The Roundtable Volume 10, Issue 4

April 4, 2016 | vol. 10, issue 4

Five Year Old Golfer Turns into Elite College Athlete

inside

Connolly’s trophy case grows as he makes waves in amateur golf

Ms. Hall Community Spotlight

Sleep Cycle iPhone App Review

It’s CONGÉ

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Baseball Season Tips Off

The Kanye West

Sexism in Rap Culture

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Sam Cormier Reporter

eing an NCAA Division I athlete is a dream which many little kids possess. Next year, Daniel Connolly ‘16 will fulfill this dream when he “pony’s up” for the Southern Methodist University Mustangs’s golf team. Daniel committed to the Mustangs last year after being courted by Stanford, Pepperdine, and Georgia Tech. All of the schools rightfully went after Daniel because of his skills and mental toughness.

As well as being a star on the course, Daniel is a four year honor roll student and shows the same work ethic in the classroom that he does on the driving range. All of his teachers laude him for his exemplary work on his studies.

Daniel Connolly has been playing golf almost his entire life, he started when he was five years old when he first went to the driving range with his dad. Interestingly, Daniel had no clue what golf was until he was four years old.

As Daniel remembers, “When I was young I was a problem child, I would wake up really early in the morning on Saturdays and wake up my whole family, so to get me to stop my dad would start watching T.V. with me.’’ Of course the only thing that was on at that hour was the European Golf Tour.

After watching this every weekend, Daniel saw this as an interesting activity, and felt connected to his Irish roots.

He was instantly hooked to the “ol’ ball and club.” Even to this day, when Daniel is bored early on a Saturday morning, he will turn on the “telly” and sit down to watch the Euros

Innovations for the 2016 Launch Grant Contest

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Ben Kaplan Reporter

ith the kickoff of the second annual Launch Grant Contest for students attending the Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco looming, several students have jumped the gun and already started thinking of innovative ideas to submit. The $2,500 prizes for the top two selected innovations is a mouth-watering incentive for those who choose to enter. The deadline for the grant application is April 28, so get thinking on the next big thing. Continue on

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duke it out on the links.

Daniel Connolly has had many accomplishments on the course, but according to him his greatest accomplishment so far has been his recent success in the US Junior Ametuer Championship last year. Daniel made it to the round of 32 in a tournament that started out with around 2,000 competitors. All of this success can be attributed to Daniel’s hard work, but also to his routines. He makes sure to to use the same routine before every match. His pregame meal is always Indian food because it always clears out his system, and makes his swing faster.

He always uses a golf ball with a number three on it, and in his pre-match warm-ups he always practices the same amount of chips and putts.

The final and most personal good luck charm that Daniel uses is a green handkerchief that he keeps in his pocket that he has always worn and he feels connects him with his Irish heritage.

On March 13, Daniel added to his extensive list of accomplishments when he won the San Francisco City Golf Championship at Harding park. As Connolly says, “I’m really hyped to have won the oldest amateur golf championship in the country.” Daniel clinched the tournament with a 20 foot putt in the driving rain. The putt exemplifies Daniel’s golf career so far, long and difficult but always with direction and an attainable goal.

Jordan Chin | the roundtable

Average Drive Distance 284 yds

Greens in Regulation

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Junior Students Prep for New SAT Test

Anson Gordon-Creed Reporter he SAT is a tricky test. College Board has designed this grueling three and a half hour exam to not only test one’s ability to wake up early on a Saturday morning, but also to test one’s ability to use strategy. Perhaps good news for some juniors, the new SAT debuts this month. There are many new additions to the test, but some of these additions are actually reductions. For example, the number of possible answers Continue on per question will decrease

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Index

Postgame Summary of Service Day

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Anson Gordon-Creed Reporter

48 public school students descended on Stuart Hall High School for a day of fun and education.

The fourth through sixth grade students from Rosa Parks Elementary and Redding Elementary were matched with a big brother from SHHS and got to bond with this ninth through twelfth grader for the entirety of their time at The Hall. Antibullying classes, jumpy houses, and a mock trial headlined the activities, but there were Continue on many more as well.

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April 4, 2016

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the roundtable at roundtable.sacredsf.org

News Table

There’s a New SAT?

New SAT Test from

from the voices of our community leaders

SIA

editor’s corner

student council

Calvin Foss SIA Representative

Owen Fahy Editor-in-Chief

Michael Tellini Student Body President

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am not a major music connoisseur, and most of my friends make fun of me for my poor music choice and gravitation towards exclusively listening to white rappers. However, like most people, I feel I am attracted to certain songs by their beat as well as my attraction to the person who is singing.

For that reason, I really like rappers such as G-Eazy and Mac Miller because their songs have original beats and I like their rap style.

One major aspect of music that I don’t really judge music by is lyrics. I listen to rappers like Young Thug and Chief Keef whose lyrics are not only meaningless, but relatively unintelligible as well. My indifference to lyrics applies to all rappers, but one. I have always admired rapper, Macklemore, for his ability to produce hit singles that have meaning. Macklemore, or Ben Haggerty, was a former drug addict who has turned his life around to be at the forefront of the rap industry. Macklemore doesn’t rap about what he does with women, his drug habits, or success in life in order to become more successful. He raps about his former self and the injustices in our world. I find Haggerty to be a role model because he is a person who uses his self-confidence to stay true to himself. With all the money in the world, Macklemore is a father, who lives in Seattle with his wife of a

year. He employs his friends and tours America having fun. He enjoys the simple things in his life and does not get caught up with issue of not living the quintessential celebrity lifestyle.

What I believe a lot of high school students struggle with is staying true to who they are in the midst of all the peer pressure that is alive in high school. Unlike Haggerty, a lot of high school students who are insecure find it is any easy way to feel less vulnerable if you do what everyone else is doing. It can be hard to be successful, especially socially, in high school if you do not conform to what other students are doing. I know from personal experience. I am a naturally antisocial person who enjoys family and a small group of friends, but fell into the trap of my insecurities by acting out of character and going to more social events then I felt comfortable with, just so that people would think that I am cool. It is this desire to be cool that people like Macklemore have a blatant disregard for. They are self-confident enough to only care about what makes them happy and not what is perceived as cool and correct by the rest of society. Every person is different, but becoming confident enough to only care about who you are and not what other people want you to be is a lesson that everyone should learn.

the roundtable at roundtable.sacredsf.org

News Table

Words from The Hall

ne of SIA’s main goals is to engage our student body in service and leadership roles. Our Service Day, which is unique to Stuart Hall High School among other Bay Area SIA schools, is a highlight of our teams service endeavors throughout the year. Through the tireless efforts of Julian Moreno, Mr. O’Connor, and Andrew Veld, two schools came to our campus and participated in fun activities and sat in on a class on Anti-Bullying, led by our valiant Anti-Defamation League-approved SIA members. The whole day not only gave dozens of students the opportunity to have an exciting day away from school, but it also gave our Stuart Hall community the valuable lesson in leading a student around for a whole day, teaching leadership in an atmosphere of wise freedom. While Service Day is one our proudest accomplishments of the team’s year, that’s not to say it’s all we do.

From One Less Hungry to Lafayette Park Cleanups to Pizza Lunches, our team is busy all year, interacting with the community. In order to recognize all the hard work we put in, our team also recently sent some members to present about the SHHS chapter of SIA in the SIA competition. Thanks goes to Julian Moreno, Duncan McDonnell, Hunter Tatham, Skyler DelaCruz, and Travis Evans for representing our team as they expounded upon all the great work SIA is able to do during the year. Last year we got third place, and this year our expectations are even higher. Our team has grown from only 11 members a couple years ago, to a truly formidable 40 students that spend hours of their own time to improve others’ lives. Looking ahead, the mountainous effort required for Service Day marks the end of significant events led by SIA for this school year. For next year, although our team will sorely miss the powerful senior leadership, we will continue to organize service for our whole school community.

April 4, 2016

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anuary, February and March saw an incredible effort from Student Council. In chronological order, winter formal, video game night, and Congé headlined the past few months of activities. Formal kept with the theme of dances for the year: high attendance. One contributing factor to this year’s spike in attendance at dances lies in the other activities provided. In the same way our Haunted House entertained at Fright Knight, the casino games at Formal gave attendees something other to do than dance. The strategy to give students another avenue to socialize stems from an executive meeting in December in which the team spent some time brainstorming how to shake up the traditional dancing only events.

Once the varsity basketball team made the postseason, the executives designed and sold playoff tee shirts. More recently, the Council put on our second video game night of the year. 30 people competed and most stayed around to watch Ben Kaplan win the 2k basketball championship with a buzzer beating shot. Finally, on March 23, after months of planning and strategizing, the executive team announced Congé with a spectacular reveal. While rumors had circulated that the day could have been, the day before spring break, most suspicions were quelled when a reconciliation service in the gym took over an hour. However, at the conclusion of the ceremony the letters of the word Congé were revealed from beneath flames, marking a deviation from the traditional forms of announcement over the loudspeaker or by Council members running through the courtyard.

For the main event, busses took students to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom for a day at the amusement park. The event capped off a year’s work of preparation and hard work by the executive team to leave a lasting memory for students of Convent and Stuart Hall. Personally, I’ve greatly enjoyed serving on the Council this year and strongly recommend anyone interested in Student Council to run for election.

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from five to four. Also, instead of containing three, separate sections, there will now be two: Math and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing. Because there will be fewer sections, College Board is adding more advanced math problems involving trigonometry, statistics and more.

If these changes don’t sound good enough, College Board is making the essay optional, meaning the once-required essay will no longer be required.

In a New York Times article titled Everything you need to know about the new SAT, the author explains the new test will “correspond with high school curriculums and better reflect what students have learned.” This is a positive change because many questions on the previous SAT measured one’s ability to use testing strategy, rather than measure their comprehension of a subject. Speaking on this topic, Sasha Lifsitz ‘17 mentioned, “I think the new test will be a lot easier.” When asked if he will still write the essay, he said, “The essays aren’t too difficult for me, so I think I’ll still write it.” Lifsitz mentioned he’s preparing by doing online SAT prep with Khan Academy. This might be the way to go for Sasha, but senior, William Reader, had a different outlook on the new test: “I wish I would have taken the newer SAT. I think it’s kind of unfair that College Board redesigned the test the year after our class took it.”

Agreed, William. It is unfortunate that these changes were made after the Senior class took the SAT. Although the new SAT is bringing with it many advantages for students, it is still a very new test. Plenty of review

materials exist for the current SAT, so one disadvantage of taking the new one is the lack of review help. Educated on the subject matter, Mr. Guerrero had much to say on this topic. When asked if the new SAT will be less tricky, Guerrero noted, “I do not know whether or not the SAT will be ‘less tricky’ for students as that question may only offer a misleading response. What we do know is that the exam [that] College Board designed is asking students to utilize textual evidence and context in passages to appropriately respond to the questions offered versus the previous SAT. To signal this, the Critical Reading section is now being called Evidenced Based Reading and Writing. Whether the exam is trickier or not, I can say that I believe that the SAT’s intention is to be more direct.” Mr. Guerrero made another good point about students’ success in the new SAT: “If a student is engaged in their academic work in their English Literature courses, history, theology and most importantly if they have a positive relationship with reading books for leisure, I firmly believe that they will be prepared to engage the SAT. What I am intrigued by moving forward is how closely related a student’s reading level is to their performance on this SAT.” This is some really good advice from Mr. Guerrero and he raises a good question about the correlation between a student’s reading level and their performance on the test.

Seeing as the new test is debuting this month, only time will tell how students will perform with the new changes in standardized testing.

Innovations of the Hall The Hall students develop futuristic inventions

The Folder

Hover Umbrella

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Lucas Miller Class of 2018

his wonderful device is an umbrella that hovers above you so you do not have to hold it. Like a drone this hovering umbrella is what the future needs.

People want more flexi-

bility with their devices.

Some people are lazy, not wanting to hold an umbrella themselves. While walking in the rain, people would prefer to eat pizza with two hands

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your clothes too? The Folder would sort clothes folding them into neat stacks of shirts, pants, and socks etc. Wouldn’t everyone want one of these?

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he Folder could revolutionize the laundry business.

There is already a device that’s washes and dries your clothes, but how nice would it be if there was a machine that folds

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Petros Peritos Class of 2018

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Daniel Viscio Class of 2017

veryone uses headphones and we all know how annoying it is when the cords are in a tangled mess.

There are systems that propose to keep them untangled but they don’t

really work. The Untangle mechanism would do an accurate job of winding and unwinding the cords, finally getting the job done.

MaxPreps | with permission

A Tall Second // American Canyon Headmaster Tony Farrell lays the second place medal over junior Darna Stewart’s head after the 58-67 loss.

Community Spotlight: Ms. Hall Jackson Rhodes Reporter t the beginning of the year, the Stuart Hall community said goodbye to two very loved teachers: Ms. Sitter and Mr. Helms. Fortunately, we gained many new teachers like Ms. Hall. I briefly interviewed Ms. Hall at the beginning of the year, but now is the time to delve deeper into the life of Reilly Hall.

A San Francisco native, Ms. Hall grew up in North Beach and attended Sacred Heart Cathedral which is only a few blocks away from school. What made Ms. Hall want to be a teacher? “Ever since fifth grade I’ve wanted to be a teacher. All throughout high school I wanted to be a first grade teacher, and I had a teacher that taught AP language who I really liked.

I got super into reading and writing and here I am!”

Sounds like the passion for education started at a young age, that’s for sure. Outside of school, Ms. Hall enjoys to run, because for her, “It’s therapeutic and takes away the stress of teaching.” It doesn’t look like she’s been doing any running lately because as we’ve all seen,

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she’s been on crutches for the past two months. What happened? “When I was in college, I was running track and tore my acl and meniscus three times within a year and a half.

While coaching cross country at Stuart Hall, my knee slowly started to wear and one day my cartilage gave out. It wasn’t dramatic or anything, it just swelled up.” Yikes! We’re sending you healing thoughts Ms. Hall.

Furthering her education, Ms. Hall is “planning on starting my masters soon, on literature and writing. The one that I am hoping to do is called breadloaf at Middlebury college. It’s focused for teachers and it’s over the course of three summers. It’s writing intensive English, so breadloaf is really focused on writing but using literature as a platform.

Which is cool and really applicable as a teacher because I’m asking students to read and then write about it.” Speaking of students, how has it been to be teaching at an all boys school? Without hesitation, Ms. Hall mentioned, “I don’t know that I could go back to teaching girls. I feel that male students are just easier to get along with. Its definitely not always easy teaching, but it

makes it fun and exciting to be at an all boys school.”

Ms. Hall has worked at many other schools, and she touched on some of our own community traditions: “Whether it’s espacio in a classroom or espacio with the whole school, it’s a shared experience that not all schools do. I love the acknowledgements too, I like the solidarity and the clap at the end. It’s fun to see if you see different classes acknowledging each other.”

I always had a dream of having my future in San Francisco. Obviously it’s not entirely realistic, seeing as the city has exploded the way it has. My dreams is to live in San Francisco for as long as possible and raise my kids here too.”

What stands out to you in our community? I know you’ve worked at other schools, what’s your opinion on chapel and acknowledgements and espacio?

It was a pleasure to catch up with Ms. Hall and learn a bit more about her life outside of the classroom.

If students are ever passing by room 103, feel free to stop by and ask Ms. Hall how her knee is doing.

Cinderella Run Comes Up Short of the Ball the glass slipper just a half-size too big

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Owen Fahy Editor-in-Chief

hree overtimes, two and a half hours, and all the effort that one team had, and all the Stuart Hall Knights had to show for it was a nine point loss. The final box score did not tell the whole story.

The St. Joe’s Pilots jumped Stuart Hall from the opening tip, jumping out to a 8-0 lead led by Jade Smith.

This lead would hold until the end of the first quarter as the game was being played at St. Joe’s pace and allowed them to keep The Hall at bay, 17-11.

The second period started and the Knights were still unable to make inroads on St. Joe’s lead and headed to the locker room at the half with a score, 29-21. Stuart Hall emerged from the locker room with a visible sense of passion.

Whether it was the entire senior class from Convent who had their buses from their senior retreat redirected to American Canyon to cheer on the boys, or the Stuart Hall senior’s realization that this could be their final game, it spurred The Hall into a new gear. “I told the kids to calm down and trust your teammates. We were trying to win as individuals in the first half which caused numerous turnovers. I fully expected us to make things tight if we could

settle our nerves,” reflected head basketball coach, Charles Johnson. Ball movement improved in the second half and Zeke Crawford’s touches in the paint improved. This caused the Pilots’s defense to collapse around Zeke Crawford who would go on to have 26 points and 16 rebounds in the contest. With their nerves settled, the Knights pushed back against the Pilots and cut their lead to only three after three periods, capped off by Crawford’s buzzer-beating tipin. Down, 37-34, the Knight’s put together their best defensive quarter of the year. They held St. Joe’s to just two points in the final period by stymying the attack of Jade Smith and Darne Duckett. Tied 39-39, to start overtime, the Knights continued their momentum, but weren’t able to separate themselves from St. Joe’s and the game went into a second overtime. Stuart Hall jumped out to a four point lead, but it was erased in one series as Darne Duckett of the Pilots beat Daniel Viscio off the dribble and made a layup, Crawford then took the ball out of bounds and threw it back to Duckett who scored another layup and drew Crawford’s fourth foul. This series gave the Pilot’s the momentum and forced the game into a third overtime. In the third over-

time, St. Joe’s took the upperhand as they out hustled the Knights and were able to foul out Crawford. With Crawford out of the game, the Pilots relentlessly attacked the paint and sealed the game with a three-pointer by Avery Dueberry.

The Hall had never been this far in the state tournament before and knew that this was their best chance to capture a state title with many seniors graduating. “I played each game like it was my last because it could’ve been and I enjoyed every minute of it,” said Zeke Crawford after his 26 points wasn’t enough to spur Stuart Hall to victory.

In his last game as a Knight, Crawford laid it all out there but his costly turnover in double overtime as well as fouling out in triple overtime, hurt The Hall’s attempt for a birth in their first state tournament game. “[The game) was a heartbreaking loss (that) I will carry for many years.” Losing to the eventual state champion shows that Stuart Hall lost to a very talented basketball team.

It does make one wonder that if they are able to pull out a win in the NorCal finals, they would have become the first state-championship winning team we have had here at Stuart Hall.

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April 4, 2016

News Table

School? What?

Convent and Stuart Hall Head to Six Flags

Nick Everest Reporter he Schools of the Sacred Heart hold many important traditions, however, the student favorite is undoubtedly Congé. Once a year, every school selects a day, unknown to the majority of the students to celebrate and miss class. The activities aren’t always the same which further adds to the surprise.

This year, the boys and girls of Stuart Hall High School and Convent of the Sacred Heart High School took a trip up to Six Flags: Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo for their special day. The event took place on March 23, the Wednesday before Spring Break.

The Stuart Hall High School boys learned it was Congé after participating in a Lenten Reconciliation Chapel with Mr. Vasquez. Students pinned pieces of flash paper with their sins onto a board that was in the center of the gym floor for everyone to look at. As the service wound to a close, an RSCJ sister lit the pieces of paper on fire. As the papers burned and disintegrated into the air, five letters appeared etched into the board: Congé. Air horns rang out and rolls of toilet paper were thrown around the gym as the realization set in: It was Congé.

After loading onto busses headed for the amusement park, the students arrived in Vallejo after a quick drive.

From there they were set free around Six Flags to ride rollercoasters, eat food, and have fun. Gordon Smit, from the class of 2018, had this to say: “I had a great time up at Six Flags. Spending time

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Owen Fahy | the roundtable

with friends and getting a day off was an amazing blessing and a great way to start my Spring Break. As someone who didn’t go to Stuart Hall for Boys, this was only my second Congé and the tradition has definitely lived up to its name. Now i’m just excited to see what we do next year”.

Food was provided by the school and they even reserved an entire area in the park just for the students and faculty of the two high schools to eat and relax. Rides like Medusa, Kong, and the Superman roller coaster proved to be favorites among thrill seeking students and teachers alike.

Overall, after a hard school year, Congé continues to be a great way to unwind for a day and gives students a surprise to look forward to.

While Congé seems like an easy and nice day, credit must go to the faculty and students who helped make it happen. A special shoutout must be given to one of our newest faculty members, Mr. Emerson, who as the new head of the student council played a vital role in making this day happen. On top of that, credit must also be given to our Senior Student Council members who worked side by side with Mr. Emerson to ensure that the day went as smoothly as possible. Days like Congé require planning months in advance to provide the most fun while not affecting things Stuart Hall High School and Convent of the Sacred Heart High Schools extremely competitive sports teams or any of the many service and special events our school hosts.

Becoming a Morning Person introducing the app to wake you up

Zachary Hammer Reporter ave you ever had trouble waking up in the morning? Do you set multiple alarms to wake yourself up, only to sleep through all of them? Well worry no longer, because Sleep Cycle is the app for you! While we sleep, we transition between deep and light sleep, cycling between the two every 90 minutes or so. The app monitors your sleep and wakes you up when you are in your lightest sleep phase, making it easier to get out of bed in the morning. Before going to bed, you activate the app and select a window of time that you would like to be woke, for example between 5:45 a.m. and 6:15 a.m.. Then, while you sleep, it uses the phone’s microphone to listen to your movements to determine how deeply you are sleeping. In the morning, it will wake you up when you are sleeping the lightest within your set, time window, making waking up seem natural and easy. Also, instead of a blaring alarm, it quietly plays music that slowly increases in volume in order to create the softest and most peaceful wakeup possible.

Not only does it function as an alarm clock, but it also collects the data from the user’s sleep every night and creates graphs to show trends and averages. They can see everything from their average time in bed, their sleep quality per night, and even how the

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Features Table

The Most Interesting Man at The Hall the life and times of Jackson Rhodes

Zach Hammer Reporter e’ve all heard of them: DJ Khaled, Skrillex, deadmau5, David Guetta and more.

The DJing world is quickly growing, becoming far more advanced and widespread than the radio broadcasters of old. The term “disc jockey” was first coined in the 1930s, long after radio broadcasts had become commonplace. Close to 90 years later, The DJing scene is still growing today, although spinning vinyl records have been mostly replaced by computers and electronic soundboards. Our very own Jackson Rhodes has been officially DJing for over a year now, and has quickly become one of the most hyped upcoming talents in the Stuart Hall DJing world. When asked what sets him apart from other DJs, Jackson replied that, “no other DJ wears white overalls with no shirt,” and the getup has become his unofficial calling-card.

Music runs in Jackson’s family. As he put it, his dad “has always been an audiophile, so growing up there was always something new and interesting playing in the living room.” Jackson himself has always been a huge fan of music, but only began to mix his own beats after downloading a DJ app in freshman year. “The ability to change the music makes it a lot more personal,” Jackson said, “I can mix my favorite songs and create my own version.”

After DJing the Halloween dance and the winter formal, it is safe to say that DJ Jackson Rhodes’ mixes are a huge hit. For Jackson, his motivation comes from giving people an experience, and the best part about DJing is when the crowd responds well to one of his mixes. Over the course of the night, he controls the mood and the atmosphere, based on what music he plays.

He can create a setlist in which the songs slowly increase in tempo, raising the energy at the climax of the party.

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weather or air pressure affects their sleep quality. When they wake up, it will give them a summary of their night including a graph of their sleep activity. These graphs show when they fell asleep and how they transitioned between deep and light sleep throughout the night. But if the user wants to know more, they can look to the Statistics or the Trends tab to gloss over information from every recorded night.

Most users say that ever since they got this app, their sleep quality has improved, and that they have much more energy throughout the day. Even people who are not typically considered a “morning person” can successfully

Will Kahn | the roundtable

wake up early for school or work instead of hitting the snooze button multiple times.

Not only does this improve their morning, but it also improves their mood and energy throughout the day. Also, knowing one’s sleep habits can also help to figure out how to get better sleep. For example, knowing that they usually stay up later on Mondays and Wednesdays can show why they do not feel as great during the days after and will give them incentive to go to bed earlier on those days. This app is a must get for everyone because how someone sleeps affects every aspect of their life.

New Club Prospers

the meditation club enjoys wary success Jackson Rhodes in relaxing breathing exercisReporter es, The Hall offers just that rom making decisions to space through the Meditation Club. recalling memories, our The Meditation Club was brains are constantly started this year by Mr. Roos, functioning. One might think who has plenty of experience that the brain gets a break during sleep, but dreams keep with meditation in addition to his knowledge of eastern the mind busy while our bodphilosophy. When asked ies recuperate. In eastern phihow meditation can losophy, meditation offers help a student’s an opportunity to give success in school, your mind a break from this is what Mr. constantly working.

Roos had to say: Perhaps unbeknownst “Meditation trains to us, students at The the mind to focus.

Hall practice meditating In training your at least once a week mind to focus, through “Espayou are able cio”. “Espacio” to focus on utilizes the your work same idea better. as meditaMedition, as it tation gives our also brain the opportunity for release from the pressures of daily life. For students who want to spend a little more time to engage Nick Hom | the roundtable

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helps to reduce stress. With stress, you tend to get caught up in the thought pattern that is stressing you out. Meditating trains the mind to relax, and stop focusing on those stressful thoughts. Meditation calms your whole system and when you’re relaxed, you can learn better.” Mr. Roos brought up some very good points about how meditation can foster a more well-rounded and successful student.

Many studies have been done documenting the benefits of meditation, and these studies show that meditating creates a more empathetic, compassionate person. I had a chance to talk to Arjun Saxena ‘16 about why he joined the club.

He mentioned that he “wanted to do something different.

With the stress that comes in senior year, I thought meditating would help me relax, stay calm, and balance my schoolwork.” Kudos to Arjun for trying out something new.

The Meditation Club provides an opportunity for students to delve deeper into their minds and focus on letting go of the stress of daily life. For those who are interested in taking “Espacio” to the next level, you can contact Mr. Roos directly to learn more about the Meditation Club.

He also mixes songs based on their keys using something called a camelot wheel. Using his mixing knowledge he can create a set that raises or lowers the vibe of the crowd.

Jackson put a lot of preparation into becoming a DJ. When he first started, he had little more than an app on his phone and a love of music to guide him. But as he continued to mix music, Jackson became more and more absorbed into the DJing world, eventually saving up enough money to buy some real hardware and equipment. Preparation is also required before each individual session, as Jackson often spends many hours finding and organizing music for a night. After gathering multiple hours of music, Jackson cuts it down into a usable playlist. However, the playlist often serves as a guideline for what to play throughout the night. Depending on the mood of the crowd, song requests, or other variables, Jackson likes to be flexible, often changing the song lineup as he sees fit. Most of the music that Jackson plays is electronic, with some of his favorite producers being SBTRKT, Sango, Anna Lunoe, and Moby. “We can’t forget Moby,” Jackson affirmed. Jackson listens to lots of other music as well when not DJing, with some of his favorite artists being Cat Power, The Chromatics, Peter Gabriel, and Radiohead.

When not DJing, Jackson enjoys skateboarding and biking. He’s been skating for close to a decade, and started his own mountain bike racing team. Along with fellow classmates, Gio Oltranti and Willie Rodriguez, Jackson participates in NICA competitions and competes against teams from schools all across the state. NICA stands for the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, in which Jackson competes as part of the Southern California Conference. Biking is a lot like other high school sports, in the sense that there are frosh, junior

varsity, and varsity teams, however in order to compete in the varsity level, a team has to petition or qualify for the spot. Races last anywhere from two to three hours and can have close to 100 competitors. Last year, Jackson qualified for varsity by placing 5th in the state championships and ranking 6th overall for the season.

Jackson plans to pursue DJing as far as it will take him. He hopes to throw parties in college, with music being at the center of the fun. However, there’s more in Jackson’s future than mixing beats and racing bikes, especially as he prepares to hear back from colleges. Jackson’s top choice

Jackson Rhodes | the roundtable

right now is Lewis and Clark in Portland. He it likes for many reasons, namely the fact that it has “endless outdoor opportunities, being close to Mount Hood for snowboarding, and there’s a state park with bike trails right next door.” He wants to be near a metropolitan city for the skate culture while still close to the outdoors. Lewis and Clark can provide that for him. As far as studies go, Jackson plans to major in philosophy. Acceptance letters are due April 1. On his future endeavors—whether it be spinning disks, skating boards, or “bi-ing-cycles”—we wish him best of luck.

Sophomores Tackle Important Issues

second-year students work on projects to fight environmental problems Anson Gordon-Creed Reporter n January, the sophomore Sacred Texts classes were given an assignment that paralleled the Face to Faith Environment work and Costa Rica experiences that they had just completed. Students were divided into groups of three or four and tasked with figuring out a way to help the environment. Each group had a different area to deal with, and each set a goal. Some haven’t gotten very far in the execution phase, but a few have.

Zander Angel-Souza, Harry Billings, and Gordon Smit have concerned themselves with beach cleanups. Harry said their goal was that they wanted to get an ocean beach cleanup added to the standard school service program, like One Less Hungry or the Lafayette Park clean up. Already, they are working with Student Council to collect volunteers for the first cleanup.

Michael Lui and Mats

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Keldsen have dedicated themselves “to increasing the amount of people riding bikes, skateboards and scooters to school.” Being the kid who rides his scooter to school everyday, I can tell you it’s certainly a worthy cause.

Freddy Kaie, Will Brown and Nicholas Watts have been a little more ambitious.

Having been assigned to the political aspect of environmentalism, they’ve decided to outline a new idea for public transportation and to suggest it to City Hall. “What if our buses, or replacements for them, didn’t need drivers, ran on the city’s central power grid, had their own track laid out for them so they’d never get caught in traffic and were far more numerous? Our plan is the Cable Car 2.0, a little free publicity, and every bus line in the city would be replaced with one.”

And finally, Adrian Medina and Lucas Miller are looking into recycling projects. Specifically, they want to

improve Stuart Hall’s waste system by making sure it all goes in the correct bin. As of now, they’ve been collecting data on the problem, taking pictures and doing research in order to create a graph to show how the different waste bins are used by students.

Some of these projects are more ambitious than others, but all have the same intention: to make the world a better place by improving the environment.

Adrian Medina | the roundtable

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Features Table

Service Day 2016

Morning Speakers // The students of The Hall were graced by the appearance of San Francisco Police Department Chief Greg Suhr and District Two Supervisor Mark Farrell.

They took turns speaking to the group of high school students, as well as answering questions relating to their duties and responsibilities.

Interview with Chief of Police Greg Suhr

Q: A:

What do do you hope kids take away from your remarks today?

The importance of education, getting your high school diploma, becoming job ready and becoming college ready. The other thing is that cops aren’t anything than regular people who are approachable and then anything else kids want to talk about.

Q: A:

Do events like this make a tangible difference in communities?

It is a long race, the things that we have been doing in the five years that I have been chief are emphasizing education, employment, and opportunity. I’ll never know if I was right that that has long term generational change but I think it will because we have had less violence, gun, violence, in the summer when we are down police officers, but the emphasis is on young people and engagement.

Q: A: Q: A:

Was service emphasized to you in your childhood or teenage years?

Yeah, I’m from a big family that preached about a lot of volunteerism and then I went to SI and it is all about service to others and not about you and it was required that you got service hours and on and on and on and it is kind of second nature for me.

Elias Feldman | The Hall

The Hall welcomes students from Rosa Parks and Redding elementary schools // Almost every high school student left campus to go pick up their little brother of sister from one of the two schools.

When they returned, they were greeted by a presentation on trash, led by Duncan McDonald and Julian Moreno.

What was it like being involved in the “Batkid” day last year?

That was the best day ever. Crime took a holiday and everyone was happy and we didn’t have near enough police to pull that event off then whenever it would get dicey in a situation or when Miles would get anxious the people would do crowd control or backup on their own. Boy, if everyday could be batkid day…

Q: A:

Ryan Murray | The Hall

Should their be more of an emphasis on service from the government at all levels?

What we do at the academy, kind of taking a page back from high school, is we make the recruits volunteer four hours at the Boys and Girls Club on my time and four hours on their own time. When we all came in their was a residency requirement in the city and we were all San Franciscans whether you were born here or your family moved here. I think everybody giving back a little bit if you are fortunate enough to go to a school like Stuart Hall or SI, or have a good job like a police officer then it is really important.

Q: A:

Activities // The meat of the day was filled with fun activities taking place throughout the campus. Students took part in making ice cream, making lava lamps, running around in the gym and the Columbus Room, receiving dental hygiene tips, putting on a mock trial, listening to a talk on bullying,

Would service be a fix to issues like homelessness?

The Super Bowl is a good example and a lot of people talk about how many, many people with a lot of needs and 25 million dollars when to philanthropic efforts and being the city of Saint Francis, we are trying to navigate those who have less or are less fortunate to the degree of homelessness and trying to find that spot where we take care of the folks who have fallen into homelessness and are already here but not to the degree where we draw because there is only a so much we can do as a locality.

Q: A:

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Angerl Padilla | the roundtable

Can police help facilitate the process of helping the homeless or does that have to be done by city government?

I think it’s a combination of the two. We try law enforcement to not be the first point of contact with the less fortunate. We try to go with the department of public health or departure of public works and actually assist people into the variety of services of the people of San Francisco without using law enforcement. First instance we just did Divison Street and we think we helped about 300 people and brought them to the new homeless center at pier 38 and many people went off but no one was arrested. That’s the sweet spot where people who want assistance get it and those who don’t go off safely and without issues. But people can’t stay in a circumstance that’s unhealthy for everybody

Q: A:

Service Day By the Numbers

With your role as Police Chief, how do you use that to motivate kids and add emphasis to community service? What’s your goal?

Especially with high school kids in SF I try to say that I was no different than them. X amount of years ago I sat right where they sat and city leaders came and said your the future of San Francisco and all I can tell you is that the way I was taught about volunteerism is that it’s not about you, it’s about helping people who are less fortunate get to a better place and in turn get the city to a better place.

A Healthy Lunch // As the day rolled towards its end, students took time to enjoy hot dogs hamburgers and veggie burgers for lunch, along with an assortment of cookies and ice cream for dessert. Elementary students found their friends and excitedly went over their morning activities.

Then, lastly, students praticipated in one, last,

Ryan Murray | The Hall

Anti-Defamation League

riginally founded in 1913, the Anti-Defamation League was created for the purpose of fighting anti-semitism and to secure justice and fair treatment for all. Today, it’s focus is more directed at ending bigotry, defending civil rights and even extends to bullying. At Stuart Hall High School’s annual service day, students from our community taught an ADL anti-bullying course for the second year in a row. Patrick Dilworth, Edward Emery, Jack Merrigan, Leet Miller, Christopher Potter, and Dylan Kelly all received training to teach the course prior to the day and then gave a lesson to our elementary school guests.

With bullying, especially over social media and online outlets (cyber-bullying) becoming a very hot button topic in the media, the school thought it was important to teach these soon to be teenagers about their actions, and consequences. The ADL program allowed the Stuart Hall High School students to properly prepare for their courses and formulate a plan on how to run them. When the Santa Rosa and Redding students entered the room with their bigger brothers, activities were immediately implemented to help “break the ice” and show them how much they had in common. For instance, questions were posed that helped the kids see who was a Giants fan or a Warriors fan. After these ice breakers, the student teach-

ers went over the four forms of bullying. These include cyber, emotional, physical, and verbal.

While physical bullying, the most commonly seen form in movies and TV is less common today, cyber bullying is on the rise and needs to be addressed. Teenagers believe that because their actions are over the Internet and on a screen, they are somehow less real and they aren’t as accountable. However, punishment for cyberbullying can be just as hard. Cases have been seen where kids are charged with contributing to a suicide due to their actions against a victim over the Internet.

Following these lessons, a video was shown to the little brothers that displayed bullying in action. After the bully harasses the victim, a bystander would step in and support the victim. This taught the kids that by not being a bystander and standing up for victims, we can end bullying peacefully and safely. Many people do not stand up for victims due to fear of looking weak or being bullied themselves, however, this is not true. If people were to support each other then we can work together to find solutions to bullying as a whole. The best answer to bigotry and harassment isn’t retaliation, but education. That was the plan of the ADL training classes and that is why Stuart Hall High School taught this vital class.

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the roundtable at roundtable.sacredsf.org

Sports Table

Golf Team Hopes to Continue Dominance

Wednesday, April 27 Match vs. Bay @ 4:30 Tuesday, May 3 BCL Tournament at Harding Park

Nick Watts Reporter he golf season has begun on a great note this season with big wins against San Francisco powerhouses SI and University. The golf team has shown resilience by fighting through tough conditions and beating difficult competition. These are impressive wins for a small, yet mighty team who have defeated the odds and

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Jordan Chin | the roundtable

beat bigger, more well known schools for many years. Their success has been due to the terrific play throughout the team, especially among the players towards the bottom of the lineup. These standout athletes include Chris Potter ‘17 aka “The Dab King,” Michael “Commander in Chief” Tellini ‘17, and Hunter “The Red Assassin” Tatham ‘17. Changes have been made this season including extreme

conditioning and mental preparedness. Team captain Daniel “The Rock” Connolly ‘16 has also made many changes to his routine as well, which includes a hearty meal before every match and through intense practices in order to better prepare for the field of play. Connolly has made great strides to his game, “I am proud of my team’s quick start to the season and of the progress we have made from last

season. The team’s dedication to practices and matches has been astounding and we are in a great position to be successful for the rest of the year.”

The golf team played a great match at the Metropolitan challenge, however it was cut short after torrential rainfall hit the course. Hunter “The Red Assassin” Tatham played an excellent round despite the rain and scored a 38 over nine holes. Unfortunately, they lost a tough match against Marin Academy, in which Daniel Connolly had trouble. They recovered with a convincing win against The Bay School which included a great round

from junior standout Chris Potter. The team also did extremely well at the Wildcat Tournament hosted by Marin Catholic, by placing fifth in the tournament, benefitting from an excellent round of golf from junior linksman Robert Eklund. The energy and excitement is clearly on high as the golf team is having yet another great season with dedicated and skilled golfers. For the golf team to win another league title would be a testament to their hard work and sacrifice over the last few years.

Track Team Depends on New Stars to Continue Excellence

Sam Cormier Reporter unners take your marks, set, BANG!” This is what Convent and Stuart Hall’s track and field team has become accustomed to hearing with the track season in full swing.

The Hall is looking poised to repeat as BCL West League champs with a promising second place finish with 128 points, only 13.5 points out of first place in the BCL West Meet #1. The Hall can attribute this strong start to the record numbers that have flocked to the track and field team. Overall, on the Stuart Hall and Convent track team there are 83 athletes which is almost one-fourth of the combined school’s population. 55

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of the athletes are boys from Stuart Hall and 28 of them are girls from Convent. The track and field team will try to use this record depth, teamwork, and emerging superstars who will try to make up for the four Division I athletes lost to graduation.

One of these superstars is junior captain Eli Horwitz.

Horowitz had a breakout year during the cross-country season. That success has carried over to track season where Eli has won the 1600, 800, and anchored the second place 4X400 relay team in both league meets. In the 1600, Eli set the school record with a blistering time of 4:23.88 where he ran away with the race in the last 200 meters.

In the 800, he ran the second

Nick Hom | the roundtable

fastest time in Stuart Hall history with another very impressive 2:02.20.

In the BCL West Meet #2, Eli ran an inspired anchor leg in the 4X400 to hold off a late push by University.

The Hall’s teamwork was showcased in this race when newcomer to the relay team, Phoenix Aquino-Thomas helped, shave two seconds off the team’s time which ended up being 3:40.24.

Coach Buckley was very impressed with the 43 personal bests that were set in the young season. One of those personal bests was set by Convent senior, Laurel Cinti, who lept to a new school record in the long jump with a jump of 15-02.50, beating the previous record by 1.5 inches.

Another superstar and captain is junior Alex MacDonald. Alex runs the 400 meter dash, 300 meter hurdles, the anchor leg of the boys 4x100 relay, and is the first leg for the 4x400 relay.

In the 400 meter dash Alex took second place in a hard fought race with a time of 54.72, continued his reign atop the league in the 300

Openning struggles

Monday, April 4 Match vs. Urban @ 5:30

Thursday, April 21 Match vs. Urban @ 4:30

the roundtable at roundtable.sacredsf.org

Sports Table

Golf Up & Comings Monday, April 18 Match at Marin Academy @ 5

April 4, 2016

baseball starts off 2-3

Nick Hom Associate Editor-in-Chief he Knights have gotten off to a shaky start this season. Sitting with a record of 2-3, they are below where they hoped to be after the first few games. The Knights’ home field, Treasure Island 3, which had gone through several changes over the offseason, did not look pretty at first glance. But after it hosted the Knights’ 10-0 win over the visiting Berean Christian Eagles, there were no complaints. The lightsout pitching performances from starting pitcher, Robbie Vanderlaan, and reliever, Alex Palmer, held the Eagles to only one hit over five innings.

But when the team travelled to Danville to face off against BCL East division team, the Athenian Owls, they were not able to string together hits.

Both teams exited the game with five hits apiece, but the Owls posted four runs to the Knights’ two. Somewhat of a spirit crusher, The Hall hoped to regain their stride against Sonoma Academy that Friday, as they had success against them the previous season.

But as the rains blew in, the team had to bunker down and hold on to that bitter loss.

The weather also cancelled their next game against BCL East division team, College Prep. Looking forward to their

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Batting Average

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next game against Washington High School, Stuart Hall worked hard in the weight room and in the Dungeon to prepare themselves as best as they could. Their efforts paid off. After getting squashed last year, 11-3, the Knights showed up confident as ever. Willie Reader went to the mound firing bullets, not walking a single person and striking out eight. The game was a nail-biter this time around.

Washington’s solo shot in the top of the fourth was quickly followed by a home run off the bat of Willie Reader in the bottom of the inning. After blows were traded again in the sixth, the game went into extra innings, tied at two.

After a fumble on the infield, Washington was able to score a runner and go up 3-2 heading to the bottom of the eighth. But the Knights were not about to give up. Patient at the dish, batter after batter produced productive at bats.

With the bases loaded, Alex Palmer stepped up to the plate and smashed a first pitch fastball down the left field line for a walk-off double.

The 4-3 win tasted sweet in the mouths of the coaches and players, but the taste quickly faded the following day.

Facing off against Redwood Christian, the Knights weren’t able to regain their footing after the Eagles posted two

Hits

runs in the bottom of the second. An inability to score baserunners was the culprit of the 2-1 loss, as the Knights left 20 runners on base. It’s hard to tell whether or not this loss carried into their next game, but it seems that the Knights have not yet built themselves to their fullest potential.

Facing Sacred Heart Cathedral in their only contest of the season, the Knights knew they had to start strong to be able to win the game. But after the Irish jumped to a 6-0 lead in the second, Stuart Hall couldn’t keep up. The game finished with a final score of 9-0, capping off a disappointing game. The Knights’ struggles could stem from numerous things, including injuries to senior Robbie Vanderlaan, junior Giggy Andrews, and sophomore Angel Padilla, but with junior pitcher Owen Hackel returning from basketball, there seems to be a new light for the team. Hackel had a great outing against Sacred Heart, coming in in relief, posting three zeros on the scoreboard.

The submariner will be started against NCS Division Five champions, Branson. A full update of Stuart Hall’s games after March 31st can be found at roundtable.sacredsf.org.

excited and hopeful for the season and said, “The boys are poised to take over 1st with a bit of improvement and the addition of the last complement of athletes to come out (from basketball). The girls are much improved over last year--as a group and as individuals--and I’m fired up for what they can accomplish.”

As it turns out, Coach Buckley’s prediction was correct and in the second league meet The Hall ended up defeating University by a score of 145.5 to 132. The basketball players contributed greatly to the victory with the new contestants placing 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th in the triple jump. Sophomore, Sean Ingoglia, wowed the league with a jump of 19-1 on his very first time ever long jumping.

Max Rodriguez Reporter verybody has a dream of going to the big leagues, but getting to the next level not only takes talent, but time as well. For high school players, getting accepted into a college for baseball is a dream come true. For two of Stuart Hall’s senior captains, Zach Avila and Willie Reader, these aspirations may become a reality. After playing three years of varsity baseball, they are now in their final year here at The Hall.

Zach Avila, a 5-foot10-inch-tall, 140-pound middle infielder and pitcher has not only been one of the best baseball players to attend The Hall, but also one of the greatest athletes to attend the school. When asked about playing baseball at the college level he said, “Playing baseball in college allows me to continue my passion for another four years. Bates is a great school that will allow me to pursue my academic desires while also playing baseball at a high level.” Zach also mentioned how he hopes to continue being a leader at Bates, which is a Division III school with strong academics. These characteristics are what makes Zach the person he is, not only on the field, but also in the classroom.

Willie Reader, who stands at 5 feet 11 inches

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Team Leaders RBIs

Angel Padilla Sophomore

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meter hurdles with a 43.20, and helped his relay teams to strong finishes. What makes Alex’s success even more impressive is that he is battling multiple leg and ankle injuries while still succeeding.

For the throwers, senior captain Omid Ravanfar and junior stud Alex Berbey lead the charge while being the best two throwers on the team, and in the league. At BCL Meet #2, Omid placed third with a throw of 104-02 in the discus competition, and Alex threw a huge personal best that was good enough for second place in the meet with a mighty heave of 105-08.

Overall, the throwers took first place in the competition with with a narrow 14 to 10 win over University.

Coach Buckley is very

Seniors Look to Play Ball in College

Angel Padilla Sophomore

and 170 pounds, is slightly larger than Zach but still plays a similar game. During Willie’s junior year, he hit .344 while playing all 25 games. He led the team with 23 RBIs, two triples and hit one homer. Willie has still not decided if he wants to go to college to play baseball but has shown high interest. I was able to ask Willie about the possibility about playing college baseball, and he responded, “I would be grateful to be able to continue playing baseball for the next four years. Hard work has paid off, and I am glad to have been able to leave my mark here at The Hall.”

Willie’s determination to have the opportunity to play college baseball will allow him to be at the level that he is today.

Zach and Willie have put in years of hard work to get to where they are now. In addition to Zach and Willie, there are also four seniors, Alex Palmer, Alex Dugan, David Alvarez, and Robbie Vanderlaan, who have spent their high school years at The Hall as part of the baseball organization. Remember, these six have helped build the baseball program and have helped win three straight conference championships. The Class of ‘16 will be an inspiration to future baseball players who currently attend Stuart Hall hoping to play any sport in college.

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Nick Hom | the roundtable

A&E Table

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However, T.L.O.P. is something we’ve never heard before.

Taking inspiration from every Kanye album until now, T.L.O.P. saw songs related to The College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation, 808’s and Heartbreak, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Yeezus. The opening track, “Ultralight Beam,” has the feeling of gospel laid throughout.

This will become one of the many themes of the album and unfortunately will stray away many listeners. However, for those who enjoy it, T.L.O.P. will become one of their favorite albums.

Similar to almost every Kanye West piece, it’s either going to fit your taste or not. Yeezus is the perfect example of this as it’s edgy and chaotic beats sent many listeners away disappointed. However, it was still received well critically and is regarded as one of the best rap albums of the 2010’s. The range of songs in T.L.O.P. is staggering and makes it hard to review without writing an entire essay.

Popular songs like “Famous” featuring Rihan-

na, standout along with “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 2” and the newly redubbed “Facts (Charlie Heat Version).” Rough and gritty songs like “Feedback” are followed up with the gospel like speech in “Low Lights.” There’s no way to understand this album clearly, it’s a creatively genius disaster.

T.L.O.P. must be listened through fully to understand the confusion. In a time where artists like Drake and Future standout through their release of radio hits and club-bangers, it’s refreshing to see an album that conforms to almost none of the standards we see in rap today. Furthermore, it doesn’t hurt that Kanye West, arguably the greatest rapper of our generation, was the one to break this redundant streak. Whether you hate him for his actions outside of a studio, it’s hard to deny the musical genius of this one-man show.

What is Kanye Doing? a history of Kanye’s...character

Harry Billings Reporter here is a common predicament in hip-hop discussions across the country; no one knows what to say anymore when it comes to Kanye West.

Kanye’s success has become something joked about, rarely attributed to genius like it used to be. He has built his success in the industry around being a polarizing presence. In my opinion, Kanye’s best album by far was his first, The College Dropout. His obvious talent and controversial lyrics brought him instantly into the spotlight, his first album sold over 441,000 copies in the first week. To this day, it is his highest selling album in the United States. Many of his songs used almost hymn-like choruses and heavily religious tones, such as the ones expressed in his hit song “Jesus Walks.” Kanye at this point was creating for himself, letting everyone know who he was, and what he does.

His emphasis on family values and religion were juxtaposed against the lifestyle of a rapper and a college dropout introducing the rap industry to his style of hip-hop, which they had not seen much of before.

Kanye came back a year later in April of 2005 with a new album, Late Registration.

Kanye’s second album was very similar, with more hard hitting beats, telling the next stage of

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his story. Mainstream stars like Nas, Jay-Z, Jamie Foxx, and Cam’ron joined Kanye in his rising stardom. I would say that Kanye’s next album, Graduation, was the last of the golden age of his music. This album capped off his story, a glorified and happy album celebrating his meteoric rise to the top of the rap game. Kanye only featured four artists on 808s and Heartbreak, which comes off as a bit self-centered, which could have been foreshadowing his antics in 2009. Before 2009, Kanye pulled the “race card” when Britney Spears was chosen to perform at the VMAs over him, saying maybe his skin “wasn’t white enough” to perform. He also complained about not winning awards, and wouldn’t leave the stage in a timely fashion. This was all just part of his polarizing personality, but then he took it too far at the 2009 Video Music Awards. When Taylor Swift won the award for Best Music Video, over Beyonce’s Single Ladies video, Kanye got up on stage and denounced the award, saying Beyonce should have won. Kanye obviously had no place in this issue. Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and the whole audience were mortified. This event made the public finally see that the power had gone to Kanye’s head.

This was an award that

had absolutely nothing to do with him, which showed that he was stepping out of his own ego and imposing his presence on everyone else. Since that night, Kanye’s destructive personality has been dominating pop culture news, with new antics breaking every couple of weeks.

It’s important to realize that Kanye West is a musical genius, easily one of the best rappers of his generation. His talent is not diminished by his actions, but it is affecting the general opinion of him. Somewhere along the way, his massive success clouded his vision. In turn, these kinds of behavior prevented his followers from truly appreciating his recent music. This want to hate Kanye causes him to be ridiculed in the media, and not be respected by the general public. Kanye West faces a crossroads in his career. Either forfeit the part of his personality that he has worked hard to uphold all these years, or hurt his legacy by continuing to be a detriment to the music community.

April 4, 2016

a look at sexism in rap music

Anson Gordon-Creed Reporter V Tropes has a page titled “Unfortunate Implications.” You can look it up for yourself if you want, but in terms of media, the term refers to unintended but prevalent messages in media that work contrary to social justice. For example, the Star Wars prequels got George Lucas accused of racism several times for characters like Neimoidians, Watto, and Jar Jar Binks, who looked an/or behaved like recast caricatures of Japanese people, Jews and black people respectively.

Rap music, particularly standard “Gangsta-Rap” has always been met with similar accusations. The most prevalent criticism being their treatment of women. The lyrics of many popular songs have a very dated view of gender, often portraying women as mere sex-objects to male protagonists. Women rarely take any active role in the narratives portrayed and are always valued far more for their body than their minds or skills. Gianluca Mori ‘18 agreed, “The occurrence of sexism within the rap genre is worrying and far too common. These artists need to stride towards a more open and accepting theme within their music that does not diminish the values of women and all minorities.”

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Many critics have also accused traditional rap culture of glorifying, justifying, and even promoting crime, violence, drug use, and other negative behaviors.

Your standard rap, music video doesn’t exactly help their case.

A simple Google search of 2 Chainz or any other big name rappers’ Youtube account will lead you to a world full of these vices. Idealizing a life of money, sex and drugs, these videos show near pornographic content and portray unrealistic lifestyles that many listeners consider to be common and standard among men. In “Bandz a Make Her Dance” by Juicy J, he raps, “She got friends, bring three, I got drugs, I got drinks.”

Lines like these glorify a life in which women are effectively considered to be just another habit like alcohol and drugs. This is by no means uncommon and has become seeded into rap culture.

Anyone who listens knows to expect it, and some won’t listen unless these stereotypes are present.

But why should we care? What people watch or listen to doesn’t necessarily influence them in any notable way, right? When asked whether or not people have a tendency to imitate what they see in the media, Fiona Mittelstaedt ‘18 had this to say: “They say a lot of gruesome and gritty things but when it

Gabe O’Brien Reporter he fourth season of House of Cards was released on Netflix on March 4, much to the excitement and interest of the millions of people that follow the show. I have been watching the show since it came out in 2013. And like many others, I am drawn in by the compelling, and even gritty points that make up the show. Corruption and crime are central concepts of the show.

The show, while fiction, still tries to prove the points that corruption and crime are also central to Washington D.C. politics. Kevin Spacey, winner of two Academy Awards, and Robin Wright, Golden Globe Award winner, portray the main characters, Francis and Claire Underwood respectively.

Both are equally ruthless

Monday, April 4-8 Book Fair Wednesday, April 6 Lacrosse vs. Urban @ 3:30 Fencing at Washington @ 3:30 Tennis at Lick @ 4 Friday, April 8 Smile Ball Tennis vs. Urban @ 4 Tuesday, April 12 Tennis at Marin Academy @ 4 Wednesday, April 13 Lacrosse at Marin Academy @ 3:30 Swimming at San Domenico @ 3:30 Friday, April 15 Lacrosse vs. University @ 5:30 Tennis at Drew @ 4 Saturday, April 16 Fencing City Championship @ 8 a.m.

Lacrosse at Washington @ 1 Tuesday, April 19 Tennis vs. International @ 4 Thursday, April 21 Four-School Concert @ 6:30 Tennis at San Domenico @ 4 Friday, April 22 Senior Overnight Retreat

paced style. A character can be so integral, but at the same time so expendable. As is proof in previous seasons, Frank has befriended characters that have been central to the show but has gotten rid of them in the most surprising of ways. With each season, the show is constantly developing and providing the viewer with altogether new events, while still keeping to the season’s plot.

This fourth season is going to be the most striking yet. The Underwoods, who seemed inseparable, face major conflict. With this ongoing idea to break the ordinary, even something like their relationship is put to the test. I have only seen a little of season 4, and knowing that there will even be a fifth season, I can’t wait to watch more.

New Headphone Policy

Repercussions of the Slap

Up and Comings

and lacking of morality.

Regardless of their ethics, what is so intriguing about them is their ride to the top, leaving so many people in their tracks, without looking back.

Since the first season, Francis Underwood — Spacey’s character — has gone from a leading Congressman, to the Vice President, to the President of the United States, himself.

This progression in rank does not come for free though. Frank Underwood has always worked hard and played dirty to ensure he gets farther and stays where he is.

The show is known for its great writing, production, but especially its acting. And the deep, confusing characters heighten the suspense and drama of the show.

What makes the show so captivating is its fast-

the roundtable at roundtable.sacredsf.org

A&E Table

House of Cards Back for Fourth Season

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Will Kahn | the roundtable

Nick Everest Reporter he release of Kanye West’s long awaited sixth album was a tale of confusion and uncertainty. Originally named So Help Me God, it faced three name changes including SWISH, Waves and finally, The Life of Pablo (T.L.O.P.).

The album took place in Kanye’s Yeezy Season 3, the release of his newest collection which included fashion, a videogame and most importantly, music. Leading up to the release, Kanye simply went insane. Twitter rants and awkwardly timed releases left most fans confused but still optimistic. Four songs on T.L.O.P., “Facts”, “Real Friends”, “No More Parties in L.A.”, and “30 Hours” were dropped in the weeks preluding his official release. While the songs built hype, many were left uncertain due to the lack of direction within the four songs. Until now, every Kanye album had it’s own theme.

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comes down to it I think it’s just a persona that they put on and doesn’t represent what they are actually like. The rap industry is formed around this very animalistic way where you gotta be at the top and have all the girls and the money and the drugs. It’s important to remember that how they speak needs to stay in the lyrics but it becomes dangerous when what they rap starts to become how they act.”

Fiona is certainly right that the things they say is just a persona they put on the please their fans, but the real concern is that sails fans will imitate the media, not the creators.

The roundtable won’t give an opinion on the topic today, but we can say that anything unpleasant in media raises the question of necessity. Constant

crime, violence, and all around unpleasantness is prevalent in media such as the video game, Grand Theft Auto or Quentin Tarantino films.

However, because it’s usually at the forefront of said media and little effort is made to justify it, it can be considered necessary to the media’s existence and profit and justified in its presence.

Yes, like film producers and video game design, artists are catering to what their customers have been proven to buy, but so are arms dealers or hitmen. Demand doesn’t justify being the supplier. Rappers are usually highly talented music artists, and they could no doubt still sell music without all the current unpleasant themes.

the roundtable

| Stuart Hall High School | Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco | | 1715 Octavia St. | San Francisco, CA 94109 | | roundtable@sacredsf.org |

Staff Owen Fahy, Editor-in-Chief Nick Hom, Associate Editor-in-Chief Nick Everest, A&E Editor Harry Billings, Sports Editor Jackson Rhodes, News Editor Anson Gordon-Creed, News Reporter Gabe O’Brien, News Reporter Nick Watts, News Reporter Zack Hammer, News Reporter Ben Cross, Sports Reporter Max Rodriguez, Sports Reporter Sam Cormier, Sports Reporter Adrian Medina, Graphics Director Angel Padilla, Photographer William Kahn, Artist Ben Kaplan, Layout Assistant Lori Saltveit, Advisor Michael Campos, Editing Reba Sell, Editing

Nick Hom Associate Editor-in-Chief ecently, the school administrators established a new, school-wide policy which prohibits the use of headphones in all common areas. These “common areas” include the Columbus Room, Learning Commons and every other non-classroom space in the school.

Now there are many reasons why such a rule was put in place, and, to be honest, they are pretty justifiable. The misuse of iPads is a known problem throughout the school. Whether it be playing games, streaming music or even watching high definition television shows, there are many unproductive tasks which clog our schools bandwidth. These activities certainly do not fall in line with Goal Five’s “wise freedom,” and the school has decided to clamp down on off-task students.

But in the process, they have penalized students who have stuck to the rules and used their headphones in a way which doesn’t affect their surroundings.

There are also some homework assignments which work better with or even require headphones for use. Mr. Halkyard’s chemistry videos, for example, can no longer be watched during study halls, and without audio on Anki (yes, Anki) audio decks, it has become difficult to study for all of you auditory learners out there.

The policy is continually justified by the known fact that it is harder to work when listening to music. Arguing a fact will not do me any good, but something which this “fact” does not address, is how well people work in noisy environments. Let us first all agree that the Learning Commons is not the library it once was, and that its volume level for those who are hard at work can sometimes be turned up a little too high.

Well, several studies have shown that productivity while listening to music is about equal to productivity when people are talking in the background. Now, when surrounded by friends, Mr. O’Connor is playing a video in the super-confined “classroom” space and the librarian is scolding students to be quiet, it becomes almost impossible to write that 800 word essay you have due the next day. At what point do the distractions and background noise in the Learning Commons becomes more distracting than just listening to some Drake?

Why can’t you just pop in your buds and power through your work? One could say, “You are using the school’s bandwidth to stream your Spotify and Pandora.” Well, there are still a good amount of people who buy their music and have it stored on their phones. Now, this is something that cannot really be policed, but what happened to wise freedom? I know that a lot of people have broken this trust, but I think there could still be better ways of addressing this issue without punishing those who actually use headphones productively. New signs have popped up around campus about the “Blacklist” for people who break the rules. Why can’t this be the sole policy?

Give students a chance to show off their productivity first, and then crack down on individuals who are still abusing their freedom.

While I do not believe that just by writing this column I can change policies, I do hope that in the future there will be some change to allow students who use headphones to stay focused to continue their usage. But all I have left to say right now as I sit here in the Learning Commons in my F period study hall preparing this article for you is that my “Random Songs” playlist is really helping to get the job done.

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Will Kahn | the roundtable

April 4, 2016

Nick Hom | the roundtable

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the roundtable

April 4, 2016

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Virgil McCorgray Class of 2016 alking around the city, we don’t see the police force rounding up homosexuals, beggars, and intellectuals; and executing them in the street. We as Americans are able to express how we feel, pray to who we believe in, fall in love with who we wish and know that if we get sick we will not die--in the eyes of the law at least.

All of these seem like basic human rights in an organized society but there is no one to protect world citizens from infringements of such tenets. The United States has “tried”: it’s excursion to rid the world of fascism has been failing for many reasons; one of which is that, shortly put, we are not yet willing to allocate the necessary resources to such an altruistic cause.

We only need to look to Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Iran, Argentina, Panama, South Vietnam, the list goes on and on. U.S. Presidents and their allies have continually propped up authoritarian regimes in place of another or destroyed one so that another could take its place in order to make allies, amass power and exploit natural resources. In every single instance, the result has been mass civilian casualties (an example: Argentina during the 1970s, the U.S. aided

the rebellion against communist government only to give way to a Christian dictatorship responsible for violent political oppression and classicide). Even President Obama and our First Lady can be seen in a postcard-esque photo with Turkmenistan President Berdimuhamedow, who, according to the Human Rights Watch is guilty of war crimes almost as extensive as the list of dictators both given money and overthrown by the U.S. government.

An argument against any sort of intervention is that “we the west” have no right meddling in others’ societies especially in areas that have been riddled with the sickness of imperialism from the colonial era, staying out of Iraq, for example, allowing for Iraqi sovereignty. The problem with anything but a democracy is that national sovereignty will never be accomplished. No one ever voted for Saladin or King George, no one elected Saddam Hussein--in the so called golden ages of European powers, and of the Islamic Empires all famed rulers brutally oppressed certain groups within their societies, without any outside influence. At the expense of one cultural identity another was given support.

Thus, an Iraqi democracy, a British Parliament, not a Caliphate

or Monarchy that had ruled such countries for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years, is more representative of national sovereignty. The culture of a nation is of course incredibly important to understanding and navigating the country but the culture should not define government practice and it especially should not validate human rights abuse. An example can be seen in the Islamic Empire’s golden age.

Saladin, the head of the Caliphate was known for leading an empire of “tolerance”. Contrarily, heavy taxes and social isolation were imposed on Jews and Christians living under his rule.

Additionally, Sufi Mystics were flogged and executed for interpreting the Koran as metaphorical rather than literal and the Islamic Empire utilized the slave trade like other contemporary powers, drawing in labor from Northern Africa.

The problem is not that dictatorships are overthrown. Democracy should be implemented, if not internal then yes, in way by someone with the means to do so by helping out. Think of it in this relatable context, what if Donald Trump were elected and declared martial law, then proceeded to abduct and execute Arabs? At this point, I would want, Sweden to step in and offer assistance to counter this human rights abuse.

Couldn’t we just fight our own battle? Maybe, but if we are going to take a stand against our own government, I would most definitely want the military power of another nation.

Might Sweden think themselves better than the U.S. for not falling to such a bigoted ideology? Yes. Might innocent civilians be killed?

Unfortunately so. If done correctly, could an insurgency and occupation rebuild our country? Absolutely. To use Iraq again, its citizens were overjoyed to see American soldiers rolling through their streets. Iraqis threw roses at the feet of passing American G.I.s.

It was only when the citizens realized that the U.S. had no plan to preserve safety and order for the people under the occupation, did they begin despising us.

Of course we have no complete success story. In a terribly hopeful way, we also have not seen any sort of genuine attempt to replace a dictatorship with a feasible substitute and continued, reliable support from the intervening nation-most likely because such an endeavor would cost billions, even trillions of dollars.

Who should be the iron fist with which justice is dealt and democratic values are implemented? Probably, a committee similar to the Supreme Court, dealing with regimes

can the world be unified?

on a case by case basis, and instead of being appointed, they would be voted in by countries that pass a rubric for human rights violations in the last hundred years or so. Saudi Arabia, for example, has sanctioned extrajudicial executions of social deviants but holds an influential position on the UN Human Rights Council.

This brings into consideration a problem: western countries would dominate the vote because of the fairer societies implemented in the west. However, America, Britain, France, Germany, etc-- publically viewed “imperialistic” countries, would be banned because of recorded human rights abuses.

Mainly Scandinavian countries, which have the highest education levels and graduation rates, the smallest income disparity, and the most neutral military history would be in charge of who might get the awesome power of shifting history towards a globalized socialist world. Checks and balances would have to be used so that this power is not abused.

The way in which it is used, destabilizing and rebuilding governments, would have to be rigorously scrutinized. Nevertheless, it must be done so that we might meet issues of global concern, unified, in the future.

Global Coalition for Democracy

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