Vol. LVIII, No. 1

A Student ForgivenessLoan crumblreviewcookie

MooncakesDHTH:

SMOKE SIGNAL

Under CA Assembly Bill 130, which was implemented last school year, MSJ will con tinue to serve free school breakfasts and lunches to all of its students. During the pandemic, the setup for school lunch distribution was a grab-and-go food bar, but for the past two years, there was a transition back to serving hot lunches. As Child Nutrition Services Worker Maninder Kaur said, “The quantity of food has nota bly increased since all [the students] enjoy receiving free lunches.” For each meal of the day, the lunch sta hands out around 500 meals to the students. With the same number of sta making more lunches for MSJ and its subsidiary schools than before, students can often be seen waiting in long lines while the lunch sta overwork to cover the extra amount. Despite these rising issues, the sta are maintaining the food’s quality while exceeding standards surrounding safety and nutrition. In addition, the school announced on September 16 that ID cards will now be required to receive school lunch to help combat issues of students repeatedly returning for extras. “I really appreciate the free meals the school provides [the students]; it makes leav ing the house and eating healthier a lot more convenient,” Senior Eashan Dhodapkar said. 41717

Opening as a new addition for the Introduction to Engineering Design and Classical Mechanics courses, the Maker Space is an area with nine 3D printers, one laser cutter, one heat press, one bioprinter, and one vinyl cutter available for student use. Located in B33, students can use the room’s desktops to design and slice 3D models to then be printed on one of the 3D printers. Because of its abundance of tools and resources, the Maker Space will work as a welcoming space for club meetings and individuals who would like to use the machinery for school or other projects. Although the Maker Space currently lacks funding to make full use of all its 3D printers, it is still a valuable asset for the students to get more hands-on experience with the machines. “I think that the Maker Space provides great opportunities to work on my class and personal projects, and it’s really interesting to see the di erent creative visions of my peers coming to life,” Senior Alvin Zhu said.

By Helen Tian, Joanne Park, Ayushi Kashyap & Nessa Tong Editor-in-Chief, A&E Editor & Staff Writers

As the 2022-23 school year begins, MSJ has implemented several important additions on campus and for the student body. From the establishment of the Student Wellness Cen ter to the transition to online ID cards with Minga, students have adjusted around these new changes. The Smoke Signal has compiled six of the most notable developments for the new school year.

For more than 20 years, the totem pole in front of the MSJ library has watched over the campus as students walked past. However, MSJ starts the new year without it because of construction concerns. When the painters took the pole down in hopes of refurbishing the paint of the library over the summer, the totem pole crumbled apart, and due to termite and bee infestations, it was not salvageable. Since a large number of classrooms needed new paint jobs, the painters could not rebuild the totem during the summer. With more time on their hands now, the painters are currently working on the front of the library, coloring it green. After the painters finish their job, Social Science Teacher Nancy Benton is looking to paint a letter “M” for MSJ in the totem’s original spot. “Hopefully in the next few weeks, we’re able to finish it, so the students are able to build more of a con nection with our campus,” Prin cipal

Over the summer, LifeTouch Inc. introduced Minga to Director of Student Leadership Benny Breazeale as a new upcoming way for IDs and communication. After speaking with Evans and getting the approval from ad ministration, Minga was introduced to the student body as a new ID, hallway pass, and communication system, all in the form of a mobile app. In theory, Minga should eliminate both the need to print physical ID cards and the use of the FlexTime app for Advisory check-ins. However, with such large adjustments, the school did not have enough time to prepare the proper equipment and systems, resulting in physical ID cards being printed as substitutes. Nevertheless, Minga will likely return in the future. “Like with many new things, sometimes there’s a challenge at the begin ning. But, we’re working through those ... and once that’s settled, Minga should work as expected with no problems,” Breazeale said. To view the Smoke Signal’s opinion on the implementation of Minga, refer to the opinion of the editorial board on pg. 3.

As per Senate Bill 328, CA state public high schools are now required to have a start time of 8:30 a.m at the earliest. Although the 3:19 p.m. dismissal time is a substantial change from the previous 2:58 p.m. closing time, the decision was made after taking into account the number of instructional minutes used throughout the year, while adding more long lunch periods for special events as well. The decision was voted on by the faculty who were given multiple options to choose from. While it does a ect after-school athletics by around a half hour, “The new bell schedule is an overall good cially in supporting students’ sleep and mental health habits,” Evans said. Students, who had experienced both the high school 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. schedules, have also taken note of the positive e ects the change is having on their mental and physical wellbeing. “Although the time shift isn’t very drastic, I feel myself more energized and motivated to go to class after those few extra minutes to myself in the morning,” Senior Sanjana Rathore said.

MSJ Mental Health Committee (MHC), under the guidance of English Teacher Nina LaRosa, has completed the Student Wellness Center lo cated in C2 this year to o er amenities such as couches, board games, and more for students to have a safe space to destress and relax. Serene student artwork placed on the walls also provides a calming atmosphere. Although planning of the Student Wellness Center was underway since the 2019-20 school year, the pandemic delayed construction, especially with the limited funding that Mission Possible could provide. After speaking with Student Support Services, the administration was able to acquire the allocated funding from FUSD, which helped purchase necessary supplies for the Student Wellness Center. However, with the hectic transition from virtual to in-person learning at the beginning of last school year, “[MHC and counsel ors] didn’t have a lot of time ... to work on the Wellness Center, and so they were only able to really finish it in spring,” Assistant Principal Jeana Nighten gale said. Now, the Student Wellness Center has been open every lunch and Advisory with a certificated faculty member — a teacher, counselor, or ad ministrator — supervising students as they check in, play games, and make themselves comfortable. “What we’ve seen so far is quite a positive response from the amount of students [coming in] during lunch. We hope that students will appreciate it as much as we do, and it’ll become a staple,” Nightengale said.

BRIEF

FUSS Recognized by Board of Education After Decision to Disband

By Vedesh Kodnani & Maryam Naseer Sta Writers

LOCAL

Six Bay Area counties take the lead in CA’s water conservation campaign

On September 7, the State Water Resources Control Board released data indicating that Californians reduced water use by 10.4% in July relative to July 2020. Addition ally, in the previous month, statewide water consumption dropped by 7.4% relative to the past year. Conservation gains occurred in all 10 of the state’s hydrologic areas with the North Coast having the highest reduction in water use — a 28.5% decrease in July. In addition, the Bay Area saw a 17.3% reduction, and 14 counties, six of which are from the Bay Area, reached or exceeded Gov. Gavin Newsom’s goal of a 15% voluntary reduction, paving the way for ward for CA’s water conservation drive.

On August 24, Fremont Unified Student Store (FUSS), a nonprofit that raised funds for the dis trict and promoted educational opportunities, was officially recognized by the Board of Education for their service to FUSD after their recent decision to disband. The organization presented their remaining funds to the Fremont Education Foundation (FEF) as their final act to support the FUSD community.

Founded on April 12, 2012, FUSS was created to help the district meet educational needs while facing significant budget constraints. Former FUSS Direc tor Ivy Wu was serving on the Board of Education at the time and believed that through a nonprofit, she could use her experience to achieve more for the student body, such as raising funds and providing a platform for free programs. Specifically, FUSS aimed to match skills with needs across the district, such as partnering with DECA and Youth Literacy Clubs, to host investment workshops for high school students throughout FUSD. Wu hoped to foster inter-school relationships as each school had unique offerings.

“Every time when I visited sites, I saw all these po tential talents on different campuses, so I thought it would be really great if all the schools got to know each other,” Wu said.

Over the past decade, some of the non-profit’s largest undertakings included working with FLEX College Prep to subsidize SAT prep courses as well as offering individualized peer tutoring. “We saw what the tutors had to offer, and then we saw the students who were requesting for help and tried to match them, … like students who only speak Spanish and need [Spanish-speaking] tutors,” Wu said.

main focus was providing free lunch for impacted students and expanding their tutoring services. One of their major projects was collaborating with SURF BoardE to distribute care packages. “There are ways to work around the budget constraints of the district with enough dedicated people, like FUSS, working together to come up with innovative solutions,” SURFBoardE Vice-Chair Senior Amulya Harish said.At MSJ, the organization was responsible for hosting the annual FUSD’s Got Talent Show, a fund raiser and community-building event open to both students and staff in November. Due to the coro navirus pandemic, the event has been put on pause since 2020; however, some former FUSS members will continue the work with FEF and may continue the talent show in the future.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a State of Emergency in early September due to the spread of the poliovirus through New York City and surrounding counties. After confirming the first case of poliovirus since 2013 in wastewater samples from neighboring Rockland County, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has encouraged the adminis tration of the US Food and Drug Administration-ap proved inactivated polio vaccination. The current state of emergency will increase resources for New York residents to get vaccinated as well as expand the scope of healthcare workers that may administer the vaccine.

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, FUSS’s

With FUSS’s discontinuation, many members still hope to remain involved in education by serv

ing on district committees. However, because most volunteers’ children have graduated, and they are less involved in the district, FUSS wanted to pass on the torch to new organizations, such as FEF. As anoth er nonprofit group whose sole focus is to support the educational experience for students and teachers in FUSD, FEF has in previous years helped pay for music and sports programs within FUSD schools as well as purchased social emotional learning books for students. In the future, FEF will make a decision on where to allocate the funds and continue the legacy of FUSS.Through their 10 years of service, FUSS has finan cially supported the district while connecting the com munity with their various events organized bringing together passionate volunteers and students. “FUSS is a model example of what happens when volunteers bind together to improve the community as a whole,” FUSD Superintendent CJ Cammack said. ▪

Ellsworth St. Reimagined Through Better Block Party

By Chloe Gao & Amy Luo Staff Writers

Britain’s longest-reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II passes away

On Thursday, September 8, Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, passed away at age 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. The queen’s frstborn son Charles III, previously the Prince of Wales, succeeded her as the new Head of the Commonwealth with a formal proclamation on Saturday, September 10. This passing comes just days after the appointment of Britain’s new prime minister Liz Truss by the queen herself on Tuesday, September 6. Although her departure leaves the United Kingdom in a period of national mourning, she still lives on in hundreds of millions of people’s hearts.

quirky

Squirrel leaves more than 10,000 Virginians without power

On September 7, a squirrel in Virginia Beach, Virginia wedged itself between a circuit breaker and a transformer, causing a power surge that left more than 10,000 customers without electricity for an hour. Dominion Energy, the manufacturer of the damaged equipment, had previously installed squirrel guards at all substations in order to protect the electrical grid and the animals. However, the unfortunate squirrel evaded the guards and likely did not survive its journey.

From September 9-10, the City of Fremont partnered with the Better Block Foundation to transform the intersection of Ellsworth St. and Washington Blvd. into the Better Block Party, a lively community event dedicated to reimagining the Mission San Jose area as a thriving neighbor hood and commercial district and introducing the rebuilt area. Highlighting the Fremont arts and cul ture scene with live entertainment, art exhibitions, and local business vendors, the two-day block party originated from a commission by Fremont City Council Member Raj Salwan in 2018. Salwan com missioned the City of Fremont to conduct retail and commercial study on the Mission San Jose dis trict and find opportunities in the area to implement placemaking, a community-centered approach to designing public spaces.

With several local businesses located nearby, Ellsworth St. was selected by the City of Fremont management team as a prospective community boulevard for its location and commercial poten tial. In order to transform Ellsworth St. into a new

community space, the City of Fremont enlisted the guidance of the Better Block Foundation, an ur ban nonprofit organization based in Dallas, Texas that reshapes neighborhoods through 90-120 day engagement projects designed by the community. The Better Block Foundation has worked with neighborhoods around the world in an attempt to reduce crime through the bridging of communities by environmental design.

The design process began in early January, and the Better Block Foundation team worked closely with the City of Fremont to create a public space blueprint that was supported by the local com munity. Some design elements included parklets with spaces to present art exhibitions and a mul ticolored geometric ground mural, inspired by the view of Mission’s hills and designed by local artist Durba Sen. “The plan was to revive the area and to show what the possibilities of this area could be: attract business, have some restaurants, fun things to go for the locals,” Sen said. After months of team planning and volunteer work, the vision was complete and the Better Block Party was hosted to show off the development of businesses to locals.

At the Better Block Party, various vendors filled

the street corner, selling crafts, plants, jewelry, and more. “People don’t always know what’s out there .. all my business is mostly online, so it’s really nice to be around other people and other artists and see what other people are doing,” House of Shiba Owner Heather Challberg said.

Between stands, student volunteers hosted in teractive activities, such as a puzzle ground mural in which children could individually paint a puzzle piece. Visitors could also get food at the food trucks or nearby outdoor dining venues. At the Mission Coffee Roasting Company and Olive Hyde Art Gallery pa tios and seating areas, local music groups and dance studios performed live, while onlookers enjoyed a beer garden and cookies. “I really enjoyed perform ing at the Better Block Party. This was such a unique experience, and I got to meet and interact with so many talented artists and families who came to watch us perform,” Junior Gunit Kaur said. “I enjoyed see ing our community come together and have fun.”

Besides entertainment, feedback stations were placed in various locations across the Ellsworth St. crosswalk for residents to provide insight on future community projects they would like to see. Common suggestions included additional restaurants and play grounds. “While the Ellsworth St. transformation is done, we hope to use this feedback to implement more commercial and civic improvements over time,” City of Fremont Management Analyst Can dice Rankin Mumby said. ▪

FUSS presents their remaining funds to FEF at the August 24 FUSD board meeting after their decision to disband.

Squirrel breaks an electric grid, causing a mass power outage.

Queen Elizabeth II passes away at age 96.

Poliovirus in New York was likely contracted through contact with an individual who had recieved oral activated polio vaccination.

Six Bay Area counties met or exceeded Newsom’s water con servation goal.

Poliovirus leads to New York State of Emer gency

Compiled by Chahak Gupta, Ayushi Kashyup, Amy Luo & Annie Xu Staff Writers

WPA Pool /Getty Images

Kateryna Kon/Getty Images

Chris Clor/Getty Images

Through a decade of service toward FUSD, FUSS has left behind a lasting legacy.

The transformation of Ellsworth St. into a thriving commerical neighborhood opens new avenues in Fremont to spotlight local culture.

PHOTO COURTESY IVY WU

The Better Block Party highlighted arts entertainment.

Hal Dundas/Getty Images

A feedback station displayed residents’ suggestions for fu ture community projects.

Astrology isn't an excuse By Annika Singh Opinion Editor

The intentionality of language

By Esther Lau Opinion Editor

ADVERTISING Annie Xu, Aaron Zhou EVENTS Andria Luo, Nessa Tong

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Fun fact, I’m an Aries. Most people know this because of my phone case, which is bright red and has the word “Aries” written on it in bold, black calligraphy. Second fun fact, Beyoncé’s seventh solo album, Renaissance, is a tribute to all Vir gos. You may be wondering, how is a phone case related to a GrammyAward winner’s latest album? e answer lies in our fascination with astrology.Youdon’t have to spend much time online to come across horo scope social media accounts that have several posts dedicated to zodiac-themed memes. Astrology claims that the pattern of a person’s life is dependent on the planetary positions at the time of their birth — its promise to give individuals insight into the reasoning behind their decision making and behav ior is irresistible. However, people have started using their star sign as a shorthand to explain their per sonality or as the reason behind everything negative in their life. (Fun fact number 3: Mercury is not always in retrograde, and your Capricorn moon is not the reason why you can’t communicate your feelings.)Astrology has been labeled as a coping mechanism and stress reliev er, often used by those experiencing acute crises, such as a nasty breakup or a job loss. During times of uncertainty, daily horoscopes pro vide a sense of stability and validate

our feelings. ey also tell us who and what to avoid, making us be lieve that we have a lot of control over the good and bad energy in our lives. But the sky and the align ment of the planets do not control you — you control yourself.

Renowned psychiatrist Carl Jung, who invented the idea of zodiac compatibility, believed that star signs would help us nd more meaning behind our personali ties. Astrology was never meant to dictate our lives. It shouldn’t be about easy answers and excuses, nor should it be a reason to treat others poorly and believe restrictive ideas about our identities. Astrology is one of the many ways individuals perceive themselves and the world. But remember, nobody is only their appearance, and nobody is solely their sign. Every Gemini is di er ent, and every Leo season varies from the one before it. You’re more than the sarcastic Sagittarius CoStar says you are.

We should use astrology to en courage self-awareness and selfempowerment, instead of using it as a guide to our friendships, room decor, and food choices. It can help us identify our strengths and abili ties, and push us to explore ful ll ing hobbies. Give astrology the chance to help you become more cognizant, but don’t make it your guiding belief system, because the cosmos can’t solve all of your prob lems. ▪ Elton Angela Xiong Sanah Bhardwaj, Joanne Karina Kaitlyn Bryan Xiong Chahak Gupta, Jason Gao, Sahas Goli Elaheh Khazi, Amy Luo

Student-oriented digital platforms should serve students

Over the past few years, the MSJ student body has seen the imple mentation of many di erent apps, including Mission Connected, In nite Campus, and, most recently, Minga, all of which received nega tive reception from the student body in one form or another. ese changes heavily a ect students, yet, year after year, the administration repeats the same mistake over and over again with little to no regard for student input.

e latest to join the list of un welcome school-established apps is Minga, a management system that is meant to implement digital IDs, seamless club communication, pub lic message boards, digital hall pass es, and a new advisory plan. Unfor tunately, shortcomings with Minga have already surfaced. Inadequate technology prevents digital student ID barcodes from being properly scanned, and within a month, MSJ has already reverted back to physical IDs, rendering Minga’s digital IDs obsolete. Digital hall passes are also tedious to create, and the vast ma jority of teachers have opted to con tinue using their physical systems. e administration also intended for Minga to be a central hub for clubs and school communications, having a similar purpose to the discontin ued Mission Connected application. However, as we have already seen, students greatly prefer using exist ing social media platforms or email for such communication due to their ease of use and functionality, and the

development of Minga as the new go-to platform is highly unlikely. With all the faults and uncer tainties that come with new appli cations, students need to be given proper time to learn, contemplate, and adapt. Unfortunately, the ad ministration has not given the MSJ student body any opportunities to do so. At the beginning of the school year, the student body was only in formed one day before MAZE day of the change. Leadership 2 (L2) ran a hasty “beta test” to con rm if the application worked during MAZE day; however, L2 was not given the opportunity to voice their own thoughts on Minga. Instead, Minga was to take immediate e ect without student

Althoughinput. unforeseen circum stances, such as the closure of School Loop, may force administrators to implement sudden major changes, that does not mean students should be excluded from the conversa tion. Student representatives, such as SURFBoardE or class o cers, should still be given the chance to properly test and voice their atti tudes on such decisions. Yet despite having these existing representa tives in place, administrators often ignore them and continue to leave student voices and representation out on major changes like Minga.

In order to make informed decisions that holistically bene t the school environment, the administration needs to learn to take input, whether it be positive or negative, from the

students, especially upperclassmen who have experienced years of dif ferent systems. Nobody understands students better than students them selves, so the administration must further involve the student body in the decision-making process. In March, the Smoke Signal released a similar editorial discussing the im plementation of school-wide course feedback systems, and although the MSJ Inclusion Council has brought this forward, it has yet to see wide spread implementation. Similar feedback systems should be applied to these administrative changes as well. When new systems are consid ered and introduced, students should be given the opportunity to express their opinions on these transitions; such communication could be eas ily accomplished through Google Forms and mass emails to the stu dents. Even in the event that the administration follows through with an undiscussed or untimely choice, students should have the time to make adjustments at their own pace. In the hope of building a more progressive and healthy school en vironment, open communication is necessary, and this can be accom plished through a formal feedback system that acts as a bridge between the students’ voices and the adminis tration’s decisions.

On August 9, Serena Williams graced the cover of September Vogue with a shocking message of her retirement. But, one thing was very di erent in comparison to nor mal retirement statements — she described it as an “evolution away from tennis, toward other things that are important to [her].”

As I watched Williams play her last round at the US Open, emo tions over owed. Her bittersweet farewell to the court gave me an op portunity to re ect on the signi cance of the words we choose to use to describe our own decisions and behaviors, as well as events in our surroundings. Whether it’s small choices in our day-to-day lives or big milestones, the language we use in uences the way we perceive our lives and is crucial in shaping our mindset.Inmy own life, I’ve learned this through my experience with journ aling, which for a long time, I treat ed as a self-imposed chore I had to do every night. I conditioned my self to think that if I missed a day of journaling, something would have to go wrong. As a result, it became draining, unful lling, and a task I dreaded. But, when I decided to alter the language I used around journaling — framing it as an opportunity to process thoughts and emotions instead of a manda tory duty — I discovered its healing power. Although I may not journal as much as I did before, I’ve come

to treasure the safe space it provides for me to learn more about myself, heal, and Beyondgrow.speci c tasks, the prin ciple of positively reframing our use of language extends to our lives on a greater scope. For example, our daily lives are lled with routines, and it’s hard not to get lost in the current of repetition. But, when we begin to think of routine activi ties in our lives, from brushing our teeth every morning to completing homework every night, as moments in themselves, rather than endless recurrences, we can gain appre ciation for each moment anew. We can also apply this principle to the situations we face by shifting away from success-based language, such as “ at didn’t go well,” to growtha rming language, like “ at op portunity helped me learn and

grow.”Words are inescapable. ey dictate our lives, are a medium for us to communicate, and represent individuals and cultures — that’s what makes them so powerful. While we may not be making de cisions as public and signi cant as Williams’ “evolution away from tennis” anytime soon, let’s not un derestimate the power of words and instead, use them to reframe the way we view our experiences, big or small. We should be more inten tional about the language we use to cultivate a healthier outlook and a more positive world. ▪

By Katie Tang & Nessa Tong Sta Writers

A Closer look: Student loan forgiveness

By Anandita Devata, Vedesh Kodnani, Priyanka Shah, and Amelie Wu Sta Writers

One big issue that has increased tension within the student community is the topic of student loans. Student loans have been skyrocketng over the past few years, in creasing by 92% from 2009-2022, and in order to combat this issue, the Biden Administraton announced a student debt forgiveness plan on August 24. The frst element of the three-part plan is to prolong the payment moratorium untl December 31, which allows borrowers more tme to arrange fnancial means to repay their debt. Then, a relief initatve targeted toward low and middle-income families will provide up to $20,000 in debt cancellaton to Pell Grant holders. According to the Department of Educaton, these grants are given to low-income students displaying “exceptonal fnancial need,” and unlike other fnancial aid programs, do not need to be repaid. Indi vidual borrowers with incomes below $125,000 ($250,000 per household) are eligible to receive up to $10,000 in debt cancellaton in accordance with the plan. The fnal step of the student debt forgiveness plan implements new rules beginning in 2023 to aid borrowers in managing their debt, such as forgiving loan balances of $12,000 or less afer 10 years of payments. The plan will also raise the amount of income that is protected from repayment, guaranteeing that no borrower earning less than 225% of the U.S. Health and Human Services annual poverty guidelines, or $6,040 for a single borrower, will have to make a monthly payment. Many students and families with a long-standing history of student debt praise President Biden’s initatve, relieved that it allows them to spend more money on improving their standard of living. However, critcs of the program argue that it fails to consider infaton, the efect on taxpayers, and neglects the underlying cause of student debt: exorbitant tuiton.

forStudent loan debt is now at its historical peak, totaling more than $1.6 tril lion as of August. Forgiving debt would support home ownership and spend ing power, especially since the economy is stll recovering from the efects of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the White House, the initatve would provide relief for up to 43 million borrowers and cancel the entre remaining loan amount for roughly half of them. Such benefts would raise the US gross domestc product by up to $108 billion each year.

The vast majority of those 43 million borrowers are low-income students at public universites and community colleges. These students tend to take out smaller loans than middle to high-income students — an average of $8,000. Yet, with their salary, missed payments could occur more frequently, leading to nearly permanent efects on their credit history. This may cause banks to reject loan applicatons. This deprives them of the necessary fnancial means to purchase essentals for living, forcing them to delay or even miss out on important life events. A survey conducted by Bankrate showed that around three-ffhs of adults living in the US have put of fnancial milestones in their lives, such as buying a house, due to their student loan debt.

Alongside the postponement of personal milestones, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found that the accumulaton of student loan debt is also associated with a decrease in small business formaton. Students prioritze reducing their student loan debts over creatng new businesses. According to the Student Borrower Protecton Center, “In partcular, among borrowers who started a company, the authors found that going from $0 to $10,000 in student loan debt is associated with a 42% decline in business income.” This lessens innovaton as many developments occur in new companies. Start-up companies also beneft the overall economy by providing more goods, ser vices, and job opportunites, so student debt forgiveness would encourage new growth in the economy and a more resilient labor force.

The Biden Administraton’s plan would also pull many families out of pov erty. According to the Intercultural Development Research Associaton, those who have a bachelor’s degree have a signifcantly lower unemployment rate. The plan will help families below the poverty line graduate, giving them a chance to support themselves.

Apart from resolving some of the fnancial crises that plague the naton, debt relief facilitates racial and gender equality in terms of income. According to the Natonal Center for Educaton Statstcs, the average loan that Black borrowers take out is $13,000 — 50% greater than that of white borrowers. These larger loans are a result of racial wage gaps seen in people of color that make paying of loans signifcantly harder. According to the Bureau of Labor Statstcs, Black men earned 76% of what white men earned in 2022, with La tnos earning 75%. Additonally, the gender pay gap makes it more difcult for women to pay of their debt due to a lack of disposable income. Since minori tes tend to earn less than their white counterparts, the debt relief program would take these groups a step closer to economic equality.

Financial and societal problems aren’t the only issues addressed by loan forgiveness: mental health will be greatly improved, too. Financial pressures take a toll on people’s mental wellness, making many feel inferior to their peers for failing to achieve the same milestones at a similar rate. A survey conducted by Student Loan Planner showed that 1 out of 14 people had con templated suicide due to student loan debt, showing how taxing the efects of debt can be. By relieving a primary source of stress, President Biden’s plan will boost borrowers’ mental health, encouraging students to strive for milestones in life and avoid burnout.

againstAlthough it seems that forgiving debt will help everyone, the plan does not take into account the variaton in average income around the country. Employees with annual salaries of $125,000 are considered wealthy in some states and poor in others. For example, the average salary in Mississippi in 2021 was approximately $42,000, whereas the average salary in CA was $86,000. However, the cost of living in each state is nearly proportonal to its average income, meaning that someone with a $60,000 income in CA has a much lower standard of living compared to someone with a $60,000 income in Mississippi.Debtforgiveness would therefore be skewed towards the populaton of relatvely low-income states, refectng diferent levels of fnancial relief across the naton. This, in turn, would aggravate the economic discrepancies that plague the country. Additonally, a study by the Brookings Insttuton shows that individuals with the most student loans tend to fall into higher income brackets, as high-paying jobs in the medical, legal, and business felds ofen require additonal degrees beyond a bachelor’s. People in low-income brackets typically tend to opt for working a job instead of going to grad school in order to pay of their loans.

Higher-income households owe more debt than low-income households, with an analysis of a blanket relief program for $10,000 published on August 23 by the Penn Wharton Budget Model fnding that 69.79% of the overall debt forgiveness would go to the top 60% of Americans by income. These fndings further display that instead of helping the lower classes, the plan will only beneft middle-income Americans.

In additon, the money used to forgive unpaid debt will come from Ameri cans’ tax dollars. Removing this chunk from collected taxes would steer f nances away from more pressing issues. As the program sets an important precedent in US history, the people of the naton would expect the program to contnue for years, which would divert taxpayer money from other impor tant issues like infrastructure, educaton, and public health. Erasing student debt fails to address the root of the problem: rising tuiton costs. According to Natonal Public Radio, by entrely removing student debt, borrowers are encouraged to take out additonal loans, grantng educatonal insttutons the opportunity to take advantage of students by raising costs. Rather than forgiving debt, creatng more afordable tuiton, housing, and reducing food costs with the same money could greatly decrease the number of loans peo ple take to pay for a college degree, reducing the intensity of the problem.

An additonal concern regarding the plan is infaton. Similar to the $1,200 stmulus checks given out to businesses and low-income families sufering during the coronavirus pandemic, this plan would depreciate the dollar and lead to rising costs in every sector of the market. Infatonary pressure, which is already at a peak in the US, will become much worse than it already is. Consequently, as spending power decreases, Americans would face more f nancial hardship when purchasing basic necessites.

Rather than spending money to relieve student debt, the main cause should be targeted: borrowers’ inability to pay of their loans. Banks have made interest rates for student loans very high to counteract the risk that comes with an unsecured loan. However, this is one of the main reasons students are unable to pay back debt. By lowering interest rates, banks and other fnancial insttutons will help people pay of their debt, beneftng both partes.

To address the problem at its root, colleges and other educatonal insttutons should consider lowering their tuiton rather than having the government relieve student debt. College applicatons are balanced with student accomplish ments, but low-income students ofen struggle to manage school, work, and extracurriculars, while higher-income students are free to make work less of a priority. This grants lower-income students less opportunites than highincome families to prove their talents and receive scholarship ofers. Data compiled by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundaton showed that high-achieving low-income students drop out of high school at twice the rate of high-achieving students in the top income brackets. To resolve this, more schools should partner with organizatons like Close the Gap Founda ton, which ofers many opportunites, such as mentorship programs, to low-income families. This would allow them to be on par with other students’ applicatons to colleges, giving them a higher chance of receiving scholarships or other fnancial Additonally,aid.educatonal insttutons can ofer more condensed programs, such as three-year bachelor’s programs. Based on the College Board’s data on the average annual cost to atend a private college, graduatng in three years can save up to $50,000 per student. These accelerated pathways also allow students to enter the workforce faster, giving them the opportunity to earn money to pay of their loans.

VOICES

“I’m mainly worried that these changes might not be enough to account for infaton and the increasing tuiton costs. We’ve seen so many updates and changes to student relief, but many of them seem to not stck that well and end up failing to compete with our current economy.” — Carolyn Kuo, 12

“My only major concern with the plan proposed is that it doesn't go far enough. Canceling only a porton of stu dent debt (ex: $20k max for households < $250k annually) doesn't do enough to tackle the rest of the about $4060k of debt stll remaining. Additonally, the root of the problem is not the borrowers, but is actually the predatory system in which loan sharks and companies will prey on young individuals to give them terrible loans and rates that they will take forever to pay of with. Tackling the root of the cause will do more good.”

— Adyant Patnaik, 12

The merger that might kill diversity in literature

Proposed Merger

For the past decade, the US trade publishing business has been dominated by the “Big Five”: Simon and Schuster (S&S), Penguin Random House (PRH), HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, and Macmillan Publishers. In Novem ber 2020, Paramount Global (then ViacomCBS), S&S’ holding company, announced its decision to sell S&S to PRH for $2.175 billion. In November 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) blocked this decision due to its economic consequences for authors. Oral arguments in the Supreme Court between PRH and the DOJ began on August 1 — if PRH wins, the publishing industry would shrink to the “Big Four” in late 2022. is deci sion would be scally disastrous for authors and limit voices in literature, as emerging authors will be forced to abide by the demands of a singular powerful publishing group.

Merging the two largest companies, S&S and PRH, would create an oligopoly much larger than the other three, limiting competition between publishing houses. is would greatly stunt ad vances for authors who depend on com petition between publishing compa nies to gain a competitive bidding price. Less competition amongst the companies means fewer bid ders for books, which would decrease their income. Authors’ incomes have already been fall ing; Authors Guild’s 2018 Author Income Survey discovered a drastic 42% decrease in authors’ income since 2009. In this already unfavorable market, emerging authors will have a harder time publishing their books, as their incomes need to fund costly expenses such as agents, marketing rms, and other promotional strategies. e author’s ability to craft their work will also be a ected; it can take years to complete a book, and these bids usually cover the cost of the writers’ research expenses, such as travel costs.

Impact

Crucially, as the number of publishing houses decreases, so will the number of minority authors in publishing spaces. With fewer companies, the

By Ruhani Chhabra, Chahak Gupta, and Jacob Han Sta Writers

criteria and standard of books sought after can exclude marginalized voices. For example, “Book Tok,” a viral space on the social media platform TikTok that centers around literature, has popu larized many novels, to the point where there are speci c corners in shops like Barnes and Noble dedicated to trending stories. Publishing compa nies rejoice in what has been called the “reading renaissance” — Nigel Newton, the CEO of the British publishing house Bloomsbury, credited their 220% pro t growth to the app. PRH and HarperCollins even created their own corpo rate accounts where they promote their clients. ere is no doubt that publishing companies are now scouting books that can rapidly circulate on BookTok, and as noted by many content creators of color, there is a critical lack of diversity in that corner of the Internet. Viral videos have called out the BookTok community for mainly recommend ing books that are written by white authors about white characters — and these are the works that will be gladly picked up by major publishing com panies, while storylines about people of color by authors of color might diminish in their already limited popularity.

is merger is also coming at a frightening age where books are being banned all over the coun try in school districts and librar ies. According to PEN America, a nonpro t that defends free expres sion, school districts nationwide have reached a record-high level of book ban ning, with over 1,400 books removed from cur riculums from July 2021 to March 2022 — 41% of the works had main characters of color and 22% of them talked about race and racism. De creasing the number of publishing companies will only exacerbate this issue of censorship — as these inclusive works are now being dubbed as “unnec essary” and “controversial” by organizations such as Moms for Liberty, who advocate for parents to be directly involved in what their children study at school, assistance from powerful publishing houses is integral, so these important stories will continue to spread. But if the numbers of compa nies keep dropping, so will the amount of support.

Diversity

PRH representatives can argue that they have made attempts to stand in solidarity with authors of color. e company founded the Diversity and Inclusion Council in the fall of 2020, which plans to publish books by minorities and create a more inclusive employee population. PRH also donated to the Equal Justice Initiative, increased its dona tion to We Need Diverse Books, and became the inaugural sponsor of the Black Creatives Fund. But these long overdue e orts don’t x an under lying problem — data from nearly two years later shows the company is still predominantly white, with only 25% of PRH authors and 39% of PRH executives being people of color.

The Amazon Efect

Supporters of the merger also emphasize that the consolidation of the two companies o ers them leverage over Amazon’s power over book publishing. Ebook sales over increased 16.5% last year, with almost one billion in revenue — and this is mainly due to Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon’s self-publishing company. A byproduct of Amazon’s large audience base, however, is that authors are forced into selling their books on Amazon when their projects are not bid on by publishers. the merger’s proponents argue that the larger publishing company that would arise can overpower Amazon’s unfair advantage over the book market. Power over Amazon would allow PRH and S&S to value the authors’ terms and rates when stocking their books, which would encourage nancially disad vantaged writers to acquire more favorable deals.

But there’s a simpler solution: restraining Ama zon’s in uence. e Authors Guild currently aims to propose more restrictive laws to curb Amazon’s power, but Amazon’s political lobbying makes the enforcement of such laws di cult to implement. ere is immense pressure from organizations like the Authors Guild to have Amazon recognize trade unions and engage in collective bargaining — two measures that will rapidly limit the com pany’s in uence.

At its core, literature embodies an enlighten

ing exchange of diverse ideas, which are necessary to bring novel voices to light. With the vast ma jority of the market under its control, the merged publishing monopoly would likely decimate its competition, forcing authors to cater to the same publisher’s standards. As a result, literature will pass through the same big lter, limiting diversity in political and cultural viewpoints and sti ing marginalized voices.

FUSD

In FUSD, members of the core literature adop tion committee are working to create a space for more diverse voices. Core novels required in Eng lish classes have remained relatively similar in past years; now, thanks to the district-wide movement, FUSD is planning to change 7th to 12th grade core novels. Out of the books nominated, ve nalists were chosen per grade by the Core Litera ture Adoption Committee, a task force that aims to diversify the perspectives presented by these books and the authors’ backgrounds. New books in the curriculum, such as I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai, an autobiographical account of groundbreaking activism, and e Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, a story about a Dominican girl in Harlem who uses poetry to understand so ciety, o er diverse storylines that might be less in demand due to their un conventional perspectives after the merger.

To protect these voices, individuals should sup port and donate to organizations working to block the merger, including the Authors Guild. In ad dition, mindful consumer choices such as explor ing titles released by smaller publishers are a step towards diversifying the current scope of literature in the publishing market. Readers should consider buying from socially committed presses, like Tin House, a journal that voices emerging writers in ction, non- ction, and poetry, or the Co ee House Press, which fosters inclusivity by giving a voice to minority writers. To ensure the survival of unorthodox narratives in our classrooms, libraries, and beyond, we must make a conscientious e ort to protect minority and emerging authors from be ing sti ed by an in exible monopsony. ▪

"In a tme where social media and technology have become so integral in our daily lives, infuencers are defnitely playing a big role in shaping future generatons. As someone who grew up when social media wasn't as prevalent, idolizing infuencers shouldn't become a new norm, especially as those infuencers reach younger and younger people. Navigatng my way through elementary school and middle school wasn’t the best tme of my life, but in retrospect, at least I had my own thoughts to guide me — not an infuencer I followed — and the freedom it gave allowed me to grow that much more."

“It's really scary and quite concerning seeing how easily teenagers base their whole mindset on a single infuencer. Especially when it comes to infuencers like Andrew Tate, who promote misogyny and incel behavior; the amount of people online who intake that media is super concerning. It's kind of a wake up call on the efect social media can have on impressionable teenagers, but it genuinely seems dangerous to society for Andrew Tate and other infuencers to be idolized to this degree.”

"It's a problem when teenagers only use the words of infuencers [for] certain topics. For example, when Andrew Tate talks about the role of women in society, I don't think that we should look at his opinion and believe that it's necessarily right. Everyone is subject to their own opinion, but you shouldn't just blindly believe someone else; instead, you should do your own research and formulate your own beliefs."

“Teenagers are ofen infuenced by infuencers because of the amount of content they consume. If they use a device for six to seven hours a day and watch many videos, they're naturally going to start refectng the content they're viewing in their everyday actons. Andrew Tate is a good example of this because he's an infuencer that trains others to live a lifestyle similar to his, causing many people to listen to his ideas and believe they’re correct without understanding what he's actually saying.”

“In my opinion, humans have an internal tendency to ‘follow the leader’—we adopt the traits of people who are loud and appeal to emoton because our subconscious minds associate that with big strong leaders. Of course, Andrew Tate and other infuencers manipulate that to grif young impressionable men, but it could also be used for good; a lot of my politcal takes are synthesized from people I fnd funny.”

The Idolization of In uencers

Recently, Andrew Tate, an ex-kickboxer and TikTok star, was banned for postng misogynistc content that enabled grooming and domestc violence. Tate’s videos have amassed over a billion views, and many of his followers are young men, rais ing the queston of how Gen Z's idolizaton of infuencers can perpetuate harmful ideas and actons. What’s your opinion on teenagers using infuencers and their content as guiding belief systems?

GRAPHICS BY OPINION EDITOR ANNIKA

GuidE tO Tea

By Karina Han, Chloe Gao & Andria Luo Sports Editor & Staff Writers

Regularly drinking tea has both physical and mental health benefits. A study by Penn Medicine found that different teas can boost immune systems, fight inflammation, and prevent disease. For example, white tea has antioxi dants for fighting cancer, while black and green tea contain flavonoids that can reduce blood clotting and inflamation. Non caffeinated herbal teas are known for their calming properties, and each have specific benefits based on the herbs or other plants used. For instance, chamomile tea improves sleep, peppermint tea helps with stomach issues, and hibiscus tea improves liver health. Aside from benefits from tea ingestion, taking a bath in black, green, or herbal tea can ease skin inflammation.

Tea is a popular beverage in many South Asian countries and has long standing traditions in many South Asian cultures. In countries such as Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, serving tea to guests and workers is a common courtesy. Chai wallahs, or tea makers who operate at small roadside stands, are common sights in India. One of the most popular teas, widely referred to as chai, is prepared by boiling tea leaves with milk and adding spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and black pepper to the drink. In Pakistan, people drink not only chai but also a green tea called kahwa, which is boiled with spices like saf fron, cinnamon, and cardamom. It is tradition ally boiled in a Russian samovar and served while hot.

In many East Asian cultures, drinking tea is thought to bring about spiritual fulfillment, peace, and harmony. From celebrating wed dings to simply welcoming visiting guests, peo ple conduct traditional tea ceremonies to serve many different purposes. These ceremonies are often treated with reverence and must be conducted according to strict sets of rules. For example, the method of Gongfu Cha,” a Chinese term that refers to disciplined and skilled tea brewing, requires each type of tea to be brewed with water at specific temperatures. In Japan, tea ceremonies are categorized into informal gatherings, or chakai, and formal gatherings, or chaji. Chakai are usually simple, casual gather ings that pair sweets with tea, while chaji may go on for up to four hours and offer a full course meal with a variety of green teas.

Tea was introduced to European countries, but it was most well received in Britain. In the 17th century, Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza, an avid tea drinker, increased its popu larity in the western world after her marriage to the British king Charles II. The English introduced the practice of adding sugar to tea, and drinking tea was initially reserved for upper classes until accessibility increased. In Germany, people in a region called East Frisia drink a special tea called Ostfriesentee, a blend of Assam tea, rock sugar, and cream. Because tea wasn’t grown locally, Europeans imported tea for its health benefits and as a medicinal and therapeu tic drink. Today, herbal teas are currently a large part of traditional medicine and home rem edies in European households.

Tea originated over 5,000 years ago, likely in north east India, north Myanmar, and southwest China. According to one legend, Emperor Shennong of China first discovered tea when some leaves from a tea plant fell into a cup of boiling water. Another legend says that the South Indian prince and Bud dhist monk Bodhidharma picked a few leaves off a tea tree and chewed them to keep himself awake. Regardless of its origins, as time went on, tea continued to spread across the world. It was introduced to Japan in the eighth century by Japanese Buddhist monks who returned home from China, and traders brought tea to Russia by the Silk Road in the mid-1600s. Today, the global tea trade is worth about $9.5 billion, with China and India being the largest tea exporters in the world. Malaysian tea alongside handcrafted shop

Since its discovery thousands of years ago, tea, a beverage made from fermented tea plant leaves, has grown in popularity around the world. To capture the wide variety and unique origin of tea, the Smoke Sig nal dives into the background and evolution of tea.

SoutH Asia

East Asia uroPe

Tyme for Tea & Co. is a tearoom located at 37501 Niles Blvd., Fremont, CA. Decorated with Victorian antiques, furniture, accessories, and clothing, it boasts a wide selection of English teas, including black, white, green, herbal, and rooibos teas, as well as pastries.

Based at 2120 Sutter St. San Francisco, CA, Song Tea & Ceramics sources its rare teas, handpicked by founder Peter Luong, from China and Taiwan. The teas, which include variet ies such as Gold Guanyin and Nantou Dark, are rotated regu larly, with new teas in stock every year. Since the pandemic, the shop has shifted mainly to online services, although its physical shop is open on the

mooncakes

Mooncakes are a staple dessert for the Mid-Au tumn Festival, an integral aspect of Chinese culture for more than 3,000 years. This holiday occurs every year on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, and this year it just happened to be on September 10. To celebrate this occasion, four Smokies compete to create the most exquisite mooncake with a twist: the delicious masterpiece must be composed of inedible material.

Hannah Annie Maryam Aaron

I’ve seen the artistic skill of my oth er competitors and I’ll just say it right now — I’m not confident I can beat them. In fact, I’m not even sure what I want to make my mooncake out of. I have some media in mind, but I’m terrified I’ll mess up and dis grace my culture. Mooncakes are a crucial part of my family’s Mid-Au tumn Festival celebration, and to depict one badly would be devastat ing. I’m confident in my knowledge of mooncakes from eating them every year, but I’m so indecisive it hurts. I have a feeling my downfall will be choosing what to make my sweet treat out of, but I guess I’ll just try my best and see where the creative spirit takes me!

From my background of eating mooncakes alone, I’m confident that I’ve got this competition in the bag. With my extensive experience in handling polymer clay in creating deformed gingerbread men(for a total of one hour over three days in sixth grade), I know that the master pieces I create will appeal to even the harshest of critics. I have cele brated the Mid-Autumn Festival with my family for the past 16 years of my life, and consequently exposed myself to mooncakes of each and every form — from otherworldly wonders laden with sweet red bean paste cloaking a salted golden yoke to terrible crimes stinking of durian. I’m confident that I will be able to bring honor to my heritage and annihilate the competition.

I couldn’t bake if my life depended on it, but I can paint. With my limited knowledge on mooncakes, I need ed to do my research and scrolled through countless images of them. The first time seeing them was like gazing upon an artist’s heaven with all the variation of styles and intri cate patterns embellished on the mooncakes. As my research came to an end, it was time to pick out my favorite mooncakes and get to work. Not to brag, but detailed work is my profession and expertise. With years of experience, I am con fident I can create anything with a few paint brushes and a couple hours of work.

Despite being terrible at art, I excel at any task involving tasty food. I began eating mooncakes as an an nual tradition before I even started walking, and I possess vast knowl edge on the dessert’s variations: white lotus, salted egg yolk, and more types I absolutely did not discover two minutes ago from a Google Search. All jokes aside, I am confident in dominating this compe tition by using an artistic approach to the best of my humble abilities. My idea for the mooncake’s design will also stand out from my compet itors. Watch out everyone, because my incredible work of art is about to captivate the judges’ hungry eyes and empty stomachs.

2nd

Today was not a moon cake slay, but I’m still happy with second place. We all know how that one “second is the best” song goes. To be honest, I didn’t expect great things from my mooncakes either since I was working on my crocheted beauties right up until the deadline. The day before the mooncakes were due I was still contemplating whether or not to impulsively swap to an acrylic paint ing. I expected to place a lot worse because of how gorgeous the other mooncakes were, but I’m actually ex tremely happy I ended up tied with An nie, my favorite partner in crime.

Great heavens, god for bid. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to recover from this loss. My years of amateur mooncake tasting have failed me. When I saw my competitors’ work, I knew it was over. I’ll blame it on the latest note-taking assignment I had. It seems that I will need to refine my skills in multitasking. Nevertheless, as the wise all-knowing Sun Tzu probably said in Art of War “Don’t dwell on your failures, the loser always wins.” I will take this opportunity to explore my (nonexis tent) faults, redefine my connections to my culture, and eat more mooncakes.

Ha! What did I say? My expertise is in doing details and that’s exactly what I did. I’d estimat ed that it would only take a couple of hours, but I didn’t realize those couple hours would turn into eight hours of continuous painting. At first I was wor ried about my 2D artistic medium being inadequate compared to my compet itors 3D forms, but it turns out that I didn’t need three dimensions to create a realistic mooncake. What made this win even more satisfying was the fact that I’ve never even tried a mooncake. One day I’ll try a mooncake, but for now I’m satisfied with my victory in “baking” a tasty sweet.

The old folks used to say, “Failure is the mother of success”. To put it bluntly, I really thought the victory was mine. Sure, my artwork may be lacking in quality, but I definitely aced the competition in terms of meme culture. Props to my fellow competitors for delivering some artistic masterpieces — the overall design and detail of the works placed above mine are examples I can defi nitely learn from. Even if I take the loss this time, my appetite for creating and consuming holiday treats remains. Next autumn, I’ll be sure to impress with even more appealing artwork.

Maryam Naseer, Hannah Shen, Annie Xu & Aaron Zhou Staff Writers

MSJTO

As the 2022-23 school year begins, MSJ introduces the Class of 2026 to the school, while also bringing in new staff members. The Smoke Signal was able to interview six out of the 12 new faculty members to welcome them into the MSJ community.

Special Education Teacher Jessica Loo is transitioning to a high school setting, having taught at William Hopkins Junior High School and Joshua Chadbourne Elementary School. After previously working in the field of medical physics, she took a break to spend more time with her daughter. Afterward, Loo chose to become a teacher because of the flexibility in the work schedule. “I like the holidays. like the shorter days, but most of all, [I like that] you can bring work home,” Loo said. In her free time, she enjoys going on nature walks and drawing. “I think I’d like to take on callig raphy now,” Loo said.

A mother of seven children, Paraeduca tor Diana Palmon’s love for kids led to her passion for teaching and support ing special needs students. With her experience as a paraeducator at Ameri can High School, Walters Middle School, and most recently the Adult Intensive Instruction Program at Kenne dy High School, Palmon is now starting her first year at MSJ. Although the program faced challenges with settling into a new classroom and working without a permanent teacher, Palmon appreciates the support from staff on campus. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, going boating, camping, and cooking.

Although this is Paraeducator Nicole Suzuki’s first year at MSJ, she already has a history with the school. Her husband graduated from MSJ in 1987, and she taught Science Teacher Sarah Mueller before coming here. Suzuki has taught at several different schools, most recently at Kennedy High School under their Adult Intensive Instruction Program. When the class switched from Kennedy to MSJ, she was hesitant at first. However, she has been pleasantly surprised and is enjoying her time here. In her free time, she likes to dance and crochet. “I enjoy [teach ing]; you get to laugh all day because silly things happen, and you just have to laugh,” Suzuki said.

After teaching at Thomas Russell Middle School in Milpitas, Music Teacher Bryce Beckel now teaches multiple performing arts classes at MSJ, including Show Choir. Outside of the classroom, Beckel is very invested in politics and is currently running to be a City Council member in Fremont. Despite starting the school year late due to logistical problems at his previous school, he has quickly adapted to the environment at MSJ and loves working with the students and administration here. “I started working while in high school with the local middle school music program ... one day it just kind of popped in my head that [teaching] is something that I really enjoy doing,” Beckel said.

Courses: Adult Intensive M1

US History and World History Teacher Joseph Usrey is a new teacher at MSJ, having previ ously taught in Oakland, CA. As a teacher, Usrey seeks to give back to the community and help students grow. “I wanted to help people [and] teach people how to be good citizens,” Usrey said. He centers his teaching around finding the connection between teach er and student. “I base my teaching on building relationships with the students and getting to know them,” Usrey said. Outside of teaching, Usrey enjoys watching films with his wife, spending time with his kid, painting minia tures, and playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Digital Photography and Digital Imaging Teacher Eric Stampfli has transitioned to MSJ after previously teaching at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and working as a professional advertising photographer. Stampfli’s journey to becoming a teacher is a unique one — he was approached to become a teacher after he lost a lot of his work in a fire. However, he was able to bounce back from this tragedy and realized his love for teaching after this incident. In his free time, he loves to race on the handcycle, a very low and fast cycle that is powered entirely by his arms. “The faculty seems to be very dedicat ed and good at what they do. And the students themselves ... they're open, they're exciting,” Stampfli said.

Other new faculty whom the SIGNAL was unable to interview

Timiza Battiste - Custodian Shu-Hui Chang Adult Intensive Instruction Program Paraeducator

Maria Diesta Child Nutritionist

My Huynh - Mathematics Teacher

Tracy Vu Mathematics Teacher Faculty

News Editor & Staff Writers

By Rohan Bhagat, Anandita Devata, Waylon Li, Jason Tang & Nessa Tong

Course: Special Education (Mild to Moderate) Room: P26

Courses:

Staf Spotlight: Bryce Beckel

By Daphne Senecal & Sahas Goli Staf Writers

Many students at MSJ may be familiar with Bryce Beckel as our school’s Marching Band Instructor, but what most students may not know is that, in the summer of 2022, Beckel launched his campaign for Fremont City Councilmember. After hearing many Fremont residents and MSJ students express that they feel they are not being properly rep resented in his time in Fremont, Beckel de cided to change that by running for Fremont City Council himself.

“A number of people don’t feel like the current representative represents [them and their values]. at was one main push for me to jump into the race,” Beckel said. Since the beginning of his campaign, Beckel has endorsed himself as someone who has the necessary skills to take on the role of a City Council member. He believes the most im portant quality of a City Council member is ensuring that everyone’s voices are heard. “Even though I have my own opinions and stances on issues ... it’s important that [if] anybody wants to talk to me, I’m there to listen to them,” Beckel said. To increase awareness of individual concerns, he has pro

posed the creation of a district neighborhood committee made up of all the district neighbor hoods. Additionally, he also plans to host regu lar o ce hours to allow community members to speak their minds.

If elected to the City Council, Beckel hopes to implement many of his plans to improve Fremont, some of which include building sat ellite phone infrastructure for rst responders and creating incentives for increased public transportation use. However, one of the big gest issues he wishes to tackle is the housing crisis, having witnessed the skyrocketing prices of homes and the di culty of nding housing.

“I have a consensus on [the issues concerning] a ordable housing [and] trying to make sure that everybody has a place to stay ... especially with the rising market,” Beckel said. He hopes to ensure that everyone in the unhoused com munity is able to have a roof over their head and also aims to encourage them to join career development programs.

Beckel has already made some notable con tributions to the community, one of them be ing the creation of a student- rst and commu nity-driven educational platform, an idea he hopes to bring with him to the Fremont City Council. He has also heavily supported musi cal education by overseeing many student band performances and funding $2500 out-of-pock et through performing arts scholarships for the Class of 2022.

For students who wish to be more involved in local politics and create a bigger role for themselves, Beckel suggests researching candi dates to see who they feel would represent them best. “If you have the time and the energy, you can get involved in one of the campaigns ... e bigger of a voice you can make for yourself, [the more you can help] out everybody within the community,” he said. ▪

Crumbl Cookies crumbls under expectations

Originating from Utah in 2017, Crum bl Cookies has established 300 bakeries in 36 states nationwide, featuring a weekly rotating four- avor menu. e Smoke Sig nal visited Crumbl Cookies’ recently estab lished Paci c Commons location to sample its staple Milk Chocolate Chip cookie and its rotating options — Chilled Pink Sugar, French Toast, Milk Glaze ft. Fruity PEB BLES, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip, Cookie Butter Lava, and Brownie Batter.

Blowing up on TikTok due to its unique colors and avors, this chain is most known for its aesthetically decorated treats. e hashtag #crumblcookies has more than 2.1 billion views on TikTok, and the o cial Crumbl Cookies account has more than ve million followers on the platform. Un fortunately, the only word to describe the social media response is “overhyped.”

Upon entry into the small, crowded

storefront, visitors are greeted with the sweet smell of cookies. Customers are given the option of either ordering from a kiosk or at the front with several size options — singles, fours, sixes, or a party box dozen, ranging from $5-43. A consequence of its high popularity and the cramped space, the shop over ows quickly, creating a stu y en vironment while eager cookie enthusiasts wait longingly. Due to the shop’s perpetual rush hour where the employees de nitely had their hands full with orders upon or ders, Crumbl Cookies was understa ed. Oftentimes, they struggled to re ll batches in time, leading to a long waiting period. However, they dutifully catered to requests and inquiries about the cookies and opened individual boxes at checkout to con rm the orders with customers.

ough the cookies themselves were fresh out of the oven, the Milk Chocolate Chip seemed to be underbaked, with a crispy outside but an eggy inside that stuck to the inside of the mouth. Other cookies like the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip, which combined competing tart, grainy pump kin spice with rich, overpowering milk chocolate avors, and the Cookie Butter Lava, which compared to a standard Lotus Bisco cookie, lacked originality and were not worth the $4 price tag. While none of the aforementioned op tions were outstanding in any aspect, the Chilled Pink Sugar Cookie really took the crown for the worst treat. Lathered with overly sweet, toothpaste-like glaze, the sim

plicity of the sugar cookie was lost beneath the layers of frosting forced onto it. e store also o ered customers an exclusive $3 Crumbl Water — bottled water with a Crumbl logo. is was yet another over priced addition to the menu.

Still, there were some silver linings. e French Toast cookie featured a moist and u y batter surrounding a light cream-and-chocolate mixture in the center.

e Milk Glaze ft. Fruity PEBBLES was a mouth-watering contrast of crispy cereal and donut-like sponginess. ese two a vors stood out amongst the remaining me diocre baked goods.

ough a fast-growing chain with loca tions and long lines all over the US, Crumbl Cookies failed to rise to the occasion, espe cially considering its exorbitant price tags. While the restaurant allows for a unique interactive experience with its weekly ro tating avors, these cookies truly aren’t for everyone

l t

Grade: D-

C R I T I C S’ C O R N E R

blackpink bores with born pink

By Helen Tian & Jerry Yuan Editors-in-Chief

On September 16, the world renowned South Korean four-member girl group BLACKPINK nally released their sophomore album BORN PINK. Despite the tension and buildup surrounding what should’ve beenan amazing performance by a groupthat debuted more than six years ago,BORN PINK fails to quench the thirstof fans as it falls into BLACKPINK’s same formulaic production and lyri cism. e album, which fans expectedto accent the group’s con dence and duality, is lackluster in many ways.

Following the same repetitivemusical structure as typical YG Entertainment (BLACKPINK’s re cord label) compositions, the songsof BORN PINK sound similar to BLACKPINK’s previous hits, such as“How You Like at” and “Kill is Love.” In addition, “Ready For Love”and “Pink Venom,” albeit being themore energetic songs in the set, havebeen replayed and streamed millionsof times on Spotify and YouTubesince their prerelease dates, makingthem tiring re-listens in the album.With these two songs in the mix, theeight-track album does little in solidifying BLACKPINK as unique creative artists, especially since two yearshave elapsed since their last albumrelease. e lack of new and uniquesongs give way to a monotonous album. Even though each song is aboutthree minutes long, making the entirealbum only about 24 minutes long,the energy-sucking, repetitive natureof each song makes the album drag onfor what seems like hours.

e album’s tediousness can also be attributed to its lyrics, which oftenconsist of repeating noncoherent English words that, while being catchyller words, hold no special meaning.In the “Typa Girl,” the words “du-du-dun” and “du-lu-lu-lun” are sung

BOOKBYTES

By Elaheh Khazi Staf Writer

Student Recommendation

Title: Six of Crows

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Suggested Reading Level: Grade 10

Genre: Fantasy

In the city of Ketterdam, a trading hub where goods are bought and sold, Kaz Brekker, a teenage criminal, makes a living by stealing and robbing others. One day, he is asked to join a heist with fve other criminals. Now, the test is if the six will be loyal to each other.

“It was really nice to see a heist plot being executed so cleanly. It was a pretty fun read because it was a part of a really fantastical world that served as an escape from [our] real one.” — Krisha Bhat, 12

Staf Recommendation

Title: The Butterfy Mosque

Author: G. Willow Wilson

Suggested Reading Level: Grade 11

Genre: Memoir

G. Willow Wilson, born and raised as an atheist, writes about her journey in converting to Islam. In her memoir, Wilson highlights not only her spiritu al journey but her romantic journey as she falls in love with a Muslim, Egyp tian man.

eight times, and the song “Yeah, Yeah,Yeah” repeats the same titular lyricten times. Even when BLACKPINK does sing actual lyrical phrases, theyremain hollow and vain. In “Shut Down,” member Jennie raps, “Needa lesson, see the necklace, see these dresses / We don’t buy it, we requestit.” Although Rosé said, “All of ustried hard to think of [our fans] while ” in the BORN PINK Countdown Livestream, listeners nd it hard to relate to the group and what they areempowering with such egocentriclyrics. e message of establishing anidentity is lost when the lyrics makeit seem that wealth and fame are the most important qualities of life.

Despite many songs falling shortof expectations, most tracks in thealbum have an enjoyable avor at rst — at least until it becomes repet itive or transitions into unimaginativebeats. “Pink Venom” blends elements of traditional Korean instruments like the geomungo with EDM and pop-rap, while “Shut Down” samples thecritically acclaimed classical composition “La campanella,” originally composed by Niccolò Paganini, mixedwith hip hop hooks. Although bothsongs result in monotonous backingtracks, the production of the rst few measures are able to take back a bit of ground.

BILLBOARD COM

In addition, “ e Happiest Girl”stands out against the rest of the loudbut passive tracks. As one of the fewballads that BLACKPINK sings, theowy low voice in ections and slightraises hit the right place of sadnesswithin the listeners. When member Rosé sings, “Don’t make us saints,we’re wards of pain / e past and aperfect picture / ere’s no one else to blame this time,” listeners can empathize with the heartfelt pain of beingconstantly viewed as perfect idols.Even the song’s chorus of “But tonight, I’ll be the happiest girl in theworld / You’ll see like it doesn’t mat ter” allows for re ective listening as itrepeats three times through the majority of the song.

While BORN PINK certainly doeshave some creative gems and an artistic vision, it mainly leaves the impression of a at and shallow album. With unimaginative lyrics and production,the tone of BLACKPINK has yetto change over their six-year career;they’ve stayed stagnant with littlecreative expression as the album ispacked with ller words and repetitivechords. After two years of anticipation, the album’s monotony and lackof musical innovation leave listeners wishing for more.

Grade: C+

September 2022 MSJ Faves

Pinocchio A DISAPPOINTING DISNEY REMAKE

By Jennie Wang Web Editor

Despite hitting charming compositions and stunning animationsright on the nose, Pinocchio is a clut tered, confusing lm that adds little substance to the beloved 1940 ver sion. Premiering on September 8 onDisney+ as a live-action retelling ofthe original movie, Pinocchio seems to have tossed itself into Disney’s ev er-growing collection of unnecessaryand imsy remakes.

With a strong opening sequence,the lm initially leaves viewers with high hopes for the rest of the movie. As cherished characters Pinoc chio (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth),Geppetto (Tom Hanks), and JiminyCricket (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) return to Disney’s big screen for therst time since 1940, only this time in live-action and computer-generated imagery (CGI) rather than animation, Director Robert Zemeckis successfully brings their originalpersonality to life. For instance, asGeppetto mourns his late son andwife while constructing Pinocchio inhis woodshop, Alan Silvestri’s iconic orchestrations create a tender and intimate atmosphere. Moreover, theBlue Fairy (Cynthia Erivo) delivers a phenomenal rendition of “WhenYou Wish Upon a Star’’ after fullling Geppetto’s wish to bring Pinocchio to life. Her brilliant wings,gown, and wand are breathtakingcomponents to her design that wereabsent from the original lm.

However, the CGI animation and impressive soundtrack, althoughcommendable in their own right,fail to compete with the charm ofthe original. For example, JiminyCricket and Pinocchio, remembered as a lovable faces by fans eighty yearsprior, look strangely waxy and stiwhen rendered with computer illustration graphics. e movie doesn’t capture the warmth that was so characteristic of earlier Disney animated movies, causing viewers to wonder ifa remake was even necessary. Addi tionally, the remake features drama

tized supernatural aspects of the original plot — such as an ancient seamonster whale and glowing “shadowmonsters” — that distract from the heart of the lm.

e second half of the lm feels su ocating, jam-packed with sceneafter scene and with no room for deeper character development. Mostconfusing of all was Pinocchio’s half-eshed, unnecessary romance with the inanimate puppet Sabina — additions of new characters like Sabina only lead to unneeded scenes that add no value to the plot.

Admittedly, the movie continues to expertly touch upon importantmotifs, such as self-love, family, and home — Pinocchio may not be able to tell lies, but his character still tugson the heart strings of viewers. e lm also features an impressive line-up of actors: Cynthia Erivo, a Blackactress, is brilliant as the Blue Fairy, a role that the Disney franchise has traditionally only depicted as a whitewoman, whereas Tom Hanks and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth perfectlyhighlight the kind and warmheartedspirits of Geppetto and Pinocchio.

A lm that started boldly but n ished as unremarkable, Pinocchio was a disappointing watch for all viewers,fans of the original or not. e mov ie was entertaining, heart-warming,and even enjoyable at times, but dueto its inconsistent pacing and confusing plot developments, it remainsclear there was no need for a story sotimeless and iconic to be remade.

Grade: C

nav fights his demons in demons protected by angels

By Aaryan Suri Staf Writer

“The Butterfy Mosque is a beauti fully written memoir about [Wilson’s] journey of converting and going to Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca. It was such an interesting story about this atheist, white girl becoming Muslim. I like reading about other cultures and living vicariously through them.”

Teacher Librarian Julie Boyer

Smokie Recommendation

—

Title: Know My Name: A Memoir

Author: Chanel Miller

Suggested Reading Level: Grade 12

Genre: Memoir

TW: sexual assault

In January 2015, Chanel Miller was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner, an athlete at Stanford University. Miller’s memoir is the story of her survival, and a means to reclaim her identity and spread awareness about sexual assault.

“[The memoir] really puts you into her story. Miller is very descriptive, and her writing makes you feel her pain.”

— Ruhani Chhabra, 12

Bursting onto the rap scene in 2015, Canadian rapper Navraj Singh Goraya, better known as NAV, turned heads as a songwrit er on Drake’s grammy-nominated “Back to Back.” Since then, NAV has catapulted himself to the top of the charts, endearingly referring to himself as the “ rst Brown boy to get it poppin’.” He has established himself as a unique pillar of rap with some of his own projects, such as Good Intentions and Emergency Tsunami. However, after NAV’s unannounced two-year hiatus from music, fans were desperate for his iconic sound and eagerly awaited his return. Released on September 9, NAV’s newest project, Demons Pro tected By Angels, quenches the musi cal thirst of his fans with the most personal, elaborate, and well-done project in the artist’s career.

“I look great on the surface, but I’m not doin’ well,” NAV confess es on the rst line of the album in “Count on Me (Intro),” setting a

melancholy, reminiscent mood for the project and juxtaposing the energetic nature of his previous albums. As the album progresses, NAV remains consistent with the same gloomy tone with his slow backtracks and melody-heavy songs. However, mixed in with the overar ching sense of sadness, the album contains multiple upbeat tracks as well, such as “Baby,” “Dead Shot (with Lil Uzi Vert),” and “Interstel lar (with Lil Uzi Vert).” is refresh ing variety of moods, from extreme sadness to polarizing happiness, takes the listener on an emotional rollercoaster of what love entails, al lowing NAV to showcase his diverse skill set in the process.

Toward the middle of the album, with features from major artists such as Gunna, Lil Baby, and Tra vis Scott, the songs begin picking up pace. With delicately crafted urries of hi-hats, bass, and 808s, the album provides a powerful and unique hip hop beat in each track.

ese beats, alongside NAV’s previ ously established expertise in craft ing electrifying songs, leave the lis

tener on their feet after every song in jubilation.WhileDemons Protected By An gels runs a bit long with a total of 19 tracks, NAV does an exceptional job in providing a fresh sound in each song and preventing his listeners from getting bored, which has pre viously been a shortcoming of his albums. One of the tracks that is particularly refreshing is, “Lost Me (with RealestK),” which displays NAV in a new light — melodic and vocal. Here, NAV and RealestK build a duet-styled song with both artists bouncing in and out of the track at various times, reinforcing the love theme that NAV develops throughout the album. is theme is especially seen in the line, “But baby my love is misunderstood / It’s somethin’ you never understood,” being repeated throughout the cho rus, demonstrating the pain that NAV has gone through with his love life.As the nal track subsides, leav ing behind a awless album, the listener feels they’ve experienced NAV’s journey in love, from all of

its ups and downs for themselves. In all, as NAV concludes the album with one of his nal statements be ing, “I wish I could call, I wish I could call you one more time,” the listener is left with a closing note of sorrow, tying the album together from start to nish with its theme of self-love, heartbreak, and regret.

One of the major ways in which NAV’s in uence has a ected hun dreds of thousands of people is through his trailblazing as an In dian. With the rap industry being primarily saturated with African American and Caucasian talent, NAV pushes through cultural barriers and has become an icon for the underrepresented group of Indians in the rap scene, giving inspiration for many others to also try their hand at rap. is e ect can especially be seen in Demons

Protected By Angels via NAV’s new signature ad-lib, “Brown Boy, let’s go,” being repeated across various tracks in the album as a nod to his South Asian audience.

ANGELA: ANNIKA: “Kingston” by Faye Webster | BRYAN: “in the bed” by SWJA | CHRISTY: “Hard to Sleep” by Gracie Abrams | ELTON: “It’s You” by Ali Gatie | ESTHER: “Scott Street” by Phoebe Bridgers | HANNAH: “Lullaby” by Risso, BNJX | HELEN: “matthew” by elijah woods

JENNIE: “YUKON (INTERLUDE)” by Joji | JERRY: “Dreaming” by NCT DREAM | JOANNE: “Dreamland” by Glass Animals | JULIA: “Cry” by Cigarettes After Sex

KAITLYN: “Have We Met Before (with Eric Nam)” by Sarah Barrios, Eric Nam | KARINA: “Solo” by Frank Ocean | ROHAN: “All I Want” by Kodaline | SANAH: “Night Shift” by Lucy Dacus | SARINA: “Duet” by Omori | SHELLEY: “Dreaming Of You” by Selena | MRS. COHEN: “Across e Universe - Remastered 2009” by e Beatles

The problem with gacha games

By Sahas Goli & Andria Luo Staf Writers

Over the past few years, video games like Genshin Impact and Cookie Run: Kingdom have rapidly increased in popularity. ese “gacha” games employ a lottery system that encourages players to spend in-game curren cy — which can also be purchased using real money — to obtain items. e term “gacha” arose from “gachapon,” a popular vend ing machine toy from Japan. In these video games, players spend currency to buy “rolls,” which are probability-based chances of ac quiring items from a predetermined pool of prizes. is process is often simply referred to as “rolling.” While many games include skillbased components as well, a rolled character’s unique attributes tend to create a larger im pact than a player’s expertise alone. Accord ing to a survey by Statista, in the rst quarter of 2021, 88% of the top 20% of role-playing games (RPG) games used a gacha system. Despite the beautiful graphics and detailed worldbuilding so many of these games are known for, gacha games are easily addictive and use predatory tactics to earn money.

A common criticism of gacha games re volves around their exploitation of young players. In games that rely on compulsive spending to make money, impulsivity and lack of life experience in the player base prove to be very advantageous for those who stand to make money o the games. e addition of these games to mobile devices also makes paying without parental consent quick and easy as modern technology allows users to make purchases with the simple tap of a but ton.Although one may think that rolls in the games would provide a signi cant chance of receiving the desired reward, the actual rates of rolling in gacha games tend to be much worse. Fate/Grand Order, one of the high est-grossing mobile gacha games, can have players spending $1 for a 0.8% chance of pulling a fea tured character on a banner.

ese costs quickly skyrocket when consider ing multiple characters. Even though a signif icant portion of the cost is o set by currency earned while playing the game, many players still spend money in order to compensate for the low rates of obtaining their desired item or character. Not only that, acquisition of free currency tends to be limited and locked behind large time investments in order to maximize game pro t. As a result, many players who are unfamiliar with the system nd themselves caught in the gambler’s fal lacy, spending more and more money with the hope that they will eventually match a probability. Additionally, many games tend to implement a “pity system,” where the fea tured character is given as a guarantee after spending a certain amount of in-game cur rency. While this may seem to be a positive addition, it only serves to trap more players into a sunk-cost fallacy, which is an e ect where people are hesitant to give up a course of action that they have heavily invested in. Even if players do

succeed without spending too much money, a lucky draw or two can serve to draw them even deeper into addiction by giving them a sense of security in their spending. ese tactics are especially e ective against children and teenagers who are typically more suscep tible to impulsive spending.

Another tactic that game developers often use to increase sales is driving up the di cul ty of game content. Some games have Player vs. Player (PvP) systems, which encourage players to compete with each other to acquire additional in-game currency or other rewards that they can then spend on improving their characters. Developers then release increas ingly powerful characters over time, often sooner than players can acquire free currency, causing players to roll again and again in or der to continue clearing the di cult content.

erefore, the players are trapped in an in nite cycle of scrambling to pull for the latest and best characters.

All of these tactics are not only blatantly predatory in them selves, but they also

take place in a system optimized for making it easy to gamble away large amounts of money. e conversion of real money to in-game cur rency before rolling makes it harder for play ers to distinguish the magnitude of what they are spending, thus making it easier for them to make rash decisions. is is the same reason casinos use chips rather than cash: it’s easier to give away something for a low probability of success when it isn’t raw cash. e fright eningly low age restrictions despite all of this makes it so that children and young adults can nd themselves doing what is nearly equivalent to gambling. Unlike gambling, however, they will only be rewarded with a digital asset rather than earning money back if they even succeed. e general defense of gacha games is that most of them are free-to-play, which means that players are not forced to spend money to play the game. is is in contrast to pur chase-to-play games, which require players to pay money upfront in order to access the game content. e free-to-play aspects only serve to make the games more entrapping and addict ing for newer players and children who are of ten lured in by other aspects of the game, such as interesting storylines or pretty graphics.

ough gacha games are not inherently harmful, especially if players are more familiar with such games and have the life experience to make wise decisions, they use many predatory tactics that can lead to harmful consequences in the hands of younger players, who can eas ily pay without their parents’ permission. In order to control the impact of gacha games, publishers and platforms hosting them should take steps to warn players and regulate access. A simple step could be a higher age restriction that noti es parents of money usage to pre vent players who are too young to practice safe playing habits from falling into addictions. e enforcement of such rules can prevent young and inexperienced players from falling prey to the harmful e ects that gacha games often have.

Jumping Through Hoops: Julia Marcelis

By Jiyun Guo & Amelie Wu Staf Writers

Having begun circus training and acrobat ic performance at a young age, Senior Julia Marcelis is an accomplished performer with a passion for her art. She specializes in silks, an acrobatic form that centers on dangling and dropping from suspended silks, and lyra, which are acrobatics performed on a suspended aeri al hoop. At the 2022 Aerialympics, a national aerials competition held in Utah on February 26, she placed frst in the advanced silks and intermediate lyra categories.

Marcelis was inspired to begin circus train ing after visiting a local circus at a young age. Awed by the dazzling fying trapeze perfor mances, she aspired to perform like the ac robats one day. Marcelis’ supportive mother began searching for beginner level classes in the Bay Area, allowing Marcelis to try her hand at fying trapeze. “I was absolutely terrifed,

but I did it once and fell in love immediate ly,” Marcelis said, who went on to hone her art with additional disciplines and skills.

Now a senior with many years of practice under her belt, Marcelis has accumulated an impressive list of accomplishments. Marcelis recently auditioned to attend the Cirque du Soleil’s NexGen Talent Development Program in San Diego, where she trained alongside the circus’s acrobats. “We fnished a full length circus show that was an hour and a half, and it was really cool to mix all the different spe cialties I do into a show,” Marcelis said. This February, Marcelis hopes to return to the Aeri alympics and participate in additional festivals such as the VIVA Fest in Los Angeles.

To continually improve her skills, Marcelis follows an intense training regimen. Each day, she trains for several hours in strength and skill,

including pull-ups and push-ups along with cir cus-specifc maneuvers. Though the routine is physically demanding, Marcelis’ coaches moti vate her to persist. “My aerial coach has been an endless inspiration to my style [because] she trains so much … it’s really cool to see what that performance looks like,” Marcelis said.

Apart from the diffcult nature of her train ing, Marcelis overcomes a fair share of chal lenges on a regular basis. Alongside school work and her circus training, Marcelis is also a part of the MSJ Marching Band, which makes time management a tough task. Despite her rigorous daily practice, Marcelis also struggles with stage fright before performances.

“Some people will just get shaky. Some people lose their grip strength. It’s a lot of trying to know who you are, as that changes.”

With every performance, Marcelis learns how stage fright affects her and can prepare herself accordingly.Sincecircus training has become an inte gral part of her daily life, Marcelis intends to continue pursuing it beyond high school. One of her criteria in applying to colleges has been fnding cities that provide her with channels to practice and bolster her art. “I’m looking at bigger cities, ones that have nice, thriving cir cus communities,” Marcelis said.

Heading into the future, Marcelis hopes her performances continue to inspire audienc es. She aims for her viewers to feel a range of emotions, from fear to joy to excitement. “A lot of people think it’s … fantastical to watch someone do circus, and I think bringing won der to people is really nice,” Marcelis said. ■

GRAPHICS BY EDITOR IN CHIEF HELEN TIAN

GAMESTEGY COM

Genshin Impact charges real world money in exchange for in-game crystals.

FALL SPORTS PREVIEW

by Jennie Wang, Elaheh Khazi & Waylon Li

This fall, Boys and Girls Cross Country return once more for a new season with many new freshmen joining the team, as a signifcant number of runners graduated last year. “This season, I’m defnite ly excited to see the potential [of the new team]. We did lose a portion of our team as they graduated, but seeing the immense potential of our incoming freshmen, I’m really excited to see where we go,” Co-Captain Senior Audrey Lee said. Last year, the two teams seemed divided, but this year they hope to work on that with the help of the two new assistant coaches, Haley Skinner and Thomas Scrutton, and cre ate that family bond. With more coaches to train and more time to bond, the team hopes to win against their biggest rival, New ark Memorial High School, in the upcoming races. “There are a lot of really good young [boys] and girls on the team, such as Juniors Saahil Sheth and Ania Wong, so we [hope to] get a lot better [this upcoming sea son],” Co-Captain Senior Mehul Maurya said.

Coming of a NCS win and placing third at CIF from the previous season, Girls Tennis is hoping to win another title despite the absence of three key senior players. Last year, the team’s experienced players, which included a few compet itive players in the United States Tennis Association (USTA) league, led their team to countless victories, shining light on each player’s talent and skills. The team hopes to perform just as well this year, picking up two freshmen who play competitively in the USTA league. To accommodate for these changes, Coach Mi chael Jan looks to focus on conditioning and strength. “Last year, we defnitely had injuries. This year, we’re going to focus more on condi tioning [and] strengthening our bodies so that we can better take care of ourselves,” Jan said. The Girls Tennis team recently placed second at the Logan Invitational Girls Varsity Ten nis Tournament, and the team aims to continue their wins in the regular MVAL season. “We are looking forward to having a great season with the new teammates who have great potential,” Co-Captain Junior Megha Hegde said.

With a blend of new and experienced players, Girls Volleyball is excited to see the chemistry and progress of their team unfold this season. “I’m most looking forward to building chemistry within a team that is on the younger side and promoting team spirit beyond just this season,” Co-Captain Se nior Julie Wu said. Last year, the team battled injuries in key team players and tough losses, which decreased the overall morale of the team as they entered their frst in-person season since the pandemic. The team is also recovering from the absence of fve of their starters who graduated this summer. “We need to build of those vacan cies and have girls ready to step up and be aggressive players,” Coach Thien Nguyen said. Having just started their of cial season, the team is proud of their performance in pre-season and aims towards provid ing the current freshman players with a strong foundation for future years.

Girls Golf returns in high spirits for their up coming season, hoping to win their competitions with a strong lineup. “Last year, we would have gone un defeated had it not been for the [four times they were disqualifed] due to the lack of players. We addressed it last season, and all girls are on board for this [upcoming] season,” Coach Tai Chung said. This season, the team fnally was able to get a hold of six strong players. Among these members are Freshman Chloe Yeh and Selena Tang, a returning senior and worldranked player. With the addition of these players, the team is hope ful of going to NCS and even to states. “This season, we’re blessed to have a super strong team. [I think] we have a good chance at winning NCS and going on to states. So that’s something to look forward to,” Co-Captain Senior Audrey Wang said.

Aiming for NCS and League titles, MSJ Water Polo’s slew of returning players show promise for the upcoming season. “In my time at MSJ, this is the best girls team we’ve had,” Coach Ryan Tang said. Last year, the biggest challenge Girls Water Polo faced was inexpe rience, with the team consisting mostly of soph omores. However, with more experienced players now in addition to the impressive number of of-sea son participants, it’s likely that Girls Water Polo will have a much stronger presence than last season. Boys Water Polo is also of to a promising start, hoping to qualify for NCS — a goal that hasn’t been achieved since 2017, but is in the sights for 2022’s lineup. “Our [Boys] team is most ly seniors, and many of them have been starters or key rotation players since their sophomore year,” Tang said. For both teams, their strong line-up of returning players leads not only to large ambitions, but also for hopes of improved team bonding and athletic relationships.

Fall Freshmen Varsity Athletes

By Sarina Li & Hannah Shen Graphic Editors

ImaNatalieNisslerLim

MSJ’s New Athletic Director: Stephanie Randazzo

Te Smoke Signal: What inspired you to be come the new Athletic Director?

Stephanie Randazzo: Afer Mr. Tompson retired from the position, nobody was really interested in flling it up. But since the posi tion was so essential for the [Physical Educa tion Department] and I didn’t want to see our programs go away, I thought to myself, “You know what, someone’s gotta do it.” So I told Principal Jef Evans that I was interested, and he couldn’t be happier to have me fll the posi tion. It’s going to be a lot of work, but I want ed to challenge myself with a task other than teaching PE, so it’s going to be a good exercise.

SS: How do you feel about being selected as the new Athletic Director?

SR: I do have my administrative credential, which is defnitely helpful in this job, because there’s a lot of administrative work involved. I have my masters as well, and that was really helpful for me to get the job. I also have experi ence coaching Track & Field here, and I’ve also coached Cross Country across the bay before. I’m also coaching cross country for little kids right now. I believe that my [diverse] coaching and experiences with diferent sports compli ments the responsibilities for an Athletic Di rector.

SS: What is your mindset for taking on this position?

make sure that the boards in the gym quad are updated, and I also plan on getting a booster to purchase electronic bulletins to advertise our games and events. I believe that with these changes, more members of our community will start going to our athletic events. Tese changes should also give students a better un derstanding on how to sign up for sports, since there’s been quite a lot of confusion on that recently. So a more efective line of communi cation with our community is what I’d like to change [for the] better this year.

SS: What are some challenges you believe that you will face?

By Aaron Zhou Staf Writer

Following Coach Tomas Tomsen’s retirement, the Physical Education Department sought a new Athletic Director. With nine years of teaching expe rience at MSJ, Physical Education Teacher Stepha nie Randazzo stepped up to the challenging task of overseeing MSJ’s athletics. To highlight her plans for improving the department and continuing Coach Tomsen’s legacy, Te Smoke Signal interviewed Coach Randazzo on her debut as MSJ’s new Ath letic Director.

SR: Overwhelmed, excited … there’s a lot of feelings that are happening at the same time. Tere’s going to be times of stress, there’s going to be ups and downs, so how I feel won’t always be the same. It’s always going to be something new that comes to my path, whether it be a challenge or an improvement within our de partment, so my feelings are always changing while being the new Athletic Director. But, I’m riding the roller coaster and getting the feel of things right now.

SS: Do you have any notable prior experiences leading up to this position?

SR: I personally believe that there’s always room for change or improvement. I think right now, stepping into this job for the frst month, I’m just getting a grasp of all the details. But there are always ways where we can improve our facilities and outreach for our coaches and athletes, so I will defnitely be working on making these changes. I also enjoy work ing with the coaches, and getting constructive feedback from them is also important to help me fgure out how to handle the job.

SS: What are some changes you plan on imple menting in the future?

SR: I would like to focus mostly on changes that help with our communication. I want to

SR: Scheduling and the money aspect of this job will be challenging. Part of this job is to understand and clarify all the rules. For exam ple, dealing with ineligible or uncommitted athletes is always a challenge. To be honest, it’s a 24/7 job. Tere’s always somebody emailing [me], and there’s always a problem to deal with, but I’m doing my best to face them and fgure things out.

SS: How do you plan on dealing with future challenges?

SR: Take a deep breath. And whenever there’s a challenge or a problem, there’s a solution. I want to be more solution based and fgure ev erything out that’s still new to me.

Tessa Tran

Brittany Lu

Allyson Wang

Connie Li

Sriya Vintha

Claribel Chen

Hannah Bi

Chloe Yeh

With the fall sports season underway, several Varsity teams have welcomed new teammates, many of whom are freshmen students. To showcase MSJ’s budding athletic talent, the Smoke Signal spotlights the 10 freshmen varsity athletes who have joined this season’s showdown. Sports featured include Girls Golf, Girls Tennis, Girls Waterpolo, and Girls Volleyball.

By Sarina Li & Hannah Shen