Winged Post Vol 14 No 2

Winged Post FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2012

THE HARKER UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER, VOL. 14, NO.2

talonwp.com IN BRIEF Homecoming nominations

500 SARATOGA AVE. SAN JOSE, CA 95129

ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT HONORS STUDENT OF THE WEEK

Students participate in politics

From Monday through Wednesday of this week, students nominated class representatives for each grade’s Homecoming Court.

Every student had the opportunity to nominate one girl and boy online. The list of nominees was published today, and voting for the Court is currently taking place.

Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors will have one prince and princess, while the seniors will have three of each. During the week of the Homecoming game, the student body will vote for a senior Homecoming King and Queen out of the six members of the Court, and the results will be announced during the halftime of the game.

Homecoming will take place on Friday, November 2.

nikhil dilip EIT & tech editor

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

French teacher Nicholas Manjoine will serve as co-chair of the AP French Language Test Development Committee next year after serving on the committee last year.

The committee is comprised of

SDS auditions next week

Early dismissal Monday On Monday, October 8, school will end at 1:30 p.m. instead of 3:40 p.m. because teachers will be using that time to revise and finalize student comments.

The special schedule can be found on the school web calendar or on the Harker Homework Management System bell schedule tab.

Comments will be released during the week for freshmen and seniors, who will go over them with their advisors on Wednesday and Thursday. Meanwhile, sophomores and juniors will receive their comments second semester. However, all students will be able to view their grade reports next week.

First Coffeehouse of year Tonight, the Improv Troupe will be hosting a Coffeehouse event in the Bistro.

The troupe invites all students to come see and support the group along with a variety of other acts afterwards during open mic, where anyone is welcome to perform.

“I’m hoping for a good turnout since it is the first Coffeehouse of the year,” said Alice Tsui (12), one of the Improv Troupe co-captains. “I do know, however, that regardless of how many people will be there, Coffeehouse will be a blast as usual.”

This event will also feature free coffee and will last from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m, allowing students to catch the Varsity football game directly afterwards.

FUNDRAISERS Senior Maverick McNealy attended a fundraiser for the Romney campaign. Maverick had the opportunity to meet Mitt Romney and his wife there and described Romney to be a “high-integrity” presidential candidate.

meena chetty managing editor As the 2012 presidential elections approach, students are not letting their age affect their ability to take a political stance.

Though the majority of students on campus will not be of legal voting age by election day, many have still developed opinions regarding which candidates and ideas they support.

Maverick McNealy (12) had the opportunity to meet his favored candidate, Mitt Romney, at a campaign fundraiser. “[Romney] is such a nice guy,” Maverick said. “Starting with [him] as a person, I think he is one of the most high-integrity guys. He has great business experience, [and] he’s a great

family man.”

Though Maverick is socially liberal, he found Romney’s ideas for fiscal management and improving the state of the economy appealing due to their more conservative nature. He cited Romney’s prior business experiences with Bain Capital and the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Committee as evidence that the candidate has valuable and foundational economic knowledge to help recover the economy and lessen government regulation.

Maverick did support Democratic candidate and current president Barack Obama a few years ago, but started to change his mind upon closer examination of his ideas during his term of office. He viewed the economic stimulus package as a “big mistake” due to excessive government influence in the

economy.

“Those aren’t the principles that our nation was founded upon and what’s made our nation great,” he said.

On the other hand, Junior State of America ( JSA) president Sachin Vadodaria (11) thinks that experience is the most important factor when considering who will handle the country’s economic situation best.

Sachin supports Obama’s plan to potentially increase taxes on the upper classes because he thinks it would minimize tax loophole exploitation by the wealthier American population.

Another aspect of the economic plan that he supports is Obama’s health care penalty.

STUDENT POLITICS, page 7

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I hope that [being on the committee] allows me to provide a cogent and meaningful web of experiences.

Nicholas Manjoine, AP French teacher three high school and three university teachers along with the exam’s chief reader and representatives from the College Board and Educational Testing Services.

“I hope that [being on the committee] allows me to provide a cogent and meaningful web of experiences, which I endeavor to share with my students,” he said.

“At the same time, I have an ethical responsibility to keep my role as a teaching practice separate from my discreet knowledge of, for example, what exactly will be on the exam.”

Manjoine will coordinate the committee and will continue to be a table leader at the grading sessions.

Lunch: New food window to open in gym emily chu & priscilla pan news editor & reporter

Proposed by Executive Chef Steve Martin, a food window located in the gym is scheduled to be available after Christmas break. The new location will provide quick grab-and-go style food for students in a rush.

Martin came up with this idea for a variety of reasons.

“I’ve been in school food services just for a long, long time, and I’m trying to give [students] variety and appeal and healthy choices,” Martin said.

“Anytime [ideas] come up in food service, I bring it to the admin and tell them it’s going be a better way to service the kids. I’m trying to make the flow a lot better and a little more com-

fortable, and the new idea is something I’ve been wanting to do for a few years.”

When Martin started working at the school in the early 1990s, there was a big window in the gym across from the basketball hoops serving food to the students. However, later, the wall with the window was closed. Now, Martin hopes to reopen that window and start serving pasta and pizza in the new location.

“As part of this whole new concept over there, I am going to be putting a kiosk, and we’re going to do wraps-togo, and it’s going to be kind of cool,” he said. “We‘re going to try to spread the kids out and just give them an opportunity to just relax when they’re having lunch.”

FOOD WINDOW , page 3

ELISABETH SIEGEL - WINGED POST

Auditions for the Student Directed Showcase will be held next Monday and Tuesday during lunch and extra help in the Performing Arts wing.

The directors this year are seniors Hannah Prutton, Cristina Jerney, Cecilia LangRee, and Lori Berenberg. In their announcements at school and class meetings, they emphasized that students who wish to try out do not have to have previous experience in performing.

The signup sheet is posted on Performing Arts teacher Laura Lang-Ree’s door, and those wishing to audition will be required to perform one of several monologues provided. Callbacks will take place after school on Thursday, October 11.

Manjoine co-chairs AP committee

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the

FOOD WINDOW A new food window in the gym is scheduled to be opened sometime in the winter. The window’s tentative location is indicated in the photo by the dotted lines.

Procedure for teacher comments changes Seniors and freshmen receive comments first meena chetty managing editor The system of comments and progress reports is undergoing a change in terms of the number of times they will be distributed throughout the year; comments will only be issued once per student, while progress reports will go out five times a year.

Prior to this year, progress reports were only sent out if a student was not

meeting requirements for a certain class. However, students who were fulfilling class standards did not receive grade breakdowns regularly. This year, all students will receive grade reports in October, November, January, March, and April before the final report cards come out in June.

In addition to the increase in the number of progress reports, comments will be split between the first and second semesters. Freshmen and seniors will receive them in the first semester with the October progress report, while sophomores and juniors will have their comments by March.

The freshmen were one of the two selected grades to receive their com-

ments first because they are new to high school and the comments would present their parents with the chance to observe how they are doing. Meanwhile, the seniors could potentially use information from the comments at some point during the college application process.

Upper School Division Head Butch Keller said that ideally this change would promote more studentteacher and parent-teacher communication, allowing parents to be more informed of their students’ grades.

“I think [the comment change] will be more beneficial because you’re getting more information. A family getting the progress report is [prob-

ably] going to open up more dialogue.

[Though] it may not, at least it will keep presenting the opportunity,” he said.

Additionally, teachers will have to write fewer comments because they will only write one per student a year.

“I think dividing the work between two different periods of time will make this a much more meaningful thing for the teachers to give fuller comments because they have to do fewer,” said Latin teacher John Hawley, who has students in all four grades.

Keller also said that this process will ultimately help parents and students because they will now have five “points of reference” for grades instead of two.

INSIDE: TAYLOR EIGSTI PERFORMS, 2

SPIRIT OFFICER ELECTIONS, 3

NEWS, 2 OPINION, 5 FEATURES, 7 GLOBAL, 9

LIFESTYLE, 11 TECH, 13 SPORTS, 14 BACK PAGE, 16

News 2 Concert Series: Taylor Eigsti Trio performs October 5, 2012 the Winged Post

On Friday, September 28, jazz group The Taylor Eigsti Trio visited the Upper School to kick off this year’s Concert Series.

Pianist Taylor Eigsti, who performed for the Concert Series two years ago with different bandmates, returned on Friday with bassist John Shifflett and drummer Jason Lewis.

Prior to the concert, the trio held a master class for the Upper School jazz band at Nichols Hall.

“They were very receptive to what we had to offer them, and it was great to hear them play and try and do what we were talking about,” Lewis said.

Topped with a fedora and clad in a floral patterned shirt, Eigsti and his trio opened the evening with a casual yet spirited vibe. With flying fingers, intense string plucks, and light cymbal taps, the trio had the audience fully engaged, tapping their feet and nodding their heads to the beat.

“I liked how they played a big variety of [upbeat] jazz music,” said Andrew Wang (11), who plays the trumpet in jazz band and had attended Eigsti’s previous concert. “Two years ago, the songs were not as focused on the piano.”

The concert featured various works including Somewhere from West Side Story and the musicians’ own compositions.

“A lot of [our music] is determined in the moment. It is music that sounds like the present,” Eigsti said.

“We don’t want to work out too much stuff ahead of time. We don’t know where we’re going to end up, but we trust that it’s going to be cool.”

In the midst of the interplay between the piano, bass, and drums, Middle School Performing Arts teacher Dr. David Hart and jazz vocalist Laila Smith, who knows Eigsti

through jazz education, were also invited to perform.

Dr. Hart, who is a childhood friend of Eigsti, concluded the first half of the concert with his trumpet interpretation of Kenny Dorham’s Lotus Blossom and later performed one of Lewis’ works, Decklan’s Song.

Smith sang one of Eigsti’s compositions, Midnight After Noon,which he co-wrote with jazz musician Becca Stevens.

“The best thing in the world is performing with incredible musicians, and Taylor is one of my favorite all-time piano player, musician, and writer,” Smith said. “To be able to be on stage with him [and] share that emotional moment is incredible.”

As Shifflett was passionately swaying from side to side and Lewis was busy maintaining the beat, Eigsti incorporated unique techniques into his music such as strumming the piano strings with his bare hand and tapping the piano wood.

Near the end of the concert, Eigsti took the center stage unaccompanied and performed one of his own compositions that was featured in the soundtrack of the movie Detachment.

Performing another one of Eigsti’s and Stevens’ works, the trio concluded the program with Magnolia.

Having released three records together, including Resonance, the trio’s history dates back to approximately 15 years ago when Eigsti was just a teen.

Shifflett and Lewis both live in the San Jose area, while Eigsti, who grew up in the Bay Area, now lives in New York City. According to Shifflett, since all three members are close friends and have been playing as a group for several years, performances such as last Friday’s require little rehearsal and preparation.

“If you play with your friends, then rehearsals become less of an

EVENING OF JAZZ The Taylor Eigsti Trio performs music for the audience to start off the third season of the Concert Series. Eigsti and musicians John Shifflett and Jason Lewis showcases their jazz style, playing a variety of works including their own compositions (top).

Middle School Performing Arts teacher Dr. David Hart concludes the first half of the concert by playing the trumpet interpretation of Kenny Dorham’s Lotus Blossom (bottom left). All four musicians claim the stage to wrap up the night by performing the last song together (bottom right).

ALL PHOTOS ALLISON SUN - THE WINGED POST

allison sun

TalonWP features editor

issue,” he said. “We’re up there just listening to each other [and] trusting each other.”

All three musicians were inspired to play music by family members at a young age. While Eigsti discovered his passion from his sister’s involvement with music when he was four

years old, Lewis was exposed to music by his two brothers, and Shifflett grew up with the musical influences of his parents.

In addition to releasing albums as a trio, Eigsti, Shifflet, and Lewis have also worked on records with other jazz musicians and groups. Eigsti,

who is currently recording a solo piano album, is a two-time Grammy Nominee for Best Instrumental Composition and Best Jazz Solo Performance.

Though no performances have been permanently set, the trio hopes to have the opportunity to play together again in the future.

of science and 2012 Emmy Awards TEACHER ASSISTANTS: Number math TA’s increase

SAMANTHA HOFFMAN - THE WINGED POST

Winged Post Editor in Chief covers the ceremony

alyssa amick

TalonWP online editor People mill around, trying to catch a glimpse of one of the many celebrities in the area. Tall black fences block off public view from the red carpet. Event personnel rush in and out of the surrounding area, their all-access passes swinging, as they hurry to finish final preparations for the yearly event.

With the help of an outside contact, Editor in Chief Samantha Hoffman obtained press passes to the 64th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Show, allowing her to go and cover the event for the first time in the program history.

During the show, Samantha worked from the media room, along with other reporters from around the world. For Samantha, the experience was different than she expected it to be.

“It was a lot quieter than I expected when I was going in. I thought there would be cameras everywhere, and people would be shouting to be heard,” she said. “I think 10 people including myself asked questions. Some people didn’t say anything at all. They were just working on their computers.”

Because it was the first awards show any of the program’s members had attended, no one knew really knew what the weekend would bring.

“I think really just seeing the whole kind of behind the scenes experience was my favorite part,” Samantha said. “I got to walk on the red carpet as it was being constructed, and I got to see all the people setting up

and you really realize that everything isn’t as big as it seems on TV. And also of course being in the media center, where you get to meet all the stars who win.”

During this experience, Samantha had the opportunity to ask questions of the Emmy winners after they were announced.

“I got a real sense of what it’s like to be at those kind of awards shows,” she said. “It’s interesting seeing all of the people there and hearing what kinds of questions they ask: everything from “who are you wearing?” to very insightful questions to all the celebrities, so it gave me a sense of [what] being a real journalist out in the real world is like.”

Covering such a high profile event will hopefully help build a résumé to get the program into other similar events.

“I think this will definitely open doors to more events. Once we have already shown that we can do the Emmys they’ll probably will be more likely to consider us for hopefully bigger shows or shows that are on par with the Emmys,” Samantha said.

Advisor Chris Daren commended Samantha’s performance as a Journalism student at the show.

“I talked to some [other journalists in the media center], but just visually they didn’t look as excited to be there as Sam was,” he said. He also added that her age had no effect on her performance: “She was just a journalist in that room.”

All of Samantha’s articles, photos, and live blogging from the event can be seen at www.talonwp.com.

ALLISON SUN - THE WINGED POST

AWARD CEREMONY At the 64th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, Samantha Hoffman (12) reported live from inside the media room.

TUTORING TA Maya Sathaye (12) helps Jessica Chang (10) with a problem during AP Calculus BC. Many teachers have taken on the TA system because it allows classes to progress more efficiently.

allison sun

TalonWP features editor This year, there has been an increase in the number of student Teaching Assistants (TA) in the Math and Science Departments to aid students and teachers, whether it be by demonstrating problems or helping the class flow more smoothly.

Though no course credits are offered since it is considered a free period, students who TA can earn community service hours. For many, such as senior Amie Chien, who is TAing math for the second year, being a TA is more than just receiving hours or recognition.

“When I was in middle school, I had a big problem with math, so my sister tutored me,” she said. “I feel like imparting that aid is really a big part of why I do this. People can learn from you, and it’s kind of empowering.”

The first TA position at the Upper School was introduced three years ago by Math teacher Dr. Victor Adler, who picked up the idea from a California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) conference. Since then, other math teachers such as Bradley Stoll and

Troy Thiele have also adopted the system.

“At the end of the year, I email about 25-30 [strong] students I had before. [TAs] have to be willing to [help] and be outgoing,” said Stoll, the Mathematics Department Chair.

Chemistry teachers Andrew Irvine and Dr. Mala Raghavan are also using the TA system this year, sharing one TA. Chemistry assistant Alan Soetikno (12) typically helps out with Irvine’s Honors Chemistry eighth period class and Dr. Raghavan’s AP Chemistry class on lab days.

“I think the most important thing is that you should love [tutoring] others and the subject. It is both a position where you try to give help and set an example,” Alan said. “I’m sure the chemistry department will want replacements [once I leave for college], so hopefully I can spark a few students to do [and love] what I do.”

TAs, ranging from sophomores to seniors, generally check homework, tutor students, and help teachers during class lectures. For Stoll, who started the TA system last year, the TAs’ knowledge of Mathematica is especially beneficial during class.

“With Mathematica, they’re really helpful. Coming from [Pre-

Calculus], a lot of us don’t know it, and these TAs really know their stuff,” Leslie Tzeng (11) said.

Many other teachers, including Stoll, hope to recruit more TAs and improve the system as the year progresses.

OCTOBER 5, 2012 the Winged Post

News vedant thyagaraj

New council position to increase spirit

Students elected spirit officers on September 28 to represent their classes; the winners were senior Bobby Kahlon, junior Kenny Zhang, sophomore Riya Godbole, and freshman Eesha Chona.

Riya has tentatively accepted this position and will formally accept once she has resolved some scheduling conflicts.

The elected four are officially part of their class councils and will be joining their meetings and other student council-related sessions.

As the position title suggests, the spirit officer’s responsibility is to help coordinate and direct school spirit activities and events in their respective classes. He or she will also have to participate in activities such as Homecoming Week and Spring Rally, attend events such as dances and spirit competitions, and provide spirit updates at weekly class meetings.

The spirit officers will also join, if not already a part of, and work directly with Spirit Club to organize activities and encourage class participation in them.

“Instead of hearing directly from the spirit president, [students] are going to get first-hand information and be a part of the decision-making process,” said Student Activities Coordinator Kerry Enzensperger.

The sophomore and senior classes only had one candidate each, both of whom were voted in by default. The junior and freshman classes each had three candidates running.

“We all just want to have fun. I want to make this year an unforgettable one filled with great memories,” said Alisa Wakita (9).

Chosen to represent the sophomore class, Riya (10) sees herself as the “link between [her] class and

JONATHAN MA - THE WINGED POST

reporter

SPEECHES Eesha Chona (9) attempts to convince her class to vote her as the freshman class spirit officer. This new council position is in charge of increasing participation in spirit events as well as communicating any spirit related annoucements to the class. spirit club.” Among many others, one of her goals is to increase attendance at spirit competitions.

Previously, all four class council members were in charge of spirit activities for their class. Given their other responsibilities, however, spirit activities were somewhat difficult for them to organize.

“It’s always been a rush before homecoming or any other spirit event like that,” said Sarah Bean (10), sophomore class president, looking back on her freshman year.

Having a dedicated person in each class council who will organize and coordinate spirit events will lower the amount of responsibilities of current student council officers.

“It always helps to have an-

Food Window CONTINUED FROM FRONT Though not set in stone yet, another portion of his plan is to convert the window that currently serves pizza to a “potato bar” and transform the “Taste of Italy” section of the cafeteria into Mexican themed division.

The new food window may interfere with anyone playing basketball during lunch, and they will have to go outside and play on the blacktop.

“I think [the new food window] a good idea. There will be more food for everyone and even more variety. It will definitely help with the congestion. I know that during long lunch, there are lots of spills and traffic, so it will help,” Rohan Chandra (12) said.

However, some of the students think that the new window might be inconvenient.

“At first I think that it will be kind of annoying; half of our lunch

will be in the gym while half of our lunch will be in Manzanita. I don’t think that it’ll be a big deal for people to walk to Manzanita, and that people will like it once they get used to it,” Shreya Dixit (10) said.

“I think [the food window] is a good idea, but I don’t think there should be anything different compared to what you can get in the kitchen because otherwise it would be too much of a hassle to walk from Manzanita to the gym just to get something that’s not served there,” Samali Sahoo (9) said.

Martin believes opening the food location will require more personnel, so he is looking to hire some more interns and culinary students.

To facilitate the dish-cleaning process, the executive chef is thinking of using disposable platters in that area so there would be less work for the “overtaxed” dish room.

Advisories bond during annual class trips

other person there to help run spirit events,” said Nikhil Panu (12), president of the senior class.

With the school’s increasing size, having another official in charge of spirit, according to Nikhil, would ensure that “the [students] get more representation.”

The students are also interested in what this new spirit officer position will bring to the school.

“It allows us to expand on our already large spirit base,” said Vamsi Gadiraju (10).

The new spirit officers will soon start preparing for Homecoming Week, which will occur later this month.

SHERIDAN TOBIN - THE WINGED POST

Spirit officers:

3

New trash pick-up initiative by ASB ROPES COURSE Sophomore Vishal Vaidya jumps off the ledge and attempts to hit the buoy in an activity called “Leap of Faith.” The annual sophomore class trip to the La Honda ropes course aims to help strengthen advisory bonds.

stanley zhao

karen tu

KEVIN LIN - SPECIAL TO WINGED POST

reporter On Tuesday, October 2, the student council worked with the kitchen staff to attempt to eliminate litter in the cafeteria by placing notes on tissue boxes.

These napkin boxes have cards with pictures of student council members posing in various superhero costumes. On the side is an amusing maxim explaining the importance of throwing away trash and keeping the dining area clean.

“Since many people have been throwing trash out when they are eating, this will serve as a friendly reminder for them to clean after themselves,” ASB Treasurer Kevin Lin (12) said.

As of now, the kitchen and student council do not know about the successes of the project because it has not been in place long enough.

According to Kevin, it will hopefully increase the number of students throwing their own trash away.

Some students seem enthusiastic about the idea to clean the litter in the cafeteria.

“I think that the napkin cards are a creative way of encouraging other students to throw away trash,” Lawrence Li (9) said.

Others think that the tissue boxes need to be more widely publicized before they are efficient.

“I think that if they want to increase effectiveness, they’re going to have to spread it to the other dining rooms as well,” Kimberly Ma (11) said. “But to some extent, I believe they [will] work.”

In the past, there have been numerous methods the student council and kitchen used to stress

NAPKIN BOXES Notecards featuring the members of the ASB hopes to remind students to pick-up after themselves during lunch. The student council members are dressed in the superhero costume they wore for the Freshmen 101 skit. the responsibilities of students. This initiative is different, as students are informed instantly and the reminders are long lasting.

“I think they have made a great impact on our lives and our viewpoints of the importance of it [cleaning after ourselves],” said Ethan Ma

(10).

Despite this idea being in its infancy, the student council believes that it will work, reducing trash in the cafeteria and work for the kitchen staff.

reporter For the past few weeks, sophomores and juniors have participated in class trips, full or half-day trips designed to promote advisory bonding. These field trips have allowed students to relax with their friends while taking a break from their strenuous academic lives.

On Monday, September 28, sophomores traveled to Santa Cruz and La Honda for their annual ropes course trip. While half of the class traveled to the YMCA course in Jones Gulch, the other half traveled to Santa Cruz for the APEX Adventures course. They began their day with team-building activities that encouraged communication and required them to entrust their safety to the other people in their advisories. In the afternoon, they worked on more individual activities such as climbing trees while the others ensured their safety. “[I learned to] be a good team player, not just an individual,” Ashwath Thirumalai (10) said.

When some people experienced difficulties climbing the trees due to fear of heights, the rest of the grade supported them.

“In the afternoon, [...] a lot of people were cheering for the people who were climbing, so that was nice because I think it really helped some people,” Suzy Lou (10) said.

They engaged in activities designed to challenge each student’s individual strengths and weaknesses, while promoting teamwork within the advisory. Throughout the day, each student exhibited a different facet of their personality, allowing both teachers and other students to become more familiar with each other.

“For me, one of the highlights was watching the students challenge themselves in a variety of different ways,” said sophomore Class Dean Diana Moss. “There were kids who seemed kind of quiet and shy who,

when they did the ropes course,[…] took some risks and they were able to overcome their fears with the encouragement of their classmates. I would [...] say that it was one of my favorite class trips.”

Last Monday, October 1, the juniors had the choice of sailing at the Santa Cruz Harbor or kayaking at the Elkhorn Slough in Monterey.

Both activities required a great amount of coordination and trust, all while including some friendly competition.

“It was really fun [and] we got to bond with our advisories. It was more of a stick together kind of thing,” Preethi Periyakoil (11) said.

On October 17, freshmen will take their class trip, half a day of community service with their advisories. Advisories choose from several different organizations that they wish to help during this half-day trip. The options range from outdoor activities like planting trees to organizing school supply donations and helping build supportable housing.

“I think [the class trips] will help us grow because a lot of our advisories are new students, and it will help them integrate into [Upper School] life.”

Lisa Liu (9) said.

Whether building cages at the Humane Society and cleaning stalls at Elkes Ranch or weeding the Rose Garden and decorating the family shelter for Halloween, the freshmen will be volunteering for the community.

“I think that doing [community service] as a group will be fun. I think it will definitely help us become closer together,” said freshman Class President Michael Zhao (9).

This year, class trips have allowed advisories to become closer to the people they will spend an hour every Thursday with for the rest of their years at school.

News 4 Recently elected council hopes to encourage class involvement ASB welcomes 2016 freshmen council October 5, 2012

jonathan ma reporter

Freshmen Michael Zhao, Sanil Rajput, Dhanush Madabusi, Stephanie Huang, and Eesha Chona became the President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Spirit Coordinator of the freshman class council, respectively, on October 1.

Michael said that he wishes to give back to the school community and ensure that his class is remembered as more than just the neophytes of high school.

“A lot of people downgrade the freshmen [...] I feel that our class definitely has the potential to [...] break that stereotype,” Michael said.

Meanwhile, Sanil said that he wants to have an impact on his new school by being approachable and making the year enjoyable.

“I really want to just be someone for the people,” Sanil said. “When anyone in school needs help, I really want to be the guy that you can come to.”

Dhanush said that he wants to work with other members of the entire council to improve cost-effectiveness.

“I just hope to make all of the Harker activities and events as fun as possible but at the same time not so expensive,” he said.

Stephanie said that she aims to be

involved in the community by making its members closer to one another.

“I wanted to get more involved in the community,” she said. “[I want] to make everyone’s lives easier by giving them information.”

Finally, Eesha said that she wishes for spirit events to be regarded as interesting and enjoyable instead of boring.

“My main goal is to make the whole class participate in the spirit assemblies and hopefully come together and bond,” Eesha said.

Freshman class dean and Biology teacher Matthew Harley is optimistic about the new class council.

“I think they’re excited,” he said.

“Hopefully, the whole group will stay really involved in the class and work well together. […] They’re excited to get going, and with Homecoming right around the corner we do need to hit the ground running.”

While they were selecting candidates, freshmen like Rishi Narain paid attention to specific values. “[I looked for] someone who could make good change, had good leadership qualities, and […] could be responsible,” Rishi said.

During the week and a half prior to elections, students initiated their campaigns by collecting signatures.

ALL PHOTOS JONATHAN MA - THE WINGED POST

the Winged Post

FRESHMEN ELECTIONS Presidential candidate Madi Tomihiro (9) addresses her class in Nichols Auditorium (top left). Candidates line up at the front of the gym, listening to their opponents and waiting to give their speeches (top right). Doreene Kang (9) deliberates over whom she will vote for during election day (bottom left). Selin Ekici (9) votes for the candidates of her choice in the journalism room during lunch on Friday, September 28.

They designed posters and displayed them on entrances, lockers, and overhangs. The voting took place on September 28, during which students

selected candidates via a computerized system. The results were announced the following Monday.

The new class council members

had their first meeting that same day.

They discussed Homecoming, class t-shirt designs, and the following class meeting.

Eagle Buddies: Program continues to grow this year manthra panchapakesan reporter

ALL PHOTOS NAYEON KIM - THE WINGED POST

EAGLE BUDDIES The seniors and their fifth-grade Eagle Buddies reunite after the summer. Sondra Costa and her Eagle Buddies play with balloons (top right). The fifth graders and seniors chat while lining up together for lunch in between activities (top left). Josh Bollar looks on as a group of fifth grade Eagle Buddies stack cans for one of the many activities (bottom right). Andy Perez and his Eagle Buddy bond over conversation while making a team namecard on the Davis Field Bleachers (bottom left).

Little more than a month into the school year, the Eagle Buddies Program is well under way and now larger than ever before. For the first time, there will be three grades participating in Eagle Buddies at the same time, as the seniors will continue to meet with their fifthgrade buddies of three years, unlike in previous years.

The sophomores met their new third-grade Eagle Buddies on Thursday, October 4, the seniors reconnected with theirs on September 20, and the juniors will see theirs in late November.

The seniors had the chance to spend time with their Eagle Buddies when their buddies traveled to the Upper School to eat lunch and participate in activities such as a three-legged race, team logo, and a balloon game in which students talked about the topic written on their balloons while at the same time playing with them.

Senior Rebecca Liu had fun spending time with her Eagle Buddy when the Lower School students visited the Upper School.

“I’m always looking forward to seeing my Eagle Buddy, and it’s always really exciting because we generally don’t see each other for months,” she said. “The activities they have planned – even though we don’t get to spend too much time on each one – they’re generally all pretty fun.”

Many sophomores looked forward to finally meeting their Eagle Buddies, as their only previous interaction had been through letter correspondence.

The sophomores saw their thirdgrade buddies for the first time on October 4, when they traveled to the Bucknall Campus during school hours to eat lunch and participate in field activities with the third graders.

“I am really excited to meet my Eagle Buddy […] because I like that feeling that I’m kind of like a big sister or mentor to a third grader,” Sanjana Kaundinya (10) said.

The sophomores had sent a letter to their respective Eagle Buddies a few weeks ago, introducing themselves and stating their interests. In return, they received letters back from Bucknall during the October 3 class meeting.

“I thought [the letter from my Eagle Buddy] was pretty awesome because it reminds me of my childhood and what I liked to do back then,” Jeffrey Hsu (10) said.

The juniors are also excited to reconnect with their buddies after the summer. Anna Levine (11) looks forward to spending more time with her fourth grade friend. They will be seeing their Eagle Buddies on November 29 for a service project at Bucknall.

“I feel like she’s a miniature me, [...] and I feel like I relate to her and can really help her out because I’ve gone through what she’s gone through,” Anna said.

Other upcoming Eagle Buddies events in the school year include the exchange of Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day cards, pajama day for the sophomores, Clown Day for the juniors and the fifth grade show for the seniors in March.

kavya ramakrishnan reporter

A group of 27 students and four chaperones traveled to Ashland during the last weekend of September to attend the annual Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

The students, accompanied by chaperones Performing Arts teacher Jeffrey Draper, English teachers Dr. Anne Douglas and Jason Berry, and trip organizer Dr. Pauline Paskali, left Friday morning at 4:30 a.m. and arrived after a seven hour bus ride.

During their stay, they watched four plays: “Troilus and Cressida,” “Henry V,” “Romeo and Juliet,” and “The Very Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa” before leaving Sunday afternoon.

For many of the upperclassmen going on the trip, this year will not be their first time in Ashland.

“I had been before and had a great time, so I decided to go again.

I love watching plays, so I already knew that this was something I would enjoy, and the quality of the productions is always excellent,” Cristina Jerney (12) said.

Jeffrey Draper, a performing arts teacher attending the festival for the

third time, observed the difference in theatre students every year after experiencing the festival.

“I know for a fact that the students are going to go there and the work in Hamlet in the following rehearsals will just be better,” Draper said. “They will see by watching what they can do as performers with our version of Hamlet: ways to use their body, ways to use their voice, ways of using the space to play the show so that it works better.”

Additionally, students also participated in pre-show talks with the actors, an acting workshop, and a backstage tour of Ashland’s three stages.

However, it would have been more ideal if the pre-show talks were made optional to students, according to Cecilia Lang-Ree (12).

“I believe that they were helpful in some cases [...], but I don’t necessarily think that they should be required for future trips. For example, I’m not very familiar with the story and history of ‘Troilus & Cressida’, so I would have chosen to attend that prologue anyway to give myself some historical and social context,”

said Cecilia. “On the other hand, I wouldn’t have gone to the prologue for ‘Romeo and Juliet’ or ‘Henry V’ if I had the choice because I know those plays quite well.”

Although the trip was open to all students, Berry noticed that almost everyone who went on the trip was involved in performing arts.

“I would love to see more students become involved in it. A majority of the students [who went] are engaged in performing arts; I would like to see more students who are not involved in performing arts go,” Berry said.

Gwen Howard (9) felt students who went on the trip also gained more insight about Shakespeare’s work.

“It was a really enjoyable trip and it helped me see Shakespeare’s work in a new light,” Gwen said. “I feel like next time I read something

by Shakespeare I’ll be able to interpret it in different ways.”

Overall, both students and chaperones considered the trip a success and are already looking forward to next year’s excursion.

ELISABETH SIEGEL - THE WINGED POST

Students attend the annual Oregon Shakespeare festival in Ashland

ASHLAND The group of students that attended the Ashland Shakespeare Festival poses with a professional actor. The students had the opportunity to learn acting techniques and to watch professional Shakespeare plays.

OPINION

Editor in Chief

Samantha Hoffman

Editor in Chief in Training & Tech Editor Nikhil Dilip

Managing Editor Meena Chetty

Copy Editors

Kacey Fang & Samar Malik

News Editor Emily Chu

Opinion Editor

Apoorva Rangan

Features Editor Trisha Jani

Lifestyle Editor Mercedes Chien

Global Editor

Sheridan Tobin

Sports Editor Sonia Sidhu

We originally intended this editorial to be a resounding, passionate, sophisticated discussion about our political stances for the upcoming presidential election. The idea seemed official and legitimate, a means to start a discussion among the members of the editorial board and the community as a whole.

Until we realized that once we had started the discussion, we couldn’t continue it for very long. As it turns out, we aren’t as politically knowledgeable as we thought we were.

When we took a poll to determine how we would have voted in the presidential election had we been able, we were quick in siding with the candidate of our choosing. Over two-thirds of us supported President Obama.

However, upon further inspection, many of us found it difficult to completely explain our choice. Some of us voted on a fairly superficial basis, citing the current president’s personable and approachable nature as a sign of a good leader. Very few of us knew the complete stories about the backgrounds of the Democratic and Republican candidates, their economic policies, and even their full stances on social issues.

On the issues that do command our attention and passion, however, the editorial board proved to be quite eloquent indeed.

At our school, we foster and have grown to love an environment of acceptance and tolerance of all the members of our

community. The editorial board unanimously praised Obama’s support of gay marriage. His repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was honorable, creating a safer environment for many of our military personnel. It’s the kind of decision a president makes out of respect to our soldiers. In contrast, Republican candidate Mitt Romney has said that, if elected, he will reinstate the vow of silence required by non-straight military members in order to serve our country, forcing our servicemen to conceal a part of their identity.

To us, this sort of exclusion is an unacceptable quality in a future president.

We’re not all saying that Romney is an awful candidate. In fact, almost one-third of the editorial

OBAMA: 8 ROMNEY: 3

Tools to become more responsible

Advisor

Chris Daren Nayeon Kim

reporter

TalonWP Contributors Vasudha Rengarajan

Darian Edvalson

Shannon Su

Juhi Gupta

Allison Sun

Anishka Agarwal

Manthra Panchapakesan

Vivek Bharadwaj

Roshni Pankhaniya

Tiara Bhatacharya

Kavya Ramakrishnan

Stephanie Chen

Sindhu Ravuri

Jonathan Dai

Raza Rizvi

Elizabeth Edwards

Anokhi Saklecha

Apurva Gorti

Elisabeth Siegel

Rahul Jayaraman

Natalie Simonian

Vineet Kosaraju

Mariam Sulakian

Shay Lari-Hosain

Monica Thukral

Emily Lin

Vedant Thyagaraj

Jonathan Ma

Karen Tu

Diba Massihpour

Dora Tzeng

Priscilla Pan

Stanley Zhao

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.

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

APOORVA RANGAN- WINGED POST

Reporters

anishka agarwal reporter If people sat down and thought about what the most stressful parts of high school are, the SAT is sure to be on some lists. I, too, always used to view the SAT in a negative light, especially when I was suddenly thrown into this whirlwind of testing statistics; all these vocabulary words and math formulas and sections and breaks. I felt as though I had to recall basically every single thing I had learned since the day I walked into my preschool classroom for the first time; all the little details and facts I have labored through in all my classes. But then I stopped and asked myself, “Is it really all that?” Is the SAT really a test of what we have learned in school or is it to assess how well our brain can temporarily retain facts and how effectively our body and mindset can get accustomed to a four hour long test?

I believe the latter. As I went through practice test after practice test and Barron’s and Princeton’s, I realize that the questions being asked, whether in the math section or the reading section, are not actually challenging. They do not force me to stop and really think about what the answer could be, like I often have to do during a test in an honors or AP class.

The SAT is really not as bad as it seems; there are actually hidden benefits behind this test. We do

not realize until much later that standardized testing really never ends; even after graduating from college, there are many more tests in our future such as the LSAT or the MCAT. The SAT really just helps us learn how well we do on standardized tests and prepare us for all those future ones. The preparation process also really improves time management while also building a sense of responsibility.

The SAT seems to be a test of how well one has become familiarized to the structure of the test, and how well they allocate their time and stay focused. I by no means think that the SAT is a waste of time and effort. However, I do think that the pressure and negative undertone associated with it is overly exaggerated. While certain elements of the SAT may seem extreme and unnecessary (a sentiment I often feel these days), I think a lot of the reasoning behind the test is colleges wanting to see if you are willing to put the energy and determination into an important objective.

In my mind, being well prepared for the SAT really is about taking enough practice tests and having a healthy breakfast and a good night of sleep. I find that practice tests not only help me ascertain the right test taking skills (a key factor in reaching that SAT score goal) but also help in developing my time organization. The SAT really does have unexpected positive aspects to it.

to approach and understand.

To a certain extent, our stances are further influenced by the way our families and peers vote or think.

Some of us come from families that traditionally support a specific party, rather than treating the candidate’s values as independent from the party. Loyalty to a cause is admirable, but comprehension of the facts is essential to making an informed decision that accurately reflects our principles.

Granted, there are members of our community who are exceptionally knowledgeable and involved in the political scene. They volunteer at party events and are able to intimately explain, substantiate, and care about our nation’s politics. But we as a board took a stance even though we did not fully understand what we were voting for, and our kind of mentality needs to change.

It is important for us to reiterate that the students of the present are the future labor force, taxpayers, and entrepreneurs of America, led by a leader of our choosing. We need to become more aware of the political and economic environment outside 500 Saratoga Avenue, in order to make better-informed decisions to guide our futures.

It’s never too early to learn about the political atmosphere around us. So turn on the news, watch the next two presidential debates, read political commentaries, and find the arguments you agree with. In just four years, the majority of us will be able to vote for the next president of the United States, and it’s our responsibility to be able to make a conscious choice.

Stereotypes stifle our individuality juhi gupta

TalonWP Editor in Chief

Alyssa Amick

board believes that the Republican ticket is the better alternative to lead our country during the next four years, citing the stagnant economy as one of Obama’s failed promises.

But the main issues that we considered in our vote don’t represent the whole political picture. Our main arguments in favor of Obama turned out to be his support of gay marriage, women’s right to choose, his clean-energy initiatives, and his foreign policy. As teenagers, and mostly female ones at that, we tend to zero in on the issues that have the greatest impact on us, while somewhat ignoring those that have no effect on our lives. Most of us aren’t earning money, and therefore economic policies are put on the back burner. To many of us, “Obamacare” is a distant concept that we have yet

EDITORIAL THE OFFICIAL OPINION OF THE WINGED POST

Standardized tests

Cartoonist

Megan Prakash

MEGAN PRAKASH- WINGED POST

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5

ELECTION: Knowing the political atmosphere

As much as we might try to ignore them and pretend that they don’t exist, stereotypes are for the most part prevalent in every community. It’s hard to find someone nearby who hasn’t heard about our conventional “Harker” stereotype, and we’ve grown to live with it and learned how to adapt. At least for me, it’s stopped being something that I’m bothered by.

What does upset me is when these melodramatic, unfounded exaggerations stop being something we have to defend our school against and start becoming something we have to defend ourselves against. When the problem moves closer to home and you have to face it everyday, it turns out to be a lot more obnoxious than when you’re backed by the whole student population. How do

about people based on what they wear and how they talk that they lose sight of who the person really is. If somebody does nothing but study all the time, there are no speculations anyone can make that are 100% true. It’s not a fact that they’re not sociable. It’s not a fact that they do well in school.

It’s not even a fact that they care a lot about their education. Now, don’t get me wrong – those are all things that could easily be found out through casual conversation or social interaction.

But they’re absolutely not things that anyone should have preconceived notions about, whether positive or negative.

I don’t even bring up One Direction in front of my friends anymore – there’s no point. I’d rather not have to deal with those glaring looks and sardonic comments; the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. The

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Why would what someone looks like have any relevance to what they like?

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August 31, 2012 the Winged Post

you respond when people independently assign you titles that you’re not comfortable with?

In my opinion, these clichéd strata of society (“hipster,” “nerd,” “popular,”) that give people a more comfortable, safe categorization of their peers are constructed in order to further solidify their place in the adolescent caste system of the student body.

For me, my preferences (in music, novels, movies, and more) are subject to criticism and approval at the hands of people who think that they can judge me based on my appearance. It’s nauseating to hear people’s “YOU LIKE ONE DIRECTION?” almost always followed by this distasteful, offensive glare. The ringing chorus of “You don’t look like the kind of person who would like/do/go to that sort of thing” is so trite now that my response to it sounds rehearsed. Why should how someone looks have any relevance to what they like?

Everyone is so fixated on making unsubstantiated assumptions

facet of my personality that appreciates them is slowly fading, and I can say with conviction that it’s a direct result of the negative reaction to this mainstream, popular boy band that I’m apparently not supposed to enjoy. Plus, this is just one example, from a person who’s trying hard to annul the influence of any familiar stereotypes on her inferences. Life isn’t English class, there isn’t any symbolism that any one author is trying to convey - everyone is their own person and their individuality is sacred. From this constant judgment and classification of “types of people,” many are being robbed of their identities and what they could have been if they had been left alone to flourish. If we maybe took the time to stop jumping to conclusions, and allowed people to grow into their own skin without outside influence, everyone might be a little more unique.

6

Opinion

October 5, 2012 the Winged Post

aura I knew waited for me behind the doors and opened them…only to find a nearly empty room. The Emmys press coordinators had told us to be in position by 2 p.m., yet the majority of the eight rows remained vacant. “Where was everyone?” I thought confusedly as I sat in my seat in the fifth row.

One hour passed. Someone turned the monitors on so that we could watch the celebrities flood out of their limousines onto what we now knew to be the undersized red carpet. We joined the ranks of the other journalists in the room by opening the laptop and live blogging who and what we saw, but mostly, we waited. Two more hours passed.

The rows around us gradually began to fill as reporters filed in from their posts on the red carpet to assume their seats before the show began (and to escape from the sweltering heat).

The Emmys themselves began at 5 p.m., but the first award winner did not enter the media tent until almost an hour later. A crewmember announced, “Eric Stonestreet from Modern Family,” his words echoed in print on the glowing monitors on either side of the room. Barely anyone clapped; some didn’t even look up from their laptops. Only a few had questions. Sadly, this trend would continue throughout the night, leading Julia Louis-Dreyfus to question whether she was in a press conference or in a classroom.

Looking around the room, I couldn’t help to feel disillusioned at the seemingly jaded attitudes of the surrounding reporters.

“Is this what journalism is really like?” I wondered. “Covering amazing stories and events until you’re bored or fed-up with them?” It couldn’t be. I refused to accept that it was so.

starstruck samantha hoffman editor in chief The Primetime Emmy Awards were not a glamorous affair; at least, not from behind the scenes.

By 2 p.m. on the day of the show the area around the Nokia Theater was littered with men and women in their finest, seeking refuge from the sun in whatever shade they could find (there wasn’t much). The weather service lied; the temperature outside was already hotter than Saturday’s was. Dressed in my floor-length burgundy gown, I tried valiantly (read: failed) to prevent myself from sweating on the short walk from our hotel to the mercifully air-conditioned Media Center.

The reporters, crew, and celebrities on the red carpet, surrounded by TV lighting that added five more degrees to the existing temperature, did not have that luxury while they were outside.

We passed through the metal detectors with only a hasty scan of our belongings and made our way to the “General Press” room.

As we walked the familiar path, my pulse quickened at the thought of meeting and interacting with real journalists from around the world. Reaching the entrance, I held my breath in anticipation of the bustling, official

‘’ ‘’

“how do you talk deal with around stress?” campus vasudha rengarajan

Later on in the night, that same crewmember heralded the arrival of Claire Danes, winner of the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series award. Instantly, I perked up; I had the perfect question for her, one I thought was much more sophisticated than the hackneyed, “Who are you wearing?”

Scrambling gracefully into the middle of the aisle, I desperately waved at the crewmember to signal that I wanted to ask a question of Danes. Someone handed me a microphone, my heart beating erratically in my chest.

Finally, my turn arrived, and I delivered my question with confidence, surprised that my voice betrayed none of my anxiety. As she answered it, an exhilarating thrill overpowered my fear and replaced it with a rush of pride and delight. “This is journalism,” I thought.

“The surge of adrenaline, the sense of accomplishment that accompanies the exploration of a story is what makes this worthwhile.”

Seeing big news organizations like the Chicago Tribune quote Danes’ answer to my question further reinforced that feeling; I felt validated, somehow, like I was really a true reporter. It didn’t matter that other people had gotten used to this sensation; for me, the feeling resurfaced with every new story, leaving me astounded by how much I had learned.

Looking back now, although my eyes were opened to the stark reality of both the Emmys and professional journalism, I am far from disappointed; rather, that experience reinvigorated my love of what I do and reminded me that having a starstruck, or idyllic, mindset isn’t always an issue in need of remedy.

“I like to listen to music or take a nap sometimes.”

-Patricia Huang (12)

TalonWP sports editor

“I use a lot of techniques [...] from my yoga practice in stress reduction.”

-Nicholas Manjoine, French Teacher

“I like to deal with stress in physical ways [...] maybe go out for a run or jog.”

- Jeton Gutierrez-Bujari (10)

“I make sure I have everything planned out the day before.”

-Kevin Ke (9)

“I think sports really helps to get a lot of stress out of the way.”

-Silpa Karipineni (11)

“I break up my workload into smaller chunks.”

-Delaney Martin (10)

“When you get as old as I am, stress doesn’t really get to you.”

-Gary Hinrich, Computer Technician

Reflecting on our reflections positively reporter Every day, I hear countless people complaining about their weight; how they need to drop a few pounds and look thinner—and frankly, this unhealthy obsession with losing weight has become quite normal throughout our society.

I don’t mean to say dieting is bad, because in some cases, it’s actually a healthy choice.

It’s when losing weight becomes a mania that it becomes harmful.

Even though we might not really notice it, the internet is filled with hundreds of articles on how to lose weight. I’ve seen countless “thinspiration” posts on my Tumblr (a social micro-blogging website), including photos of anorexic girls and comments from people wishing they were as well. “Call it a sickness, call it obsession, I don’t care, I still call it perfection,” writes one blogger on the site.

Tumblr is where I first began to realize how self-conscious teenagers really are about their weight. I remember seeing a post a girl had just written saying, “I just want to look in the mirror and feel satisfied with what I see.”

I can’t say I don’t understand where these girls are coming from, because I do. I know what it’s like to want to be confident with yourself, to go try on even the smaller clothes and have them slide on your body.

I remember once while I was cleaning out my closet, I tried on some of my clothes

which had fit me not too long ago. I struggled fitting into some jeans, and nearly fell over trying to pull on one of my old shirts. I just felt like if I were slightly thinner, I would still be able to slide into those clothes easily. And so, naturally, I thought I had to go on a diet—I had to eat less, exercise more.

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It’s hard to accept yourself exactly as you are when you step on that scale.

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mariam sulakian

I began to watch what I ate carefully; restricting the amount of sweets I ate, trying to overcome the cravings. I battled with myself constantly—should I or shouldn’t I? At times, I thought I was doing the right thing, but mostly, I felt I was being ridiculous. Even so, I was still cautious about the foods I consumed.

I let this idea get into my head so much that it became a habit to try to control and suppress my appetite, but then I realized, what’s the point of losing weight, when there isn’t really even a necessity for it? Is dropping a

few pounds to fit into some old clothes worth it when there are thousands of new shirts out there waiting to be bought?

It’s not that I thought losing weight was bad, it’s that I knew if I let myself get carried away, fearing every calorie I consumed, I would put my own health at risk. I learned that dieting can actually lead to numerous medical issues in teens, including physiological problems like depression and physical setbacks such as bonethinning and slowed growth. I didn’t want to take the risk and cause myself needless harm.

I know there are other teenagers who have had similar experiences regarding their weight, so I do my best to support those people, whether they’re my friends or teens online, to conquer their insecurities. It’s hard to accept yourself exactly as you are, especially when you step on that scale.

I think many people have looked at themselves in the mirror wishing they could lose just a little more weight, or in other cases, gain a little more. I’ll admit I have. It’s only natural for us as humans to find even the slightest flaws in ourselves.

To those teenagers out there going on diets and feeling guilty every time they take a bite, know that it really is our imperfections that define us, that give us the beauty we constantly strive for. I don’t mean that they have to eat every cookie on the platter—it’s just important to eat right. So pick up the food and give your body what it needs.

apoorva rangan opinion editor

DECISIONS, DECISIONS Here’s a quick, slightly exaggerated snapshot of my mind at Subway: Do I want wheat bread or the herb and cheese one? Oh my gosh, I can’t decide. And I haven’t even thought about my veggies yet.

And should I get it toasted? They both taste so good, but I haven’t had a toasted sub for a while, so maybe it’s time for a change, but then again there’s probably a reason why I stick to the non-toasted one, though I’m not sure exactly what that reason is. What do I do?

At this point, my dad normally tells me to hurry up, my head spontaneously combusts, and I eenie-meenie-miney-mo my way to the cashier.

I’m a pretty good decision maker when it comes to the important things in my life, like staying honorable, fording off distractions, and page designs. But the innumerable small choices present in our community are translated into a supreme waste of time for many of us.

Maybe this entire column is an indication of my slightly melodramatic nature.

But to me, my indecisiveness is justified by the overabundance of choices in our world today.

Fast forward to a futuristic DMV. If my vision isn’t grizzled by old age when I miraculously manage to get my driver’s license, I’ll get to pick out a car. Sounds fun, right?

It is, until you realize that, as of now, there are over a half dozen grades of gasoline, hundreds of types of tires, and oodles of car brands, let alone the models that those brands offer. I think there might actually be more individualized cars on the road today than there are stars in the sky, or something like that. They all shout at me through the television, advertising satisfied customers brandishing their incessantly glowing reviews, while I’m sitting at home trying to keep their names straight. How are we supposed to wade our way through that mess?

As a society, we put forward far more options than are necessary. We’ve now infinitely specialized our consumer goods to a tee, but a bevy of choices isn’t necessarily good for us. Choices are everywhere for everyone at every moment. Fresh Choice.

Pro-choice. Multiple choice. We’re the opposite of streamlined in terms of our day-to-day lives.

Variety is fine; it’s the “spice of life,” as they say. An inundation of infinite choices, however, brings unneeded stress to all of our lives. To put it metaphorically, a well that is wide but impractically shallow will end up yielding much less water than one that is deep and focused. And it’s far easier to drown in a well that’s both wide and deep.

So how exactly are we supposed to wade through the ocean of choices at our school and in our lives?

For one, perspective is key. It’s just not worth it to obsess over details, trust me. Why waste time on micromanaging our lives? People honestly aren’t going to remember or care about what you wore to school last Thursday. I can’t even remember what I wore to school on Thursday.

The thing is, if I’m not passionate about something, I can’t bring myself to make a decision quickly, caused by my fear of making a wrong decision. When my parents ask me to pick a movie to rent, I squeal and proceed to thrust the remote away from me with rapid, hyperventilating gestures. I want to make the right choice, but that impulse is drowned out by my fear of making the wrong choice. It’s like there’s a microphone drilled through the back of my head, broadcasting my inner fear, screaming that “I JUST WANT EVERYBODY TO BE HAPPY WITH MEEE.” In retrospect, that really doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t matter if other people are happy if we aren’t satisfied with our decisions.

From standardized testing to voting to choosing an essay prompt for English, we’re all scared that our decisions may have been wrong, that we “woulda-couldashoulda” done something differently. And those moments of regret are a diabolical guilt trip.

Honestly, regret’s overrated. Move on already, the future beckons.

If we’re smart, though, we can find our inner pool floatie to help us get across the flood of choices and the whirlpool of decision-making. Self-confidence is our cavalry, and long-term perspective and resilience play defense.

Features Student Politics CONTINUED FROM FRONT

October 5, 2012 the Winged Post

7

Sachin believes that it provides people with an incentive to obtain health care, which he thinks would ultimately produce revenue for the economy.

and Sachin, but are still more inclined towards a certain party.

Law Club president Kevin Duraiswamy (11) is leaning more to the right for economic reasons. Like Sachin, he stressed the importance of having a “proven track record” in order to determine the capabilities of a candidate rather than voting based on words.

Kevin would currently choose Romney of the two candidates because he thinks that cutting spending and taxes will encourage people to invest more and take financial risks, ultimately benefiting the economy.

“There are a lot of promises that [Obama] made, but he hasn’t followed through on [them] as much. It’s kind of hard to see how giving him another four years in office would help,” he said.

In regards to Romney’s controversial taped statement about the 47 percent of Americans that rely on government support, Kevin does not think that the incident will hurt the candidate’s campaign significantly.

“Most of the people [the statement] offends don’t support Romney anyways. One positive thing that he might get from that is people who are farther to the right from him and weren’t too Kevin Duraiswamy sure about supporting him will sup(11) port him more,” he said. “I don’t think it changed alliances too much. I think it just polarized people more.”

Meanwhile, Savi Joshi (10) prioriHe also considers Obama to be tizes social issues when trying to deterrelatively consistent compared to mine which candidate she will support.

Romney.

“Mainly what I look for in a presi“There are innumerous occasions dential candidate is someone who is when Mitt Romney said something willing to take war off the table, which five [or] six years ago and now his unfortunately neither are, but I prefer viewpoints have completely switched. Obama’s views on same sex marriage, [...] That kind of represents that he is abortion, and immigration, so I would more of a demagogue who is trying rather vote for him,” she said. to appease the Republicans,” Sachin Arya Kaul (10) does not support said. “Obama actually has some ide- either Obama or Romney; he said his als and has some kind of morality views align more with Ron Paul, who is that he upholds whereas, [Romney] no longer a candidate in the 2012 elecis just trying to go for the vote.” tions. Arya said he preferred a candiOther students do not favor either date who would decrease the size of the candidate as strongly as Maverick government and involvement in for-

“

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

There are a lot of promises that [Obama] made, but he hasn’t followed through on [them] as much.

STUDENT INVOLVEMENT Sophomore Felix Wu poses with several posters endorsing Obama for president. Felix is an Organizing Fellow for the Obama campaign at the San Jose office and helps with events and volunteer work.

eign affairs. However, when deciding between Obama and Romney, he was more inclined towards Obama.

“Romney seems like the person doesn’t know what he’s talking about at all,” he said. “At least Obama is willing to take the diplomatic route [on his stance towards Iran] instead of starting another war. Also Romney’s views of bringing the church [...] into government I don’t particularly enjoy at all.”

Felix Wu (10), who helps manage the San Jose campaign office as an Organizing Fellow for the Obama campaign, also viewed foreign policy as an important factor when determining which candidate he supports.

“

Old traditions and new acts

62nd Annual Picnic preview apurva gorti reporter

“

I’m looking forward to the at mosphere and everyone getting together.

“

Deniz Celik (12)

time not just for all the students throughout the school to get together but [for] the faculty to get together as well in a non-classroom setting where you can actually interact with them a little bit more,” Nikhil Panu (12) said.

Every year the family picnic brings teachers, parents, and students from kindergarten through

reporter Joshua Martinez is the new photography teacher, replacing J Gaston. He began his first day on September 20. With a B.A. from Humboldt State University, Martinez has experience teaching at the California College of the Arts, where he also received an M.F.A.

twelfth grade together for a fun afternoon.

“The goals of the picnic are building community, showcasing the great things we have in Harker in terms of parent involvement, student involvement, performances, and just generally having a really fun afternoon and experience,” Picnic Coordinator Tiffany Hurst said.

One of the additions to this year’s picnic will be the agility dog show, which plays into the theme. This dog show will be performed three times during the picnic and it will showcase trained dogs performing tricks in obstacle courses.

Many Upper School student clubs are volunteering at the picnic. For example, Key Club and Interact Club are hosting an ice cream booth and members of National Honor Society are taking shifts in running the popular train station activity.

Performing arts groups from all three campuses will also take part in the student show, Animals Got Talent, a spin-off of the television show America’s Got Talent. These performances will be on the “Central Pawk Stage,” also known as the Blackford amphitheater. Downbeat, Bel Canto, Junior Varsity Dance Troupe and Jazz Band, the Middle School’s Harmonics, Showstoppers, High Voltage, and sixth grade choir, as well as the Lower School’s fourth and fifth grade choir,

and Dance Fusion will all be performing in the show.

“I am excited to perform for the picnic, and I think it is going to be a lot of fun for all the other performances and teams that are going to be there,” Noel Banerjee (10), a member for the Junior Varsity Dance Troupe, said.

Math teacher Bradley Stoll will be cheering on his children in those performances as well as working in the area that serves alcohol to the adults.

“I look forward to meeting the people that come up and the parents that I don’t know,” said Stoll. “Everyone looks like they’re having a lot of fun, which we don’t see happen a lot.

People have fun at Harker, but you get to see the parents in a different sort of way. You’re not talking about students academically, so it’s kind of fun.”

Students and faculty all consider different aspects of the picnic as their favorites, whether it be the games, the raffles, or the food, but many said that interacting with other students and teachers is the best part.

“I’m looking forward to the Harker atmosphere and everyone getting together. Overall, it’s just a fun relaxing time in the middle of fall to see your friends,” Deniz Celik (12) said.

The family picnic is next Sunday at the Blackford campus for the school community to gather for a day of “feathers, fur, and fun.”

think most people at Harker who are in the Silicon Valley bubble [...] will find Barack Obama more appealing because they see him as being more like them,” he said. “On the other hand we have a lot of students who see themselves as future financial analysts, financial bankers, and captains of industry, and therefore they might look at Mitt Romney, who presents himself as a captain of industry, as someone who is more like them and therefore would be more appealing.”

The 2012 presidential elections will take place on Tuesday, November 6.

New photography teacher joins Upper School elizabeth edwards

SCREENSHOT

Several members of the school community will put their busy lives on PAWs on Sunday, October 14, to enjoy a JAWcular day from 8 a.m. to 4 o’CLAWk p.m. at the 62nd annual family picnic, “Paws, Jaws, and Claws”.

This year’s family picnic will include favorite events from past years as well as new events that are involved with this year’s animal theme. The carnival games, inflatable bounce houses, and food trucks that provided a variety of options of meals for guests were all popular aspects of last year’s picnic, so the event coordinators decided to stick with them this year as well.

“The family picnic is a great

“[Obama’s] ideas of diplomacy and pacifism are far superior to Romney, who believes that we should be going back to Iraq and pursuing our goals in Afghanistan and fighting in Iran,” he said.

JSA Advisor Daniel Hudkins has noticed that, aside from the presidential elections, students are not aware of many of the details surrounding the 2012 elections, from candidates running for Congress to propositions on ballots.

“When you’re dealing with a situation when people are not wellversed in what the issues are, they vote their emotions. [...] I certainly

I was working with a lot of artists I really admire.

WP: What kinds of photos do you like to take?

JM: I mostly take pictures of wilderness areas on the edge of urban landscapes.

WP: On a day-to-day basis, what do you look forward to in teaching?

JM: I really like it when I can see The Winged Post: What do you enjoy people get something. [For example] about photography? if I’m explaining something and all Joshua Martinez: It feels like magic of the sudden somebody’s mind just to me. It’s a way of expressing the way lights up. You can see it in their eyes. that I see.

WP: Why did you decide to become a teacher?

JM: When I learned photography, it felt really special to me, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do before I learned it. Seeing that happen in myself, seeing this thing take hold, made me want to help other people find it.

WP: How do students here compare to students you have taught in the past?

JM: The students [at the California College of the Arts] are similar to Harker students. They are very driven and very excited. [… However] you all are younger, so I think right now you’re concerned with your future, like trying to figure out where you fit into your future. […] Students here are a lot more open, I think, to trying different things.

At college, everyone wants to be a famous artist, so they are very set in their ways. You guys are a lot more experimental, which I think is really good.

WP: Do you do any other kinds of art?

JM: I occasionally do projects with friends, so I produce prints for friends of mine who are painters, and then I do a little bit of painting.

[I also do] other types of art with a group of artists.

WP: What is your favorite high school memory?

JM: When I was in high school, I tried to teach myself how to skateboard, and I think my favorite part about high school was after school, during the fall, especially. I would go with some friends, and just hang out in the parking lot, and just skateboard. That was probably one of the best times in my life.

WP: What are some of your other hobbies?

JM: I’ve been a rock climber for about nine years. I got paid to work for an indoor rock climbing gym, WP: What do you think about the to do climbing competitions. […] community here thus far?

When I was in high school, I tried to JM: Besides food? Everybody’s been teach myself how to skateboard, and so supportive and wonderful. The stu- I think my favorite part about high dents, teachers, and administrators are school was […] after school, during all really open, and everyone eats to- the fall, especially, I would go with gether. I really like the atmosphere. some friends and just hang out in the parking lot and skateboard.

WP: What was your experience teaching at the California College of the Arts like?

JM: It was a very creative atmosphere.

Features

pursues HULA: Freshman unique interest

Fall Play preview

sindhu ravuri

The Pahu drum, pa’u skirt, and ukulele, all essential parts of a unique dance form that has established itself all over the world today: Hula.

Although it is a commonly performed dance style, Hula is not often encountered within a high school community outside of the dance form’s origins in Hawaii. This is definitely not the case with Naomi Molin (9).

Naomi began to pursue Hula at the age of five. Although there are 5,000 existing dance forms in the world, the 14-year old specifically chose Hula because she was born in Maui and consequently had early exposure to the dance form. However, there was one specific aspect of Hula that had ultimately led to her evolving passion for the art style.

“The drums. Especially with traditional dance, [they] are a powerful thing to listen [to].” Naomi said.

Throughout her three-year Hula career, Naomi’s family has served as her foundation and primary source of support, whether it was being present at her shows and competitions, or making sure that the leaves of her lei were intact.

“When I said I wanted to start [Hula] they were just [so] supportive. […] My parents, especially my mom, did the best they could. […] Once, [she] even tried to hand-make [my lei]. [Generally,] it’s hard not only on the dancers but on their families too,” Naomi said.

Naomi participates with a local professional studio, Hula Halau ‘O Pi’ilani. When she first started at a relatively old age, Naomi, who is often referred to as haole or “foreigner,” had been placed within a group of younger girls ranging from toddlers to third graders. This group was referred to as the keiki team.

After easily grasping the several fundamental concepts of Hula, Naomi’s instructor had promoted her

to the more advanced group of danc- my group. I mean, we did our best ... it ers, known as the kaikamahine, within [was] definitely worth it,” Naomi said. merely five months of her joining Certainly being a high school the company. Her fast advancement teenager must carry its several presthrough the various levels of comsures academically, physically, and plexity of Hula was due to both her mentally, and it becomes very hard to age and ability to easily adapt to the balance hobbies with school. Therestyle of Hula despite being a nonnafore, the question of how Naomi tive. continues to commit to Hula arises.

In addition, the kaikamahine “[I do it] because it’s another group had introduced Naomi to outlet. [W]hen you have all this her first competition ever, as well as school work and academic stress it’s the stressful process it entailed. For nice to have something else. It feels instance, the entire experience was great to be a part of something special rather time-consuming, as it required that not every person gets to experifive hour rehearsals on Sundays and ence. I just love being able to set [mytwo hours on Saturdays. Nevertheself ] apart from the average American less, Naomi’s entire perspective of teenager,” said Naomi.

Hula was transformed as a result Even though of the major competition she had Naomi no lonperformed in. ger competes, she “[Hula] it has a lot that continues Hula by goes into it and its really precise,” taking part in the Naomi said. “You might not think Adult Beginner about it when your watching, classes offered, but there’s a reason for every and plans on [aspect of it]. [For instance,] pursuing the choice and color of the this pascostume, or [its style], even sion for [the way] you turn your as long as head. [I realized that] there she posis an [actual] art to Hula.” sibly As the performance can. approached, Naomi’s teacher had also begun to become more stringent. However, she has been a pivotal figure in her dancing career, and has helped Naomi slowly improve her dancing abilities.

Throughout the competition process, their relationship had developed to a certain extent.

The group had practiced several times for a couple of months prior to the competition, however were not able to win. This didn’t sadden Naomi, however, as the experience was rewarding enough. DRESSED UP Naomi Molin (9) proudly “It wasn’t disappointing for displays traditional Hula attire prior to her first SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

reporter

official dance competition.

Rosenboom to publish first book in January darian edvalson

that of dualities, especially the connection between society and nature.

This theme influences her title and the Publishing a book: something setting of her poems, many of which that so many aspiring writers hope occur in Iceland, which she believes is to accomplish, but not many actually “a place of dualities.” do. Alexandra Rosenboom, English “I chose [this] title partly because teacher, has just recently accomplished you have of course the nature of the this goal, and hopes to follow with ocean and then the harbor, industry many more in the future. and society behind that,” said RosenRosenboom, who has been writboom. “The ways in which we are in a ing since age eight, has finally written state of between, always in this mercuher book of 25 poems, “In rial space that is ever-changing the Way of Harbors,” one that we must come to terms year after publishing her with—that things aren’t ever first work, a manuscript of completely certain or solid poems. when it comes to our percep“It was probably tions or ideas of truth or around the age of 18 what have you.” or 19 that I really Rosenboom wanted to make poexplained that etry a serious enshe tries to give deavor and poetry the poems a kind was something of liveliness and that I wanted to uniformity through pursue not only the way they fit in a personal way onto the page. The but in a more changing forms public way,” said and deviance Rosenboom. “I from standard, feel that it’s only structured stanzas relevant for me also play a role to share my ideas in expressing the with other people. theme of duality I really love community.” and changing state of people.

Rosenboom first began writRosenboom is very appreciative ing the poems that would eventually of the Upper School community in become part of her book in 2005 all of its support towards her and her while pursuing her Masters in Fine writing career. She also has been inArts (MFA) at the University of San spired by her scholarship as a teacher.

Francisco. However, it was only in the While writing poems, ideas for three last two years that her chap-book, a or four of her poems in her published short chapter-long book, really began work have been directly influenced by to take shape as she wrote many more reading she has done as a teacher, from of the poems.

Hamlet to Sir Gawain and the Green “I started pursuing publishing of Knight. books pretty readily and actively after I “Harker has been very supportive. received my MFA. It was a hard road,” Through funding, I’ve been able to go said Rosenboom. “[University of San to some residencies and some workFrancisco] is actually the first place I shops that I would never have been sent this chap-book to.” able to go to without their help,” said Her collection of poems, alRosenboom. though separate, follows patterns of According to what the publisher themes and motifs throughout. Her told her, the chap-book is scheduled to most conspicuous and important come out between January and April theme, according to Rosenboom, is of next year.

DARIAN EDVALSON- WINGED POST

TalonWP EIT

Performing Arts Department plans to put on production of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” rahul jayaraman reporter “To be or not to be, that is the question,” murmurs Hamlet in perhaps the most famous line from William Shakespeare’s eponymous play, “Hamlet.” On October 25, 26, and 27, this line will be delivered in the Blackford theatre as Performing Arts teacher Jeffrey Draper oversees the production of this play for the second time at the Upper School.

Auditions were early this school year, and roles were announced soon thereafter. For their auditions, prospective actors were asked to deliver a monologue from the play. Draper was looking for strong actors who “are able to own the stage and own the words.”

He went on to note that many people fit the criteria. However, as the main play has too few roles for everyone to get an opportunity to act, Draper assembled an understudy cast, which would learn the lines and rehearse alongside the main cast and thus would have the opportunity to hone their skills for future productions. They would also perform for their parents and advisors in a special show on Saturday, October 27.

This year, Draper decided to split the non-understudy casting of the main roles, as in years past. There are five people playing Hamlet, the protagonist of the play; two people playing Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother; two actors for Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle; and two people portraying Hamlet’s love interest, Ophelia.

“I did allow actors to share a role,” Draper explained. “What this does for Hamlet is that it allows us to see the character in many different ways as he progresses through the stages of grief in each act.”

Student actors agree with Draper’s decision to split the roles.

“I really don’t mind at all because it gives multiple actors the opportunity to play these incredible, multifaceted characters,” Shazdeh Hussain (11), playing the role of Gertrude said.

According to Draper, sophomores in Honors English II who will act in this play will be able to connect more with Hamlet when they read the play after performing.

He also received positive feedback from English teachers about his choice last time.

Sophomore English teacher Jennifer Siraganian expects that students acting in this year’s play will be “approaching the play from a totally different perspective” while reading the play for English class.

“They’ll become an embodiment of what the play means, and they’ll be feeling everything from Ophelia’s intense emotional state to Claudius’s raging suspicions about his nephew,” she said.

Draper said he wants the play to evoke tears in the audience. According to him, Hamlet is a very moving play that should make the audience feel the grief that Hamlet experiences as the play progresses.

Alan Guo (10), a student interested in drama but not acting in the play, is also looking forward to the performance.

“I would love for it to be a realistic glimpse into the different aspects of the human personality,” he said.

The curtains will rise at 7 p.m. on the performance days, and Draper encourages everyone to attend.

Tickets will be sold during lunch in the weeks prior to the play, and will cost $8 for students and seniors and $15 for adults.

Main’s unique hobby

New teacher makes YouTube videos dora tzeng reporter From song parodies of famous pop songs to videos of her son, Diane Main, the new Assistant Director of Instructional Technology, has the unique hobby of making a wide variety of YouTube videos.

One of her most recent projects was a song parody of Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen.

“I decided to make [the song] about what my job is [for] the teachers, so they know that I’m not tech support, but that they can call me for other things,” Main said.

She spontaneously made her first song parody while singing along to karaoke with her son several years ago.

“I made up a quick parody about the water cycle, [...] and called someone that taught with me and I sang my song into her voicemail,” Main said. “It was a joke!”

Years later in a staff meeting, her co-worker mentioned the song and another teacher asked her to make the parody again. Main agreed, so she rewrote the lyrics and even sang to some first grade classes.

“After that, whenever I hear a song, I’ll make up new words for it,” Main said.

Several other songs Main has written are Gold Miner to the tune of Gold Digger by Kanye West, and Renaissance to the tune of Bad Romance by Lady Gaga.

Main spends about two hours writing lyrics and recording her music in GarageBand and an additional two to four hours putting together a video she makes by stream recording powerpoint slides. Although she would like to make a video for every song, Main is unable to because the process is time consuming. “[It takes] a long time to make sure I get all the pictures that I [need], that the [slides] cover what I was trying to say, [and] that the [pictures] are all copyright free or that I have permission [to use

SCREENSHOT

8

October 5, 2012 the Winged Post

SING ALONG Diane Main, the new Assistant Director of Instructional Technology, sings with her son, Cameron, to teach him his Bible verses for school.

Main has been making YouTube videos for about six years; they range from song parodies to instructional videos to songs with her son.

them],” Main said.

In high school, Main was a member of her after school Glee Club, but she did not sing much until 1999. “[That’s] when I started singing karaoke,” Main said. “My husband and I always happened to be at this one place, and they had karaoke so I just started doing karaoke.”

Soon after, Main became involved in singing for meetings and worship at her former Christian school, and she participated in the shows at her church as well.

Last year, Main had the chance to teach other teachers how to make song parody videos at a conference in San Diego. She attends four to five conferences a year all over the country including Palm Springs and San Antonio.

In addition to song parodies, she posts a variety of videos on her YouTube account including instructional videos and videos of her son.

“I really just [post] whatever’s going on, [like] my son asking people to buy popcorn for Cub Scouts [or] my tortoise eating dandelions,” Main said.

“It’s just fun things that happen at my house.”

One of the reasons why Main

started making YouTube videos is because all her relatives live far away. “[My family] get[s] to watch my son growing up. They [can] go on the computer and see how my son’s doing,” she said.

Main made one of her favorite videos when her son asked her and other family members play random instruments while he sang. Another favorite is an instructional video which was more “pro quality.” Main’s friend, who works in video production for Comcast, looked through her script and offered suggestions on how to improve it.

Recently, however, Main has not written many new song parodies because she has been busy performing in shows for her church.

“A lot of [my videos] lately have just been my son [was] doing something awesome, and I just grab my phone and [record] it and send it right up to YouTube,” she said.

Main has been making YouTube videos for about six years now and has a total of 148 videos on her channel, which can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/user/DianeMain.

SAINT STEPHEN’S COLLEGE:

the Winged Post

Australian performing arts students tour the conservatory program

stephanie chen

“

Mitchell Walsh, Saint Stephen’s College Senior Indy Chapman enjoyed the specificity of the courses.

MEENA CHETTY - WINGED POST

“

We’ve only got drama, but here there’s improv and theatre and acting.

STEPHANIE CHEN - WINGED POST

reporter

A group of students from our sister school Saint Stephen’s College in Australia visited the Upper School last week, taking part in performing arts classes and conservatory workshops.

The Australian students selected classes based on their interests and areas of specialty. Most of them were drama students and attended classes such as Study of Theater and Advanced Acting.

AUSSIES Left: At school meeting on Monday, September 24, two of the visiting students sang For Good from the musical Wicked, which they saw while in New York, while another accompanies them on piano.. Right: Jake Wardle (9), Emma Josey (10), Shon Mori (9), and Jake Layton (11) were part of the group of students from Saint Stephen’s College that attended performing arts classes and workshops at the Upper School.

“They’re so different. You can focus on a bunch of Shakespeare, just Shakespeare. Back home, we only have drama, [where] you learn all across the range,” she said.

Mitchell Walsh (12) agreed.

“We’ve only got drama, but here there’s improv and theater and acting— you’ve actually got an acting class,” he said.

Another aspect that the students liked was the inclusive nature of the performing arts program.

“I think they appreciated the concept of the certificate program a lot, how structured it is,” said Upper School senior Hannah Prutton. “They have to pursue a lot of things outside of school whereas we have everything here.”

The actors in the group also observed the rehearsal of Hamlet, this year’s fall play. Many of them admired the original interpretation of the play,

in which multiple actors played the same characters.

“They really liked Cecilia [LangRee]’s scene [as Hamlet] with the ‘to be or not to be’ debate,” said Upper School junior Claudia Tischler. Hamlet is usually played by male actors, but this year’s adaptation allows both genders in all roles.

“It was a really, really interesting way of doing it, and it’s such a good idea that I wish we’d thought of it first,” said Australian student Grace Wilson (12).

Saint Stephen’s puts on only one production a year, according to Mitchell.

“Every alternate year, we have a musical and then a play, and that’s it for the whole school,” he said.

In addition to actors, there were singers and musicians among the students. Sophomore Emma Josey and

9

freshman Jake Wardle were part of a group that practiced with the orchestra.

Emma, who plays saxophone, piano, and clarinet, liked that the orchestra had “a lot more instrumentation” than what she was used to working with. According to Jake, a trumpet player, the symphony orchestra at Saint Stephen’s is smaller with a more limited range of instruments.

Other classes that the Australian students attended include Cantilena, Journalism, Creative Writing, and AP United States History.

The students’ stay was part of a 19day tour across the United States that began in New York. There, they visited performing arts centers such as the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Juilliard School.

Freshman Shon Mori was impressed at the quality and high stan-

dard of the Juilliard music program.

“Americans take it so seriously, in everything,” he said.

The students also watched Wicked and The Lion King on Broadway and visited landmarks including the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge.

Freshman Simona Kaddatz was initially intimidated by New York’s busy atmosphere.

“It was kind of scary at first. There were a lot of people on the street, but [we got] used to it, and by the end we didn’t want to leave,” she said.

For Grace, the highlights of the tour were “going up the Empire State Building and going to the Broadway shows, and also the fact that [their] hotel was right on Times Square.”

After leaving the Upper School, the students’ next stop is Los Angeles, where they will be attending more performing arts workshops and going to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.

SHERIDAN TOBIN - WINGED POST

GLOBAL

October 5, 2012

FRIENDS Shannon O’Shea (9) hugs one of her new Australian friends good bye before the group boarded the bus to leave. The visiting group bonded quickly with the Upper School performing arts students.

Travel abroad: four international trips offered sheridan tobin Every year, at least one international trip is offered to Upper School students. Currently, there are programs to three of our different sister schools around the world that are offered regularly: one to Switzerland, one to Japan, and one to Australia. Additionally, this summer, a trip to Africa is being planned for the first time. Aside from the goal of furthering global education, these trips also provide to those who attend many new experiences and memories that last for years to come.

“I just really want [the trips] to open up students’ eyes to the way their peers live around the world and all the differences there are [...] of what’s normal and [the] normal [lifestyles] for different students,” said the Director of Global Education, Jennifer Walrod. “[I want them to] also realize [...] the different ways of understanding the world and doing things.”

Walrod is always looking for new schools in countries that, based on student interest, could become possible destinations for future trips. She feels that traveling helps shape people into who they are.

“It’s such a dynamic experience,” she said. “We’re a sum total of our life events and experiences, and it enhances all of that.”

Here is a brief summary of what to expect from each of the three trips.

Australia

Australia is the location of one of the programs that are offered. Although in the past this excursion has not officially been an exchange program, those who attend stay in homestays with students from our sister school, St. Stephen’s College, for a portion of their time there.

While traveling, the group spends time sightseeing in Sydney, Cairns, and other popular destinations. Additionally, they tour the school and attend classes and the leadership retreat, an annual outing for the juniors to a national park.

The trip is offered every other year, on the year that the Switzerland and Japan trips do not take place. However, according to Walrod, “in the past, it’s been hit or miss whether it has taken place.” The visit scheduled for last summer was canceled because not enough students showed interest.

Due to the recent visit from a group of St. Stephen’s College’s students, Walrod hopes that the trip being planned for next year will be a success.

ALL PHOTOS SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

global editor

TRAVEL ABROAD Top: On a past trip to Sydney, Australia, students strike goofy poses in front of a famous landmark, the Sydney Opera House, one of their many stops in the ocean side city. Bottom Left: On the Switzerland trip, students visit many breathtaking views while exploring the country. Bottom Right: While visiting Japan, a group of students stop in front of the Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima, Japan. Right: In Africa, a lone lion rests high above its usual perch on the ground.

“There’s a lot of energy around Australia and going to visit the school,” she said.

Switzerland

Every other year, a group of students participates in an exchange program with Collège de Gambach, our sister school in Fribourg, Switzerland.

Although the trip started as a trip only for students taking French, it is now open to the entire student body.

Each student is paired with a Swiss student whom they will host when the group visits the Upper School in the spring, and then stay with when traveling to Fribourg for ten days at the beginning of the summer.

While visiting, the group attends school with their buddies, observes classes, and goes on field trips to sightsee around the country.

According to Walrod, the trip announcement has had a lot of positive response.

“Switzerland is a very strong exchange,” she said. “The school’s a really

really good match for Harker.”

The next trip will be this summer, and applications are currently available by emailing Walrod.

Japan

Another international trip offered is to Japan. Although this trip is only offered to students studying Japanese because it is run in the language, it has been well-attended in the past. The next occurrence of this trip is being planned for this summer.

Although the trip is not organized as an exchange program, those who attend visit our sister school in Tokyo, Tamagawa K-12 School and University. While visiting the school, students participate in homestays, and this year, students will be there for a week, longer than they have in the past.

Additionally, the group will spend part of their time in Japan sightseeing Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Miyajima. For many who have attended, a highlight of the trip has been visiting

well-known places such as Golden Hall and the Nin’naji Temple.

Japanese teacher Masako Onakado, who organizes this trip, hopes students are able to not only experience different aspects of the country, but also learn more about the language and culture.

“I am hoping that the experience will inspire them to learn more about the country and the people and to study the language with a goal in mind, which is to master the language and use it as a communication tool,” she said.

Africa

This summer, Biology and Journalism students will have the opportunity to visit Tanzania, Africa. A group of up to 20 students, ten from each program, will be led by Science Department Chair, Anita Chetty, and Journalism Advisor Chris Daren. The group will travel to the same locations but experience the trip differently, based on which class they signed up through.

Students attending for the biology

side of the trip will have the opportunity to do field studies and medical work revolving around the animals and ecosystem they encounter.

“I was seeking a trip for our students that would allow them to combine some research, but with a medical perspective [and] an understanding of public health and how, in other countries, access to health care is not a right, it’s a privilege,” she said. “[The trip will] allow those students who are interested in health care to look at it on a more global scale.”

On the other hand, those attending from the journalism program will conduct interviews with natives and focus on refining their photojournalism skills. The photos that the group takes on the trip will be viewed in a photography show and published in a coffee table book.

“Really, it’s about building their photography skills,” Daren said. “They will come out of there with a newfound respect for the wildlife [and] enhance their journalism and broadcast skills.”

10

Global

October 5, 2012 the Winged Post

The Upper School

Bridging the culture gap global journalism project

The articles below are a part of a continuing collaboration between The Winged Post and several other international schools in which an article topic is agreed upon and written about. Each school writes and edits their own article, which is then published as received in our publication. Stories

and views expressed below are those from contributing schools and are not necessarily those of The Winged Post.

For this issue, we collaborated with the Taipei American School on how global students worldwide are taking initiative to learn more about cultures other than their own.

NICK YEH - TAIPEI AMERICAN SCHOOL

KACEY FANG - WINGED POST

Taipei American School

FIELD DAY A group of seniors at the Taipei American School in Taiwan celebrate field day, which took place on September 21.

meg silsby editor in chief of the Blue & Gold “Home” is a word that a handful of students here at TAS aren’t familiar with. Yes, most all have a tangible idea of what their home is, for instance: a twelve story apartment building in Taipei City. However, that’s never the answer people are looking for when they ask the questions dreaded by all “Third Culture Kids” (TCK) alike: “where are you from” or “what city do you

“

I chose to have a home c onst r u c te d by each move, each new experience, not gated communities or even national borders.

Jane Choi, Taipei American School

“

call home?”

Coined by Dr. Ruth Useem nearly 40 years ago, the term “TCK” refers to individuals with

no sense of belonging in one culture. Many of these “global citizens” have moved around often, assimilating elements of different cultures and human encounters into their lifelong experience.

Oliver Hirama (12) has moved across the globe a number of times, having lived in Hong Kong, Belgium, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, and now, Taiwan.

“Having never lived in one place for more than a few years, I feel like a bit of a nomad,” he said, “I know that the city I spend my days in now is as transient as the last 5 cities I spent my days in.”

For people like Oliver, the perks of being a global nomad far outweigh the pain of leaving behind good friends. “I’m hugely grateful to have the opportunity to see so much of the world,” he said.

Junior Linus Maloney has faced a clash of cultures throughout the 16 year span of his life.

He feels as though he doesn’t fit into any culture “100 percent.”

“Due to my mixed background [of ] Taiwanese and Irish, I don’t feel I have any cultural identity,” he said, “a lot of aspects of the Asian culture contradict [with] the Western one.”

However, Linus’ attitude towards his situation is one of neither frustration nor angst.

Despite being born into two distinctly different cultures, Linus feels “normal and neutral” about this seemingly complex identity issue.

Questions pertaining to home or culture may take hardly a split second for some individuals to reply to, however, what seems to be no more than a simple string of words, “where are you from?” can leave TCK’s dumbfounded as they ponder the very question themselves.

Though TCK’s may give new meaning to the word “homeless,” they are more than just lost souls. Ultimately, one’s home doesn’t choose them.

Jane Choi (12) has lived outside of her passport country of Korea for nearly her entire life.

Over the years she has gotten used to the idea of not having a distinct sense of home. Does she feel rootless?

“You choose your home,” said Jane, “I chose to have a home constructed by each move, each new experience, not gated communities or even national borders.”

Mooncakes

Chinese students celebrate the Mid-Autum Festival monica thukral reporter

The Chinese Moon Festival, or Mid-Autumn Festival, that took place on Sunday, September 30 was celebrated by Upper School students studying Chinese by making mooncakes.

The purpose of the traditional Moon Festival is to honor a goddess who lives on the moon by recognizing her during the time when the moon is largest and brightest.

AP Chinese Language & Culture students spent their class period making mooncakes for the rest of the students who are studying Chinese.

Justin Yen (10) enjoyed the activity and learning about the festival.

“It was a fun break from what we usually do in class, but [it also tied] to what we were doing in class.”

Similarly, Kevin Su (10) participated in making the mooncakes. He enjoyed taking a break

from studying to have fun by making the food.

“Our moon cakes weren’t as professional,” Kevin said. “But if I had the chance to, I would do it again.”

Delaney Martin (10), a student in Mandarin 1 explained that since she had taken Japanese in the past, she had heard about the Moon Festival but never tried traditional mooncakes before. After tasting them for the first time, she described them as “yummy.”

“The cakes were good, so maybe I’ll buy them,” Delaney said.

She went on to explain how she valued learning about the holidays of other cultures that are unique from those generally recognized in the United States.

“It was nice to sort of get engaged in the culture that I was learning about,” she said.

Delaney plans to honor the traditional Moon Festival in her subsequent Mandarin classes.

sheridan tobin global editor

No matter how diverse our little private school in the Bay Area may appear to be, no matter how many different countries one may have visited or lived in, we are all, to some extent, in our own little bubbles.

That bubble may encompass just our high school community, or it may include San Jose, California, the United States, or maybe even a specific country of origin. As we’re all caught up in our day-to-day lives, we forget how much more there is out there.

Culture gaps are everywhere. Lifestyles vary from city to city, and even more significantly from country to country. For those, including myself, who may not get to travel internationally very often, it’s hard to put into perspective these differences.

It’s important to try to bridge those gaps now because with the constant rise of technology and need for global communication, soon enough, we won’t have a choice.

Fortunately, however, this is getting easier.

Right now, if anyone wanted to, they could grab a phone and call their grandparents on the other side of the country, or get on Skype and catch up with a friend on the other side of the world. With social networking, they keep in touch with friends from different schools, different states, and different countries.

Additionally, at school through the Global Journalism Project, clubs that focus on specific cultures, and many other efforts, students are working with each other to increase their global knowledge, and educate other students as well.

Attending a school with such a diverse student body has been a major contributing factor to my knowledge of cultures around the world. From Chinese New Year parties in lower school and Dandia, an Indian festival, to learning more about Korean music and Middle Eastern clothing, having friends who have such distinctly different backgrounds has broadened people’s horizons immensely. Because of the variety of ethnic groups we am surrounded by here, it makes the answer to what seems to be a simple question, ‘where are you from?’ very interesting and unpredictable. Oftentimes, that answer requires more than a one-word reply to be accurate. As kids with multiracial backgrounds tell their stories, those listening become aware of even more cultures and lifestyles.

If we’re going to have the privilege of being surrounded by people with such different backgrounds, why not make the most of it? Also, remember to keep in mind that people aren’t always where they live. Take the time to ask people about their heritage, especially when meeting new people, because you never know what they have to say, and what you may learn or be inspired by.

monica thukral reporter Carly Rae Jepsen’s second album, Kiss, does not live up to the sensation created by her single Call Me Maybe which was the cause of her initial popularity due to its viral video.

Released on September 18, the album includes collaborations with renowned artists such as Owl City and Justin Bieber. Although many of the songs exhibit catchy beats and phrases, the album is simply not original or ground breaking.

Overall, the collection of tracks is quite juvenile and its lyrics repetitive.

Comparable to “Disney-style” songs, the music may appeal to a younger age group.

The album commences with Tiny Little Bows, a song about the beginnings of love. “Cupid, draw back your bow,” Jepsen sings to start of the song.

Similar to many of the other tracks, the song starts off uniquely but ultimately becomes dull.

However, progressing into a group of songs with interesting tunes and traces of 80’s vibes, the album moves toward an upbeat style.

KISS Carly Rae Jepsen’s second album, Kiss demonstrates her lively character and includes her hit songs, “Call Me Maybe” and “Good Time.”

GOMOXIE.ORG

Review

Popular in the mainstream, Call Me Maybe and Good Time are the highlights of the album. “Call Me Maybe” rapidly gained Jepsen publicity when it debuted in early 2012. Its viral music video was recreated by groups from the United States Olympic women’s swim team to the Harvard baseball team to celebrities like Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. As a collaboration with the band Owl City, Good Time adds dimension to the album with its a mix of both of the artists’ styles and relaxed tone.

Another song, Curiosity, epitomizes the youthfulness of Jepsen’s personality by stating, “Curiosity will never let me go.”

On the other side of the spectrum, breakup songs Turn Me Up and Tonight I’m Getting Over You are dance songs that add a lively and rebellious note to the album and exemplify Jepsen’s versatility.

Her duet with Justin Bieber, Beautiful, is very similar in rhythm to Colbie Callait and Jason Mraz’s duet, Lucky. Both songs emphasize the words chosen over the beat and create a relaxing and peaceful mood centered on budding love. A slow song with a romantic air, this track adds a unique twist to the album.

Drawing an end to the album, Guitar String/Wedding Ring is a peppy song that repeats, “If you cut a piece of guitar string, I would wear it like its a wedding ring, wrapped around my finger, you know what I mean?” The album concludes with Your Heart is a Muscle, another slower track that does not fit with the other tracks or nearly reach the quality of the rest of the album. Neither has an overtly comprehensible meaning nor does it give the album an explicit purpose or meaning.

Jepsen’s songs that can be heard on the radio represent the prime of Kiss. Though not innovative or unique, her fame can be attributed to the memorable tunes of her music.

Pitch Perfect is hilariously in tune Talented vocalists engage viewers during movie kacey fang copy editor

Review Inevitably, the popular idea behind the new vocal comedy Pitch Perfect triggers its comparison with other PITCH PERFECT Starring Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, and Skylar Astin, shows of the same timbre. However, Pitch Perfect hits theatres on October 5. The sharp humor, witty comments, and exceptional singing sets apart this movie from other comedies. the rioting humor and distinctive acappella style set this hilarious film cappella. After a month of attending tric characters. Besides Fat Amy, the apart. college without friends, Beca is pres- Bellas include a not-so-discreetly lesPitch Perfect is first and foremost sured into joining the Barden Bellas, bian Cynthia Rose (Ester Dean), the a comedy. From the moment the first who have experienced quite a fall from uptight a-cappella-obsessed Aubrey performance ends in orally projected popularity since an on-stage fiasco the (Anna Camp), and the somewhat terdisaster to the final quip by a pair of previous year. The girls rehearse for rifying Lilly (Hana Mae Lee), whose witty (if slightly misogynistic) an- hours but still perform no songs from rare comments would likely create a nouncers, the sharp humor provides the century, preferring to stick to prim riot if ever anyone heard what she was constant entertainment for the audi- and proper dance choreography with saying. ence. Rebel Wilson, who plays the harmonious but stale vocals.

Together, the cast is able to proshamelessly self-deprecating Fat Amy, As a girl who is not afraid to speak duce unique renditions of popular hits every humorous note with confi- her mind, Beca soon takes the reins and modern music. Somewhat unrealistidence and without fail. Throughout rather forcibly drags the group onto an cally, the odd group of people harthe basic storyline drama, there is nev- entirely different soundtrack. The girls monizes stunningly well and sings er a dull moment. go up against the rival Treble Makers impromptu with no prior preparation.

That being said, there is not much in a fast-paced riff-off and climb their The tones of each singer fit together of a fresh storyline to speak of. The way up the collegiate a-cappella rank- seamlessly into back-up, melody, and plot is hackneyed and overdone, and it ings. From there, both groups end up a beat that anyone can dance to. Even is almost possible for viewers to pre- in a predicament as they face a leader- some questionable song choices can be dict the outcome of the movie without ship crisis. forgiven when viewers hear the a-capeven watching it.

Of course, there has to be a love pella spin on each song. And though The film introduces Beca (Anna interest in the form of Jesse (Skylar the Treble Makers should be the bratty Kendrick): a cynical and “alternative” Astin), who uses his goofy and per- rival boy group, their energetic choregirl with a father who teaches at her sistent personality to try to get inside ography and vocals make them hard to university and a stepmother who she Beca’s bubble. But when he tries to get hate. refers to as step-monster. Her dream involved in her routine life, Beca’s peoWhile its overdone themes alone is to become a disc jockey in L.A., and ple-shunning mechanisms start caus- would make the film forgettable, some her laptop is filled with the mash-ups ing trouble for their budding romance. quick-wittedly droll lines, such as she mixes in her free time. Imagine All in all, Pitch Perfect pres- those involving “horizontal running,” her in the middle of Barden Univer- ents no surprises and a predictable, “crystal meth,” and “I’ve been shot!” sity, where the coolest club to join is unabashedly clichéd plot. Luckily, may be difficult to forget. Besides beone in which a group of boys, called the good outweighs the bad with the ing a breezy watch, Pitch Perfect defithe Treble Makers, sing and dance a- comedy and cast of hilariously eccen- nitely earns the title of “aca-awesome.”

“ All research in human memory depends on one fact: forgetting.”

Intentional forgetting made possible mercedes chien lifestyle editor The minute-hand strikes the fiveminute mark. That’s not enough time to finish. Palms sweating, stress level rising, he frantically writes down everything he knows about physics. Just finish the test. The harmonious bell rings and without attempting the last problem, he turns it in.

He may not have finished his physics test on time, but he has other assessments to worry about now, including a biology test and unfinished homework.

Focusing on the upcoming concerns allows him to forget about his physics test, but what if there was a way to intentionally forget without having to fill your mind with other affairs?

Recent research has shown that the brain may be able to forbid specific memories from coming to mind.

Saima Noreen, a researcher at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, based her current research regarding the memory system on Anderson & Green’s original think and no-think paradigm that was released in 2001, which essentially noted that in order to block out a particular memory, one simply must not think of it at all.

However, Noreen and her team took it further. They wanted to see “whether people could be trained to forget more emotional and personally meaningful memories.”

“We all have memories that are unpleasant or distracting that we would like to forget,” Noreen said in an email interview with the Winged Post. “When this happens we often make an effort to limit how often or for how long that memory comes into consciousness.”

The research began by showing subjects simple words including “barbeque” and “theatre” and asked them to write down normal, everyday memories that were associated with them. A week later, the subjects returned for the real test. After reviewing their records of each word, the subjects were flashed the same words in front of them in red and green; if red, they must block out all memories they had previously writ-

LEARNING TO FORGET Recent research shows that blocking out particular memories from the mind can lead to emotional detachment and potentially forgetting the entire experience.

ten down, and if green, they were to continue their train of thought.

Head researcher at University of St. Andrews, Malcolm MacLeod, and Noreen noticed a 12 percent decrease in the accuracy of detail for the words that were flashed in red.

“It is worth pointing out that our research found that the entire memory episode of the event was not forgotten – people still remembered the event, but certain details were susceptible to be forgotten,” Noreen said.

According to Noreen, they believe that the ability to forget intentionally can benefit people who “dwell on negative thoughts and memories” such as those with depression or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

As of now, the research team does not know the specific consequences of deliberate forgetting on people’s mental health, nor do they know if these effects are long-term and only pertain to more traumatic or emotional memories.

“Our research found that the entire memory episode of the event was not forgotten – people still remem-

11

SCENE

Carly Rae Jepsen’s new album fails to meet expectations

the Winged Post

bered the event, but the consequences or personal meaning had been forgotten,” Noreen said.

For such reasons, they cannot pinpoint the effects their research has on people who suffer from those diseases. Despite that, Noreen stated that their results may be the start of further research in that field.

Noreen alludes to a 1988 study conducted by Elizabeth and Robert Bjork to stress the importance of forgetting. She noted that many people are misled by the notion that forgetting is a failure of the memory system, while, in reality, forgetting is crucial for “effective functioning and higher cognition.”

“An efficient memory system can not only retain relevant information but can also suppress irrelevant information that is out of date and a possible source of error and interference,” Noreen said.

She referenced to the case of Jill Price, a woman who has an exceptional memory but is unable to function normally. Price demonstrates that controlling memory by remembering and forgetting at one’s will reaps significant advantages in daily life.

However, psychology teacher Kelly Horan believes differently.

“The whole reason we have memories, positive and negative, especially negative, is so that we don’t repeat that behavior,” she said.

Horan foresees consequences with intentionally forgetting memories by blocking them out entirely since people are not allowing themselves to grow and learn from their experiences.

She references another method to help victims of depression or PTSD: offering a particular type of drug that lessens the intensity of the memory so that people can still reflect upon it while simultaneously mitigating the pain it may have induced.

Memories, lingering on someone’s mind, can influence one’s character. Whether blocking them out completely or allowing them to shape one’s mind set, the power of forgetting can be just as crucial to the memory system as the power of remembering.

Baseball film Trouble with the Curve

Movie scores more hits than misses

WARNER BROS.

KISS:

Lifestyle

October 5, 2012

TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE Amy Adams as Mickey and Clint Eastwood as Gus in Warner Bros. Pictures’ drama “Trouble with the Curve,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

elisabeth siegel

reporter Sometimes old age hits hardest those who least expect it or pay it any attention. This theme was largely rampant throughout the entirety of Trouble with the Curve, a new family drama directed by Robert Lorenz.

Trouble with the Curve describes experienced baseball scout Gus Lobel (Clint Eastwood) as he competes with modern technology and his old age while also attempting to mend his dysfunctional relationship with his estranged daughter, Mickey (Amy Adams). Mickey’s mother died when she was merely six; due to paternal guilt and other factors, Gus was forced to send Mickey away to boarding school.

Now a highly proficient lawyer determined to keep her and her father’s lives separate, Mickey spends her time struggling to reach the top of a maledriven law company while also trying to keep her father’s health in mind.

The movie included all audience members easily, regardless of prior baseball knowledge. The humor mostly stemmed from arguments and served its purpose well not only by inspiring a few chuckles throughout the audience but also by managing to put the strained relationship between Gus and Mickey in proper perspective. The performances of Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams were respective successes: Eastwood hit the mark squarely as usual with a convincing display of waxing senility and fatherliness, and Adams was not far behind with her superbly crafted persona of hurt and slight mental instability.

Review

Cinematic films were equally high quality and did not draw too much attention away from the more important characters or plot.

While the basic premise and main characters were fantastic, a minority of important points fell by the wayside in writing and acting. The first and foremost was the casting of Justin Timberlake as Johnny Flanagan, the former pitcher and present scout for the Red Sox. Timberlake’s acting choices were bland, uninteresting, and altogether too much of a generic “nice guy” archetype, keeping up with the rest of the actors by looks alone.

Additionally, the movie’s plot itself was quite contrived, the resolution occurring to the audience far before it even began to dawn on the main characters. While the movie was more character-driven than plot-driven, it still provided several frustrating moments for the audience as they waited for the characters to catch up with the epiphany that should have occurred ten minutes previously.

Overall, the fine casting and writing of the main characters and the droll humor delivery provided great entertainment for teenagers and adults, even though some of the supporting characters and important plot points were left behind. This movie is highly recommended to not only baseball aficionados, but also those who enjoy family-centered films guaranteed to cast father-daughter relationships in a different light.

12

Lifestyle

October 5, 2012 the Winged Post

The Retro Dome: Resurrecting old-time films and performing arts appeal samar malik

copy editor Glitz, glam, and studio lights galore, San Jose’s Retro Dome features a line-up of popular old-fashioned films and live, audience-inclusive theatrical performances.

The Retro Dome is a familyrun business that originally opened in 2009. The off-the-wall theater revolves around dated themes and trends in its movies, performances, and atmosphere.

“We approach everything from a fresh view, celebrating a specific decade, time, or movie,” co-owner Scott Guggenheim said.

Guggenheim also expresses how The Retro Dome can “bring people together for exciting performances” which he believes gives “true meaning to theater arts.”

The idea for the Retro Dome sprouted from a love of old-fashioned theater and a desire to spark an interest in vintage film in the modern-day.

“Usually we focus on a specific time period or film and try to renew their popularity” Guggenheim said.

Additionally, the Retro Dome takes pride in its live performances, unique in their involvement of audience members. The newest installment to the theater includes “The Game Show Show!” – a live stage production with audience participation.

While celebrating the game show appeal of the 1950s and 60s, the piece is meant to evoke an almost nostalgic sense in regard to past decades.

“We really try to help people remember the old days with a more fun and modern twist, as well as educate kids and teens about what films used

to be like.” Guggenheim said.

The Retro Dome further illustrates a passion for musical theater and retro films by involving youth in their performances. For the first time since its unveiling, the Retro Dome is offering young performers from grades 5-12 a chance to audition for the newly formed Young Company.

“They’ll be doing a Christmas show called Santastic which will be an all teen cast. We really want to get more teens involved in the performing arts.” Guggenheim said.

Prior to the show’s auditions, the Retro Dome will be offering Audition Master Classes a couple days in advance as preparation for the casting of “Santastic.”

In hopes of going above and beyond typical audition practices, these sessions include mock auditions where

rising stars can receive feedback on songs, and participate in dance calls as well as cold readings: interpretations of the script without preparation.

Aside from the on-stage practice the youth will receive, the course also covers what auditors expect from auditioners, and rejection advice amongst other key performance tips. Guggenheim encourages teens to attend the workshop, as it equips them with skills germane to the real-life auditions they may encounter down the road.

“We’ve never done anything like this before, and opportunities like this are rarely available for teens. We really hope these lessons will teach kids a lot about auditions so they can be better performers.” Guggenheim said.

According to the Retro Dome’s website, the $125 fee includes five hours of professional instruction,

lunch, as well as a copy of the Audition course book. The workshop will be held on Saturday, October 20th, while Santastic auditions will be held on the 21st and 22nd by appointment only.

Upcoming films include oldtime Halloween specials, such as Interview with the Vampire, a quotealong version of Ghostbusters, a screening of Star Trek: First Contact and a scream-along to John Carpenter’s Halloween.

Guggenheim believes that the Dome’s live performances and movies give families “a place to relax and experience theater together.”

The Retro Dome places emphasis on bygone eras and celebrates their quirky charm while sparking a passion for the performing arts in people of all ages.

MERCEDES CHIEN - WINGED POST

Lack of sleep induces odd habits Push and Shove

SLEEP Sleep deprivation can lead to severe consequences that impact students’ performances not only in school, but also in daily activities.

APOORVA RANGAN - WINGED POST

“

Sleep is essential to our health as [is] diet and exercise.

Patricia Scagliotti, director of California Sleep Society

class, in front of the TV, at the movies, [and] while stuck in traffic [are] signs of excessive daytime sleepiness.”

Without enough sleep each night, there can be consequences that will eventually become severe and damaging to one’s life, possibly resulting in death. Some of the beginning consequences of insufficient sleep include impaired growth and excessive sleepiness.

“Continual sleep deprivation leads to poor academic performance, moodiness, depression, impaired cognitive and memory function, dietary changes that may result in obesity, [and] increased risk of motor vehicle accidents,” Scagliotti said.

The exact reason as to why people sleep is still debated between researchers, leaving many possibilities to take into consideration.

“There are several theories as to why we sleep, [which include], ‘restorative theory, inactivity theory, energy conservation theory, and brain plasticity theory,’” Scagliotti said.

In order to get the necessary number of hours of sleep, students will need to stay productive and not waste any time surfing the web and chatting with friends online.

When time is managed correctly, students, like Ashwath Thirumalai (10), are able to sleep early each night, giving their bodies enough time to rest. Ashwath believes that sleep will help students focus at school, and lack of sleep will ultimately result in negative consequences.

“Lack of sleep can make [students] fall asleep in class the next day and then it’s a never ending cycle.

They won’t learn what happened in class that day,” Ashwath said.

Senior Meera Madhavan agrees that the lack of sleep will affect the performance of students at school.

“You don’t do as well in school when you are half asleep during a test,” Meera said. “If you stay up too late studying for a test, you’re going to fail anyway.”

During the night, some people unknowingly sleepwalk with no later memory of the action.

“Sleepwalking is a parasomnia: an undesirable physical phenomena that occurs while asleep,” said Scagliotti.

It is usually harmless to the victim and occurs more commonly during childhood.

Sleep is always going to be a crucial factor in people’s lives. Essentially, additional sleep time can lead to the improvement of grades, as well as the overall well being of oneself.

No Doubt’s new album worth the wait mercedes chien lifestyle editor

Review

INTERSCOPE RECORDS

The cozy feeling of a blanket wrapped around your body, eyes shut closed, dreaming up an imaginative story in your head while fast asleep.

All of a sudden, your alarm goes off and your eyes slowly open as you wake up to get ready for school.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep does not only play a role in our daily performance, but also impacts people’s overall health.

Patricia Scagliotti, one of the directors of the California Sleep Society, highlights the importance of sufficient sleep, in an email interview.

“Sleep is as essential to our health as [is] diet and exercise,” Scagliotti said.

According to Scagliotti, adolescents require at least 9.25 hours of sleep each night for a healthy lifestyle.

Chris Colletti, one of the Upper School counselors, agreed with Scagliotti in that teens need to sleep at least eight to nine hours each night.

However, with schoolwork occupying students’ time, until midnight in some cases, it is hard to get a good night’s rest on an average school day.

“I know that […] teens [here] are probably not getting eight to nine [hours of sleep]. I think it’s more in the seven hour range.

Yet sometimes, some people can go with s e v e n hours or

less,” Colletti said.

Signs will begin to appear for students who do not get enough sleep, making the need to fix this issue even more apparent.

“Excessive daytime sleepiness is a sign of not getting sufficient sleep,” Scagliotti said. “Falling asleep in

“

shannon su

TalonWP news editor

NO DOUBT Released on September 25, No Doubt’s new album, Push and Shove, demonstrates the band’s versatility and unique sound.

Many know her for her hit single Hollaback Girl, reaching the top of Billboard’s Top 100 within six weeks of release in 2005. However, Gwen Stefani took a sweet escape from her solo career and regrouped with her origins: rock band No Doubt.

Consisting of vocalist Gwen Stefani, drummer Adrian Young, guitarist and keyboardist Tom Dumont, and bassist and keyboardist Tony Kanal, No Doubt released it’s sixth studio album, Push and Shove, on September 25—a record that forces us to question why No Doubt deprived the music industry of such tracks for 11 years.

The first track on the album, Settle Down, epitomizes the band’s new sound, beginning with a variety of instrumentals and peculiar beats. Stefani reassures us of her undeniable talent as she belts out the lengthy chorus and quickly changes to short staccato notes in a matter of seconds.

The next song, Looking Hot, although subpar compared to the rest of the tracks, resembles a typical upbeat song that was made for middle school dances. The fast pace hinders us from

understanding the lyrics except for the repetitive chorus: “you think I’m looking hot.”

Moving on, One More Summer demonstrates why No Doubt should be on the top. Slower than the previous songs, this track exemplifies the album’s variety as it is played with a constant euphonious beat, with Stefani’s mere perfect pitches paired with the beautifully executed instrumentals.

Next up, Push and Shove lives up to the high bar prior tracks set. The fast paced lyrical sections accompanied with the slow, mellow chorus prove to be a pleasant array of sounds.

Featuring Busy Signal and Major Lazer, the track epitomizes the diversity of the album, combining techno based artists with Stefani’s pop voice.

However, all good things must come to an end.

The next few songs seem to be misplaced in this album of ingeniousness. Gravity is the opposite of creative as Stefani puts emphasis on seemingly arbitrary syllables of the chorus, “we’re so lucky,” which becomes tedious to listen to for four minutes. Similarly, the chorus in Sparkle repeats itself endlessly with “never ever ever gonna be the same.”

Luckily, the anomalies end there.

One of the latter songs, Dreaming the Same Dream begins similarly to Sia’s Titanium, but the main aspect of the track cannot be any more different. Delving into the lyrics, we see meaning and thought behind each line as the chorus ends with “why are you playing around with me? / Are we dreaming the same dream?”

After this album, No Doubt can surely push and shove other rock bands to the side, as these tracks give us a fresh and new vibe that was previously unheard of.

Tech

October 5, 2012 the Winged Post

Stoodle: Interactive online classroom

Future of 3D Technology

apoorva rangan & anokhi saklecha

3NET

opinion editor & reporter

alyssa amick

SCREENSHOT

TalonWP online editor

NEW STYLE OF LEARNING AP Calculus BC teacher Bradley Stoll conducts his class through Stoodle, a recently developed online program. Stoodle was created by students Arjun Mehta, Divyahans Gupta, Simar Mangat, and Maverick McNealy over the summer.

According to Stoll, however, it needs some work to be practical enough for teaching a large class of students. To him, the site lacks the structure that he needs to teach new material.

“I think the site has a lot of potential [but] will be more useful for tutoring sessions,” Stoll said.

Stoodle first arose as the Interactive Student Network (Instunet), a concept formed by Arjun, the company’s founder.

At last year’s Harker Research Symposium, Arjun approached keynote speaker Vinod Khosla with the idea for Instunet. Khosla referred the founders to his wife, Neeru Khosla, a primary founder of Stanford University’s CK-12 program. The group got

funding and office space in the CK-12 headquarters.

The board of advisors includes Khosla, Ward Mailliard, an executive board member of the Mount Madonna School; and Karl Mehta, a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow, according to the website.

“Right now, not all teachers are able to give students individual attention,” Simar said. “By using Stoodle, hopefully students will [ask] more questions, [start] more discussions [and] more conversations about the subject in class, while actually understanding the topic in question.”

According to sophomore Helen Wu, who participated in Stoll’s inaugural Stoodle session, student users

Kindle Fire HD

Dangers of phone use while walking

Second-generation tablet will please users nikhil dilip

VIVEK BHARADWAJ - WINGED POST

EIT & tech editor

TEXTING Sophomore Dylan Patel glances at his phone while walking next to the basketball courts. While more people have opted to use their phones while walking in order to be more efficient, it has also led to several accidents.

vivek bharadwaj reporter Picture this: You just received a text from your best friend, “OMG, did you see The Big Bang Theory last night?” and since you are a big fan of the CBS comedy, you have to respond to that. On the other hand, class starts in two minutes, and you do not have time to stand there and text back. The seconds tick by. You want to reply, but you cannot risk another trip to the attendance office either. Faced with such a dilemma, many students do the obvious: use their phone and walk simultaneously.

The sight of students strolling around engrossed in cell phones is a common one on the Upper School campus. However, phone use while walking has led to accidents both minor and serious. Last year, a report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission showed that 1,152 people in the United States were hospitalized for injuries resulting from using their phone or other devices while walking.

“You’re basically walking around blind. You have no vision of what’s in front of you, just using your peripherals essentially,” Shelby Rorabaugh (12) said.

Indeed, students have walked into metal poles, walls, trees, and people whilst staring at their phones. In a poll of 136 students, 40% responded that they had walked into objects or other people while distracted by their phones.

“I think it’s really annoying, because a lot of people are on their phones and are not looking where they’re going,” Michaela Vachev (10) said. “It’s kind of dangerous because [...] people

were also intrigued by the new teaching methods.

“I think [Stoodle] is pretty good because it is interactive,” Helen said. “[However], it can be a little busy, noisy, and disorganized.”

Divyahans found a few minor glitches during a test run and hopes to fix them in the near future. Since the current version of the website requires Adobe’s Flash software in order to run, the team is working on developing another model of Stoodle to work on the iPad, which doesn’t support the software.

According to Arjun, Stoodle will officially launch in a couple of months, in order to provide the best product to the public.

are going to bump into other people.”

Such a hazard affects others besides the careless walker when in crowded hallways such as those in Main.

Are there any advantages to using one’s phone while walking? To students like Michaela, the answer is no. However, other students find it useful to use their phone “on the fly.” Shelby adds that not standing still to use a phone is “[...] a little more efficient and takes less time,” allowing increased productivity. Other students use their phones for recreational purposes as they walk.

“You can check your schedule, and you can play ‘Doodle Jump’ when you have a second,” Arjun Narayan (9) said.

In addition, students use their phones to keep track of time between classes, ensuring that they do not arrive late, and to keep in contact with friends and parents.

Phone use while walking is a form of multitasking, and similar incidents have caused student injuries before.

Upper School Nurse Clare Elchert said she has seen students, distracted by books, hurt themselves by walking into lamp poles. She has not seen any injuries attributed to phone use while walking, but does not discredit its possibility either.

Cell phones have become an important part of student life, providing modes of entertainment and communication. Using a phone on the walk to class to save time, however, may be a less than ideal solution.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD, announced last month, combines aesthetic appeal and efficient functionality to create a tablet that has the potential to make a dent in the small tablet market.

The tablet is available in both seven and nine-inch versions. The former was released three weeks ago, and the latter tablet will be available for purchase in November. The device offers 16 gigabytes of storage for $199 and 32 gigabytes for $249.

M a k ing its second foray into the tablet market by following up the Kindle Fire, Amazon will look to revolutionize the small tablet market. Though Amazon has dominated the e-reader market since the Amazon Kindle was released five years ago, its first tablet failed to make such a presence in its domain.

According to technology website Engadget, Apple’s iPad continues to be the frontrunner among large tablets; similarly, Amazon looks to make its device the best one among small tablets. The iPad has a screen that is about ten inches long diagonally, while the Kindle Fire HD will have both seven and nine-inch screens.

The Kindle Fire HD runs on Google’s Android 4.0 operating system, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich. Though Samsung’s Nexus 7, endorsed by Google, runs on the same operating system, Amazon adds a custom graphical user interface to the Kindle Fire HD’s operating system, which gives the user less freedom and makes the interface less smooth in comparison.

Despite running Android’s operating system, the tablet does not allow users to purchase and download content from the Google Play store.

Amazon promotes its own store on

this device, and users can purchase all the content available for users of Amazon’s eReader, the Kindle. The Google Play store offers more apps, movies, books, and songs than Amazon’s store, according to the statistics provided by each company’s website. Amazon’s significant content disparity relative to Google is an important factor to consider for users who enjoy listening to music, watch movies, read books, and browse applications on their tablets rather than simply using the device’s built-in applications.

Users with Amazon Prime can “borrow” e-books from Amazon’s Lending Library and stream select television shows and movies without commercials.

The device comes with a free month of Prime membership, after which users can continue being members for $79 a year. Having Amazon Prime is a notable advantage for the Kindle Fire HD, and membership is cheaper than that of Netflix or Hulu Plus, both of which also offer instant streaming of content in their respective libraries.

The Kindle Fire HD sports stellar audio due to its two Dolby Digital speakers. On other tablets, music does not sound as authentic, but music on this device sounds like it is coming out of actual speakers. The tablet’s audio system is a significant plus for users who tend to listen to music often.

According to Amazon, the device can last as long as 11 hours on a single charge, compared to the ten hours of the Nexus 7. Though an hour is not too much of a difference, the Kindle Fire HD runs more efficiently than its predecessor, taking up less energy for the same amount of time.

Though the Kindle Fire HD is certainly a good product for its price range, competitors such as Google’s Nexus 7 offer more features on a sleeker interface and at the same cost as the Kindle Fire HD. AMAZON

To math teacher Bradley Stoll, it was a fairly typical AP Calculus BC lecture. A student was doing a problem on a whiteboard. Stoll was answering and asking questions, and required students to raise their hands before speaking.

This review session, however, was far from normal. For one thing, it took place from 7 to 8 p.m. on a Thursday night. There was not a single student present in the classroom, and no teacher at a desk. The whiteboard did double duty as a computer screen.

This past summer, juniors Arjun Mehta and Divyahans Gupta and seniors Simar Mangat and Maverick McNealy created and developed an educational aid called Stoodle.org. Through this website, students and instructors can discuss academic problems and concepts live through voice and text chat on a real-time online whiteboard.

Stoll was helping the founders beta test their website to test its efficiency. Additionally, Stoodle is testing their product with Bay Area-based Nueva Middle School and Leadership Public School.

Stoodle offers several tools, including instructional videos and online textbooks, so that “high school students [can] communicate more with their peers,” CEO and founder Arjun said.

The site strives to recreate a traditional classroom experience. For example, students can turn on their microphones before asking a question and can press a “raise hand” button before answering.

The site is currently in beta testing.

13

After a long day of school and extracurricular activities, you come home and plop down on the couch, throw on your glasses, and turn on the TV. The screen comes to life, not in the typical two dimensions, but in the ever more prominent 3D. Within the next few years, 3D could be the new norm for watching movies, television, music videos, and video games.

In Los Angeles from September 20 to 22, an annual event known as 3D Film Festival (3DFF) took place.

The conference was held to recognize what fans believe is the future of television, movies, video games, and entertainment. In a press conference, journalism students learned about this new technology.

Relatively new to the market is the LG 3D TV, the website of which boasts that it is “the next Generation 3D TV,” as it “brings the big-screen 3D experience from the cinema directly to your living room, so you can share the 3D fun with all your friends and family from the comfort of your sofa in stunning Full HD.” According to Tim Alessi, the Director of New Product Development for Home Electronics for LG Electronics, the greatest problem with 3D TV’s is currently the lack of content available for those who own 3D TV’s, which then reduces the amount of people who buy them.

One of the greatest problems associated with 3D in general is the use of glasses. Although technology exists that would make the glasses unnecessary, it is not as advanced as the glasses. Many people, including Wendy Shwe (12), are not big fans of 3D because of the glasses.

“I personally don’t really like 3D technology,” she said. “I think the glasses are clunky, [and] the visuals make me a little dizzy, and they aren’t clear sometimes.”

Don Bland, Director of Development and Production at 3net, one of the few TV channels that broadcasts solely in 3D, believes that only people in the United States have a problem with the glasses.

“The rest of the world has embraced [them],” he said. “Americans need to get over 3D glasses.”

Because 3D is such a new technology, companies often face the problem of not having the correct software or tools to do what the technology requires.

Randy Berg, Director of Strategic Planning at Deluxe Digital Studios, believes that 3D technology is “largely uncharted territory.”

“You have to invent things yourself,” he said, adding that “you can’t wait for others to build the tools [you need].”

In the future, directors and producers are looking towards making many more movies, videogames, and TV shows in 3D. Corey Turner, an executive stereographer at Paramount Pictures, discussed how prominent 3D will be in the future. He believes that soon, 3D will be the new normal for cinematic experience. This year alone, Paramount Pictures is looking into producing five to seven 3D movies, a huge increase compared to earlier years.

Jeton Gutierrez-Bujari (10), however, believes that this might not necessarily be a good thing.

“I think that right now [3D] is not ready for the commercial use,” he said. “What I think happened is after Avatar, which was extremely successful, came out, everyone followed suit, saying ‘if it’s 3D it’s going to be that much better,’ but I don’t find that true. Although some great movies are in 3D, 3D isn’t necessarily ready yet.”

While the future of technology is never predictable, 3D technology developers believe that within the next couple of years, the market will “explode” and transform 3D into the new norm.

Sports

Drew Goldstein (12) Football

Keri Clifford (12) Water Polo

Keri Clifford, co-captain of the Varsity girls water polo team, is one of the Athletes of the Month. Just in this season, she has made 52 goals and 25 steals and assisted another ten goals.

“She is good at inspiring the rest

ATHLETES of the

MONTH anishka agarwal

MERCEDES CHIEN - WINGED POST

reporter

MERCEDES CHIEN - WINGED POST

As a captain of the Varsity football team, Drew Goldstein (12) is one of the Athletes of the Month.

Although currently unable to play because of an injury, Goldstein possesses the right attitude and has an outstanding unselfish character.

Despite suffering through many injuries, Drew has stayed dedicated to the team for the past three years and has continued to display the characteristics of a leader. He also was committed to the team throughout the summer as he attended preseason practices. “[Drew] plays over his head every single week [...] He’s a guy that finds ways to make plays even when he’s out of position,” said Varsity Football head coach Ron Forbes.

According to Forbes, he is very talented and is a player who can be counted on regardless of how tough the circumstances are.

“He always finds a way to keep us connected even if he is falling apart,” Michael Chen (12) said.

Drew puts the team’s best interests and the team’s goals before his own and is one of the most influential leaders on the team.

“The description for him […] is that he is a gamer, the ultimate gamer,” Forbes said.

Drew will hopefully be able to play again during the season, if he recovers from his injuries.

SONIA SIDHU- WINGED POST

14

October 5, 2012 the Winged Post

ATHLETES OF THE MONTH Drew Goldstein (12), Keri Clifford (12) and Daria Karakoulka (12) are the September athletes of the month. Drew maintains a positive attitude despite his injuries, motivating the team. Keri also helps her teammates as strong 2 meter offensive player. Daria brings a positive energy to the team and this energy has helped her go 8-0 in September after recovering from an injury.

of her team to work harder […and] is very team orientated,” said girl’s water polo Varsity head coach Allison Lamb.

Keri’s position on the team is as a two meter offensive player. Since she is often blocked by two players of the opposing team, her fellow teammates get the chance to score goals as well.

Though she allows others to score, Keri sometimes still manages to score even with two defenders guarding her during a game.

Even during this past summer, Keri organized team practices and workouts.

As a captain she is very supportive of the team.

“She organizes us and helps us work hard […] and she wants to win so she always works 100 percent,” said co-captain Rachel Yanovsky (12).

During a game against Fremont High School, Keri scored five goals, ending the game with a final score of 8-5. When playing against Aragon High School, Keri made nine goals, finishing the game with a final score of 10- 6.

Then, at an away game against Monta Vista High School, Keri made

seven goals leading to an 8-7 victory, and later that week, she made five goals against Cupertino High School.

Although she is the leading scorer of the team, Lamb believes that she is very humble, and it is never apparent that she is the star on the team.

Keri is also a candidate for league Most Valuable Player.

Daria Karakoulka (12)

Athlete of the Month as she has gone undefeated (8-0) in September without dropping a single set. While being one of the team’s hardest workers, she is also a strong player.

“If Daria is playing ‘in the zone’, she is virtually unbeatable as she is able to overpower most opponents,” said Varsity girls tennis head coach Craig Pasqua.

Daria has one of the best strokes on the team and is able to pump up the team. She has been an exceptional player since freshman year, and Pasqua is not surprised by her recent performance success.

At the Santa Catalina Tennis Invitational, Daria was the number three singles champion and did not drop a single set contributing to the team’s second place finish. Then again at Sacred Heart Preparatory, she won in straight sets. “[Daria] has a really positive attitude going into all the matches,” captain Jenny Chen (12) said.

As a senior on the team, Daria displays characteristics that are admired by fellow teammates.

“She is often also able to come back with ease when things are not going well. She really has that will to win,” Sahithya Prakash (11) said.

According to Pasqua, a factor contributing to Daria’s outstanding performance is the healing of her foot which had been injured since last spring and restricted her from competing for the summer. This allowed her “to enter the season strong and refreshed.”

He looks forward to seeing her continue to progress throughout the season.

Tennis

Varsity tennis player Daria Karakoulka (12) earned the title of

managing editor

Jason Martin (‘07) has contributed years of passion and commitment to baseball in preparation to step into the professional realms of the sport. As a result of his dedication to baseball, he is currently signed to play for the San Angelo Colts next season.

After playing for the Upper School and graduating as a “lifer”, Jason continued on to play center field at a collegiate level at San Jose State University, where he faced a rigorous schedule that included three hour practices every day and a 60 game season.

“Every Harker athlete should aspire to be like [ Jason], just because of his work ethic, never saying no, and always working to the best of his ability,” Athletic Director Dan Molin said. “He’s got all the traits you would like in a top notch high level athlete.”

Jason completed his senior year of college in the middle of the professional season; along with his lack of contacts, the timing made it difficult to play professionally upon graduating. He decided to play Winterball, which he described as a type of instructional league, in order to meet more coaches and scouts.

In February, Jason signed a contract to play professionally for an independent league in Texas. He dedicated his entire summer to baseball, playing about 90 games with only around six days off in total.

During his first series of those games, an Arizona Diamondbacks scout watched him play and remained in contact with him throughout the summer.

“

Every Harker athlete should aspire to be like [Jason].”

“

meena chetty

Dan Molin, Athletic Director

As a result of his successful performance, Jason was invited to an Arizona Diamondbacks workout in Illinois at the end of the summer, marking his first professional affiliate baseball tryout or workout. During this experience, he was asked to play shortstop instead of his usual position as center fielder to test his versatility as an athlete.

“I hope they pick me up. I hope they saw what they liked. Hopefully I made an impression,” he said. “Whether it’s this year or next year, hopefully they’ll remember how I did at the tryout and how I was as a person.”

Jason hopes to participate in more

workouts or tryouts in order to improve his chances of playing affiliate baseball.

Although Jason loves the sport, he did admit that there are some challenges when playing professionally.

“It’s really cutthroat. It’s really do or die. If you have a couple bad games, you can be cut. The challenging aspect is to be consistent,” he said. “Another challenging aspect is to deal with the lifestyle of traveling around and nine hour bus rides [... and] trying to find a way to make it all work and being flexible and just being able to get through it.”

In addition to playing professionally, Jason also helps coach football and baseball at the Upper School.

“Being around Harker is great,” he said. “Everyone’s just really positive.

It’s a really good atmosphere [here]. I just want to be around it [and] to be contributing to the efforts.”

Jason’s father and Executive Chef at the Upper School, Steve Martin, said that coaching demonstrates Jason’s commitment to baseball and his awareness of the dedication that it requires.

“A lot of it has to do with preparation, determination, and passion,” Martin said. “He never took anything for granted. He always says there’s no short cut - it’s hard work.”

Jason is currently preparing for his upcoming season with the San Angelo JASON MARTIN ‘07 alum steps up to bat during a practice. Martin continued his passion for baseball into college as he plays competitively.

Colts.

Girls Volleyball

FOOTBALL

overall Varsity Team records

2 Wins

3

0

Losses

Ties

13 Wins

Girls Water Polo

10 Wins

As of October 3

Wins

Losses

0 Ties

Boys Water Polo

3

0

Losses

Ties

7 Wins

Girls Tennis

5

1

5 Losses

0 Ties

Girls Golf

0

0

Losses

Ties

2 Wins

1 Losses

0 Ties

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

Alumni Baseball Update: Jason Martin plays for Colts

Cross Country Sophomore Corey Gonzales placed 17th in the Varsity Boys race at the Chieftain Invitational on September 15. Freshman Mary Najibi placed ninth in the frosh-soph race, leading her team to a fourth place finish. Freshman Connor O’Neill ran the second fastest freshman time in school history. On September 29, at the Ram Invitational, junior Claudia Tischler placed eighteenth out of 165 runners. Corey placed eigth out of 211 athletes. Senior captain Ragini Bhattacharya ran a personal best as well.

Sports

10/05: Gunn High School 10/13: Los Altos High School (away)

Tennis:

10/09: Pinewood School 10/10: Cupertino High School (away)

Cross Country:

10/11: Crystal Springs Invitational (away) 10/18: League Meet 2 (away)

Boys Water Polo:

10/06: South Valley Polo Fest (away) 10/10: Fremont High School (away)

Girls Water Polo:

10/10: Fremont High School (away) 10/11: Santa Clara High School

Volleyball:

10/09: Mercy High School -Burlingame (away) 10/11: Immaculate Conception Academy (away)

Golf:

10/09: Sacred Heart Preparatory School (away) 10/12: Mercy High School Burlingame (away)

JV football revamped

Competitive games cancelled on week by week basis; some players moved to Varsity sonia sidhu & kacey fang sports editor & copy editor

On September 24, Athletic Director Dan Molin and head football coach Ron Forbes made the decision to cancel Junior Varsity ( JV) football competitive matches on a week-byweek evaluation basis. At this point, they feel that the team is not ready to compete, and it has been confirmed that there will be no JV game this Friday.

According to Forbes, only about 35 to 40 percent of the team is ready to play at this point. The JV football team had 16 players at its peak, while a minimum number of 11 players is required. However, Forbes said that some of these players are not ready to play in games yet due to injuries or inexperience. The team consisted of five sophomores and 11 freshmen, some of whom only started playing football when school started. Due to these reasons, Forbes and Molin felt that the risk of additional injury was too high.

“We don’t feel comfortable enough putting [the players] in a competitive situation,” Forbes said, adding, “I’m disappointed, the kids are disappointed, but it’s a decision we all made together.”

Previously, the team had been forfeiting games instead of going up against the opponents. The team’s September 22 game against Mills High School was the first game they played in the season, and it served as an evaluation game to test how the team would perform in the league.

Santa Clara Valley Athletic League by-laws state that each school must have a freshman sophomore team as well as a varsity team to compete. According to Molin, the league has been notified of the team’s week-by-week evaluation status, with no resistance from the league. If any complications should occur, Forbes

said the program is “prepared to handle [any ramifications].”

By-laws also specify that once players compete in a Varsity game, they may no longer play in any JV games. Currently, many sophomores and one freshman have been moved from the JV team to the Varsity team.

“They’re adjusting pretty well, [and] we have good practices. We did a good job with off-season together to get them ready, [whether they are] Varsity or JV to get them ready just in case,” Spenser Quash (12) said.

The likelihood of injury is a significant factor for the coaches to consider as players on the Varsity team are already suffering knee pain and concussions. Injured players pose the risk of not enough people available to compete in games.

“Now that a couple of weeks have passed, people are getting better. I had a knee injury, but I’m getting better this week of playing,” Abhinav Ketinei (9) said. “It was a stumbling block in the beginning, but I think we can overcome it.”

While the reactions from the players and their parents had been disappointment, they understood why the decision had been made. Some of the more experienced players were upset at the decision initially.

“I hope that we can start playing soon,” Navsher Singh (10) said.

“Games help you get better.”

Sidhart Krishnamurthi’s (10) parents, in whose household football serves as “conversation-starter,” support the decision for the sake of the athletes’ safety.

“What the coach, at the end of the day, is trying to do is build a longterm program with the school. And it’s not really about this grade and about these kids, and as a person who’s has been around on athletics, safety comes first.” Ashok Krishnamurthi, Sidhart’s father said. “It’s disappointing for the

FOOTBALL The Varsity and Junior Varsity team practice together. The Junior Varsity players will continue to train as normal even though they will not play in competitive games as of now.

kids, it’s disappointing for the parents, but when you step back and look at the bigger reason, it was done for the right reasons.”

The team plans to participate in “controlled scrimmages,” which will take place on Saturdays against some of the league teams. The coaches prefer scrimmages because in addition to not being counted on a record, the game can be stopped at any time should injuries or other factors arise. “[Scrimmages] may not be JV official games with refs and scoring, but [it] at least [gives] them a competitive experience in a less structured way,” Molin said.

For players remaining on JV, their role currently consists of acting as a practice squad for the Varsity players.

Based on the prospective opponent for each week’s game, the JV team works to devise a game plan that would match that of the opposing team. This strategy allows the Varsity team to get a sense of how to play when the real game comes around.

“Right now, our goal is just to

help them get better. As a freshman, I have three more years. But the varsity guys, they’re juniors and seniors, so we’re just trying to make their last years playing in football the best [they] could possibly be,” Nikhil Ramgiri (9) said.

The team will not play at Homecoming, as of now. Ragini Bhattacharya (12) feels that if the JV team is unable to play on this day, it would be “disheartening” but would have possibly beneficial effects.

“A lot of the underclassmen don’t know people on Varsity, so JV team definitely builds school pride in the underclassmen,” she said. “[However,] it may help people want to support our football program even more. [...] You want to put all our effort into our Varsity program [...]

You want to see them succeed really a lot more because you know what’s been happening.”

If the coaching staff sees marked improvement, there is a possibility that the JV team will play in games before the season is over.

Athletes control diet for sports

Regina Chen’s fencing career

Junior ranked twelfth in nation

kacey fang copy editor

emily lin

SPECIAL TO THE WINGED POST

reporter Knees bent, arms extended, saber steady.

Sweat rolls down her forehead as she stares into her opponent’s metal mesh mask.

Junior Regina Chen first began fencing when her parents enrolled her in a summer camp after her seventh grade school year. Now, she fences professionally at the Cardinal Fencing Center in Stanford and attends tournaments all over the world from Poland to Hong Kong. She is currently ranked twelfth in the nation and is the school’s first fencer with an “A” ranking, the highest level in fencing.

Before she started fencing, Regina had played basketball for many years. The transition from a team sport to an individual sport proved to be a difficult one, primarily because fencing forced her to become a more independent athlete.

“For fencing, if you lose, it’s mainly because of yourself and the mistakes that you yourself make,” she said. “You have to learn from your mistakes by yourself. You can’t just blame it on someone else or blame it on your coach, because you’re the only one on the strip, and you’re the only one that’s playing.”

However, Regina also feels that the sport’s individual aspect has helped her gain control over her athletic performance.

“Fencing is very flexible because it’s mainly about yourself and how you practice. If you practice and make time, you can [improve],” she said.

Regina’s current ambitions differ greatly from the goals that she had when she first started fencing.

“Early on in my career, I always used to want to get first place and get the medals. [Now], I just want to do it for fun, [because] fencing is my hobby,” she said.

One of Regina’s most memorable fencing moments was during her second year of fencing at the Junior Olympics in Dallas, Texas.

“I was ranked 56 or 57 [in the first round], and then I had to fence the fourth place girl. I beat her, and [I] was extremely happy because my coach wasn’t there to tell me what to do, and it was just myself,” she said. “I guess that was the turning point for me because I realized that I [could] really fence and [that] I was capable of doing what I want to do.”

Regina’s dedication and perseverance is something that her parents are extremely proud of.

“She is a true fighter - fearless. In some competitions, she was in a losing position, but she still controlled her mind and kept fighting one touch at a time and eventually won,” Regina’s father Virgil Chen said.

Regina attributes her success as a fencer to experience, which she claims is the “golden word in fencing.”

“You have to go to a lot of tournaments to get

KACEY FANG - WINGED POST

Football:

the Winged Post

FENCING Regina Chen (11) takes her position as she prepares during a match. Regina has been fencing since seventh grade and will continue.

over your nervousness or get accustomed to it. Experience as much as you can; that’s how you improve and get better,” she said.

Regina’s favorite aspect about fencing is that she can explore different countries and meet new people.

“You get to travel all around the nation and […] across the world. I met people in Hong Kong, Italy, and Russia all because of fencing,” she said.

One of Regina’s role models is her coach, Alexander Lepeshinski.

“He’s been like a second dad. Even through the really rough times [when] I feel like giving up, he’s been there,” she said.

According to Lepeshinski, Regina is a “very creative [and] a very smart girl.”

“She tries hard every practice and private lesson,” he said. “She’s always trying to discover something new in fencing, [and] she wants to learn more every practice.”

Regina regularly fences for about 10 to 15 hours every week, but practices even more before tournaments. Because of the commitment and dedication required to fence, balancing sports and academics has been difficult for her.

“It’s basically like a roller coaster. Either fencing is going really well or school is going really well. It’s just up and down,” she said.

In the future, Regina hopes to improve her national ranking. She also dreams of qualifying for the 2016 Olympics, although she considers that to be a far out goal.

“I want to be top 4 in the nation [but] junior year is really hard. If I can make it to [the 2016 Olympics], that would be cool. If I can’t, I’m fine with that too.

I’m happy where I am,” she said.

In the busy queues around Manzanita during the lunch periods, student athletes hunt through the variety of options—pasta, salad, meat, soup—to evaluate what combination of foods would be best for their nutrition.

For most sports, and some more than others, athletes require a certain dietary routine to match their body to their sport, whether that be in the form of cutting down, bulking up, or just eating healthy.

As football season gets into full swing, it brings along with it a certain necessity for conditioning and nutrition. With the amount of physical exertion required at practices as well as at games, athletes are strongly recommended by their coaches to stay away from junk food and stock up on protein and carbs.

“Conditioning-wise, if you don’t get the proper nutrition, you won’t be physically ready for practice, and as the season progresses, […] you’re not going to do well,” Sravan Rajathilak (11) said.

For football in particular, students agree that a bulkier body type is better suited for the sport. While many accommodate themselves by eating meals in larger proportions, some take Creatine, a supplement used commonly for increasing athletic performance and muscle mass. According to MedlinePlus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, creatine supplements enhance the function of naturally produced creatine in the body and allow users to gain extra weight by retaining water in the muscles. There is “still some uncertainty about exactly who can benefit from creatine and at what dose”.

Heather Steffen, who works at Nutrishop in Sunnyvale, believes some better measures can be taken to benefit one’s sport.

“A lot of guys come here when they’re in high school for football when their coaches want them to gain weight or gain mass. I feel like [it] can be appropriate to take a gainer, which is extra protein and extra carbs,” she said. “When you want to gain mass, you want to gain size, and you’re a football player, I do believe that’s necessary.”

In direct opposite to the ideal for football players, wrestlers follow a strict regimen of cutting down weight to make it into a lower weight class. Daniel Wang (12), who participates in both football and wrestling, finds that bridging the gap between the two sports presents a bit of a dilemma.

“I have to worry about how much I actually gain because that’s how much I actually have to lose later in the year.,” Daniel said.

A usual school lunch for a wrestler during the sports season consists of a sandwich and a salad, or simply a bowl of soup. While Daniel admits that fasting is not the correct way to diet, he sometimes did not eat at all on the day of weighing in in order to “make weight”. Other wrestlers used packets of GU Energy for a boost before the match and to cope with the decrease in energy from the cutback on food intake.

“There are times when I’d be dying in class, and then during lunchtime, during those three months of the season, everyone was like, ‘Oh my God, you’re such a grumpy person right now,’ because I would feel so lacking in energy,” Daniel said.

While improvements in wrestlers’ performances were noted after making it into a lighter weight group, in the long run, the effects are somewhat different.

“I know with wrestling, it’s especially really easy to get fat after you wrestle because you’re so used to starving yourself that once the season’s over, you can’t control your eating, so you can actually gain a lot of weight,” Corey Gonzales (10) said.

Even with sacrifices, students believe this devotion is necessary in order to perform at a high level. However, Kimberly Ma (11), a swimmer, feels that sheer training and diet are not the only parts of the story.

“Personally, I think that sports is 50 percent effort and then 50 percent awareness, that you have to know why you’re doing this.

You have to love what you’re doing, or there’s really no point. I don’t see why people torture themselves just for a certain sport,” she said.

“The second part of that 50 percent of awareness is that you’re watching yourself do what you’re trying to get forward to.”

While not as intensely as wrestlers, other athletes also abide by certain routines to make sure that they have the right nutrition for optimal performance. Before a meet, swimmers participate in a technique called “carbo loading”. On the week of the meet, they will stock up on foods such as pasta and bread and eat more meals or in larger amounts.

“Carbs store energy, so basically a couple days before you want to start storing up on energy that you can use in your race. I feel like it probably doesn’t really matter that much; it’s probably a big mental thing too, to know that you’re getting ready for something big,” Amie Chien (12) said.

While daily diets may differ for each individual, the age-old guidelines for eating healthy and staying fit always apply.

KACEY FANG - WINGED POST

Eagle Events

15

October 5, 2012

The Back Page

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[Spirit] gets the whole grade kind of excited and they can express themselves and it’s kind of fun to have a competition between all four grades.

- Jillian Shaw (9) I think spirit is more of a class bonding activity because [...] often times you don’t get to talk to a lot of the people you see around campus, so spirit activities give you an opportunity to do that.

- David Lin (10) Spirit plays the invisible bonding agent within the class as well as outside the class. [...] You see [people] in different conditions that you normally wouldn’t see them in [during] the school day.

- Rohith Bhethanabotla (11) [Spirit] is really important because it kind of helps people bond with their classes and it kind of creates a sense of pride for your class.

- Priscilla Auyeung (12)

”

JUHI GUPTA- WINGED POST

DODGEBALL Freshmen and seniors gather in the gym for the first round of Dodgeball. The juniors placed first in the spirit competition, with seniors in second, sophomores in third, and freshmen in last. The class of 2014 dodgeball champions lost to the faculty in the final round of the event.

October 5, 2012 the Winged Post