s own resolve is not always as easy to find from a desk in a classroom.

Plus, Carlmont sports teams practice between 1 and 3 hours a day, 3 to 6 days a week. Not only is that a lot of time to dedicate, but also it requires a lot of energy to stay motivated during that time. “[Junior year] was the first year that we learned how much the hard work and

Sophomores

dedication really impacted the game and the team,” Franchi said.

Moreover, the balancing acts that athletes perform in order to maintain both of these aspects of the high school sports team, like social relationships and dedication, teaches more long term lessons.

“Starting out, we had early morning workouts at 6 a.m., which was a big change in how I went about my day. Attempting to manage a proper sleep schedule was tough,” said Franchi.

But athletes are forced to figure out how to push through these logistical issues really quickly.

“In my later years especially, I would be swamped with work and generally I wouldn’t really want to go for a run, but having to go to practice kept me consistently working out and feeling good,” Annika Nambiar, a senior in the volleyball program. “I’d come home more refreshed and energized to get work done.”

There are freshmen, sophomores, and juniors that want to try out for a team who aren’t sure if it’ll actually be useful to their high school career. They can look at the experiences of these seniors and realize that maybe they won’t end up playing pro, maybe it’s not a super exciting line on a college application.

In reality, playing on a high school sports team is not really about those things.

It can allow young people come together to strengthen bonds, prioritize, realize core values, and grow.

“There’s a reason saying that playing sports teaches you life lessons is a cliche, but it’s one that I can’t stress the importance of,” Nambiar said.

Seniors

Juniors Nambiar’s volleyball team made it to state

Franchi got a

semi-finals.

concussion in a game against

Menlo.

Friis became a starter on the

Dimick’s cross country team won the

JV

Peninsula Athletic League

baseball team.

Tolu dribbling the ball.

18 HIGHLANDER SPORTS

Championship.

Tolu got recruited to play soccer in college.

Franchi making a tackle.

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MAY 2019 HIGHLANDER 19

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RISING top

to the

Carlmont student athletes win titles and set records Kylie Lin

morgan hawes

Kimberly Mitchell

SCHOOL RECORDS 500 Freestyle 100 Freestyle

200 I.M.* 200 Freestyle

Hawes is a member of the varsity girls swim team at Carlmont and has been a competitive swimmer since the age of 8 years old.

This year, Hawes completed her second season of school swimming as a sophomore. She holds a significant number of swimming records at Carlmont and has qualified for the Central Coast Sections both her years on the team. As a freshman, Hawes qualified for and attended the California

Inter-scholastic Foundation State Championships for the 500 meter freestyle race.

“I love the Carlmont swim team; I think it’s so fun,” Hawes said. “That’s what really makes me love swimming — it’s being on a team where everyone is so supportive and caring for each other.”

In the future, Hawes hopes to swim in college and one day qualify for the Olympic Trials.

*Intermediate Medly

Trierweiler plays for both the Carlmont girls varsity basketball and varsity softball teams.

In basketball, she plays shooting guard and forward.

Trierweiler plays centerfield for softball.

In 2018, Trierweiler was selected to be the San Mateo Daily Journal Girls’ Athlete of the Year for her performances in both varsity basketball and softball.

In 2019, she was awarded League MVP

for the Peninsula Athletic League south division in varsity basketball.

Trierweiler said, “I started as a freshman on varsity, and through that journey I learned a lot both as a player and as a person. My coach teaches us about sportsmanship, respecting ourselves in the game, and how to be better on the court and in life.”

Next year, Trierweiler will be playing softball for the Santa Clara University Broncos.

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trierweiler

Jamie Trierweiler

Jamie Trierweiler

DOUBLE THREAT Softball Centerfield Basketball Forward/Shooting Guard

MAY 2019 HIGHLANDER 21

EARLY TO THE SNAP THE SCOTS PREPARE EARLY FOR THEIR 2019 SEASON actually want to be there. Messina doesn’t want people that show up for the jersey or show up just to talk. He wants the real people that Playing football for Carlmont High School is actually want to play, work hard, and raise the not as simple as just showing up on the field on program up to be better than what it’s ever been Friday nights. The training during the offseason before,” Vo said. “It’s hard to grow commitment, is part of what has given the Scots an edge over a lot of people are wanting to ride off our last their competitors and has gotten them to their two winning seasons, and we’re hoping that gets better. The people who do recent history of show up have really good winning seasons. energy and are really “You have to working hard to have a be all in for the better season from last program, or you’re year.” out. They’ll tell you The players straight up this is working towards the expectation improvement you have to meet.

- Matt Vo within the Almost 100 % Juior program put in attendance is a lot of required, and you need to have good grades or else you’re going training behind the scenes. to be looked at as a ‘problem kid’ because it Practices are year-round and drags the program down and the coaching staff consist of weight training, doesn’t really like that. If you are to veer off practice plays uring the course they’re just going to kick you off,” Matt spring, a well as seven-onseven tournaments where Vo, a junior, said.

High expectations for the program create a they compete against other sense of commitment and dedication from the schools during the summer.

“The morning workouts players on the team. The coaching staff value a committed team of players that are focused on are grueling if you haven’t been t h e r e working hard in all areas of their lives rather or if you are new because we have an intense workout and lifting routine, but it’s usually very than a large team of unorganized players.

“Good programs have tiers of commitment. fun with all of your teammates, especially when Some guys do the bare minimum and are only everyone is working hard and having fun,” meeting or exceeding expectations. Great Jonaven Kuhn, a junior, said.

Morning workouts for the football programs only have one tier. Everyone meets or exceeds the expectation,” head coach Jake players start at 6 a.m., allowing time for them to focus on homework after school and Messina said.

Even with football being a no-cut sport at to test the player’s accountability.

“Our coaches keep us training to mentally Carlmont, the coaching staff train the players enough to make them feel that they earned test us, and in order to make the team a group their spot on the team. When the athletes are of players that want to be there. It tests the given high standarts to meet, loyalty is built players’ ability to wake up and be accountable within the team and leads them to successful for themselves while also weeding out the bad players,” Vo said. seasons as seen in the past.

The growth of Carlmont’s football program “It’s an exclusive club for the people who

Briana McDonald

“I’m ready to play and ball out again.”

22 HIGHLANDER SPORTS

extends beyond the field. Coaches have paid close attention to the effort players put into their studies at school. In 2019, the football program hired history teacher Marcus Beltramo to be the football academic advisor.

“I feel that this is the next step in offering a comprehensive program for our present and future players,” Messina said.

Early training and high expectations are necessary for the football program because it creates a bond between the players. The camaraderie the athletes create in training showcases itself on gameday.

“We went up a division this year, so we’re hoping to have a winning record against the teams in this league. Were going to have a harder schedule than we’ve ever had before, and we’re hoping to maybe win the league title since we moved up,” Vo said. “I’m excited about t h e harder schedule.

Having b e t t e r comp et it ion will have iron sharpen iron and I’m ready to play and ball out again.”

Photo of Jonaven Kuhn by Samantha Dahlberg

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MAY 2019 HIGHLANDER 23

Half a world away

Graduating students share their plans to study abroad Rachel Matatyaou “I’m planning on going to college in the Netherlands and will major in International Communications. I’ll study there for four years but do three semesters abroad: one in Africa, one in Australia, and one possibly in Italy. I decided to do this because I am originally from the Netherlands and I was born there.

I also personally believe there are more opportunities in Europe for me and my future. The Netherlands also ranks very high for education and they have a different schooling system and way of

teaching that works better for me. There’s no lecture halls. It’s small classrooms of around 20 people, and the professors have one-on-one interactions with each student during every class. Also, from the first day you go, you start an internship so while you’re learning you have a chance to apply everything to your internship.

My hopes are to go into everything with a positive mindset because although I’m super excited and ready to move away, I’m nervous to leave all my friends behind because I’m a super social person and I’m sad to leave them behind.”

Eva Peate

Manson Hessels

Theo Korolev

Samantha Dahlberg

24 HIGHLANDER CAMPUS

“I am going to University of Manchester and my major will be in engineering. I decided this because my whole vision is globalization; I see myself using my experiences and opportunities and giving others what I know and my time.

Through travel, you absorb vast amounts of knowledge that can change someone and make them grow into someone more aware of the big picture. My hopes are to study environmental engineering and use that knowledge internationally to support communities. My main goal in life is to make a difference and impact the world around me, and I think this program could offer the ideal tool for me. I also think I inherited my mom’s

international bug to explore the world. I am lucky enough to have an international parent who taught me early on the ‘global’ aspects of the world, as there is so much more to it than the ‘not in my backyard’ mentality that many Americans have. In Silicon Valley, ‘global thinking’ is often limited to a mental determination of making more money across borders, evaluating the impact on the world as a whole. My goal is to create something that will push the [human] race to develop a true global mentality and environmental resilience to resolve climate change and other environmental issues with the help of the right technology and global policies.

I hope to develop a tool that would work with any government system to run a full diagnostic of environmental conditions for certain socio-economic regions and provide a calculated measurable solution that would combine top technology and policy matters to achieve and maintain targeted and justifiable results. It would allow positive environmental changes to be regulated and be customized based on the specific needs of a region.”

Going the distance

East Palo Alto students find value in the Sequoia High School District Nina Heller Most days, Sela Urbina, a junior, doesn’t get home until 5 p.m., despite leaving at 3:15 p.m. For her, this commute is just a part of everyday life.

However, for Urbina and the rest of the students who live in East Palo Alto (EPA) and attend Carlmont, the commute is worth it.

“I do feel that traveling all the distance to get to school is worth it. The school is pretty good, and I see a difference between Carlmont and the other schools in the district,” Urbina said.

While it doesn’t seem far, 11.2 miles separates Carlmont into two worlds: the world of EPA and the world of Belmont and San Carlos.

Previously, students living in EPA were zoned off into different schools within the Sequoia Union High School District. Today, all students who live in EPA are zoned for Menlo-Atherton but may transfer to Carlmont if they choose.

Principal Ralph Crame said, “People who come here are people who have siblings who went here, or they just want to experience this school because they just feel they would do better at this school versus whatever school they were assigned to. When students are forced to go to a school they don’t want to go to, it is a challenge to find a way to connect them with what is going on here, or to find a way to relate.”

While Carlmont is now a choice for students rather than a mandate, things aren’t always what they seem academically.

A comparison of graduation

rates between elementary school districts shows students from the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District (BRSSD) at an advantage compared to their peers from the Ravenswood School District, the district many students from EPA called home before coming to Carlmont.

For the graduating class of 2011, 92.4% of students from BRSSD received a comprehensive high school diploma or certificate, compared to 47% of their peers from the Ravenswood district.

“If a person gets told that they aren’t good enough then they will probably believe it, which will make people think that they won’t do well in their classes and on tests,” Urbina said.

Despite that, students still see the value in coming to Carlmont, regardless of its distance from their community.

“It’s worth it to come all this way in the sense that it’s still my education, and I’ve always been very focused on that. Anything for my education I am willing to sacrifice. In that sense, it’s worth it, but at the same time, it takes so much time to get to and from school,” said Anamary Mena-Moreno, a junior.

However, academic opportunities don’t come without tradeoffs in other parts of life.

“When I first came here, and people found out I was from East Palo Alto, I remember one time when I would say I was from East Palo Alto and be people would just be like ‘Oh, you’re from EPA?’ which I didn’t really like. People would treat me differently just because I lived in East Palo Alto,” MenaMoreno said.

Belmont East Palo Alto

Nina Heller

MAY 2019 HIGHLANDER 25

Rushed judgements create stereotypes Taisiia Yakovenko It’s human nature to judge others.

According to Psychology Today, humans need to judge one another to be able to understand why others act a certain way.

These judgements often create first impressions about individuals or certain groups of people and in some cases can turn into biases that become stereotypes as they spread into society.

Stereotypes are cognitive shortcuts that the brain uses to make certain snap judgements about people or things. A stereotype becomes prejudice when the brain begins to apply that judgement to similar situations, according to the American Association of University Women.

“Stereotypes are ideas and prejudices about certain groups of people,” Tasneem Khalak, a junior, said. “People notice something about others, form their opinion, and follow to apply that onto the whole group, which could lead to some false prejudices.”

Although stereotypes are an inevitable part of human interaction, they could have damaging effects as they spread in society and create more prejudices.

According to Simply Psychology, stereotypes are necessary because they reduce the amount of processing that the brain needs to do when it encounters a new situation or individual. Stereotypes lead to social categorization, which causes people to have biases about others that are mainly based on their involvement in certain groups.

“Stereotypes are created when someone sees one person from a certain group do something and assumes that everyone in that group would do the same thing,” KellyAnne Cumiskey, a junior, said. “However, that is not necessarily true.”

Stereotypes are often created as a way for people to perceive and process information quicker, making their social skills more efficient.

According to Pacific Today, human brains are hardwired to categorize information, including information about new people. This categorization allows humans to communicate information more 26 HIGHLANDER CAMPUS

efficiently.

“Society tends to form opinions without getting all the facts straight,” Jim Kelly, the ASB coordinator, said. “Forming stereotypes or believing a rumor is almost always easier than finding out the whole truth and forming an opinion based on facts.”

Stereotypes are used by the brain as a tool that simplifies social interactions by simplifying the information about individuals and boiling it down to one’s involvement in a certain group.

“When people think of you as a part of a certain group or have a certain set belief about you, they tend to see it in everything you do and it’s really hard to break out of it,” Khalak said. “You will have to work twice as hard to prove to people that what they think of you is not true.”

In high school, stereotypes can lead to a number of social problems such as isolation, identity crisis, stress, and anxiety according to BetterHelp, a web based therapy service.

“Carlmont is such a large school and there are so many different subgroups on campus. More often than not, the group that a student belongs to would determine their social life on campus,” Theresa Torres, a counselor, said. “One benefit is that being

a part of a community makes students feel more included and creates a sense of community. However, subgroups on campus could also be harmful because they do not let the outsiders in and sometimes it is very hard to feel welcomed, especially if a student is new to the school.”

Carlmont has a number of various groups that can help students fit in better on campus and make them feel like a part of a larger community. However, that also creates room for certain biases.

“You can have biases and prejudices without even realizing it,” Khalak said.

“There is a stereotype about everyone because people see things and start spreading rumors.”

According to the American Psychological Association, the most recent studies have shown that people do not realize that they have certain prejudices and biases towards others. The first step towards combating them is realizing that they exist.

“I think that stereotypes cannot be removed entirely but it is worth the effort to try to see each person as an individual and not as a part of a certain group,” Torres said. “It is impossible to stop people from forming opinions but we need to be careful on how those opinions can affect others.”

Taisiia Yakovenko

“People judge too quickly and a lot of the time, they have a lot of beliefs they put on other people.” Kelly-Anne Cumiskey, a junior, shares her thoughts on how steryotypes are created and how they affect Carlmont.

Meet your new ASB Executive Board

Samantha Dahlberg

The 2019-2020 ASB Executive Board. From left to right: Zahra Haider (Activities Council Vice President), Nate Rutter (Activities Council Vice President), Joe Sison (ASB President), Greta Foehr (Service Council Vice President), Kenna Kwok (Service Council Vice President). Sison was elected by the student body after three years as Class President. Other members of the Executive Board are chosen within ASB.

JOE SISON

The [ASB] President is a distinguished role. It is the only position on ASB’s Executive Board that is elected by the student body. I have the honor to serve Carlmont as ASB President.

ASB President serves as the symbol and representative of the student body; they can be the person that brings students together, find reasons to celebrate our collective identity as Scots, and inspire their peers.

ASB President is more than just a position.

[The Executive Board] serves as the elected leaders of ASB. We work as the organizers of the group, ensuring the small details are taken care of. The executive board strives to inspire, help, and organize ASB to reach its potential. We are also tasked with planning ASB’s field trips.

GRETA FOEHR

As ASB VP, my job is to create a positive environment in ASB that will lead to ASB being able to create that same kind of environment on a school-wide level.

Another important part of my job is to communicate with all members in ASB and the administration and make sure that everyone is on the same page. This job is very undefined, which will give me the opportunity to carry out new ideas and hopefully inspire others to become passionate about serving our school.

NATE RUTTER

[If I could say one thing to the student body,] be as present at events as possible and actively participate in at least a couple events because they’re all really fun.

ZAHRA HAIDER

I think the purpose of the Executive Board is to be able to provide a group of people that are generally trusted by ASB and can be a support system to make sure that all the activities within ASB go well.

KENNA KWOK

Next year, [the Executive Council is] planning on expanding our roles as the Executive Board to make sure that ASB is organized and bonded so that we can achieve our goals as united commissions.

The Executive Board specifically is planning on hosting play days and more field trips.

Interviews and Page Design by Maya Benjamin MAY 2019 HIGHLANDER 27

Pride shouldn’t be commercialized Ry Lei The first time I saw photos from a Pride parade, I was scrolling through #SFPride on Instagram when I was 12 years old. Ironically, the few faces I recognized were adamantly heterosexual.

When I actually learned about Pride, I was confused by the discrepancies between Pride as it is today and as it was in the 1970s; it used to be without corporate sponsors and rainbow logos.

Just by virtue of being a commemoration of the Stonewall riots of 1969 and led by proud queer people, Pride was always looked at as too controversial or political.

In the past decade, it’s gone corporate. The thing is, Pride is something that shouldn’t be commercialized because doing so exploits LGBTQ individuals for capital.

Corporations like Apple and AT&T don rainbow logos and hashtags to announce their support but really never do more than that. It’s not exclusive to Pride either; corporations have a track record of taking advantage of activism while continuing to do what they’re advocating against.

There’s Adidas, which sold rainbow merchandise to honor Pride Month, and then sponsored the 2018 World Cup, which took place in Russia, a country with clear anti-LGBTQ laws.

One of those laws is the Russian federal law known as the “gay propaganda law,” which makes showing any content with “non-traditional

sexual relationships” to minors a punishable offense.

In January, the Russian LGBT Network reported that around 40 LGBTQ individuals in Chechnya had been detained by law enforcement. Two were killed.

I get it. It’s not easy to recognize a problem if you don’t see it or experience it. It’s hard to force yourself to care, especially when you’re a corporation that can afford not to.

I also understand that money and marketing are important. Maybe pride is just relatable now. To see an artist like Ariana Grande shrug off criticism about her headlining Manchester Pride tells me it’s not a big deal anymore. Her inclination to want to associate herself with LGBTQ fans and pride, in some capacity, makes me feel like we’ve gotten somewhere.

Someone with the size of her audience wouldn’t traditionally want to be seen with anything stereotypically gay. In some way, I should be somewhat thankful for the incessant desire to want to capitalize off of LGBTQ people now.

On the other hand, it erases history and corrodes the fundamental ideals that Pride actually stands for. The rainbow logos exist for diversity points but they distract us from the other issues at hand.

While the 1970s saw gay liberation and progress, the 1980s ushered in a decade quite literally plagued with tragedy and loss. The AIDS epidemic brought in so much fear and aversion towards LGBTQ people that gay men were ostracized. Many were forced to split from their families and friends.

When I think about LGBTQ history, I’m reminded of what it means to be out and proud in 2019. I’m privileged, grateful, and most days, kind of angry.

The AIDS epidemic stripped away a generation of gay men.

So did Hitler’s Germany. Violent transphobia, often combined with racism, continues to strip away at a generation of black transgender women.

There’s a gap in queer history because everyone who would have been alive to tell the story isn’t here with us. Those are people who could have been

alive to see same-sex marriage legalized in the U.S. in 2015, or an openly gay man running for president.

Pride should be a statement, not a hashtag. It was a response to tragedy, loss, and a history of oppression. It was an externalization of anger and frustration with the existing system and celebrating resistance from institutions that have oppressed us. The system isn’t supposed to be a part of our parade.

We’re not so systematically oppressed now, but the capitalization of pride means the system still has control over us as LGBTQ people. As long as corporations are profiting off of rainbow logos and merchandise at your local pride parade, there’s something wrong.

At the end of the day, our proximity to our community and suffering forces us, on most days, to look at the problems we face head on. The commercialization of pride is one of those problems.

So if you’re planning on going to pride, ditch the massive corporate co-opted parades and go to small local ones instead.

1969 Stonewall Riots

1970 First Pride

1980s AIDS epidemic begins

2015 Same-sex marriage legalized in U.S.

Ry Lei

28 HIGHLANDER OPINION

Stepping out of your bubble

The importance of building global friendships Lizzy Hall Imagine that you are standing in an bubble.

Although you can see outside of this bubble you cannot escape it, so, as a result, all you know is life inside the bubble.

You know the weather inside of it, the people inside of it, the food inside of it, the trends inside of it, and the politics inside of it.

But beyond this bubble?

You know nothing.

As humans, especially teenagers, we become creatures of habit. As one finds comfort within their surroundings and within their community it becomes much easier to stay inside their circle of safety, or dare I say their “bubble,” than leave it.

Although this may not seem problematic, it truly is. If one never leaves their comfort zone they will never gain exposure to the rest of the world.

The people we see everyday make up a small fraction of the 7.53 billion people on Earth. The foods we frequently eat make up a tiny portion of the hundreds of cuisines that exist on this planet. And the culture we experience, especially in the Bay Area, is one of the millions that exist.

So I am asking you — ­ actually, I am begging you ­— to take a step out of this bubble.

According to a survey conducted by the New York Post in 2018, 40% of those surveyed had never the left the United States.

Although many factors play into the reasons that many Americans never leave the country, the main is likely the cost. However, by building international friendships, people can build a global perspective without moving at all.

Global relationships can be built through in-person interaction such as travel or

having hosts from foreign countries, but they can also be formed over social media or discussion forums. It has never been easier than now for us to connect with one another even despite time differences and language barriers.

These relationships can help to strengthen one’s global perspective by providing them with knowledge about what occurs beyond their school, their community, and ultimately their country.

In 2017, I was fortunate enough to participate in a program called Amigos de las Americas, where after months of training I was sent to live in rural Costa Rica. I was placed in the community of Villa Nueva where my two American partners and I spent a month living with the people, eating new foods, playing soccer with the kids, painting with our host sisters, working on a sustainable project with the community members, and building everlasting friendships.

My time abroad and the people I met opened my eyes to an entirely new way of life where you could exchange eggs for bananas with your neighbors, get haircuts on someone’s front porch, take a nap during the afternoon with no guilt, and live simply.

The relationships I built, especially with my host mom, have stayed strong despite returning to my “bubble,” and they will enhance my life forever.

As sign in a Costa Rican hostel reads, “Travel is the only thing you buy in life that makes you richer.”

I couldn’t agree more. The experiences you gain and the people that you meet are what shape you as a person and broaden your perspectives. Although it may be difficult to step outside of your “bubble” and meet new people, I urge you to do so. Once you do the world will be at your fingertips.

OF ADULTS FIND IT DIFFICULT TO MAKE NEW FRIENDS

45%

OF AMERICANS HAVE NEVER LEFT THE COUNTRY IN THEIR LIVES

40%

AMERICAN TEENS REPORT THAT THEY HAVE OR HAVE ACCESS TO A SMARTPHONE

95%

MAY 2019 HIGHLANDER 29

A letter to Monty...

Dear Monty, Aw man, it’s been quite the ride buddy.

I feel like we’ve grown pretty close these past four years, and I’m kind of sad to leave you. Okay, really sad to leave you. It’s now hitting me that this same group of people — who you have seen grow up through these past four years — will never be together again at any point after June 7.

Together we’ve had 720 school days.

That’s 5,040 hours for cool people who like to sleep in or 5,760 hours for the nerds who have seven periods. Wow, 4,320 school periods. Yikes, that’s a lot of time looking up at the clock thinking 10 minutes have gone by when it’s been literally only 2.

Whoops, I didn’t mean to get all cliché with the numbers. We’ll leave that to Michael Scott’s “9,986,000 Minutes” tribute.

But still, that’s a lot of looking to see which pair of Uggs Madame Scott (or Señora Scott for you Español-ers) has on, scrambling to assemble Mr. Skrable’s homework packets, chortling at Mr. Schoenstein’s jokes that make history way more bearable, and passing by Mr. Talcott in B-hall almost every single day of sophomore year.

Oh boy, I’m going to miss those teachers.

Some of them made me bored out of my mind. But some of them sparked curiosity, caused laughter, and inspired passion. They made me love learning.

From freshman year to senior year, you changed costumes and at first, I thought your new appearance was really creepy, but now I’ve grown accustomed to it. You’ve been, weirdly, a constant. Through the

failed tests, heartbreaks, days where I can barely keep my eyes open because of 2-hour sleep nights, you’ve been there.

And in a month, you’re not going to be in my life anymore. But it’s okay, people come and go.

Friends come and go too. I didn’t finish off with all the same friends I started with or made along the way, but that’s okay.

Even though we don’t see each other every day, we still smile in the hallways when we pass by each other. And just because we aren’t friends anymore doesn’t mean the memories I made with them aren’t still with me. Those will always be there.

But then, Monty, there are the lifelong friends you gave me. Well, you didn’t exactly give them to me (we clicked all on our own), but in some indirect way, you did. These are the friends that will always be there, no matter how far apart we are.

They are some of the people I love most, and you, Monty, gave me an opportunity to meet them.

They are the people I made a rap about Holden liking ducks with, the people I go to badminton meets with, the people I have potlucks at school with, the people who I call my team, and the person I hold hands with.

Speaking of friends, thanks for teaching me that popularity doesn’t matter. I would say that no one remembers who was prom king, but considering that Josh Mathew (the legend himself) won both prom courts and the past three homecoming courts, I think our school is an exception.

You’ve actually taught me a lot these past four years. You’ve taught me that I need to make time to explore hobbies and I can’t be afraid of mediocrity in those pursuits.

Considering you’re the school mascot, I know you find school important, but you’ve taught me that it’s not everything. I’ve learned that I need to try new things for the sake of simple enjoyment.

I’ve learned that money can buy lots of things — friends, good grades, Olivia Jade’s USC admission — but it can’t buy character or memories. You can make more money later, but you can’t make more time now.

I’m going to take that with me in the future.

It feels like just yesterday I was told that I’m not special. Or no one is special as a matter of fact. That’s true, in a sense. We’re all just people after all. But as of now, we all have one special thing in common: we’re the Carlmont Class of 2019.

Once summer hits, that’s gone. Then we’ll just be a whole bunch of people with “Carlmont High School” in our LinkedIn bios spread across the world. Yeah, a lot of us are choosing to stay in California, but we’re also headed off to Boston and Hawaii and Pennsylvania and New York and England. That’s a whole lot of miles away from you.

We can never come back here. Monty, I won’t see you ever again as a Carlmont Scot.

Yes, it’s the end of one thing, but it’s also the beginning of another.

Thank you, Kaylee George

Ry Lei

30 HIGHLANDER OPINION

...and Monty’s reflections Dear...student?

You’ve spent years in these halls.

At first, you waddled about, small and aimless, dodging scary people twice your height as you struggled to carry your hefty backpack.

Then, one year later, your backpack got a bit heavier, giving you even more of a slouch, but you generally knew where you were going. You were also less likely to get trampled.

Your third year was probably a long and stressful struggle, and you may have even trampled a few underclassmen to avoid being late to one of your classes. But, you knew your direction, and if you didn’t, you would walk with your shoulders back, fake it, and heave your burden over your shoulders with a panicked obligation.

As you finish your last year, your senior year, you may realize how the campus appears to have shrunk while you have grown. The complexities of these winding hallways and sharp corners are all but a memory. You know where everything is now. That’s where you fell down the stairs freshman year, that’s where you threw a tortilla on the roof sophomore year, that’s where you kicked your rotund pasty-faced friend in the face and broke his glasses junior year, and that’s where you may have caught a drug deal take place senior year.

You strut between your classes with a sense of leisure. You lean backward with the weight of your backpack, now, which is only so girthy because Mr. Turkis wants to wake you from your dogmatic slumber.

And that’s okay. You got into college. Your job is done; all you have to do is keep your grades fairly stagnant and not do anything illegal.

As a person pretending to be writing as the person in a slightly creepy suit pretending to be the mascot of your high school, I can tell you that many people have left this school, each with dramatic stories of their own. The imprints of many shoes have left their marks on the concrete.

But, as you remember, you are still not special. Students come and go. Teachers will forget your name. Some of your friends may never contact you after graduation. In 30 years there will be many new teachers.

All traces of your time here will most likely be forgotten.

Your memories will last a lot longer. It’s your job to love, cherish, and learn from every one of them.

Let your awkward mistakes humble you because even if you end up ruling the world, you’ll still be the goofy idiot who, once, couldn’t flirt to save their life, slipped on body oil during their heritage fair dance, or took pictures of Mr. Bellar instead of doing anything socially productive during your senior prom.

Remember the pain of losing your friends as much as you remember their smiles, laughter, and obnoxious inside jokes. Things fall apart: friendships dissolve into the nothingness of mutual acknowledgment, relationships erode with time, bonds once thought permanent splinter under the weight of stress, a lack of sleep, impulsivity, or sometimes simply bad luck. Yet here you are. Here you stand.

Think about how great it is knowing that you’re capable of such feats of happiness.

It’s beautiful.

Don’t forget the loneliness you felt.

Recall, always, how small and insignificant you were on a campus where everyone belonged but you. How much did you despise every step from F-hall to U-hall?

Very much so.

How lost were you in your uncertainty, that you refused to take any chances even when you know you had nothing to lose but a space in your comfort zone? So lost in your insecurities, that you couldn’t even see the silhouette of your hand in your made-up darkness.

And how wrong were you in thinking that you were so alone? You assumed that you were captain of a sinking ship, but you’re actually one of many crewmates struggling below deck.

We’re in this submerging boat together, you see, and as soon as you recognized that, the sooner you learned to truly value the company of others. The secret of this high school is that none of us know what we’re doing, but whatever we’re doing, we’re in this together.

You’ll most likely never come back

here. Life after high school is a busy thing.

After June 7, a new journey will begin. It seems likely that you feel a mixture of excitement and apprehension, a fusion of childish elation and the unfiltered dread of adulthood. You desperately want to start again, but you also don’t want to lose what you’ve spent years building.

It’s okay to feel this way. Of course, that’s probably not very reassuring.

But this is inevitable, and you have known that all along. That confusing truth has been ricocheting in your brain for years. All of those people — some you’ve known since elementary school, others since middle school, and even those you’ve become close to this year — love them or hate them, the sun of your camaraderie will set.

And rise again, with others. A new you, with old, valuable memories, a new day, with a bright future ahead.

I will miss you.

Love, Carl Monty* *Carl Monty was written by Joseph Gomez

Ry Lei

MAY 2019 HIGHLANDER 31

M•A•S•H•

HOW TO PLAY:

– D ra w a s p i ra l i n t h e m a rg i n , t h e n c o u n t t h e n u m b e r o f l i n e s i n t h e s p i ra l – U s i n g t h i s n u m b e r , s t a r t a t t h e “ M ” i n M A S H a n d mo v e d o w n t h ro u g h t h e

categories, count ing each op t ion – O n c e y o u c o u n t u p t o y o u r n u m b e r , c ro s s o f f t h e o p t i o n y o u l a n d o n – R e p e a t t h i s p ro c e s s u n t i l y o u o n l y h av e o n e o p t i o n l ef t i n e a c h c a t e g o ry .

– Th e s e a n s w e rs w i l l p re d i c t y o u r f u t u re l i f e !

SPOUSE

R ES I D E N C E

T R A N S PO R T

Queen Elizabeth

Auckland

Ripst ick

Danny Devito

C l ev e l a n d

G o o g l e B i ke

Zendaya

Jakarta

Tra c t o r

KIDS

OCCUPAT ION

PHONE

10

E t h i c a l H a c ke r

Nokia

2

E - s po r t s S ta r

Ba r b i e c e l l p h o n e

0

Wa t e rs l i d e Tes t e r

i Po d To u c h

PET

SALARY $3,000,000

MUSIC

G o t h ro c k

Elf

8¢

O p e ra

G o l d e n R e t r i ev e r

£600,000

D i s n ey

C h i a Pe t

1 7 G o l d e n D ra c h m a s

Disco

HOBBY

HONEYMOON

MIDLIFE CRISIS

Po k é mo n t ra i n e r

R a g i n g Wa t e rs

B uy a n i s l a n d

W i t c h c ra f t

M o u n t E v e res t

Join a cul t

Fe r re t ra c i n g

Pa r i s , Te x a s

C u re c a n c e r

Noah Centineo

4

Moose

M o d e l t ra i n s

B o ra B o ra

Bounty Hunter

Tra n sy l va n i a

To u r b u s

Landline

I nv es t i n B l o c k b u s t e r

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