Winged Post Vol 14 No 6

Winged Post FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2013

the

THE HARKER UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER, VOL. 14, NO.6

talonwp.com

Seniors gain vote on Bacc. speaker

500 SARATOGA AVE. SAN JOSE, CA 95129

ALUMNUS GARY KING DICUSSES HIS INDEPENDENT FILM

Third annual HOSCARS enthralls and entertains

meena chetty

FLYING HIGH Decked out in a blonde wig and neon feather boa, Spenser Quash (12) leaps over his similarly dressed Varsity basketball teammates as part of their dance routine to Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.” Their performance earned them the “Best Overall Act” award for the second time following last year’s HOSCARS.

allison sun & stephanie chen

STAR POWER Gwen Howard (9) belts out Jessie J’s “Who You Are” for her HOSCARS performance. The HOSCARS judges later awarded her the distinction of “Best Vocal Performance.”

Business is a universal language

COURTESY OF CHRISTOPHER NIKOLOFF

Three seniors embark on first annual entreprenurial trip to India

FLYING COLORS (LEFT TO RIGHT) Seniors Neel Bhoopalam, Neeraj Baid, and Simar Mangat throw brightly colored flower petals in the air as part of their Holi celebrations in India. The three are joined by Christopher Nikoloff and Jennifer Walrod on Harker’s first such business trip abroad.

emily chu news editor Setting the precedent for future business-oriented trips to India, seniors Neeraj Baid, Neel Bhoopalam, and Simar Mangat, joined by Head of School Christopher Nikoloff and Global Educatons director Jennifer Walrod, are currently traveling throughout India to develop their entrepreneurship skills and immerse themselves in the culture.

“We are trying to take a stance to become a more business oriented school, and I think this [trip] is one step in that direction,” Neel said.

Over the course of their two week

trip, they will be participating in a variety of events scattered throughout various cities, like visiting mosques and other historical landmarks, joining the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology’s business incubator, and competing in the Idea Challenge Competition hosted by The International School Bangalore (TISB).

“One of the interesting things about the trip is that we are staying in a wide variety of places. We’re staying in a palace, normal hotels, and the dorms of the international school. Because of that, we are going to have a wide exposure to different ways of Indian life,”

Interview with Pixar producer Katherine Sarafian FEATURES, 14

Neeraj said. “So that’s a great opportunity for cultural immersion that we have not really had. We have been to India many times, but most of the time, we just stay with our families, so this new experience should be very interesting.”

The three seniors conceived the idea for this trip after a TEDx conference, organized by Neel and Neeraj, held at the Upper School. Neel explains that they wanted a trip that “identified with [their] passions,” which included learning about how business works outside the “Silicon Valley bubble.”

Continued page 2

audience has listened to, and in general performing something that no one has seen before,” he said.

Freshman Anthony Luo appreciated the uniqueness of Erik’s performance and called it his favorite act of the first assembly. “[The whole show] was really fun too because this was my first HOSCARS. I didn’t know there were so many talented people at Harker,” Anthony said.

and website CSPA: Newspaper earn national award vineet kosaraju

reporter Huddling around the computer screen, the student journalists’ faces light up with joy as they realize that their student-run publication was a finalist in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) critique for their work in the 2011-2012 school year. Last week, they were again elated to receive a Silver Crown at the CSPA conference. This award marks the fifth such honor earned by Harker’s journalism program so far.

Accompanied by advisor Mariah Bush, a delegation of six journalism students traveled to New York to attend the CSPA conference, where they picked up the award and attended various speaker sessions and seminars.

The Ceremony for Gold and Silver Crown recipients took place at Columbia University in New York City on Friday, March 22, marking the end of the conference.

Out of the 1,344 submissions judged, including newspapers, magazines, yearbooks, and digital works, the Winged Post and TalonWP publications won a prestigious Silver Crown award in a new hybrid category.

2013 Winged Post Impact Survey Results NEWS, 3

According to the CSPA website, because this is the first year of judging the hybrid category, publications were moved without penalty into either the print or digital sections if they were still stronger individually.

Advised by Bush and Dr. Chris Vaughan, this year’s Winged Post and TalonWP are entirely student managed and led by Editorin-Chiefs Samantha Hoffman (12) and Nayeon Kim (12).

Bush thought it was great that the publications won a Crown Award, and she is hoping that they will win again next year.

“We don’t chronicle our paper through awards, but we’ve been winning crowns for the past few years,” she said.

“Hopefully we’ll continue the strong work and get nominated next year. We’ve really implemented some nice design changes, which I think will help. We also updated the look of TalonWP, and we’ve been good about putting interesting articles up.”

This year’s award is just one of several that The Winged Post and TalonWP publications have won. To see more of the online publication, visit www. talonwp.com.

SP A

mental performances. For many students, the HOSCARS was a rare opportunity for them to display their talents.

Erik Andersen (12) chose to juggle to a Kazakhstani song. He had taught himself to juggle over the past two years and wanted to take advantage of the chance to show off his abilities. “[I got to show] something about me that most people don’t know, introducing music that probably no one in the

Junior Kimberly Ma decided to perform to honor a friend who passed away from leukemia ten years ago. Accompanied on piano by Christine Lee (11), she performed “Tegami” by Angela Aki, one of her friend’s favorite singers.

“I’m dedicating this song to her, because she taught me a lot of important things about friendship for life,” Kimberly said. “I hope that wherever she is, [she] will be singing right along with me.”

Following all performances, awards were presented during the second assembly. A panel of judges, consisting of some teachers and students from all grades, selected the following winners: Erik won Most Creative Performance, Gwen Howard (9) won Best Vocal Performance, Christine won Best Instrumental Performance for accompanying Preethi Periyakoil (11) and Claudia Tischler (11), Kimberly won Best Cultural Performance, a group that danced to Korean pop songs won Best Dance Performance, and the boys’ Varsity basketball team won Best Overall.

C

TalonWP webmaster & reporter Performing everything from cup songs to juggling acts, 58 Harker students showcased their skills yesterday in the third annual HOSCARS, a joint effort between Associated Student Body (ASB) and Global Empowerment and Outreach club (GEO).

This year, the HOSCARS was combined with GEO’s Multicultural Show because the two events had previously competed for performers.

“By putting them together, we thought that we might be able to get more acts and a more diverse lineup,” GEO copresident Amie Chien (12) said.

Emcees Nikhil Panu (12) and Bobby Kahlon (12) presented brief humorous segments between acts. In one sketch, they invited Andrew Kim (9) to compete against Bobby in a cranberry juice-drinking contest.

The show consisted of a total of 14 acts, including vocal, dance, and instru-

ALLISON SUN - TALONWP

This year’s May Baccalaureate ceremony will feature a senior student speaker nominated by the class of 2013 in place of the salutatorian.

According to the administration, this step is part of a “paradigm shift” that was also reflected in the elimination of Cum Laude last year, placing a greater emphasis on well-roundedness rather than solely academics. Offering students the opportunity to choose their speaker is another means by which to reflect that mission.

“First of all, I want to be crystal clear that the salutatorians who have spoken here have been good speakers,” said Upper School Division Head Butch Keller.

“It’s not about people, it’s about a philosophy. It’s about getting away from the numbers game and the senior class feeling as if they’re invested in who’s speaking.”

Since seniors are allowed to nominate a faculty member to speak at the ceremony, the administration wanted to expand that privilege to choosing a student speaker as well. After approaching the senior student council and Associated Student Body (ASB) about the matter, they agreed to try out the new selection process this year.

“If this person is chosen by the class, it will probably be something that everyone wants to see,” ASB President Raghav Sehtia (12) said. “It makes it a kind of more fun, lively experience.”

Senior class Dean Jeffrey Draper is coordinating the logistics of the nomination process, but every student will have the option to submit a nominee. Ultimately, both the student and faculty selections will have to be approved by the administration.

While the valedictorian will continue to address the seniors at the graduation ceremony, the administration hopes to continue the Baccalaureate speaker selection process in future years.

MEGAN PRAKASH - TALON

managing editor

INSIDE: NEWS, 2 OPINION, 4 FEATURES, 6 GLOBAL, 8

LIFESTYLE, 10 TECH, 12 SPORTS, 14 BACK PAGE, 16

2

News

March 29, 2013 the Winged Post

Impact Survey: Students voice opinions about The Winged Post Common Questions :

meena chetty

managing editor

Online Access: A lot of responses expressed interest in online accessibility or confusion about how to find the paper online. All of our papers are available in a digital format at www.talonwp.com directly beneath the monthly slideshow.

Publication Frequency: We publish eight issues a year. While we are not currently planning on increasing that number due to the time it takes to publish complete print editions, TalonWP is updated everyday with a vast variety of articles covering student life.

223 polled

What do you like about the paper?

What do you find controversial?

“I like how it is a student run publication from the perspective of the students, rather than adults at this school.”

“I like articles that make you feel a little uneasy and require you to think.”

“Not much has been controversial, and that is perhaps a good thing.”

What could be improved?

“[Nothing] and that may be a problem.”

“Be more objective. Release more of the negative quotes to have an equilibrium.”

What do you want to see less of in the paper?

“Frequency of publication.”

“Errors. From typographical errors to errors in logic and reasoning.”

“Some of the head stories are old news by the time the paper comes out.”

“I hope that in future years opinion pieces will give a more positive message.”

“Everything. The writing needs to be crisper, varied in its diction and syntax.”

“Largely advertised events less on the cover since the entire school knows about them already.”

What do you want to see more in the paper?

“Issues and voices. Perhaps a student view set against a faculty view.”

“Raise the bar on the visual aspects of the paper.”

Any other comments for the staff?

If you have additional feedback or would like to respond to an article, feel free to contact us at: wingedpost@harker.org

“Coverage of news outside of Harker and relate that to students and faculty.”

“Humor.”

Jazz Band and United Voices Concerts

Cont’d from front

Evenings of music unite students of all ages on stage kacey fang & natalie simonian copy editor & reporter

An Evening of Jazz The Blackford stage shone with the glitter of brass, woodwind, string, and percussion instruments for An Evening of Jazz. The performance opened with the Upper School Jazz Band, featuring their vocalist Nina Sabharwal (12) singing Adele’s “Skyfall.”

From there, the cast rotated to the Lower School Jazz Ensemble before the new Grade 6 Harker Winds performed their own arrangement of “You are My Sunshine.” Next, Middle School Jazz Band took the stage, followed by both Lower and Middle School groups sharing the stage in their last performance.

Because the music had a rolling, relaxing vibe to it, the audience noted the different atmosphere the jazz concert provided.

“It’s pretty casual, but it definitely has that sophisticated feel, where you feel like you’re really doing something special,” Gwen Howard (9) said.

The inaugural Upper School Lab Band, composed entirely of freshmen, and the Upper School Jazz Band took the stage next. At the end of the night, the event honored the two seniors among them: Nina and Ram Menon.

“It’s sad. I’m going to miss it so much,” Nina said of her time with the Jazz Band. “It’s been one of the highlights of high school, for sure.”

Before joining the Jazz Band in her junior year, Nina had sung in choirs, but performing with the Jazz Band allowed her to experiment with her voice.

“I learned to sing on my own, so I’ve kind of learned to develop my own style with the Jazz Band,” she said. “It gives me more confidence when I sing with the band behind me

KACEY FANG - THE WINGED POST

Students from all three campuses joined together to show “All That Jazz” and “Sing a Song” in the annual An Evening of Jazz and United Voices concerts on March 15 and March 21, respectively.

JAZZ IT UP Upper School Jazz Band director Chris Florio begins the musicfilled evening with a short introduction of the band. An Evening of Jazz as well as the United Voices concerts allowed performing arts students throughout all three campuses to share the stage.

because we’re all experiencing it at the same time.”

With the expansion of the Jazz program through the Grade 6 ensemble and Lab Band this year, Upper School Jazz Band director Chris Florio predicts “only growth.” He feels that the inclusion of groups from all campuses adds to the performance, and he hopes to continue the tradition.

United Voices Choir students from all campuses, ranging from fourth graders new to performing to the seasoned performers of Upper School Downbeat, sang together at the annual United Voices concert at the Mexican Heritage Theater. Groups included the Bucknall Choir, Dynamics, Harmonics, Vivace, Bel Canto, Camerata, Downbeat, and Cantilena.

Around 250 performers sang a wide variety of music: the fourth and fifth graders sang a piece by Schubert, Dynamics did a dynamic rendition of “Sentimental Journey,” Harmonics performed “All That Jazz” from the Broadway musical “Chicago,” and Downbeat performed the pop song “Man in the Mirror” as well as “Sing a Song.”

“The concert is a delightful opportunity for all the kids to show their best work,” said Susan Nace,

Upper School Music teacher and director of Cantilena and Camerata.

“I am impressed with how much the choral program has grown and how our students seem to be getting better each year because of the excellent musical work of Ms. Binney, Mrs. Sandusky, Ms. Place, Mrs. Colletti, and Dr. Hart.”

This concert was unique in allowing vocalists from all grades and levels to come together at one venue.

During Downbeat and Cantilena’s performances, the sixth graders from Dynamics clustered in the balcony boxes to watch their older compatriots perform.

“It gives the younger kids a vision of what they can accomplish when they get to Middle School and Upper School!” Nace said.

Mathematics teacher Bradley Stoll enjoyed hearing all the vocal groups perform.

“The best part of the entire evening is just seeing all of the students doing something that they love to do.

Many students do academics because they have to; the students sing because they want to,” Stoll said.

Upcoming vocal performances include the Choral Concert and Songs into Summer in May.

First entrepreneurial trip to India

“Globalization is the one thing I’m really interested in,” Neel said. “The world is becoming more connected everyday and seeing the relationships and the ways that the [business ideas] in Silicon Valley can be used in India or vice versa will be a really good experience.”

According to Simar, they chose India because of their familiarity with the country and its “emerging economy.”

“We’re hoping to better understand the state of entrepreneurship in India, to become better entrepreneurs ourselves, and to build connections in an emerging economy so when we do get older we can use those connections especially because it is a developing market,” Simar said.

When they brought up the idea for this trip to the administration last year, the seniors found that their proposal was met with much support, and with the help of Jennifer Walrod, the Director of Global Education, they were able to begin planning.

“We found that this was something that the school had wanted to do for a while, but never had the student or parent interest. So the student impetus was what we brought that pushed the trip to actually happen,” Neeraj said.

Although the main focus of the trip is learning more about business, the three

seniors will also be able to participate in Holi at an arts university as well as enter the Taj Mahal, which only allows 40 guests to visit once a month.

“India is such a huge country with so much to see, do, and experience that I found that deciding on what not to do was the hardest part of creating the itinerary,” Walrod said.

The boys will be chaperoned by Nikoloff, who joined the trip out of his love for traveling and his “interest in the intersection between traditional education and the fostering of efforts in this area.”

“I am excited to travel to India for the first time. I love to travel. In fact, I need to leave the United States at least once a year to wake myself up,” he said.

“We have many families from India, so visiting the country will give me a better understanding of their perspective and experience.”

Neel is excited that this inaugural trip will be setting a precedent for India business-oriented trips and believes that their visit will be “truly explorative in the sense that [they] get to see what works and what does not work for the trip next year.”

The group left last Friday and will return on April 7.

KACEY FANG - WINGED POST

A few weeks ago, The Winged Post sent out an impact survey to all students and teachers in an effort to perpetuate the transparent two-way relationship that we hope to maintain with the student body.

We received 223 responses, and we want to share them with you. Below is a collection of some of our readers’ feedback on topics such as the quality of our coverage and our publication’s strengths and weaknesses.

Check out this issue’s editorial on page 4 for a response to the survey results from the newspaper staff.

March 29, 2013 the Winged Post

News Biotech company co-founders speak to students priscilla pan

National arts recognition

3

Scholastic Art and Writing winners share their work

BIOTECH EXPLORATION Dr. Yalia Jayalakshmi and Dr. Olga Issakova share their experience in the biotech field and answer students’ questions. Career Panels throughout the year allowed students to learn more about potential careers they are considering for the future.

move forward in terms of making significant changes,” Jayalakshmi said.

Some students attended to learn about a potential field they might pursue for their careers.

“I think biotech is a field that’s up and coming and is interesting.

It shows that they set their minds to doing something in biotech and they became successful in it,” Ayush Midha (10) said.

Other students took advantage of the chance to talk to co-founders

of biotech companies.

“I’m very interested in pursuing a career in the biotech field and I thought it would be a good opportunity to see what I’m going into and get some advice and outlook on what [the speakers] are doing,” Kevin Susai (12) said.

These career panels provide students with opportunities to better understand potential careers path that they are considering.

Harvard Econ Challenge

AP Econ students travel to East Coast for competition darian edvalson TalonWP EIT Over Spring Break, two fourperson economics teams will be traveling to Cambridge, Massachusetts to compete in the Harvard Economics Challenge, in which teams face off to answer economics related questions.

One team consists of juniors Rebecca Chen, Shivani Gillon, Connie Li, and sophomore Vamsi Gadiraju, while the other is composed of juniors Ravi Bhandia, Darian Edvalson, Neil Khemani, and Brian Tuan.

Economics teacher Jonathan Shieh will be chaperoning.

These eight students, who signed up and were chosen by AP economics teacher Sam Lepler, created their teams about a month ago and immediately began preparation for the Harvard Challenge. The teams have been studying extensively for the competition, which covers everything from famous economists to demand and supply curves, by using preparation packets provided by Lepler along

SHAY LARI-HOSAIN - THE WINGED POST

This Monday, professors Dr. Yalia Jayalakshmi and Dr. Olga Issakova spoke to students about their careers in medicine and answered students’ questions regarding medicine and the general field of science during both lunches in the biotech career panel.

Dr. Yalia Jayalakshmi is the Vice President of product development at StemPar Sciences, a start-up company that is currently “developing powerful, first-in-class cancer drugs that attack solid tumors,” according to their website. Olga Issakova, is the co-founder at Nanosyn, a medical and biological research organization that helps accelerate the drug discovery process.

The two spoke of their backstory and how they first entered the fields of science as well as the path they followed in pharmaceutical drug research. Afterwards, they opened the floor to questions from students.

“I believe a lot in mentoring.

If there are people to go to and give you what the world looks like, I think one’s much better prepared as you

ASHI GAUTAM - TALONWP

reporter

with sources from their AP Economics class.

“Economics has become a passion which I enjoy applying to various topics of interest such as the issue of maximizing human potential and respecting the individual’s right to support themselves,” Ravi said. “The balance between various models of economics, how social change affects economics and how economic models must change to reflect demographic changes in the population.”

The competition has a written section, which team members will take individually, followed by a team “quiz bowl” format section, where competitors will face off against other teams from all around the country. The student competitors held a practice quiz bowl session during long lunch this week to practice their buzzer skills and test their economics knowledge.

“We’re just studying the textbook, old practice tests from the challenge, and quiz bowl questions from

previous Harvard tournaments, and the National Econ challenge too,” Rebecca said. “We’re planning on doing a buzzer practice to simulate the actual quiz bowl section too. I hope we do well, but there are a lot of good teams so we’ll see what happens.”

The students are all excited to participate in the competition and believe they will be successful, although both teams think they are better than the other.

“My hopes and expectations are one. Our team will win the Harvard Economics Challenge in April.

With our extensive background in economics and generous help from Mr. Lepler, our chances of success are truly insuperable,” Neil said.

The teams will compete on April 6 and return together the next day after having dinner with some Upper School alums who are currently attending Harvard.

Disclaimer: The reporter is a participant in the challenge.

POETRY LORI-EATE Lori Berenberg (12) shares her award-winning poetry with the audience. The reception held during Wednesday long lunch honored artists and writers who were recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

shay lari-hosain reporter

The school’s award-winning writers and artists were celebrated this Wednesday at the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards reception held in the College Counseling office.

Finalists shared an excerpt from their work, whether it be a poem or short story, while artwork was displayed around the room.

Lauri Vaughan, the head librarian of the Upper School, noted the Scholastic Arts Awards are much like the Siemens and Intel competitions for creative students.

“I think that it’s great that kids who have that side of their brain working, the artistic creative side, get recognized, because we have an enormous amount of talent here,” she said. “We’re known as the science and technology school of Silicon Valley, and it’s well deserved, but I think it’s not so much on the radar how much talent we have on the other half of the brain.”

She believed that the reception also increases the enthusiasm for student creativity and inspires others to try their hand at a short story, a poem, or even a painting.

“These things tend to have a snowball effect; if we didn’t let people know that a couple people won it and made announcements about it and feature them, I’m not sure it would have gotten any traction and gotten other kids to participate,” Vaughan added.

All of the participants felt hon-

ored to be chosen for the finals; for many of them it was a rewarding experience after having little expectations of being recognized in the awards.

“It feels validating [to get recognition] because I put a lot of work into it,” Albert Chu (11) said. “I actually worked towards something that was tangible.”

Albert composed a short story about playing the piano after he was inspired by the movie Amadeus.

Eric Swenson (12) entered two 8x10 photographs without large expectations, but ended up a finalist.

“It was especially exciting to have the chance to be considered on the national level,” Eric said. “It’s just a way which I can validate my work.”

Eric noted it was one of the first awards he had received for his photography, in one of the first competitions he has entered.

Similarly, Cindy Liu (10) expressed enthusiasm at the thought of her art being considered nationally.

“It feels great [to be a finalist] and I feel like it’s an opportunity to show off what I’ve learned through the years,” Cindy said. “I’ve always been interested in doodling or sketching.”

Cindy feels art helps distract her from the stressful world of academics and grades. She has been engaged in art since she was young.

The national medalists, Isha Patnaik (12) and Kevin Ke (9), will be honored in Carnegie Hall in late May.

4

OPINION

March 29, 2013 the Winged Post

2011-2012 Silver Crown-winning publication 2010-2011 Gold Crown-winning publication 2009-2010 Silver Crown-winning publication 2007-2008 Pacemaker Award-winning publication 2010-2011 Silver Crown-winning www.talonwp.com 2009-2010 Gold Crown-winning www.talonwp.com

Impact Survey: Clearing up the press EDITORIAL THE OFFICIAL OPINION OF THE WINGED POST lor:

co all n w m’s coo To many of you, the journalism room, or roo m co e th war even the program itself, is a cavern shrouded in mystery and tinted windows.

And that’s not how it should be! Journalism isn’t a one-sided affair; the Winged Post is a way for you to share information with us and for us to report that information to our community.

And without a sincere attempt at transparency, we can’t maintain a healthy, trusting relationship with each other.

Two weeks ago, the WP staff sent out an impact survey to the Upper School community (page 2), with the intention of identifying areas where our paper could improve. 223 of you responded with insightful suggestions and a lot of honest commentary. We truly appreciate these Editor in Chief responses and will try to integrate some of your Samantha Hoffman suggestions into the paper.

EIC in Training & Tech Editor But there was also a lot of confusion. And for that, faithful readers, we want to make things Nikhil Dilip clear and let you in on our procedures and poliManaging Editor cies: why we do what we do.

Meena Chetty Kacey Fang & Samar Malik

News Editor Emily Chu

Opinion Editor

ke e li

w

Apoorva Rangan

Features Editor Trisha Jani

Lifestyle Editor Mercedes Chien

Global Editor

Sheridan Tobin

Sports Editor Sonia Sidhu

Business Editor Sindhu Ravuri

Advisors

Mariah Bush Dr. Chris Vaughan

TalonWP Editor in Chief Nayeon Kim

TalonWP Contributors Alyssa Amick

Vasudha Rengarajan

Darian Edvalson

Shannon Su

Juhi Gupta

Allison Sun

Reporters

Anishka Agarwal

Manthra Panchapakesan

Vivek Bharadwaj

Roshni Pankhaniya

Tiara Bhatacharya

Kavya Ramakrishnan

Stephanie Chen

Anokhi Saklecha

Elizabeth Edwards

Elisabeth Siegel

Apurva Gorti

Natalie Simonian

Ashwini Iyer

Mariam Sulakian

Rahul Jayaraman

Monica Thukral

Vineet Kosaraju

Vedant Thyagaraj

Shay Lari-Hosain

Karen Tu

Emily Lin

Dora Tzeng

Jonathan Ma

Stanley Zhao

Priscilla Pan

Visit The Winged Post Online at www.talonwp.com Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/talonwp The Winged Post is published every four to six weeks except during vacations by the Journalism and Advanced Journalism Newspaper Concentration courses of Harker Upper School, 500 Saratoga Ave., San Jose, CA 95129.

The Winged Post staff will publish features, editorials, news, and sports in an unbiased and professional manner and serve as a public forum for the students of The Harker School. Editorials are the official opinions of The Winged Post.

Opinions and letters are the personal viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Winged Post.

All content decisions are made by student editors, and the content of The Winged Post in no way reflects the official policy of The Harker School. The opinions expressed in this publication reflect those of the student writers and not the Harker board, administration, faculty, or advisor.

Advertisements are accepted in the Post. However, The Winged Post reserves the right to deny any ad. Letters to the Editor may be submitted to Manzanita 70 or emailed to wingedpost@harker.org and must be signed, legible, and concise. The staff reserves the right to edit letters to conform to Post style. Baseless accusations, insults, libelous statements, obscenities, and letters which call for a disruption of the school day will not be considered for publication. Letters sent to the Post will be published at the discretion of the editorial staff.

Mast eagle courtesy of photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen.

The Winged Post is the official student newspaper, and it is distributed free of cost to students.

as hard as possible to be the balanced, representative student voice and to report on what the student body is talking about.

“It might not be a bad idea to run articles through organizations” What we say goes

“[Stop] pandering to the administration” Making the write choices

Copy Editors

min ion pro , siz e1 2

s pun How do we decide what to write about? The staff comes up with ideas on happenings at Harker and pitches them to an editor. Just to clarify, we don’t pitch underhandedly! Our paper doesn’t have an “agenda” or a mission to please campus groups, including the administration. We try

Community: Raise the service roof to give back alyssa amick

online editor Many people have a hard time defining community service, but it’s easy to identify what service is not supposed to be: a chore.

The first two Community Spotlight awards went to two seniors, Alan Soetikno and Joseph Wang, for going above and beyond the basic service requirements. They found a cause they were passionate about and willingly helped. They didn’t have a requirement looming over their heads or a quota to fill.

In the face of dozens of students who haven’t finished their hours with the community service deadline today, I think it’s important to increase the number of students who do volunteer. Although it may seem counterintuitive, in order to do this, the community service requirement should be raised. In fact, I don’t see why it hasn’t been increased already.

I think that the more students participate in community service now, the more likely they are to continue it through the rest of their lives. Additionally, it increases the chances of them finding new charities and organizations to volunteer for, to identify one they truly enjoy.

When I first started doing community service, I wasn’t overly involved or excited about volunteering.

I did it more as a requirement than to help people.

That was until I found some charities I really enjoy.

Since the first summer I volunteered at InnVision, a homeless shelter where I worked as a camp counselor, I loved it. I looked forward to spending every summer helping the kids.

I believe that students are more likely to find a charity they enjoy the more hours they do, as there are hundred of organizations ranging from tutoring to sports to gardening and more. It is very hard to understand the impact community service makes if you’re only participating in 30 hours of it.

At the beginning of the school year, alumni, parents, and administration encourage students to try many different extracurricular activities in order to find something they love to do and have a passion for. The same thing can be applied to community service: experimenting with various organizations will help students find one they truly enjoy.

The administration hopes the new community service award will motivate students to be more involved in community service, but maybe simply raising the requirement will make the volunteering efforts less lopsided. As it stands, there is a wide spectrum of student volunteers, ranging from the ones who work weekly to those who barely finish the ten.

An option we might want to consider is a system of ten hours a year for four years. Each year, students should be required to work for a specific type of organization; for example one year focus on children, one on people with disability, and so on. This system would allow students to try out four different types of community service in order to increase the chances of finding one they would like to continue in. Moreover, such exposure increases students’ knowledge of the outside world.

The idea of mandating a certain type of community service is not new, and is in fact implemented in a school only a mile or two from ours.

This is the system Mitty is based off of, but instead of ten hours a year, they require 20 for a total of 80 hours in order to graduate. Such a high requirement, however, is impractical because students’ lives are busy and full of academic work as well as extracurricular activities.

With a more involved, specific, and diverse community service requirement, students who now perform only the bare minimum would no longer be able to push those who need help to the back of their minds behind piles of other work and activities.

There’s a journalism term called prior review, which means that people in authority have the right to look at our paper before it’s published in order to approve content. Our paper is not limited by prior review. That means that, while we do have an advisor (Ms. Bush), what content we publish is ultimately determined by our editorin-chief, Sam, and what she thinks is ready and appropriate for the paper. We don’t show our pages or articles to the administration, to clubs, or to our non-WP friends, so all that content is created as organically as possible without external biases. In order to remain factually accurate, we require reporters to find multiple sources for their articles.

“Fewer ads for cheesy SAT-prep places.”

We holla for a dolla

“Opinion page needs to be fleshed out and reasoned well” As a matter of opinion We received a lot of comments that addressed specific opinion articles. Just to clarify a point, underneath our staff list is a disclaimer which states that the opinions expressed in this section are not necessarily those of the staff as a whole. Rather, they are the insights of individual reporters. We try to let journalists stay true to their independent views and accurately convey their points—after all, that’s what opinions are all about! At the same time, we recognize the potentially controversial nature of strong opinions and do our best to ensure that those articles are not detrimental to the student body.

“You have misquoted me multiple times” Keeping the record straight All misquoting is unintentional! We require the staff to audio-record all interviews to ensure that we remain as accurate as possible. If any potential interviewee declines being recorded, our staff can’t interview him or her.

While we do receive funding from the adAs always, all feedback is appreciated. If you ministration, a substantial portion of the money necessary to support the paper comes from ad- would like to respond to any articles or have any vertisements. They allow us to print in color, in- potential story ideas, let us know at clude more content per issue, and publish more wingedpost@harker.org. For online coverage, issues, so in all honesty they’re not thaaaat bad. visit us online at www.talonwp.com.

A large part of our staff ’s jobs is to contact local businesses to fulfill our ad quota and stay out of every debt. We do refrain from printing ads from colthree articles school day! lege counseling agencies as a matter of policy. ads a re our lifebloo d

Misdeeds deserve punishment, not pity tiara bhatacharya reporter “Two young men that had such promising futures – star football players, very good students.” This is the color one CNN reporter decided to paint two high school rapists from Steubenville, Ohio.

After that report, they brought in their legal contributor to discuss the lasting effects the trial would have on Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond, the two perpetrators.

Instead of focusing on the drastic impact this entire case has had on the victim, her family, and on rape in a legal context, the two focused on how Richmond and Mays will have to bear the burden of a sexual offender title, and how that will “haunt them for the rest of their lives.”

What about being raped? Wouldn’t that haunt the girl for the rest of her life?

But CNN wasn’t the only one. Outrage has surrounded media outlets and their coverage of the conviction, even leading to petitions that demand news networks to apologize for their treatment of the situation. The reports have spread like wildfire across social media platforms, such as Facebook and Tumblr, and honestly, I felt like the some of the responses covered the situation more aptly than the actual coverage itself.

The thing is – if you don’t want to be labeled as a sexual offender, don’t sexually offend someone. The more I find out about this case, the more repulsed I am by the situation. The whole thing is heartbreaking and repugnant, and the fact that some media outlets are trying to portray these people as victims is nauseating.

They commiserate the attackers, trying to evoke sympathy for the poor young boys whose lives are being torn apart. But I can’t wrap my head around a perspective from which these two evoke any empathy.

Maybe they were great athletes, maybe they had good grades, and maybe they could have built themselves amazing futures. But that doesn’t matter. They were young high school students, they were football players, but what they are now is rapists.

But I guess, maybe this trial has put them through a lot – they were caught in a situation where they had absolutely no control over what was going to be done to them, and on top of that they’ve had their unfortunate, terrible, and totally unwarranted circumstances broadcasted through social media to the entire world.

Except that’s exactly what they did to their victim. They maliciously abused her, objectified her, took advantage of her, trampled upon her existence as a human being, and bragged about the whole thing on Twitter.

This case isn’t about Richmond and Mays.

This case is about her, about every single victim of sexual assault who has been thrust into a world where news networks try invoking sympathy for their attackers. This case is about trying to piece together the shards of a life cracked open by misogyny. This case is about justice and recovery, about trying to right the wrongs of people who have failed as human beings. But most of all this case is about revealing rape culture and its horrific rampage upon our society.

Dear Editor, I am writing in regard to the article titled “Honor on campus: We’re better than we think we are” WP LET published in the March edition of The Winged Post.

T ER While I do believe that Monica Thukral’s piece TO was well written and portrays a relatively cogent realTHE ity of the state of honor at Harker, I do disagree with EDI TOR some aspects of her perspective.

Monica said that she found Harker to be a safe, trustworthy and close-knit community when she entered as a freshman. As a new-to-Harker freshman myself, I echo those sentiments. I’ve attended many public and private schools and Harker stands eons beyond any other school that I’ve been to in this regard.

However, she also argues that that integrity in the sphere of non-academics transcends to the academic sphere, and as a member of the Honor Council, I unfortunately have to disagree with that. The sad truth is that the results from the 2012 Josephson Institute survey reflect an emerging reality at Harker that we have to face.

Due to exponentially increasing competition, perhaps a side effect of the grueling college application process, we’re all pushing ourselves to be successful. And while being successful is definitely a worthy goal, an unfortunate side effect of that is academic dishonesty.

Ultimately, I think it’s important to draw the distinction between integrity outside and inside the classroom. In the former, we’re exemplary, but in the latter, we have some work to do. This dichotomy must be identified, as it’s the first step to recognize significant change.

So, I urge all Harker students to transcend their exemplary non-academic honorable mindsets into the field of academics. Although competition has increased, we must also remember that true accomplishments occur when they are earned through hard work and perseverance. Let’s tap into the intellectual passion that we all have, set the competition aside, and learn for the sake of the learning!

At the end, we must put this in perspective. We must pat ourselves on the back for being amazing in non-academic realms, but work towards becoming a more virtuous academic community, instead of dismissing it. Given that we’re sensational in one respect, I am extremely optimistic that Harker’s scholastic outlook will change for the better in the coming months and years.

wp

Sincerely, Kathir Sundarraj Grade 12

March 29, 2013 the Winged Post

Opinion

Gratitude: Doing the dirty dishes emily chu

news editor

apoorva rangan opinion editor

THEY’RE ALL MEDIA!

About a year ago, the gods conspired to bless the Internet with a divinely inspired Pride and Prejudice fanfiction called the “Lizzie Bennet Diaries.”

For eleven months, every Monday and Thursday brought a new episode to YouTube at 9 a.m. that chronicled the Elizabeth’s life in 3-minute vlogs, or video blogs.

To some of you, it may sound hyperbolic to call the series enchanting or magnetic, but it drew me in for an emotional ride as I became more and more invested into the characters.

Yesterday’s was the last episode of the series, and I deteriorated into an incoherent heap as soon as I watched the vlog.

Considering the fact that this issue of the paper was being sent to the printers in a few hours, I probably did have more practical ways of using my time, but I was infatuated enough with the series to wholeheartedly throw myself at the screen.

Does that seem excessive? An overreaction to a three-minute video clip about the life of a fictional character?

The thing is, I would never have admitted the extent of my fascination with the show. If at that moment someone had asked me what my favorite show was, I would still probably say 60 Minutes or any other show that proved my astute nature, out of fear that my enjoyment of one type of media would persuade people that I had an insubstantial, cotton-candy personality.

But as I thought about how Lizzie from the LBD moved beyond her pride and prejudice, I came to a realization.

We have a stigma against pop culture comfort food. Many of us feel like it’s insignificant to like pastimes that don’t have a practical value in the short term.

But that’s not fair to us.

Stories are vital to how we think, whether we believe they’re “culturally superior” or not. Media can be as satisfying as a refined and filling filet mignon or as insubstantial as a fleeting, sweet piece of sour candy. It doesn’t matter, as long as we establish that we feel satisfied when we consume it.

The problem is, we focus too much on being too sophisticated and critical too much of the time. We pride ourselves on being tasteful and discerning when it comes to what we consume.

While analytical thought is evidently one of the most important facets of the human mind, it’s also important to be able to take things at face value.

All media exists for a reason, and we should embrace whatever we like without trying to find loopholes in our preferences. Or more importantly, those of others.

Does pop music seem mindless?

Great, enjoy the beat.

Does the inanity of anime get you ticking? Fine, appreciate the colors.

Just like Lizzie from the LBD, I feel like it’s time to move beyond my oftdramatic labels of “good” and “bad” into a place where neither my pride nor my prejudice keep me from appreciating the choices of others, as well as myself.

Several weeks ago, I walked into the house and immediately knew something was very wrong. But never would I have guessed that a few days later, my mom would be leaving for Taiwan, and I would have to step in as a substitutemom for my brother.

That day, my mom had received a call from her father about his recent heart troubles and upcoming surgery, and she decided that she wanted to be there for him.

However, there was a slight problem: he lives in Taiwan, and no one in my family could manage the house like she has.

Therefore, over the next few days, my mom ran me through a crash course in housekeeping. I learned when is the best time to go to Costco to avoid crowds, what shade of red indicates that a tomato is ripe and sweet, and how I should go about clipping my dog’s nails.

It was my first time buying groceries on my on and my first time deciding what we were going to have for dinner, and of course, firsts are always excit-

ing. But one day, after serving a meal that I had worked hard to cook, it happened. Hearing my brother complain about the fact that the food wasn’t tasty enough, I finally understood a small portion of the pains of being a “parent.”

Unlike most other jobs, parents do not really have definite markers of “success,” and they rarely have the satisfaction of seeing short-term results, with their efforts often going unappreciated.

Now, while the first two problems are not really in anyone’s control, there are ways that teenagers can easily show that they are grateful, such as saying a simple “thank you” when served dinner, occasionally offering to wash the dishes, or holding back the urge to complain about their naggings.

Over the next few days before her departure, I tried to think of a way to show how truly grateful I am for everything my mom has done for me, and simply saying “thank you” just didn’t seem to cut it. While I will only bear these burdens for a few months, she has been shouldering them for years without much acknowledgement of her painstaking efforts, and above all, she has been willingly doing so because she cares deeply for our health.

Then one night, my mom crept into my room just as I was about to go to sleep, and real solemnly, she asked whether I could handle taking care of the house and my brother without her.

Whether I could live without a mom for however long my grandpa needs her. Whether she was asking too much from me.

Given the chance to back out, I hesitated for a moment. Of course, various fears and selfish concerns ran through my head: I thought about how much I wanted her to be around to celebrate my eighteenth birthday and graduation, and the fact that I really had no idea how I was going to manage cooking almost every weekday. However, above all, I was just really scared by how much I would miss my mom.

But I kept every one of those worries inside my head and said, “Don’t worry – I will take care of everything.

Just go and be where you need to be.”

And, honestly, after burning a few of my fingers and spending way too much time grocery shopping, I still do not – and will not – regret letting her go to Taiwan because that was one of the greatest thank-yous that I could ever give her.

TALK AROUND CAMPUS

BY SHANNON SU AND RAHUL JAYARAMAN

“WHAT’S THE MOST INTERESTING THING YOU’VE GOTTEN IN TROUBLE FOR? ”

“My sister and I were kicked out of the house. We didn’t have anywhere to go so we hid in our backyard for a while.”

“I plead the fifth.”

Sadhika Malladi (9)

“I was caught when I was about to stomp on ketchup packets in the hallway.”

Bradley Stoll, math teacher

Masako Onakado, Japanese teacher

“I kind of went crazy with face paint on my sister.”

Marissa Moser (12)

“I pants-ed someone in the locker room in middle school.”

Ramzi Jahshan (10)

FREAKS&GEEKS juhi gupta

TalonWP video/photo editor Somewhere between running lost through a wet and torrential Times Square and devouring the best cheesecake in the golden glow of hotel lights, I fell in love.

Six students from our journalism program traveled to Manhattan last week for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) Spring Convention at Columbia University, winning a 2013 Silver Crown for our publication.

Despite battling a virus and the

pervasive feeling of melancholy due to all my missed assignments, I was determined at first to make the trip worthwhile. I gave up soon after I realized how hard it was to intentionally try to create memories. And I’m glad I did. It let me focus on feeling better and having fun -- and the new experiences followed suit.

I remember stepping awestruck through the gates into Columbia’s campus, alive with the crisp March morning breeze. It’s one thing to sit in a warmcocoon-colored room and churn out articles whenever the need arises. It’s entirely different to learn how to do the same thing surrounded by hundreds of people that do exactly what you love.

Utterly confused and definitely disoriented, I stumbled around the campus with only the map from my ‘convention Bible’ to help me. I unsuccessfully tried to locate the buildings minutes before my first workshop: “Using Editorial Material to Get Into the College of Your Choice” (the Harker cliché.)

By the end of the trip, though, I

was navigating the university, the city, and the subway like a pro -- or at least a semi-capable tourist. Maybe it was just the frigid Siberian weather (and I’m only being half-sarcastic) getting to my head, but this trip showed me a second home.

Whether it’s a fleeting affinity or something I’ll actually be able to act on, I’m convinced of my desire to live in the city. I guess it’s never too early for college crushes!

Watching Telemundo at midnight with a piece of half-eaten pizza on a makeshift cardboard plate; holding back tears in the third row of Matilda; trying to stay awake during a fontaholic session labeled “Children of the Kern” even though we slept in and got breakfast late.

The memories I made on this trip were serendipitous, for probably the first time in my life. Experiencing Times New Roman in Times Square was unparalleled, and this trip will stay forever rooted in my mind as the precursor to a more worldly life.

And I can’t wait for next year.

5

samantha hoffman editor in chief In keeping with the trend currently flooding all forms of social media - namely the school confessions pages - I would like to take this moment to confess something of my own.

Dear reader, forgive me for I have sinned; for the past several months, I have succumbed to the deadly sin of jealousy.

I first noticed the signs of infection back in October of last year.

After I had turned my early application in and the excruciating waiting-for-decisions process began, the terrible virus of envy consumed my brain. I found myself wishing people would fail as I prayed to the gods (read: admissions officers) for one of the few coveted admit letters.

I would alternate between thoughts of “Please, let me get in” and “If that person gets in and I don’t, I’ll be so mad. They don’t even have [insert skill/activity/class here].” Even people who were already accepted into college were not safe from my deluded reality; I found myself continually bemoaning their good fortune in my anxiety-filled, almost desperate mindset.

Around two months later, the decision popped up in my inbox, and for a while, those parasitic thoughts settled into silence, lying dormant in my unconscious under piles of other thoughts, dreams, worries, and ideas. Now, after three months of peace, insidious jealousy has reared its head once more; this time, however, I am beginning to realize that I am not alone in my affliction.

Over the past few weeks, admissions letters have been flooding in from colleges all over the country, and with them an increasingly prevalent, saddening trend. As each decision comes out, it is invariably accompanied by a chorus of both congratulations and, behind the scenes, questions and comments like, “How did she get in? I’m so much smarter than her” or “Wow, that school’s decisions must really have been random this year if he got in” or, perhaps worst of all, “He only got in because his family’s loaded.”

I am by no means exempt from criticism, as I myself have, at times, been guilty of propagating this antagonistic mindset by participating in these conversations. Recently, however, I reflected on my behavior and realized how disappointed and ashamed I was of the way I had been thinking about my fellow classmates.

As someone once said, “The way Susie talks about Sally reflects more about Susie than Sally,” and I absolutely did not like what I saw reflected in the mirror of my hindsight.

I’m happy to report that I have found a cure for the disease of jealousy; two doses of self-reflection in the morning every day for the past week has proven very effective in diminishing my urge to disparage someone for their success.

Getting help: Reevaluating courage in our lives sonia sidhu sports editor Picture the first person that comes to your mind when you think of someone with a mental disorder.

Is it a person on the couch at the therapist’s office, is it a dangerous person who should be locked away?

Or is it one of your friends?

My friend Sarah was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the seventh grade and I believe that by getting treatment for it, she is able to go through her life normally. But others disagree. They visualize the aforementioned stereotypes as they make their judgments about her.

I talked to Sarah and found that she got that negative reaction a lot – citing the stigma that accompanies mental illness. I often try explaining that having a mental illness is not something to be ashamed of or to be avoided. Sarah is

just a normal teenager: she loves fashion, is bubbly and loud, and at times a little stubborn. These traits are all independent from her disorder.

Throughout our friendship, we’ve shared so many laughs, smiles and heartwarming moments; I look forward to hanging out with her. Honestly, being friends with someone with a mental illness can be hard sometimes, but I am so glad I got to know Sarah.

At first I thought that my peers would be as open to knowing her as well because I believed our generation was more accepting than previous ones; however, some of my peers also judge people with mental disorders.

During lunch, my friend and I discussed an article that talked about teenagers struggling with mental illness, and I was startled to find that my classmate thought that it just wasn’t worth it to get to know someone with depression.

She associated the incorrect image

of a crazy, out-of-control person with the illness, and she could never imagine herself having an illness.

We don’t like to talk about the possibility that we may be struggling with an illness, or with any problems at all.

Though in hypothetical situations we sometimes say that of course, if a friend were struggling with something, we would want them to get help, but would we get help ourselves if we felt depressed?

People are afraid to admit that they have a problem or are feeling sad or go to therapy because of the risk of being labeled as not normal. One of my friends struggled with depression but instead of admitting it, she went on with her life as if everything was normal. When she finally had the strength to admit it, others began treating her immensely differently – either avoiding her or constantly checking up on her.

Lots of teenagers struggle with

mental illnesses or brief episodes of depression at some point during adolescence. With treatments or therapy sessions, people can be helped.

During the beginning of my senior year, I noticed that I was more overwhelmed and anxious than usual but I, like many others, convinced myself that I was content and that senior year was going to be the best year of my life. To an extent, having a positive attitude is helpful, and it motivates me to be my best.

But by not admitting that something was wrong, I bottled up my emotions until an eventual, intense catharsis to my friends.

And after that I felt much better. I realized that it’s alright to admit that you aren’t feeling your best. Not being perky all the time isn’t a bad thing and being different makes you interesting.

Admitting that life isn’t perfect does not make you any weaker and needing

help does not make you abnormal.

Recently, Harker Confessions, the Facebook page, includes some confessions dealing with depression, anxiety and fearing of not fitting in. The confessions are submitted with the safety blanket of anonymity but get over 100 likes. Clearly many people in our community are willing to empathize, so our problems should not have to be a secret.

Instead of alienating those with a disorder or any problems in general, I will accept and admire them for having the courage to seek help and be themselves. Getting to know someone can be intimidating at first and changing your preconceived notions may take a while, but it will provide you with a fresh perspective. If we all started to accept each other more, nobody would feel lonely or isolated because of whatever label defines them.

6

Features

March 29, 2013 the Winged Post

History teacher writes food for thought Janda’s personal and communal exploration through blogging

Following up on money from competitions

Students cash in on prizes alyssa amick TalonWP online editor

reporter

We often hear about the many academic competitions that students are recognized for and the cash prizes that come along with it. But what do these students do with it?

Many competitions that award money often limit what the recipient can spend it on. For example, the Intel Semifinalist prize of $1,000 can only be spent on college tuition. Similarly, the Siemens Research competition offers college specific scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $100,000.

“I am planning on putting it in the bank, most likely for use in helping to pay for my college tuition,” senior Andrew Luo, a Semifinalist in the Intel Talent Search, said.

If the students could use the money on anything, however, some would spend it on daily necessities.

“I generally don’t buy too many things, but one thing I really like is Starbucks. I’d like to get a good years worth of Starbucks,” said Ashvin Swaminathan (12), an Intel Semifinalist.

Others would spend it on the newest technology.

“If I could spend the money on something crazy, I would definitely put it toward buying the new Google glasses because they look really cool!”

Andrew said. “I’d really like to try them when they are released.”

Other winners would use the money for selfless reasons.

“I don’t know how crazy this is but I might have given it to charity,” said Jenny Chen (12), also an Intel Semifinalist.

All of the students agreed that the money was not an incentive to participate in the competitions.

“I don’t think most people do the

Most students and teachers know Upper School Honors and AP World History teacher, Mark Janda, for his knowledge of world wars and politics.

Most do not know that his hidden passion lies in mixing food and education in a personal journey as a versatile blogger.

“I really have always wanted to write,” Janda said. “It was just a matter of figuring out what subject was best for me to start writing with. I just really had to stop and think about what I enjoy talking about.”

His two blogs, “It Takes a Kitchen” and “Let’s Improve Schools Now,” discuss food and education respectively.

Describing waking up in the middle of the night with an idea for a blog entry, Janda said that he considers writing to be his hobby.

“Writing for my own exploration is one thing, but it is far more interesting to make it a communal, engaging thing and to spur people into conversation,” he said. “Particularly with education, the only way we are going to get anywhere is to have a conversation about it.”

He took up writing about education in January 2011 when he needed an outlet to express a topic which he was passionate about. “Why I teach,” his initial blog post, describes his motivation to work with students who want to “change the world and make a difference.” “[Students] have dreams that only the innocence of youth allows. I can’t help but admire each and every one of them,” his post says.

His other posts explore topics such as how to combat cheating, whether AP classes are a scam, and

ITTAKESAKITCHEN.BLOGSPOT.COM

monica thukral

EATING AND EDUCATION AP and Honors World History teacher Mark Janda blogs as a way to pursue his hobby of writing while expressing his passion for food and education. In his most recent post from his food blog, “It Takes a Kitchen,” he describes his “insatiable” love of sushi and the care that can be put into creating food.

how to “maximize education and opportunity for all students.”

With experiences of teaching at both a less fortunate school in the city and at Harker, he shares his insights on education reforms and teaching experiences.

“There’s just so much being written about education that I want to be a part of the dialogue. We are at a place in American education where there is a lot changing: the nature of schools, the nature of the economy, and it’s just time to engage,” Janda said.

The food blog that he started in October 2012 came about out of a desire to discuss a topic central to his family life and to his travels.

“Food may be sustenance in its most basic form, but it is so much more. It is what binds us to others. It is what creates connection,” his blog says.

With entries ranging from how to cook a soft-boiled egg to recipe book reviews, his food blog attracts wide readership, while his education blog

has received fewer responses.

“I think people read [the education blog], but they are more tentative about engaging. It is outside of a lot of people’s area of expertise,” he said.

“I think everyone acknowledges that there are really big questions about how to make schools that meet the needs of the economy.”

He explained that he did not expect the Upper School community to find out about his blogs since he does not discuss them at school.

“I’ve had students say ‘Oh, I read your entry about that salad,’ which strikes me as really strange,” Janda said with a laugh. “I want that audience, and I want that engagement; it just makes me laugh a little.”

He also plans to expand his breadth of writing as soon as he can find the time.

“I am going to write a book, I am going to write books,” he said. “When I will find the time to do that, I don’t know, but I am going to do it.”

competitions for the money, especially people who have a chance, they do it because they are very good at what they’re doing,” Ashvin said.

Senior Deniz Celik also expressed similar sentiments.

“I was more concerned about winning the prize to be an Intel semifinalist rather than the money. The money came after, but it was like ‘Oh! There’s money too for doing well.’ It was a welcome benefit but it wasn’t why I did it,” he said. “The main incentive isn’t in the money.”

Felix Wu (10) recently received $500 for being a finalist in the Profiles of Courage essay competition for his essay on Dennis Kucinich, a former mayor of Cleveland.

“I really didn’t need the money, it was more for say college apps, and I feel passionate about politics, so it was something I wanted to do,” Felix said.

He is still in the process of deciding what to do with his winnings. ““I don’t plan on spending it on anything big, he said. “I’m not going to save it for college but I’ll save it for later and spend it gradually.”

Instead of scholarship prizes, other competitions give non-monetary prizes to the winners.

“I was also a semifinalist for the Siemens competition, but I didn’t win any money,” Andrew said. “Although, they did give me a really cool backpack and a Kindle.”

Another “prize” the winners receive is the recognition and distinction that they can also put on their college applications.

Although competitions may limit what the students can spend their winnings on, many winners think it is still a welcome reward after countless hours and days of hard work and dedication.

Emmy Award-winning abolitionist Ruchira Gupta fights sex slavery sindhu ravuri business editor Ruchira Gupta, 49, is an Indian sex trafficking abolitionist, journalist, and activist. An Emmy Award winner for her documentary, The Selling of Innocents, she has worked for over 25 years to end sex trafficking and has been honored for her work by nations, governmental leaders, and organizations on a global scale. In 2002, she established Aapne Aap, a nongovernmental organization that addresses women’s rights and the eradication of sex trafficking. The Winged Post conducted an hour-long Skype interview with Gupta, who has also worked extensively with the United Nations (UN) to advance her mission.

The Winged Post: Why did you decide to delve into this cause and save so many women from sex trafficking and exploitation?

Ruchira Gupta: I was absolutely horrified that in my generation and in my country slavery still existed. I felt that journalism was too limiting, but I also didn’t know anything else. I ended up making a documentary called The Selling of Innocents on the trafficking from Nepal to Bombay to at least expose the problem. It changed my life. I took a consultancy with the United Nations and went off into Southeast Asia to see how women in prostitution were combatting AIDS. At the same time, around when I was making The Selling of Innocents, a pimp or a customer pulled a knife on me and said to me “How dare you make this documentary? I’ll kill you.” Literally, the 22 women surrounded me and said “If you kill her, you have to kill us first. We want to save our daughters from this exploitation and this slavery.” They saved my life. With them, I eventually set up and called our organization Aapne Aap, because it means self-empowerment.

We believe that if you find the strength within yourself and you collectively share that strength with others in a small group, then you can challenge big problems. Now, our organization is 10 years old, and we have reached out to over fifteen thousand girls and women.

WP: Was there any specific situation that caused you to pursue this issue?

RG: I was walking through the hills of Nepal when I came across rows of villages which didn’t have any girls from ages 15 to 45. That’s when I began to ask the questions that where were the girls, and some of the men

who responded looked sheepish, some looked away, some walked away, but some answered. They said, “Don’t you know that all the girls are in Bombay?”

That was even more puzzling because I couldn’t understand how so many girls could be in Bombay, which is fourteen hundred kilometers away from these remote villages.

WP: What more did you discover that surprised you or shocked you?

RG: To my horror, when I began to look for the answer to this question, I found that slavery still existed in our lifetime, in our world. There was a whole supply chain from the village to the brothels of Bombay. Procurers would go to parents, mostly poor farmers, and tell them that “I’ll get your daughter a job in the big city, or I’ll get her married.” Once taken across the border, the girls were [eventually] handed over to agents who would negotiate the prices of these girls based on their beauty and age. The younger a girl was, the higher the price she would fetch. Smiling, voluptuous, meant higher prices. [Once in brothels,] the managers would bring to them eight to ten customers a night, where these girls were raped repeatedly.

Over five years, this girl simply lost her childhood, her life, her ability to think, and her ability to feel. She was forced to become dependent on drugs and alcohol to block out the experience of the repeated rape. She was also forced by the brothel manager to have children in the first two years so that the love of a baby would stop her from running away from the brothel, since the baby was kept as hostage. Most tragically, she was also taught to call the brothel manager “mama” and the pimp “papa,” so that she would begin to believe that this was her family, and she had no other family, or she could never go back. I had to do something.

WP: Do you remember the first woman you ever saved?

RG: (smiles) Yes, I do. It was a woman named Surekha, and she had a daughter named Sonu. I met Surekha in Bombay, and she is one of the first of the 22 women who organized Aapne Aap. Surekha is still alive, but is now suffering from AIDS, so she has a tough life.

Her daughter, though, we have put her into school. She has not only finished high school, but she is also now taking a course in animation. She wants to be an animation artist.

WP: How did you feel after saving

Surekha and Sonu?

RG: At that time, I just wanted to get Sonu into school, and Surekha into a room where she would not be beaten.

I had no idea that the dreams they articulated would become this movement in India which allowed me to reach out to fifteen thousand women, put 814 kids of prostitutes into school, and been able to influence the Indian government to make different laws.

Not to mention being able to explain to other women that you can get your children into school. Prostitution is not inevitable and constant, things can and will change. This year, in fact in Bihar, the first batch of daughters from a community which suffers from intergenerational prostitution, will be giving their high school exams in March and eventually attending college.

WP: Can you tell us any experience in your 22 years of work that has left an indelible and negative mark on your work?

RG: I would have to say when I learned that the heads of foundations from the United States were funding the salaries of pimps and brothel managers in India, saying that they are peer educators.

I was absolutely shocked by that, because these were 12, 13, or 14-year-old girls being raped repeatedly. The head of the Gates Foundation, who I talked to, I said that [I have] got to stop this and prevent these girls from being trafficked. Do not legitimize the pimps and brothel managers by calling them educators. I would get answers like “Men will be men,” or “Prostitution is as old as the hills.” That lack of empathy by organizations which stood for doing good in the world was the most negative experience I’ve had.

WP: When you were talking to women forced into this field from all over the world, did you find any differences in their treatment between various regions?

RG: I found that the story of violence was very common between women in Amsterdam, New York, or New Delhi, whether that involved beatings and slappings to repeated rape or belts and ice being used on them. There’s a group that I work with of 102 women outside of Delhi, and they told me that they faced at least a couple of fractures a month. Customers even tried to throttle them. In South Africa, survivors of prostitution showed me marks of men trying to stab them all over their wrists.

It is a job which is inherently exploit-

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

ABOLITION Ruchira Gupta beams as Uma, a sex trafficking survivor, receives a bravery award from Hilary Clinton. An Emmy Award winner for her documentary, The Selling of Innocents, Gupta has established Apne Aap, a nongovernmental organization that addresses women’s rights and the eradication of sex trafficking.

ative, and which no legislation can ban, unlike other forms of forced labor. No matter where I went, North or South, East or West, all the women said they wanted to save their daughters from the same destiny or fate.

WP: How do you ignore threats from dangerous forces and continue your work with such passion?

RG: I get threatened all the time.

Sometimes my office is attacked, other times one of my cows was stolen. The corrupt police ended up arresting one of my staff members on false charges just to intimidate us. I basically must ignore what they are doing. I often look for coalitions with good politicians, doctors, or lawyers and ask for their support, which they do give.

WP: Why have you come to New York?

RG: I am here for the Commission

for the Status for Women, since it is March, the international month for women. I spoke to a group of young high school girls who put up a play about this issue, and how they would like to challenge it. It was great to see high school girls challenging this issue.

WP: What future do you want to achieve through your work?

RG: I see a future where every girl has the freedom to realize her full potential to be whatever she wants to be. I see a future where her dreams are not ever crushed, a future where a girl between 14 and 19 is given as much respect as a man who is between 15 and 75. Whose ideas are treated respectfully, who is thought of as a dignified human being.

I have so much hope for this, because the youth are fighting for it. They are making submissions, and this generation is going to change our nation.

Features Brave producer Katherine Sarafian talks movies

March 29, 2013 the Winged Post

a film. The last year is really grueling.

So they hired new people to get that final push done. I was part of that effort.

Lights, camera, and behind the scenes: the heart of the movie making magic. In a phone interview with The Winged Post, Pixar producer Katherine Sarafian, whose most recent production was Brave, shares her background and experiences in the film business.

WP: Why were you drawn to the script of Brave?

KS: I was really touched by the story.

Brenda Chapman, one of the two directors, created the story. She described it to me as a story of her and her own daughter. They had a lot of energy in their relationship; it was very feisty, and they didn’t always see each other eye to eye. Her daughter was just a little girl, and Brenda was wondering what kind of teenager her daughter was going to be. That was the motive of the relationship that became the story of Brave.

What I loved about it was how true to life it was. It was based on a real relationship that was genuine, and it was based on a mother and a daughter. It had that universal love in it that I found very compelling.

features editor & reporter

The Winged Post: What drew you into the film industry?

Katherine Sarafian: I have always been interested in show business. I knew I wanted to work somewhere in the entertainment sector, probably since I was little. I knew I could be in theater, drama, or writing, but film did not actually come to me until graduate school. I was finished with my undergraduate at UCLA at the Communication Studies department, and I really couldn’t quite figure out what to do next. I had a little trepidation about entering the workforce. I wanted to go to graduate school, but I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to study. I went to a career counselor at UCLA, and he pointed me to a Critical Studies Masters program in film. It became very clear that that was going be a great fit for me, because I would get to write about the thing I love, which is entertainment.

WP: When and why did you join Pixar?

KS: I joined in late 1994. It was about a year before Toy Story was completed.

Several of the employees who are still here today were hired at the same time I was. It takes four to six years to make

WP: Can you describe a typical day in your shoes while you were working on the production of Brave?

KS: I would say there is no such thing as a typical day because the one thing wonderful about working in an animated movie is that it is completely unpredictable. Every day you are going to get surprises that you hadn’t planned for. I will come in in the morning, and I will have a calendar with all the things I need to do that day and all the people I need to meet with, and usually by 11 o’clock in the morning, it is completely changed. A typical day could mean coming in, meeting with a specific department, and talking about what they need to finish the film. Then I may

work with animators on how they can complete a complicated set shot. Then I meet with people about how to be healthy and happy. Really important in animation work is computer work; to make sure nobody get wrist or arm injuries, we take stretch breaks. Everyday, one thing that is common is that I spend time with the director of the film. First thing in the morning, I will be with the director, and we will be talking about what has to happen this week so we can go through priorities.

It is film production: running around [and] doing stuff. It is a lot of fun.

WP: How did it feel to win a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for Brave?

KS: It feels awesome to win a Golden Globe and Academy Award. The film is really hard to make; we spend a lot of time on it, and we put a lot of ourselves in it. It is personal, passionate work. The best reward is knowing that the audience has embraced it. We don’t work in Hollywood; we are in the Bay Area. So when we go to Hollywood for the Academy, or when we are talking about the film, it is an opportunity to expose our animation and how it is hand crafted.

WP: What projects are you currently working on?

KS: I cannot talk about future projects, but I can talk about the studio’s projects this summer. We are coming out with Monster’s University. Next summer, in 2014, we are releasing The Good Dinosaur.

WP: What is the best advice you have

PIXAR

trisha jani & mariam sulakian

7

BRAVE HEART Katherine Sarafian describes in an interview with The Winged Post her journey in the filmmaking industry, from its almost unintentional roots to the advice she can impart to a student audience now.

ever received?

KS: The best advice I have ever received is to trust your gut. It is especially important in creative endeavors where there are many judgement calls to make throughout the day: does the shot look right? Does it feel right? Am I getting all of the appeal out of every character?

These are not just like a math problem where you can write it all out. I think for a long time, I didn’t really know to rely on my own instinct and my feelings about what worked, but it is the most detective measure of success.

There is no instruction manual on how to make a good movie.

WP: What are some of your hobbies?

KS: I am a writer, and whenever I do have time, I like to write. I also sing a lot in choirs and love to play basketball and volleyball, though I can’t join a

team because of the commitment. I can do independent sports. I swim, run, walk, on my own time.

WP: What is your advice to high schoolers interested in pursuing a career in film production?

KS: My advice to high schoolers would be to hone all your skills. Don’t feel like you have to focus in just film classes.

When I was in high school, I did a lot of things, but did not just focus majorly on one thing. I was solid in a lot of areas. For filmmaking, being versatile is usually helpful. P.E., music, art, English, math, the basics of everything: I actually use all of that now. My job requires me to use everything. My advice would be to not discount extracurriculars or classes that you think are not furthering your cause. As a storyteller, you can use everything.

Tattoos: Ink serves as a permanent record trisha jani

features editor With designs ranging from bumblebees to Krishna to poppies to quotations in Sanskrit, four Upper School teachers spoke to us about the unique histories behind their tattoos.

Karl Kuehn: Upper School Dance Co-Director Karl Kuehn takes first place in the number of tattoos, with a total of four spanning his arms.

Kuehn’s first tattoo, an equal sign on his wrist that he got tattooed in Los Angeles, represents the rights of the HRC, the Human Rights Campaign.

A year later, Kuehn got his second tattoo, which depicts a bumblebee which he designed himself, in San Francisco. Tattoed on the inside of his upper right arm, the bumblebee references his great grandmother.

“Her name is Beatrice, so my family commemorates her with bumblebees,” Kuehn said.

Kuehn’s third tattoo, which he got in San Jose, reads the word “create,” referring to the creation of dance and art. His last tattoo, near his inner

living in or visiting at that time,” he said.

“I think it kind of adds to the uniqueness of each tattoo: each from a different location.”

For Kuehn, tattooing the inside of his arm with the bumblebee hurt the most out of all four.

“It is kind of an exciting pain,” he said.

Kuehn is considering getting more tattoos in the future.

Marc Hufnagl: Donning two colored, half-sleeve tattoos on either arm, Upper School English Teacher and Department Chair Marc Hufnagl got his left arm inked about six years ago and his right arm a year after.

Hufnagl said that it actually took him years to decide to get a tattoo, explaining that he “wanted it to be a piece of art that [he could] live with.” His involvement in yoga heavily impacted his decision.

“I knew that I wanted the art to reflect that kind of involvement I have with yoga philosophy and ideas as a kind of thesis in life,” he said.

Eventually, Hufnagl decided to tattoo lotus flowers on his left arm,

ALL PHOTOS TRISHA JANI - WINGED POST

INK (TOP) Kuehn displays his tattoo of a bumblebee on his inner right arm. The tattoo, designed himself, commemorates his great grandmother, whose name is Beatrice. (BOTTOM) Written in Sanskrit, Janda’s tattoo reads “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” He got the saying tattooed about seven years ago.

right elbow, reads an inverted “5678.”

He decided to get this one last summer in New York.

“This is of course because of dance,” Kuehn said. “When you are in front of a mirror, you read the numbers correctly.”

Unlike other teachers, Kuehn got each of his tattoos from different places.

“I got them in places I had been

which he cites as “really important in symbolism with regards to the soul and the idea of the oneness of body, mind, and spirit.”

Engrossed in reading the several myths involving Krishna, Hufnagl had the Indian deity tattooed a year later.

Krishna’s role as the charioteer in the Bhagavad Gita, which plays an important role in yoga, also influenced him.

“I wanted Krishna on my right shoulder, close by,” he said.

Since Hufnagl’s tattoos are relatively large and detailed, he had about four or five sessions, each about two hours long and a month apart, during which his artist tattooed the design in stages. For each arm, the entire process took about half a year.

Hufnagl explained that the first twenty minutes of getting a tattoo gave him a bit of a burning sensation. The most painful part for Hufnagl was tattooing the inner part of his arm, which is tender and generally unexposed.

“I got nauseous from it,” he said. “It was really hard for me to get in the zone for that.”

Looking into the future, Hufnagl is thinking about getting a tattoo with koi fish and reeds on one of his calves.

Mark Janda: The saying “Be the change you wish to see in the world” has quite literally followed Upper School history teacher Mark Janda around so persistently that he decided to get it tattooed on his upper left arm about seven years ago.

“The quote had always meant something to me, and it was sort of a guiding principle of what I think I try to do in the classroom,” Janda said.

The story traces back to several years ago when Janda took a group of students to Europe over the summer.

Since his birthday fell during the trip, the students decided to throw him a celebratory party. At the end, the “ringleader” of the group came up to Janda and whispered in his ear, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

“It sort of struck me that though I never mentioned that quote, she had fully grasped what I was trying to do,” he said. “That experience stuck with me.”

Two years later, Janda was in Rome on his birthday with a different group of students, who also threw him a party.

As they read him thank you letters, the last student to get up thanked Janda for teaching her to be the change she wants to see in the world.

“And these girls didn’t even know each other,” Janda said. “The symmetry just amazed me: birthday, Rome, totally different kid. It was just awesome.”

About six weeks later, Janda was talking with a colleague about some activist community work he was involved in. Janda mentioned he was not sure that his efforts were yielding the desired results, and his colleague told him that he sometimes has to be the change he wants to see in the world.

“At that moment, I put my utensils down and said, ‘You have got to be kidding me; this is crazy,’” Janda said.

After some time passed, Janda got an email from a friend whom he par-

ticipated with in anti-racism and diversity work. She mentioned that she really loved the quotation “Be the change you wish to see in the world” which he had used to sign off his email.

When Janda said that he was considering getting it tattooed, his friend responded that she was wearing a bracelet with the same exact quotation.

And that is when it struck: within

Rosenboom got her first tattoo, an infinity sign, in her college graduation year. She was influenced by the cyclic nature of life, infinite amount of inspiration, Buddhism, and dualities.

A few years later when she was finishing her Masters Degree, Rosenboom got her second tattoo, a Chinese character for silence, near her inner right elbow. The literary characters of author

POPPIES, INFINITY, AND KRISHNA, OH MY! (LEFT) Rosenboom displays her tattoos: a Chinese symbol for silence, poppies, and an infinity sign. All three symbolize the idea of duality. (RIGHT) The Indian deity Krishna is tattooed in color on Hufnagl’s right shoulder. Hufnagl’s involvement in yoga influenced his decision.

six weeks, Janda got the tattoo on his left arm in Sanskrit.

“It is there because sometimes teaching with a real altruistic purpose and doing anti-racism, diversity work is really exhausting,” Janda said. “Sometimes, you just want to close your door.

Here was a reminder for to me keep on keeping on.”

Under a request from his wife, Janda does not plan to get more tattoos in the future.

Alexandra Rosenboom: Infinity, a Chinese character signifying silence, and poppies: these three designs, spanning Upper School English teacher Alexandra Rosenboom’s lower right arm, symbolize the idea of duality.

Rosenboom herself did not initially want a tattoo when she was younger because she associated it with “hoodlums, gangsters, strange alcoholic men, and sailors.”

As she grew older, however, Rosenboom noticed that body art became much more popular in her generation.

“I didn’t see tattooed people as connoting the malicious villain so much as the creative original thinker vocalizing through imagery their morals and philosophical beliefs of the world,” Rosenboom said.

Samuel Beckett, who are trying to reach a place of silence but are disturbed by constructs of society, had a major impact on Rosenboom’s decision. “[Silence] does not really exist because in our world, there is always sound,” Rosenboom said. “It maybe exists in our heart or mind, a peaceful place.”

Sandwiched by her other two tattoos, Rosenboom’s latest tattoo, which she got in November 2011, shows two poppies arranged in opposite directions.

Poppies mean a lot to Rosenboom: the state flower of California, they emphasize imagination and dreams.

Rosenboom did admit that “it has been complicated being a working professional woman with tattoos.” Initially, the Upper School had a ban on tattoos, which forced Rosenboom to wear long sleeves every day. The rule changed about three years ago.

Meeting parents and people from older generations has also been a little challenging for her.

“I do feel very self conscious, and I know they are thinking those things that I used to think,” she said. “I do think [they] may get the wrong idea about me sometimes.”

However, Rosenboom does believe that tattoos will be less of “a scandalous thing” for the upcoming generation.

GLOBAL

As violence in the Middle East has significantly escalated over the past few decades, the conflict has become a major part of recent history.

Public protests in many countries, such as Algeria and Egypt, an attack on the US Embassy in Libya, and a civil war in Syria are only a few of the many conflicts that the region has faced over the past few months. Uprisings like these are often sparked by lack of basic human rights and freedom, disputes over religion, and political instability.

The United States has been a key factor in Middle Eastern affairs since shortly after World War II. Although U.S. involvement has decreased recently, they are still invested because of the large oil supply, the desire to spread democracy, and political allegiances to countries including Saudi Arabia and Israel.

One commonly discussed issue regarding American involvement is whether or not we should pull out of the Middle East. Some students, like Varun Gudapati (12), believes that we should limit our actions in that region.

“I think the United States should try to stay out of it. Our country does too much in terms of trying to influence what’s going on abroad,” he said. “Obviously you do have to be involved in foreign policy, but I think it’s a little bit of a waste of resources for us to focus on that too much.”

Violence in the Middle East is a major factor in global relations and constitutes a significant portion of world news. Some of the recent events featured in the news have been mortar fire in Syria, arrests for accused desecration of the Quran in Jordan, and the upcoming elections in Egypt. Many students follow the events that are occurring to some extent, although not necessarily in great detail, and have created their own opinions about the issues.

“It’s kind of horrifying actually, the discrimination and the violence that’s going on,” Sahana Narayanan (9) said. “It’s terrible that there’s something like the oppression of human rights in the Middle East, and there are so many Americans that are unaware of what’s going on.”

Although some students may have a general picture of what is going on in the Middle East, it is more difficult of them to empathize with the events on a personal level. For students with friends or family living in these regions, the situation seems more real.

Mohannad Khadr (10) has relatives residing in Egypt who are going through tough situations under Mohamed Morsi, who was elected president of Egypt under possibly false pretenses.

“When they’re walking in the streets, they’re more afraid that someone’s going to confront them and threaten them with violence, so they’re always scared,” he said.

Although Mohannad tries to visit his family regularly, conditions in the Middle East make traveling hard.

On the other hand, to students who have no real connection to the Middle East, events occurring in this region are far from their minds.

“I’m not aware at all. I guess I don’t really care. That’s the truth,” Christina Liang (11) said. “It’s not in the United States, and it’s not affecting me. It’s been happening for a really long time, and I don’t really talk about it with people.”

Nikhil Parmar (9) attributes his lack of knowledge in this respect to not reading the news, instead of a lack of media coverage. However, he acknowledges the importance of keeping up with current events. “[People] should use social media [...] as a news source,” he said.

“People should be more aware of the news, and they should be reading more of the news. I know I should be.”

While conflicts in the Middle East may be of little proximity or importance to some students in this area, turmoil in South Asia and North Africa remains a prevalent global issue.

reporters

Ever wonder what kind of music students listen to in Kazakhstan or what Taiwanese students like to do after school? We spoke to students at the Singapore American School, Taipei American School, Andinet International School, Nazarbayev Intellectual School of Astana, and the Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School to compare their lives to ours. Here’s what we found.

For some students at our sister schools, the school day begins in the wee hours of the morning, with many waking up at 6 a.m. or earlier to make the commute to class by bus or foot. Very few drive or get driven to school, as opposed to the majority of Upper School students, whose main form of transit is by car.

Once at school, international students typically attend four or five long classes each day for 60 to 90 minutes per class, which is similar to our block periods. In between classes, they have a 10 to 20 minute break.

The Singapore American School (SAS) requires each student to bring a laptop to school, much like the one-toone laptop policy at the Upper School.

The environment at the Taipei American School (TAS) also closely resembles the atmosphere at the Upper School.

According to TAS student Meg Silsby, “Freshmen are frantically worrying about getting into 10th grade honors classes that will feed into specific AP classes [for] junior [or] senior year.”

The international schools are mostly known for their high academic standards, sports programs, computer skills, and cer-

WRITTEN IN THE STARS After creating artwork with their astronomical signs, Assiya Utzhanova and her friend display their pieces at NISA.

tain clubs. “[Our school is best known for its] diversity of culture and recognition of tiny good deeds,” said Enas Nejib, who attends the Andinet International School in Ethiopia.

The major populations in countries such as Singapore speak English, while others speak different languages when outside of school.

Although most of the subjects are taught in English, “we prefer to talk in our native language,” said Assiya, Utzhanova, a student at the Nazarbayev Intellectual School of Astana (NISA) in Kazakhstan.

Aside from the academic portion of school, students at NISA have a daily 20 minute break when they dance in flash mobs to songs like “Gangnam Style” and the “Harlem Shake.”

After school, many students participate in sports, such as volleyball, cross-

Celebrations for the : HOLI festival of colors

country, soccer, swimming, tennis, badminton, rugby, track, and softball. There are also many unique clubs at SAS like the theater makeup club, ultimate Frisbee club, and a variety of social clubs that allow the students to explore a diversity of interests.

At NISA, the high school students work together with younger students in an activity called “Shanyrak” where they discuss common problems.

In the Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School (SWFLMS), one of the most popular media activities is microblogging, which includes social chatting sites.

On the weekends and after school, many international students roam the local area by foot or public transit.

TAS student Meg Silsby frequents a “big park that has a baseball stadium near our school,” and she also enjoys “hanging out at the night market with friends.”

Culture Connection Students discuss diverse backgrounds vivek bharadwaj & elisabeth siegel reporters

COLORFUL TRADITIONS After being covered in colored powder, Riya Godbole (10) and Vishal Vaidya (10) pop water balloons on each other while at a Holi celebration.

mariam sulakian reporter Red, blue, orange, green. Heaps of colors fly here and there as families and friends gather in celebration for the annual Indian Holi Festival.

As springtime rolls around, multiple Holi festivals throughout the Bay Area begin to take place. The official date of the holiday is March 27, though certain celebrations take place at later dates, such as the Stanford festival on April 6 and 7.

“

I think everyone should experience the fun and spiritual times of Holi, the great festival of colors.

Shikhar Dixit (10) “I love just seeing the majestic colors fly across and strike people’s faces so elegantly. It’s honestly a very exciting holiday where family and friend bonding occurs naturally,” Shikhar Dixit (10) said. “I think everyone should experience the fun and spiritual times of Holi, the great festival of colors.”

The Holi celebration, an annual tradition in India, signifies the arrival of Spring and feelings of friendship and reunion. Though the holiday itself

has roots in Hindu mythology, Holi has become much more modernized throughout the years.

“I’ve celebrated it both in India and here. In India, it’s crazy. People throw water balloons at each other (and even at strangers) from the rooftops. Almost everyone is involved and random people squirt water at each other or throw colors around,” Sarina Vij (12) said.

“Here, you usually do it within smaller communities, but something like Stanford Holi is awesome because it brings a larger community together.”

Students have already begun preparing for the festival, planning out where and when they will celebrate.

“I’ve gone and celebrated only once before at RANA Holi with my friends.

This year I’m planning to go to Stanford Holi,” Dhanush Madabusi (9) said.

Though traditionally a Hindu celebration, Holi engages students of various races, whether to support their fellow peers or merely to have a fun time experiencing the customs of another culture.

“I like learning about the culture of most of my friends and a majority of the school’s population, and it’s a really fun way to do so,” Vivian Isenberg (10) said.

A variety of reasons attract students to the Holi festivities. Though in some cases it is religious reasons, an equally common motive is just going out and having a good time.

“I enjoy celebrating Holi because I find it fun to throw colors around,” Krish Sanghi (11) said. “Celebrating does not necessarily have to be for a religious cause. Those who don’t normally participate in the celebration should go out to events such as Stanford Holi and enjoy the fun of throwing color.”

As the end of March approaches and April nears, more details regarding the various Holi festivals will be announced.

Bubble tea is the preferred refreshment for TAS students, just as the Tapioca Express on Saratoga Avenue is a popular location for many Upper School students.

“The local snacks [in Taiwan] are to die for!” Meg said.

In their free time, students enjoy listening to a variety of music genres, and many popular figures in American pop culture are prevalent at schools around the world. They are also exposed to the current media trends, as well as popular bands and music artists. Among those are Eminem, One Direction, Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, and Justin Bieber.

Some have formed their own opinions about celebrities, many of whom are well known Hollywood stars. Meg echoes the sentiments of some Upper School students with her dislike of Nicki Minaj.

“She has like three different personas and is too ‘look at my body and hair’ as opposed to, ‘listen to my music,’’’ she said.

In addition to music, international students also enjoy spending weekends at the movie theaters. Julia Zou and Mike Chen, who both attend SWFLMS, enjoy the 007 series and the Life of Pi. Film and music festivals are popular in foreign countries just as they are here.

In contrast to music festivals such as Coachella, students in Kazakhstan attend annual film festivals, notably the Astana Film Festivals, which premiered several vampire movies (Twilight and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) before the rest of the world.

Culture: it’s a broad term that means something a little different for everyone. For some, religion plays a large part while traditions and holidays resonate with others. The question “What is culture to you?” generates an umbrella of answers.

Culture can be an important part of a person’s sense of individuality, and students around campus connect with their cultures in different ways.

“For me, my culture is like my identity: it signifies who I am, where I am from, and I want to make sure it will be a part of me in the future as well,” said Sanjana Kaundinya (10), whose family comes from India.

Almost all cultures and religions have unique holidays, and some students on campus find that they are fun ways to connect with their culture.

Freshman Evan Lohn considers holidays an integral part of his past.

“We have some Jewish family friends, and some who even go to this school,” Evan said. “We invite them over or we go to their house and we celebrate Hannukah. Even for New Year’s, we’ll invite our Jewish family friends over and celebrate together.”

Besides holidays, he is also proud of his heritage and Jewish history. He notes that Jewish people have a history of persecution by other cultures but have persevered through it all, and he is proud to be a part of his culture.

Senior Caroline Lai is Taiwanese, and shares Evan’s love of the unique holidays her culture brings, such as Chinese New Year. However, she identifies more strongly with another facet of her culture: language.

“I think I connect most with language because we speak an entirely different language at home. I speak Chinese at home, mainly because my parents’ English isn’t that good. It’s hard to communicate unless we speak in Chinese. I think that’s a really big factor [of my culture], since I can communicate fluently, or pretty fluently with other Chinese people,” Caroline said. She speaks Cantonese fluently at home and abroad in Taiwan.

For Caroline, visiting Taiwan is another integral part of her culture, allowing her to connect with family and friends abroad.

“The most fun part is going back, visiting, just interacting with people there, and learning new things about my culture that I can’t necessarily learn here, just because I’m not involved in it,” she said. “I go back at least once a year, and that’s my favorite part, be-

cause I can interact in an entirely different language. I can do so fluently, not just as a foreign person.”

Shannon Su (12), from China and Taiwan, found that she was affected the most by her culture’s foods. “[My favorite part] to be honest is the food. Lots and lots of food.

Since spring has started we’re actually planning to invite relatives over and have traditional Asian spring rolls.

It’s mostly small things like that,” she said.

While Shannon is mostly appreciative of this, she also expresses some distaste over the differences between American culture and other countries in terms of progressiveness.

Lev Sepetov (9) and Svetsy Petrova (12) echoed Shannon in their appreciation of their own country’s food, and find that they connect most with their culture through traditions like Russian Easter and celebrating winter holidays other than Christmas.

Others, because of their mixed backgrounds, find it difficult to identify with any specific culture in particular.

“Neither of my parents identify very much with their cultures and since they are from different cultures I can’t really identify with both, so rather than choose I identify with neither,” Glenn Reddy (10) said.

So what is culture? For several Upper School students, the answer encompasses more than just race or lineage; for them, culture means connecting with friends and family, exploring familiar settings that still have surprises in store, and keeping centuries-old traditions alive. From eating moon cakes during the Chinese Moon Festival to celebrating religious holidays such as Hanukkah, ethnic culture thrives and continues to be a part of students’ lives today.

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

copy editor & global editor

emily lin & priscilla pan

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

kacey fang & sheridan tobin

Sister schools talk culture: Bubble tea and Nicki Minaj

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

Students discuss M.E. conflict

“

8

March 29, 2013 the Winged Post

MAZEL TOV Evan Lohn (9) is hoisted on a chair by his family during his barmitzvah, a traditional Jewish coming of age ceremony.

GLOBAL

March 29, 2013 the Winged Post

Multicultural Kaleidoscope: GEO hosts week promoting diversity

9

global journalism project

Nauryz: Celebrating the Turkish

ALL PHOTOS - ANOKHI SAKLECHA

New Year in Kazakhstan

GLOBAL GET TOGETHER (TOP) At the India booth, Renu Singh (11) applies henna to another student. (BOTTOM) To represent their countries, students who organized the Arabic booth created an elaborate visual display including pictures, food, and various paraphernalia. (RIGHT) Wei Wei Buchsteiner (11) dons German apparel during the multicultural fair.

anokhi saklecha reporter Flavorful Arabian falafels, cheerful Israeli music, and colorful Korean bookmarks greeted students throughout the Atrium during the Upper School’s Multicultural Day. Presented by the Global Empowerment and Outreach (GEO) Club, Multicultural Week included a multicultural carnival, dress up day, and fundraising. “[GEO week] is basically just an [occasion] for everyone to show off their cultures. It gives students the chance to not worry about schoolwork and just come together to celebrate each other’s ethnic backgrounds,” GEO president Amie Chien (12) said.

The multicultural fair, which took place on Wednesday, March 20, consisted of 12 booths, depicting various countries and ethnicities from around the world. Spirited students enthusiastically hosted booths, sharing their cultures’ customs and traditions. Exhibited countries included Korea, Norway, Germany, and Japan.

Delicious foods, colorful images, and informational poster boards representing each respective culture filled every station. In addition, some stalls even incorporated significant ethnic activities, including Indian henna tattoo application.

“I think the GEO fair is so cool.

You can walk around and learn about all these different countries. And this way, we can experience more of the culture and less of the stereotypes”

Lori Berenberg (12), who co-headed the Israel booth, said.

Following the multicultural fair, vibrant kurthas and flowery kimonos dotted the hallways of Main on Friday as students were given the opportunity to dress in traditional ethnic attire to represent their culture or heritage. However, while more than one-third of the students last year dressed up, only ten percent did so this year. Students who dressed up were then able to enter a raffle for gift cards.

“I think it’s really interesting to see all of the different students from various backgrounds dressed up and presenting their culture. It’s a great learning experience as well as a great bonding experience for the Harker community,” David Lin (10) said.

This year, GEO members sold pencils, stationary, water bottles, and other items to support Pencils of Promise, a global organization that provides educational opportunities to underprivileged children of third world countries. The club’s goal was to reach $2500: enough to sponsor a classroom of students.

“We thought it would be nice that Harker, as a school, could help support another school-like environment, and build a close relationship through that,” Amie said.

GEO’s multicultural events ended with the multicultural talent show, which was combined with the annual HOSCARS, held yesterday.

As a part of our collaboration with the Nazarbayev Intellectual school of Astana in Kazakhstan, The Winged Post is including this article, which is a f irst hand account of the recent Turkish New Year celebrations. Articles from our other sister schools can be found later this week online at www.talonwp. com under the Global section.

erik dostayev NISA press Nauryz is the name of Turkish New Year and celebrations that go after it. In Kazakhstan we celebrate it from the 22nd of March, which is also known as a day of northward equinox, till the 24th of March. We celebrate this day in Kazakhstan by making different traditional meals, going to each other’s homes and wishing happy New Year and also by leaving our doors open for the night so that “Kydyr Ata” will come to our house and if he’ll like it, he will bless our home.

One of the most common traditional meals that you can see on the tables of people on this day is Nauryz- kozhe. Nauryzkozhe is basically a milk soup mixed with 7 different ingredients, which many people believe brings luck in the coming year.

10

Lifestyle

March 29, 2013 the Winged Post

Transition into spring treats

Desert your old desserts

5best

shannon su & manthra panchapakesan TalonWP news editor & reporter

It’s midnight. You have a physics test tomorrow, and you haven’t even touched the book, but your stomach is grumbling. Instead of chomping down on yet another pack of chips, you run downstairs to grab one of those treats you made the past weekend. With Spring break approaching and AP ex-

pranks April 1st, the day of pranks, jokes, and turning all of your friends into “fools,” unless of course you are the fool. If you often find yourself the victim of such April Fools Jokes, here are some ideas to retaliate ranging from simple, almost effortless pranks to wild and crazy ones.

But remember, The Winged Post takes no responsibility for the consequences. Don’t try these at school!

Want to prank a friend without putting any effort in?

TLC”s Top 10 April Fools Day Pranks

Level 3

If you want to surprise a friend with a not-so-delicious Coke, try this one.

You’ll need your victim’s coke bottle, a full bottle of Sprite, and a bottle of soy sauce. Pour the bottle of Sprite into the empty coke bottle, but not all the way to the top. Next, add soy sauce until the color of the liquid is the same as the original coke and place in the ridge where the original bottle was.

Watch in amusement as your unsuspecting victim opens the bottle and takes a drink.

Prankked.com

alyssa amick & elisabeth siegel TalonWP online editor & reporter

Level 2

If you’re willing to put in a little more work to get a reaction, try this easy trick.

Here are two easy ways to freak your friends out. First, find a container of mayonnaise in your house (or just buy one) and empty it. Then, fill the jar with either plain or vanilla yogurt. Grab a spoon and chow down as you walk around downtown or other public places and laugh as innocent passersby gawk at you as you “eat mayonnaise.”

To escalate this simple trick, grab a bottle of Windex and repeat the previous steps (wash it out thoroughly first) with blue gatorade, powerade, or any other blue drink.

Occasionally, mention how “clean” your mouth feels as you use the nozzle to spray the drink into your mouth or just chug it down.

Reddit

The Strokes: emily lin reporter

After a two year slumber, critically acclaimed indie rock band The Strokes has finally re-emerged into the limelight with their fifth studio album Comedown Machine, released on March 26.

The album’s lead single “All the Time” marks a wistful return to the Strokes’ debut album, Is This It, which earned a spot on Rolling Stone’s 500 best albums of all time and designated the band as the primary vanguard of the 21st century rock revival movement. “All the Time” is so similar to the band’s pilot songs that it could have been lifted straight from Is This It, but no one seems to be complaining, as the formula that worked so well for the Strokes over a decade ago is still functioning flawlessly now.

Unfortunately, the classic-Strokes sound of “All the Time” is desecrated by the baffling mishmash of incomprehensible falsetto and 80’s synths in “Chances.” Grainy blues sleeper “Call It Fate, Call It Karma” is another example of the type of scatterbrained and erratic head-scratchers that we would never expect from a band as accomplished as The Strokes. Frontman Julian Casablancas, who

All that is required for this prank is 5 loud alarm clocks, and a library (or another large but relatively quiet area), and a hiding place to watch the madness that will ensue.

Set the first alarm clock for any time, and set the second for five minutes after. Then, set the third for 15 minutes after the second, and the fourth for five minutes after the third. Set the fifth alarm clock for twenty minutes after the first. Arrive early and hide the clocks, scattering them throughout the area of your choosing.

It will be quite a shock when the first one goes off, and even the second five minutes later. But the lull will make people think it’s over only to be surprised by the third and fourth alarm clocks. Twenty minutes later people will assume it’s over only to be shocked by the fifth.

Metafilter.com

Level 5 If you have lots of free time, and have the right connections, this prank will cause laughs all around.

One night, obtain three pigs (or other animal). Label the pigs with a 1, a 2, and a 4. Release the pigs into your school, house, or other place of your choosing, where they won’t get free.

The next morning, it will be fairly easy to find the first, second, and fourth pig, but those in charge will find it impossible to find the third!

Bonus points for other animals including birds, cats, and horses.

TLC”s Top 10 April Fools Day Pranks

New album introduces medley of garage rock with 80s pop

should scrap the falsetto and stick to what he’s good at—broody baritone— could not have been more uncannily accurate when he crooned in “One Way Trigger” that “there’s a million reasons to leave.”

While most of their hardcore fans won’t be leaving anytime soon, the Strokes’ recent collaborations with the likes of Ke$ha and Santigold consolidate the band’s marked departure from its visceral garage rock roots. This radical transformation was first adumbrated in 2009 album Angles, an unexpectedly refreshing foray into a new sonic style accentuated by futuristic melodies and funky instrumentals.

A continuation of this trend is seen in Comedown Machine songs “One Way Trigger” and “Slow Animals,” which venture into glo-fi territory that is decidedly uncharacteristic but also staggeringly fitting for this rock-rooted band. Album opener “Tap Out” is unmistakably one of Comedown Machine’s highlights, warming up with a pithy guitar brawl before oozing steadily into a velvety groove.

Disco-packed “Welcome to Japan” also impresses with its honed sequence and caustic jeer: “What kind of a**hole drives a Lotus?” Those who are exasperated by the falsetto and lust for Casablancas’ signature insouciant swing w i l l find solace in

s2 sticks (1 cup) softened butter s3/4 cup packed light brown sugar s1 cup granulated sugar s2 large eggs s1 tablespoon pure vanilla s3 1/2 cups flour s1 teaspoon salt s1 teaspoon baking soda 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and stir the s10 oz. bag chocolate chips butter and sugar together. Then beat the eggs s1 package Oreo cookies and vanilla.

2. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together. Slowly add the sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla along with chocolate chips.

3. Using a cookie scooper, take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo cookie. Then, take another scoop and place it beneath the Oreo.

4. Seal the sides by pressing the edges together until the Oreo cookie is fully surrounded with dough.

5. Place cookies onto a baking sheet and bake the cookies for 9-13 minutes. Let them cool for five minutes before moving to a cooling rack. (This makes about two dozen large-sized cookies.) www.beckybakes.net

pink velvet cupcakes

s1 box white cake mix s1 small package Jello instant pudding mix (vanilla) s1 cup sour cream s1 cup vegetable oil s4 eggs, beaten s1/2 cup milk s1 tsp vanilla spink food coloring sbutter cream frosting 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 2. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.

3. Add pink food coloring until you have reached the shade of pink you would like. Caution: most food coloring gels are very strong, so add slowly.

4. Pour batter into greased or lined cupcake tins.

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

6. Cool completely, and then ice with butter cream frosting.

7. Add sprinkles or M&M for decoration!

www. beckybakes.net

Strawberry pina colada s1 cup fresh pineapple chunks s1 cup unsweetened coconut milk s1 banana s6-7 frozen strawberries If using unfrozen strawberries, add a couple of ice cubes to maintain the chilled nature of a smoothie.

1. Throw all ingredients into a blender until smooth. Serve immediately.

WWW.THESTROKES.COM

On the morning of April Fool’s Day, leave your friend (or foe) a simple sticky-note or other type of message saying “April Fools.” Watch from a distance as your victim deals with the confusion of an otherwise unexplainable note. They will spend the rest of the day absolutely paranoid and terrified of what the note might mean.

chocolate chip cookie coated oreo

Level 4

Level 1

ams just around the corner, now is the time to whip together a few desserts to satisfy your sweet tooth and to snack on during your cram sessions. The Winged Post brings you six quick-tomake mouthwatering desserts ranging from simple for the novice chef to complex for the seasoned baker.

COMEDOWN MACHINE After a two year break, The Strokes released their latest album on March 22, 2013.

www.beckybakes.net

Strawberry gelatin s1 1/2 pounds strawberries s3/4 cup sugar s2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice s2 packages (1/4 ounce each) unflavored gelatin 1. Take one pound of strawberries and divide into four pieces. Combine the cut strawberries with sugar and lemon juice, and stir for about ten minutes.

2. Place one cup of water in a small saucepan. Then pour the gelatin over the water and let it stay for about five minutes in order for the gelatin to soften.

3. Purée the strawberry mixture in a blender and make sure there are no solids left. Add enough water to measure a total of three cups of liquid. Set aside.

4. Heat the gelatin until it begins to bubble and until it has dissolved. Stir it into the strawberry juice.

5. Divide the mixture among four serving glasses and let it cool until firm, for three to four hours.

6. When ready to serve, dice the remaining half pounds of strawberries and place them on the chilled gelatins.

“50/50,” a raggedly tenacious tune that pays homage to the band’s 2004 hit single, “Reptilia.”

While the Strokes’ timeless contributions to indie-rock have been nothing short of revolutionary, it seems that this album’s somewhat doddery attempt at gentrification has failed to keep pace with its contemporaries. On the other hand, much of Comedown Machine’s scum is revitalized with additional listens, and many of the songs perch seamlessly on the balance between evolving doggedly and alluding www.marthastewart.net to earlier eras.

Perhaps, our fears of the Strokes’ impending decline and demise have been averted rather than reaffirmed with Comedown Machine.

Machine. And so s1/2 cup corn syrup (1/2 cup we must ask, Is This It for the band sugar and 1/8 cup water can be that was once hailed as the substituted) “savior of rock n’ roll?” For s1 1/2 cups sugar our sake, we really hope s1/2 teaspoon salt that it isn’t.

1. Over medium high heat, combine corn syr- s1/2 teaspoon baking soda up, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan. Con- s1 cup raw cashews, unsalted sider substituting brown sugar and water for s2 tablespoons butter the corn syrup to make this recipe healthier. sVanilla ice cream 2. Cook until the candy thermometer reaches sSpecial equipment: Candy therTHE STROKES Julian Casablancas, Nick 310°F. mometer Valensi, Albert Ham3. Remove mixture from stove and quickly mond Jr., Nikolai add baking soda, butter, and cashews, stirring the entire time.

Fraiture, and 4. Once the mixture is an opaque color, spray nonstick cooking spray on a tray Fabrizio Moretti and spread the mixture onto it using a wooden spoon. pose for their album, “Come5. Cooling time: one and a half hours down Machine,” 6. Served cooled with vanilla ice cream.

WWW.JUSTMUSIC.FR

Crunchy Cashew Ice Cream Delight

after spending 14 years together as a band.

www.foodnetwork.com

ALL PHOTOS SHANNON SU & MANTHRA PANCHAPAKESAN

11

Lifestyle

samar malik & roshni pankhaniya

A

copy editor & reporter

Along with the approaching warm weather, spring 2013 will introduce new textures, accessories, and patterns to the trendy student’s wardrobe. This season brings back some old classics with a new twist, incorporates winter fabrics into spring fashion, and experiments with bright colors. The Winged Post has compiled this seasons’ greatest trends to help you stay chic, fashionable, and stand out in the crowd.

POOJA CHIRALA (11)

C A

March 29, 2013 the Winged Post

BOLD STRIPES

B

Dare to sport spring’s biggest print trend: bold stripes. An easy way to make a statement and add a unique, eye-catching design to your outfit, stripes are a sure-fire standout this season.

According to Harper’s Bazaar, stripes of all kinds are welcomed into this spring’s list of fashion trends: “whether horizontal, vertical chevron or curved, it’s time to embrace the striped life.”

Designers have implemented the classic design onto a variety of clothing pieces from pants to shirts and ball gowns. The trend brings back the beauty of simplicity in an outfit - a clean set of stripes is a refreshing departure from edgy studs and jewelry.

B

STYLISH SHADES Funky sunglasses are a trendy way to spice up any outfit—this spring, look out for shades with creative patterns and shapes. Colorful pairs with prints are currently being sported on the runway, even though square rims and cat-eye frames are rising in popularity as well. Instead of settling on shades with one solid color, twotone shades are also a great way to add some flare to an otherwise plain outfit.

As hinted by Fashion Magazine, “this season [is the time] to cast aside the traditional aviators and think bigger, brighter and bolder.”

Don’t be afraid to sport colored shades in place of traditional black or brown rims. Welcome spring’s gorgeous colors with a flashy new pair.

WEI WEI BUCHSTEINER (11) JESSICA YANG (10)

SPENSER QUASH (12) C

LEATHER Popular throughout fall and winter of 2012, leather is surprisingly making its debut as a warm-weather piece this spring, reintroduced as a much more wearable fabric.

From skirts and dresses to bold vests and jackets, leather pieces dominated spring 2013 runways. Stock up on light leather outerwear or leather bottoms in preparation for the spring.

As described by Elle, “[leather] is getting a breath of fresh air reincarnated as buttery soft shorts and pants, and lightweight toppers to fight off any still-crisp spring breezes.”

Guys can also sport the leather trend with bomber jackets and vests of similar texture during the transition to spring.

E

E

PREEYA MEHTA (12)

LACE TEXTURES Taking a cue from spring’s own light and playful feel, lace textures are in full-force on runways. Used as both main and accent pieces, lace is an easy way to dress up any outfit with its curious feel and multiple design possibilities. Dresses with lace patterns and shirts with lace sleeves are easy to wear and add a more put-together vibe to even the simplest outfits.

“Look for dresses, tops, skirts and accessories in any color palette. They’ll add some elegant sophistication to your current rotation and keep the feeling going as temperatures begin to rise,” an article in Elle suggested.

Lace textures and patterns are making a comeback this spring, and are easy to accessorize with light jewelry and a pair of flats or heels. The light and delicate fabric is the perfect addition to a spring wardrobe.

D

D

COLORED PANTS With the warmer weather comes a taste for brighter clothing and accessories.

This spring sees the return of bright colored jeans. Look out for bright blues, neon greens, and deep purple shades to mix up an outfit that would traditionally call for regular wash denim. Move forward from pastel tones to more opaque and daring colors to stay in line with this spring’s fashion trends.

Colored jeans are also growing in popularity especially for men—Men’s Health advises “to keep the rest of the look simple, avoiding patterns and sticking to neutrals.

When the pants are loud, let them speak for themselves.”

Don’t be afraid to pair colored jeans with bright accessories like statement jewelry or funky sunglasses to compliment the beautiful color scheme of spring.

PHOTOS AND DESIGN - MERCEDES CHIEN

12

Tech

March 29, 2013 the Winged Post

Video released to promote comp-sci education

Innovative car design shocks market

Tesla electrifies community with introduction of energy-efficient Model S sedan

kavya ramakrishnan & vasudha rengarajan

vedant thyagaraj reporter

reporters

Rolling up to the curb with its powerful yet silent 416 horsepower electric engine and one of the most intricately designed aluminum bodies yet, the Tesla Model S Sedan has sparked interest among the school community.

The Model S has started full production this month but was available in limited quantities weeks before. In spite of the long waitlist, many parents have placed pre-orders for the car, some of which have already arrived.

“

Neil Movva (10)

With zero tailpipe emissions and an occupancy of up to seven people, the Model S gives over 88 miles per gallon on city streets and 90 miles per gallon on highways, which is more than twice the mileage of the Toyota Prius hybrid, a popular choice among both students and parents.

“90 miles per gallon is a really

TESLA

“

It seems to be symbolizing the shift in the car industry towards purely electric vehicles

ENERGY EFFICIENCY The Model S sedan, which has started rolling out in limited quantities, is Tesla’s latest flagship electric car. The car gets over 88 miles per gallon and is one of the first of its kind. Lately, the automobile industry has been shifting away from gas powered vehicles in favor of more environmentally-friendly electric cars.

impressive mileage and its just amazing how these cars can do so much when electricity-powered,” Sahiti Avula (10) said.

The Model S’s battery, depending on the packages selected, lets owners drive anywhere from 160 to 300 miles on a single charge.

With what critics have quoted to be a “heavily appealing exterior,” the car’s interior is no less. The Model S comes with lush leather seats and a 17-inch touch screen control panel in the dashboard. The car even comes with a full-fledged web browser that can be used to surf on the go.

“The car looks awesome but at the same time is good for the environment. [It] is also cool because of

Cell phone unlocking

Freedom to switch carriers TalonWP EIT The Obama Administration and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced this past month that they are backing the consumers’ ability to unlock their phones, meaning anyone can switch carriers without buying a new phone.

By legalizing phone unlocking, users will be able to switch carriers while keeping the same phone, an action that is currently widely practiced despite being a criminal offense. In addition, it will allow cell phone users to pay lower rates on their service once they switch carriers.

Congress passed a law last year that prevents cell phone unlocking, which lead to petitions and complaints around the nation.

Following a 100,000 signature public petition to the White House, the Obama Administration and FCC announced their official stance on the matter. According to the New York Times, the Library of Congress agrees with the Obama Administration in that it hopes that the legislative branch reviews the law.

“I think it’s a good step forward [because] phones, especially smart phones, are becoming increasingly important in our lives and people should have more flexibility. In terms of politics, I think it’s a progressive move towards better consumer protection,” Felix Wu (10) said.

People will be able to purchase at

the discounted price that come with a wireless service plan. Additionally, they will not have to worry about the long-term implications of keeping that specific provider for a year or two. This will decrease the cost of both buying phones as well as switching providers, making the process easier.

“I think people should have the freedom to do what they want with the tech they own, and if it makes changing networks less expensive, then I’m all for it,” Timothy Luong (12) said. “It’s good people are starting to get more freedom.”

Some students say that although they will not be affected by the change, they are nonetheless glad to see the right being supported by the President and FCC. They hope that Congress will side with the Obama Administration and decide to go through with reviewing and eventually overturning the law.

“It doesn’t really affect me much, and I don’t think it will, but it’s nice to have,” Lea Daran (11) said.

“I think that if people are unhappy with their carrier like some people [with iPhones] who don’t like AT&T, it could be really helpful for some people to get the cheapest plan and a good phone also.”

Although the Obama Administration and FCC are encouraging Congress to look again at the law, it is the Legislative branch that will make the final decision regarding phone unlocking. Currently, there is no word from Congress on its stance on the issue, and it has not yet agreed to review the law.

DARIAN EDVALSON - TALONWP

darian edvalson

the electronics, especially the fact that [it is] pretty much run through the extremely responsive touch screen in the center console,” Model S owner Kiran Arimilli (12) said.

According to Tesla, the Model S acts as a great family car while at the same time emphasizing its sports-car like feel.

When asked about why he bought the car, Rao Arimilli, Kiran’s father, said that “performance, comfort and and flexibility to ‘gas up i.e., charge’ at home” were all reasons for his purchase.

The Model S so far has been available on a first-come first-serve basis. Tesla is taking reservations for the car, whose cost ranges anywhere

from $52,400 to $87,400 depending on the packages selected.

Many students see the benefits of the car and have very high opinions of it. Some not only see the Model S as a novel car, but also as a shift in the car industry.

“The Model S is an icon of the electric car industry, and it seems to be symbolizing the shift in the car industry towards purely electric vehicles. That’s the future and the Model S is a great start,” Neil Movva (10) said.

The electric car industry seems to be a hot field currently, but only time will tell whether these electric cars seem practical to everyday drivers.

miniature Slice of Pi: New computer released ashwini iyer reporter Imagine a child who has shown an interest in coding and engineering but does not have access to the Basic Programming and AP Computer Science courses or even a computer. Whether or not you chose to take these courses, that child will never even be given the chance to make that decision and may never give computer science a chance.

After noticing a steady decline in the in the interest for jobs in computer science fields, The Raspberry Pi Foundation was founded in the United Kingdom with a mission to promote the accessibility of the basic study of computer science in schools all over the world.

They are attempting to solve this issue by creating a single board computer called the Raspberry Pi, priced at $35 and is available for purchase on their website. Due to its affordable price and relative ease of use, the product was an instant success with 20,000 units purchased only a few months after its launch.

“I got one when it was a relatively new concept, and I think its great. It’s easy to use and it’s true that a lot of people these days are not as educated in computer science as they should be. I mean the world is pretty much dependent on computers, so you really should know how to use them,” Rishabh Jain (10) said. “I hope that they catch on in more schools too so that kids don’t grow up thinking that computers are scary and hard to use.”

Similar to the Karel J Robot program that is used in introductory programming classes today, Raspberry Pi is not only durable and affordable, but also allows students to experiment and learn fearlessly.

The computer not only helps students learn more about the hardware and parts of a computer but it also teaches them how to program the computer to do whatever they want it to. By using an application called the Raspbian, users can access the “Pi Store,” which was opened in early December and houses all the Raspberry Pi software they may need for their educational ventures.

Many students at Harker also believe that computer science is important because it helps them learn how to think and solve problems in a step by step manner which helps them in subjects other than computer science as well.

“Computer science is really fun for me because it teaches me how to think logically and systematically. I think learning how to solve a problem in the simplest way possible without overcomplicating things is a really great thing to learn when you are young,” Helen Wu (10) said. “Raspberry Pi will hopefully be a stepping stone into making learning to write successful programs more fun and rewarding than it already is.”

Others believe that the logical thinking skills required for success in this job cannot be taught.

“I don’t think anyone should be forced to take computer science because it’s one of those things that you are either good at or you aren’t. There is no gray area. I think it’s like being forced to take art or something: you should get to choose to take the courses that you want and know that you will be good at,” Sadhika Malladi (9) said.

Even though the market has welcomed Raspberry Pi, some users think that there are ways to make it even more appealing to schools and younger audiences.

“If we can get the government to invest some money into computer science funding in schools and have a huge number of Raspberry Pis sent to schools in less wealthy neighborhoods, students would have no reason to not learn how to work computers,” Neil Movva (10) said. “Thirty dollars is very cheap in comparison, but I still think we can make it more affordable for students in schools with less funding than we do.”

According to their website, The Raspberry Pi Foundation is working to improve its product and make it not only more affordable but also easier to use and as a result provide their users with an even higher sense of gratification and spark higher interest in computer science in the younger generations.

What do you get when you cross Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, NBA all-star Chris Bosh, and pop sensation Will.i.am? The answer is Code. org’s newest promotional video. In a move towards computer education, the website aims to make programming an accessible skill, is quickly gaining public attention with support from some of the world’s most well known celebrities.

The video begins with white text breaking the pitch black of the screen.

“Everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer,” it says, attributing the quote to Steve Jobs. “Because it teaches you how to think.” The video goes on to feature celebrities including Bill Clinton, Ashton Kutcher, and Meg Whitman asserting the necessity of students learning programming skills.

According to Code.org, for every 1.4 million jobs in computer programming, only 400,000 computer scientists graduate from university, leaving a gap of roughly one million jobs in the industry.

This deficit of computer professionals was the impetus for brothers Hadi and Ali Partovi to launch Code. org, a non-profit with the goal of making computer science and programming available to people around the world.

The site compiles a number of resources and websites where students can learn to code interactively in using HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

According to freshman Darius Yohannan, programming is becoming an increasingly important skill for students to learn, whether in a classroom setting or online.

“When you grow up, you have to make a lot of decisions, and many of them could include programming,” he said. “I would [take the class] first to see if I enjoy programming. Then I would use the website.”

AP Computer Science teacher Susan King, who previously taught online at Florida Virtual School, felt that the effectiveness of online teaching resources varied with each individual.

“I think highly motivated kids can learn quite a bit from a website; it helps to have a few help windows or videos,” she said. “Khan Academy has quite a bit and other people have some information out there, so I think for starting programming, you can do that. Some kids do marvelously in that environment, others do better with a teacher supporting them directly.”

The website also reaches out to teachers in schools without computer programming classes available to students, and offers online resources such as classroom tutorials, curriculum that can be integrated into other subjects such as math, and ways to bring coding classes to schools.

In contrast, Lisa Liu (9), a current AP Computer Science student, said she believes it to be difficult for a student to receive a proper computer programming education through a website alone.

“A website might be able to teach you the syntax of a program, but you need an actual teacher to show you how to make your code more effective,” she said.

The video reflected an already existing vast body of information that the Internet has made available to those willing to learn, joining sites like Khan Academy, CodingBat, Codeacademy, and CodeHS. The efforts to increase students’ exposure to coding targets girls in particular in a reaction to the low levels of females involved in scientific fields.

“Technology is advancing at a rapid rate and no matter what field we go into, computers will definitely be used, so it’s important to learn about computer science,” Anika Radya-Dixit (12), a member of WiSTEM, said. “I think our club is great in trying to encourage more women into science and getting interested in computers. More clubs like that are needed.“ Organizations such as these have begun to pop up all over the world with a large concentration in the United States, working actively to encourage students and adults to begin programming. With fierce competition from countless celebrity music videos and humorous vlogs, Code.org’s successful video launch has come to represent the growing interest in science and education in our developing society.

Tech

13

March 29, 2013 the Winged Post

COURTESY OF JOSEPH WANG

FOX BROADCASTING COMPANY

UAT

Senior develops new levitating billboard technology

NEW MARKETING METHOD (Left) Joseph (12) is the co-founder of Urban Airspace Technologies (UAT), a start-up dedicated to creating airborne technology. (Top right) The most recent CATIA rendering of UAT’s prototype billboard displays some of the technology’s main features and components. (Bottom right) The Simpsons episode that inspired Joseph to venture into airspace advertising

samantha hoffman & meena chetty editor in chief & managing editor “It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a … levitating billboard?”

While airborne advertising may seem a thing of the distant future, Joseph Wang (12) hopes to make that technology a reality with his start-up venture Urban Airspace Technologies (UAT).

UAT is based upon the idea of expanding airspace advertising using

organic light-emitting diode (OLED) billboards suspended in the air and supported by hydrogen aerostats with radii of 15 feet as well as movementminimizing tethers. These advertisements could be installed either indoors or outdoors with an optimal floor-toceiling distance of 80 feet.

The inspiration for UAT hit Joseph while he was watching the episode of The Simpsons called “Holidays of Future Passed.” “[The episode] was featuring what people thought Springfield would be in the future. They had the idea of adver-

tising by rearranging stars, and I was thinking, ‘I can’t rearrange stars, but I can do something [like that],’” Joseph said.

According to Joseph, the technology UAT hopes to develop will help contribute to long term airspace economic efficiency and technology development.

“The space above us is really underutilized,” he said. “If we can’t picture a billboard, a stationary billboard, floating in air, how are we going to picture cars whizzing above us and how can we trust that?”

Frisbee free-for-all

Robotics takes on the challenge at FIRST tournament karen tu reporter

Spinning around shooting Frisbees, several robots whirr and clank across a large indoor field.

Students look on the competition with worry and trepidation coloring their faces.

The 2013 FIRST Robotics Tournament Sacramento Regionals took place last week at University of California Davis from March 21 to 23. The game, Ultimate Ascent SM, challenges students to build a robot that flings Frisbees through an array of three goals at the end of a 27 by 54 foot field.

The game was broken into two rounds.

The first, an autonomous round where the robot plays without human aid, lasted fifteen seconds and the second two-minute round had a student driver. The goals were arranged in a pyramid with each goal worth different point values. In the last moments of the second round, the robots must climb a tower in the middle of the field.

Each tower had three tiers; robots were scored on the height they attained as well as the goals they scored.

The participating teams were divided randomly into groups of three different robots each that faced off against one another. Students were forced to adapt and work together with people and robots they had never worked with before.

Harker placed 31st out of the 53 participating teams, winning five out of 11 games. This year saw the highest number of participants ever, with 2,550 competing teams across the United States and over 5,000 students.

Although their robot, Scalar, worked during practice, the robot broke and remained stationary throughout most of the game when the team arrived at the competition.

“When we got to the competition, the ro-

bot totally didn’t work. The kicking and shooting parts stopped working and half the time, our robot didn’t even move,” Melody Weber (9) said.

The team was broken into four groups separately in charge of the electrical, mechanical, software, and public relations management aspects of the competition. The mechanical team soldered and cut the robot from scratch, while the electrical team worked on the wiring.

Software workers programmed the robot to perform the challenge. In order to find funding, the public relations team talked to different technology based businesses. Harker was partnered with Hi-tech Metal Fabrication and Col-Mex Precision Sheet Metal.

Although the team will not be advancing to the Championship Round, they learned a lot about the processes and strategies for the future.

“For one, I have learned about the basic principles around design and engineering of a robot,” said Chief Technical Advisor for the team Michael Lin (10). “In the robotics team, we mimic the structure of a startup company; here we are able to learn how they operate, and very sadly learn how a startup falls to its demise.”

According to Michael, the robot’s accuracy, shooting speed, and range were very effective; however, the robot did not have an efficient way to insert the Frisbees into the shooter, resulting in the robot malfunctioning.

For the rest of the year, the robotics team will continue working on its robot, using its experiences at the competition to improve and fix their robot.

“We’re going to try and fix the robot,” Jonathan Ta (9) said. “We’re also going to be preparing for the Silicon Valley Regionals.”

The next competition will take place from April 4 to 6.

In order to pursue his start-up, Joseph initially applied for a fellowship from the Thiel Foundation, which annually grants 20 students under 20 years of age $100,000 to drop out of school and pursue interests ranging from research to activism. After being rejected, however, he contacted a current Thiel fellow who agreed to advise him through the process of building his start-up.

The next step was hiring interns.

A total of five college students from Stanford University, Santa Clara University, Texas A&M, and San Jose State

University joined UAT soon after the project’s inception. Unlike a typical startup, Joseph had no office space or even any means of paying his interns salary.

“I didn’t pay any of them,” he said.

“I just gave them the offer of being able to be a part of a startup as something new, and I think that’s what really got them into it.”

Managing college students as a high schooler was, according to Joseph, “definitely weird.” Initially, Joseph and his advisor did not even reveal their respective ages of 16 and 19 to their colleagues. “[One intern] was kind of surprised, but at the same time very impressed by the fact that we were so young and we were so into what we wanted to do,” he said. “I think that age barrier wasn’t too much of a problem, factoring in the fact that we’re in Silicon Valley, and this kind of stuff is always being started by young people.”

As the team proceeded with the start-up, they had the chance to work with two companies: the San Francisco Giants and TechCrunch. “[The Giants] were really fascinated with the idea. Unfortunately, that didn’t really work out, mainly because we didn’t really come into the meeting prepared enough, and we didn’t really work out the problems that would be associated with it,” he said.

Although Joseph faced challenges with UAT due to a lack of angel investor funding and resources, he emphasized that he still gained important skills from the experience.

“I think it’s really gotten me into startup culture and entrepreneurship is definitely something that I think I pushed myself towards through this process,” he said.

Joseph hopes to continue to expand and improve upon UAT with the help of an incubator and seed-funding and looks to unveil his prototype sometime in his early college career.

14

Sports

March 29, 2013 the Winged Post

Sports feature: A look at Michael Amick

SP

EC

IA

L

TO

TH

E

W

IN

G

ED

PO

ST

reporter There are a lot of high school varsity athletes. Some of them make it to the state level; several manage to compete nationally. But few get the chance to represent their country and enter the international playing field.

Senior Michael Amick is one of those few. Currently playing on the U.S. U-18 men’s national soccer team, Michael has competed around the world, returning from a fourth trip to Europe just this week.

Like with all successful athletes, Michael’s explosive career began early.

Soccer has been a major part of his life for years, from his earliest days as a recreational player coached by his father.

“My parents signed me up for a rec league when I was about three years old, and it was just something I did for fun once a week,” he said. “I started playing competitive soccer when I was eight and joined [club team] De Anza Force when I was nine.”

Initially, Michael had to balance soccer with a variety of other sports, especially track.

“I got into track arousnd the same age, and so it was track and soccer for a while, but I eventually realized that I had to choose one to focus on, and I chose soccer,” he said.

At De Anza Force, where he still plays today, Michael continued to improve and develop as a player. De Anza Force Director of Tactical Development and current Harker boys’ soccer coach Shaun Tsakiris coached him for several years.

“You could always see something in Michael, that he was going to succeed, because he was always the hardest working player

there,” Tsakiris said. “He had a great attitude and was very easy to coach.”

Andy Perez (12), currently one of Michael’s teammates at De Anza Force, also praised Michael’s work ethic as well as his playing skill.

“Individually, he’s a great player, because as a defender he’ll never miss a tackle and never be beaten,” Andy said.

“As a teammate, not only does he work incredibly hard for his [other] teammates, but he’s a leader on the field and helps everyone with his communication.”

Though Michael was first invited to the national team as a freshman, a hamstring injury prevented him from joining.

“I’ve struggled with hamstring injuries for the last three years, on and off,” he said. “Taking time off and not getting to play and trying to recover would probably be the most difficult part [of dealing with injuries].”

His second call to the national team came in January last year, and he traveled to Florida for a domestic training camp. Because the players on the team come from all over the country, these camps are their only opportunities to practice together.

“All the players came in to Florida and we got to play together and with the coach, and it was a great experience and an honor to get called in,” he said.

With the team, Michael then traveled to Europe for multiple tournaments and friendly matches, playing teams from countries including Portugal, Slovakia, and the Netherlands.

His most recent trip included matches against the French and Romanian national teams.

“The biggest difference [in competing internationally] is the speed and physicality of play,” he said. “Most of the players are professional players already—they play at the highest level and this is what they do for a living.”

Unlike some of his national teammates, Michael does not play professionally, though he has considered it as a possibility in the future. Last year he committed himself to play for UCLA, partially because he felt that UCLA’s

“

He was going to succeed because he was always the hardest working player out there.

juhi gupta & samar malik TalonWP video/photo editor & copy editor

SJ SHARKS The San Jose Sharks defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-0 on Wednesday, March 27 at the HP Pavilion, marking an improvement in their performance this season. Joe Pavelski broke the zero-to-zero tie during the first quarter with a wraparound against Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller. The Sharks scored three times in the first period and once in the third period, bringing the score to its final standing, beating the Ducks for the second time in three days: their first two consecutive wins since their seven game streak at the start of the season.

The team won the five-season series against the Ducks at 3-2-0. Currently struggling to make the playoffs, San Jose has 36 points and is tied with the St. Louis Blues for seventh in the Western Conference. Their next game is against the Phoenix Coyotes at HP Pavilion on Saturday, March 30.

“

stephanie chen

Local sports update

Shaun Tsakiris, Varsity soccer head coach soccer program could help him launch a professional soccer career.

“It was between Stanford and UCLA, and UCLA gave me a better opportunity to pursue a professional career than Stanford, which doesn’t have quite the same caliber soccer team,” Michael said.

Tsakiris, who played for UCLA from 1997 to 2000, supported Michael’s decision to commit.

“UCLA has a very good soccer program, where I’m sure that [Michael] will be able to do well,” he said.

Michael’s parents also expressed their pride and encouragement for his future career.

“I think it’s great that he is living his dream, which he worked so hard for,” his mother Tamra Amick said.

Michael will join the UCLA team in the fall of this year. In the meantime, he plans on continuing to improve both with his club team at home and the national team in a trip to Portugal in May.

WARRIORS Wednesday, March 27 marked a close game for the Golden State Warriors, who lost 105-98 against the Sacramento Kings at Oakland’s Oracle Arena. Nearing the end of the regular season, the Warriors beat the Lakers on Monday, taking them a step closer to the playoffs. On Wednesday, the Warriors were led by David Lee, who scored 20 points, as opposed to the usual shooters Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

The team started off slow in the first quarter but pulled ahead to finish the first quarter with a three point lead. The Kings gained an 11 point lead, making the score 77-66 at the end of the third quarter. The Warriors attempted a comeback, scoring 32 points to the Kings’ 28, but the Kings regined victorious. Impressive highlights included Curry’s 26 foot 3-pointer in the third quarter, Jarrett Jack’s 25 foot 3-pointer from the right side during the fourth quarter, and Harrison Barnes’ 23 foot 3-pointer from the left wing in the third quarter.

EARTHQUAKES On Saturday, March 23, the San Jose Earthquakes, led by Chris Wondolowski, defeated the Seattle Sounders 1-0 at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara. Wondolowski, the 2012 MLS MVP, now has a total of six goals against Seattle. Head Coach Frank Yallop commended Wondolowski’s confidence stating he “doesn’t drop his head [and] always feels he’s going to score.”

Both teams felt the absence of key players away on national-team duty; the Quakes’ back defensive line was reassigned with Dan Gargan and Nana Attakora-Gyan making his first MLS appearance since 2012. Despite this, the defensive line was successful in sealing the team’s victory. The Quakes play the Houston Dynamos on March 30 at BBVA Compass Stadium.

MALE ATHLETE of the MONTH Sumit Minocha (12)

anishka agarwal

SF GIANTS

In a little over 10 seconds, Sumit Minocha (12) became the fastest male runner in CCS and number 5 in the state for the 100 meter. This historic moment for the Upper School, along with his other accomplishments as a runner, have earned Sumit the title of Athlete of the Month.

“He has worked very hard this year, harder than ever, and it is paying off,” said Varsity track coach Scott Chisam. “There have been many small changes we have made to his running and training that are all coming together in his performances.”

At the Saint Francis Invitational, Sumit had already broken a school record by running the 100 meter in 11.05 seconds but he managed to improve his time at Gilroy High School at the

Garlic Invitational where he ran the 100 meter at a CCS best of 10.84 seconds and the 200 meter at a CCS best of 22.38 seconds. It was also in those 100 meters that he earned the title of 5th fastest in the state.

Yesterday, Sumit was honored in the San Jose Mercury News sports section as he was named the Mercury News High School Athlete of the Week for all spring sports.

“He is a team captain and adds a winning spirit to this team. Everyone can [see] the effort he puts into his running, it has been contagious,” said Chisam.

Sumit, along with his relay team, ran the 400 meter in 45.45 seconds, the league best, at their very first league meet of the season. On Wednesday at

LIFETOUCH

Track

reporter

the second league meet, which took place at Sacred Heart Prep, Sumit broke another school record as he ran the 400 meters in 50.94, which is the 5th best time at CCS. Sumit, along with Isabelle Connell (12) and Corey Gonzales (10), have been invited to the Stanford Invitational, which will take place this weekend. After that he will focus on preparing for the league championships, the CCS championships and the California State Championships.

The San Francisco Giants played the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, March 27, beating their fellow Cactus League and National League counterparts 8-6. The last two runs were both scored by the D-backs in the bottom of the sixth inning, determining the final score for the game.

Highlights include third baseman Nick Noonan’s 2 runs batted in and impressive play, as well as home runs by Hunter Pence, Francisco Peguero, and Brandon Belt. “Noonan makes strong case for roster spot” is the headline for the Giants’ official site, hinting at the possibility of Noonan’s promotion to the Opening Day’s active list of players.

The game marked the close of their 2013 Spring Training and will be followed by three exhibition games against the Oakland A’s. The regular season will begin on April 1 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

March Madness poll sonia sidhu sports editor

FEMALE ATHLETE

Did you make a bracket?

of the

223%

MONTH

Christine Lee (11)

LIFETOUCH

Lacrosse

Goalie of the Varsity girls’ lacrosse team, Athlete of the Month Christine Lee (11) possesses all the qualities required: agility, hard work, and good reflexes.

Girls’ lacrosse head coach, Andrew Irvine believes that Christine’s commitment has made her a strong goalie and the team would not be where it is now it if it were not for her.

“Goalies need to be fearless in the face of having a girl screaming, running

at you and throwing an object at you as fast as [she] possibly can,” Irvine said.

“It takes a lot of nerve and not everyone has it, but Christine does.”

Christine has saved more than 36 goals in the season including 6 against Woodside, 7 against Christian Brother, and 9 against Stevenson leading to a final score of 16-3. She also contributed to the victory over Tamalpais High School of 18-6 by blocking 10 goals.

While her teammates agree that Christine is great on the field as goalie, they believe that she also often serves as a link between the upperclassmen and the lowerclassmen.

“She is like the team teddy bear,” said teammate Apricot Tang (12). “Everyone always hugs Christine; the minute the game ends, [we] run to Chris-

No Yes

77% tine and she is always lifting people up and patting people’s heads.”

Christine is recognized not only for her skill as a goalie but also for being a team player.

“Christine is such a great person to have on our team. Not only for her amazing goalie skill but also because of her positive attitude,” said co-captain Tiphaine Delepine. “Win or loss, Christine will always congratulate you on a good effort. Christine is such a great player, teammate, and friend and we’re so lucky to have her on our team.”

Christine is valued for her fearlessness and is appreciated by her teammates and coaches.

400 students polled Which team do you have as winning the whole tournament?

40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Duke

Louisville Kansas

Indiana

Other

115 students polled

Sports shay lari-hosain & dora tzeng reporters

High Knee Lunge:

Pigeon Pose:

As the warmer weather approaches, most teenagers are pressured to get in shape before flaunting their figures. Students may not have much time to dedicate to exercise, so here are a few quick and simple workouts to help get in shape.

The high knee lunge is an effective routine for improving quad strength. Lift your knee up as high as you can, at least above the waist, and hold it for five seconds. Drop down into a lunge, hold it for five seconds, and keep your knee off the ground.

Make sure your knee is not in front of your foot; otherwise your steps need to be larger. By the middle of the workout, you should experience a slight burning sensation, which is normal. Perform the exercise for 50 - 100 meters minimum.

This exercise is recommended for both competitive athletes gearing up before or during season and students just looking to get fit before summer, as they can be done at home.

Begin in a pushup position, with your palms aligned under the shoulders. Place the left knee on the floor near you shoulder so that your left heel is by your right hip. Lower yourself by placing your forearms flat on the ground, and bring your right leg down above the foot on the floor.

Make sure to keep your chest lifted and pointed towards the wall. Tighten your pelvic muscles and contract your glutes, while pulling in your navel towards the spine. Curl your toes, press the ball of your foot into the floor, and push through your heel.

Release and bend your knee to the floor. This pose targets a gluteal muscle called the piriformis.

Scissor Kicks:

ALL PHOTOS: DORA TZENG - WINGED POST

Scissor kicks strengthen the adominal muscles.

Lie on the ground and keep both legs about six inches above the ground. Make sure your legs are always straight, and lift one leg to create a right angle. Start kicking your legs, alternating between the right and left. Hold the position for several seconds, and then switch to the other leg.

For a challenge, keep your hands flat on the ground. However, when starting out, make the exercise easier by sitting on your hands. Continue the workout for extended periods of time. Start out by doing the workout for a few minutes at a time but gradually increase the time that you work out for.

Contributing: Vincent Lin (11, featured) and Ron Forbes

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA SCHOOL OF MUSIC Expanding the Mind Through Music  Individual Instrumental Instruction  Group Classes for beginner: piano, violin, cello, guitar, theory & ear training  Youth Chamber & Youth Choir  Monthly Recitals, Annual Award Recital, Student Honor Recital Highest Quality Music Education

 Summer Music Camp

Comprehensive Music Program

 9-foot Steinway & Sons Concert Grand piano is used at the NCSM Recital Hall  Spacious, large windowed classrooms overlooking lush courtyards

20823 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite 400 Cupertino, CA - 95014 Inside STEVENS CREEK OFFICE CENTER (Peet’s Coffee & Panera Bread at front entrance)

Uncompromised Dedication to Students

408-777-0740 / info@ncsm.net www.ncsm.net

15

Swim team sees decline in membership following policy changes

SONIA SIDHU - WINGED POST

Workouts: Get fit for spring

March 29, 2013 the Winged Post

EAT MY BUBBLES Freshman Philip Krause freestyles the length of the pool. While swim teams have seen a decrease inathletes, the swimmers are still are hard at work.

sonia sidhu

sports editor As one of the leading underclassman scorers for the boys water polo team, Jeremy Binkley (10) must stay in shape during the off season. One of the most important ways for him to do so is through swimming – but this year, he, other water polo players, and other returning swimmers have chosen to quit or have been cut from the swim team.

The swim team has seen a decline from last year’s roster of 57 members to around 30 members. This change is partly due to the loss of last year’s seniors who made up a significant portion of the team. Also, the team seems smaller because of policies that allow club swimmers to only be at practice the day before meets and a greater percentage of the According to Jeremy, the reason he quit was because he could not commit the amount of time that the new coach this year, Ronni Gautschi, wanted.

“Some policies changed this year and my workload has been more, so I don’t have the level of commitment required,” he said.

The boy’s swim team captains, Ryan Hume (12) and Billy Bloomquist (10), were decided at the end of last year’s season. However, both captains

have similarly quit or been cut because they could not commit enough time.

Gautschi has a three strike rule, shared by other athletic teams: after three unexcused absences, a swimmer will be cut from the team.

Because swimming is an individual sport, the size of the team should not have an adverse effect on the performances of the swimmers. Additionally many members will remain on the swim team, even if they think the time commitment will be too much because of the consequence of quitting.

Many water polo players also participate in swimming and by quitting a team halfway through the season, an athlete is banned from competing in the next season by the school’s policy.

Upper School Athletic Director Dan Molin believes that though the decline is unfortunate, having a smaller, more committed team is more important than a bigger, less focused one.

“Though on paper it seems like [a significant decline], some of the swimmers will make a splash,” he said.

“The commitment policies cannot be changed.”

The size of other sports teams this season has remained fairly constant with an increase in track and lacrosse.

16

ALLISON SUN - TALONWP

ALLISON SUN - TALONWP

ALLISON SUN - TALONWP

The Back Page

March 29, 2013 the Winged Post

THIRD ANNUAL HOSCARS

MEGAN PRAKASH - TALON

MEGAN PRAKASH - TALON

ALLISON SUN - TALONWP

Students cheer on their peers as performers led by student council members strutted their way down the red carpet for the annual Hoscars two-part assembly yesterday.

Ranging from vocal renditions of multilingual songs to juggling to breakdancing, the performers offered students a wide variety of acts to enjoy. The show was emceed by seniors Nikhil Panu and Bobby Kahlon. To both commence and conclude the first assembly, the Masters of Ceremony serenaded the audience.

During the second assembly, awards were distributed to the performers. Two judges from each grade determined the winners with the help of faculty representatives.