January 2020

THE AZTEC VOLUME LXXXII NUMBER V

JANUARY 23, 2020

theaztecnews.com

Focus pg. 4-5

Features pg. 6

SPORTS PG. 7-8

Living in a Boba World

Awkwafina wins Golden Globe Award

Girls’ baskeball wins game again Alhambra

NEWS IN BRIEF UPCOMING wINTER fESt Winter Fest will be held on Feb. 4 from 5:308:00 pm outside of the Old Gym. Several clubs will be selling food and beverages.

sPRING FLING ANNOUCED This year, Spring Fling, a newly introduced dance, will be held on Feb. 21 from 7-11 pm at the New Gym. Tickets will at the Student Bank starting from Jan. 21 all the way till the day of the dance.

Tickets start at $8 for those with ASB card and $10 without.

Mark your calendar 1/23- Blood Drive 1/25- Lunar New Year 1/29- Collaboration Day 2/5- Collaboration Day 2/10- Lincoln’s Birthday (holiday) 2/12- Collaboration Day 2/17- Presidents’ Day (holiday) 2/26- Collaboration Day

Mark Keppel holds annual Open House MADDY LEONG Staff Writer Mark Keppel High School hosted its annual Open House on Jan. 22. In previous years, Open House only featured department showcases and presentations. However this year, National Honors Society (NHS) Internship Information and Advanced Placement (AP)/ Honors Night was added to the Open House schedule. Eighth graders from elementary schools also had the opportunity to attend Keppel’s Open House in order to learn more about their potential future school.

In hopes of increasing the attendance of Open House and exposing future students to all opportunities in Keppel, administration combined all three of these events. Keppel’s Associated Student Body (ASB) Advisor Ms. Carmona feels “combining the events is really good because it’s having everything on view for eighth-grade parents as well as the parents of current students.”

Having the NHS and AP/Honors presentations before Open House also allows parents and eighth-grade students to get presentations on what it is like attending Keppel. For example, ASB provided a leadership presentation on how parents and students can become more involved on campus.

With this change, however, comes the risk and concern that the event will be chaotic or disorganized. To this, Mrs. Phillips, Keppel’s Visual and Performing Arts Department Chair and member of the Open House committee who decided to combine all three

Parents asking teachers about their respective departments.

events, explains how the event was managed.

“We had programs that went out to everyone who came to the event so that they would be able to find everything that they wanted.”

Ms. Carmona also addresses this potential issue saying, “It is the first time, and you can’t ever make progress without trying new ideas so I’m sure it will evolve over time as the event has over the years.”

Open House is a way for students to learn more about the benefits from their school.

“It’s good to know what programs your school has...in order to make informed choices [and]

THE AZTEC/IZABELLA COFRESSI

gives [eighth-grade students] an idea of what to expect at Keppel,” says Ms. Carmona.

Ms. Phillips encourages attendance of the whole Open House event because parents can attend conferences with teachers, which was not offered at the Back to School Night in Sept. She also elaborates, “attending Open House gives you a chance to see what your school has to offer. It’s very inspiring for the eighth graders and parents...any teacher, staff member, or community member that takes an interest in their community should be here.”

Monterey Park hosts Lunar New Year Festival TIFFANY NGUYEN-TRAN Staff Writer The city of Monterey Park held its annual Lunar New Year Festival on Saturday, Jan. 11 and Sunday, Jan. 12. The festival took up five blocks on East Garvey Ave. between Garfield Ave. and Alhambra Ave. The organizers of this festival were the City of Monterey Park, World Journal LA, and the City of Monterey Park Business Improvement District Advisory Committee. Street parking was available for this festival in addition to free parking and shuttle services at Mark Keppel High School, Repetto Elementary, and Ynez Elementary.

This year’s Lunar New Year Festival featured over 50 booths that advertised and sold food and merchandise. The booths sold merchandise such as beauty products, different articles of clothing, home appliances and more. Numerous booths were offering attendees samples of their products, while other

booths were giving out freebies to promote and advertise for their company.

The festival also featured performances on the center stage from dancers, musicians, lion

THE AZTEC/QUENNIE ZENG

Attendees walking through the event.

and dragon dances, and more. In addition to the booths and performances, the festival had rides and games such as Go Fishing, Super Slide, Surf Shack and more.

There were not many changes to the festival this year compared to previous years, except

for the different vendors that participated. Junior Nikki So says, “Last year, there were a lot more booths compared to this year. I think next year they should add more variety of foods and things to buy and see.’’ She adds that the event did not offer a diverse variety of food options and that next year they should have more popular foods and more diverse foods.

Over the years, a business development manager, Brian Vo, noticed that the Asian community is becoming more open and diverse, saying that “there’s a lot of other vendors [such as] Hispanic and Caucasian vendors.’’ He hopes for more people to find out about the festival.

According to Vo, it would benefit the community if there were more people that attend and participate in the festival. Vo says, “We should do more activities so that other people know about this festival. Maybe to the people out of state, can fly over here and enjoy the festival. And contribute to the tourism.”

THE AZTEC

2 NEWS

JANUARY 23, 2020

AUSD Band march in Rose Parade MEILY TRAN Staff Writer Mark Keppel High School’s Aztec Band performed in the 131st annual Tournament of the Rose Parade alongside Alhambra and San Gabriel High Schools’ bands on Jan. 1.

The three bands came together as the Alhambra Unified School District (AUSD) band and marched the five and a half mile stretch on Colorado Blvd.

The AUSD Marching Band has been preparing for the parade for the past two years. In the fall of the 2018-2019 school year, Tournament President and AUSD alumna Ms. Farber recommended AUSD Band to apply, and with this encouragement and their hard work, AUSD Band was accepted as a Rose Parade participant.

Mark Keppel freshman Roselyn Chin says, “Over the summer, we had a five-day band camp where we practiced for about four hours a day. For newcomers like me, this was an awesome opportunity to get to know everyone and the marching fundamentals.” The students also participated in two-and-a-half-hour rehearsals every other week during the school year. The AUSD Band finalized its preparations during Winter Break, perfecting their performance for the Rose Parade and Band Fest.

Mark Keppel’s Instrumental Music Program Director Mr. Lee says, “It was nice being able to share everyone’s mutual passion for music and even though we may not do it the same way at the respective schools, it’s a testament to how close we worked and the fact that we were able to pull of something as three schools that came together to make one composite band.” Band

members were also able to befriend students from other schools, such as from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Denmark and Japan. Keppel Assistant Drum Major senior Crystal Pham says, “I’ve gained so many long-lasting memories from new friendships to performing for such a large audience and representing our community. What I enjoyed most was being able to meet other bands from around the world and trading pins with each other.”

In general, Keppel’s band members say they are grateful to have been able to have this experience. Pham states, “the adrenaline I got from the crowd along the parade route made me feel so grateful that I was able to be a part of such a big, global event. All our hard work had led up to this moment and it was incredibly rewarding to see it pay off.”

Chin agrees mentioning, “participating in the Rose Parade is practically a once in a lifetime chance and I definitely felt special while doing it. It was amazing to watch ourselves on TV and the feeling of self-accomplishment was like no other. ” “In terms of the district band, there’s probably not going to be [another collaboration] for a while until another big event happens,” says Mr. Lee. For now, the three schools are returning to their own programs. The Aztec Band will be performing in the Disneyland Parade on Jan. 24, Golden Dragon Parade on Feb. 1, and the Monterey Park Birthday Parade in May. They will also be preparing for the upcoming concert season, where they would perform in Some Enchanted Evening in April. “We’re quite busy but I think everyone’s having fun and learning a lot,” comments Mr. Lee.

Wildfires devastate Australia FIONA CHAN Staff Writer The fires currently raging through Australia that started October 11 have reached past borders, driving civilians and wild animals out of their homes. Australian fires are common due to the high temperature, extreme heat, and difficult weather patterns; but the fires of the past months have raged past any limit and expectation.

New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria are the regions most affected. According to CNBC News, “Australia urges a quarter of a million to flee as winds fan massive bushfires,” driving them away from their homes.

The current fires that are still burning will affect not only Australia, but also globally as well as in future generations. Junior Gibely Salgado, board member for PAWS says, “the smoke these fires have created has spread all over the world. These fires have caused a lot of damage to Australian land and agriculture.” The current generation is already starting to protest against many acts regarding the climate. Salgado is hoping awareness will increase in the years

based on the many environmental issues happening currently.

Junior Audrey Jung says, “The fires are destroying Australia. It’s adding to the already high carbon dioxide emission of the world, which is increasing the overall temperature of the earth.” This increase of temperature will not only affect Australia but possibly worldwide as well, endangering many species and habitats. Jung adds, “I think that these fires are going to make it hard for future generations of Australia to return to their lives as it was before.”

During the Amazon Rainforest fires, many celebrities or those who have social media advantages had been criticized for not using their platform to raise awareness about current environmental issues.

People have also argued about aiding Australia, but others disagree. Salgado says, “I believe we as Americans should help Australia. If we have the opportunity to help in any way...no matter how big or small, we [should offer as much] help so we can still make a change.” America has deployed many people to aid those evacuating Australia. spend all our energy in trying to help, but [we should] still use some

COURTESY OF INSTRUMENTAL BOOSTER MRS. PHAM

AUSD Band marching down Colorado Blvd. in the Rose Parade.

AUSD band posing for a group photo.

COURTESY OF KENNETH CHAI

Dance Company competes in first competition of the season MAPLE DUONG Co-Editor-in-Chief MKHS Dance Company hosted the first California regional dance competition of 2020, West Coast Elite (WCE) Alhambra, in the Aztec Arena on Jan. 11.

MKHS Dance Company reigned in various regional titles, with Dance Team placing in the top 5 of their respective categories and Large All Male taking home the Best Showmanship award.

Sophomore Andrew Gomez, who placed 2nd in the 10th grade solo division, attributes his success to the long hours after school and school break practices. “We have had various summer camps [that] trained us for upcoming competitions, including WCE Alhambra,” explains Gomez.

In addition to Dance Company’s commitment to practices, competitors danced on Keppel’s home floor. “We’ve had multiple opportunities to use the floor so we were really familiar with it, which gave us an upper hand in the competition,” says junior captain Jacqueline Kamei.

With consistent practice and familiarity on the dance floor, Dance Company was able to improve their techniques with the help of outside choreographers. “Being taught by outside choreographers gives us a different interpretation of dance. It helps better the way we dance and the way we perform. All of that showed when we competed on Saturday,” explains Kamei.

Despite the successful start to the 2020 dance competition season, Kamei hopes to see the team continue to improve over the next few months. “I’m really grateful for all of the team’s hard work and dedication. Dance takes a lot of commitment, and I appreciate all that time that everyone has to put in to come up with routines. I just want us to keep pushing and working hard,” says Kamei proudly. “There is so much more ahead of us, so let’s keep dancing,” says Gomez.

Dance Company will continue to participate in many more dance competitions including Contest of Champions in Orlando, Florida on Feb. 28.

THE AZTEC 2019-2020 Maple Duong

Jasper Duong

Danny Estrada

Natasha Miyano Staff Writer

Ellis Yang Staff Writer

Izabella Cofressi

Mala Hu Staff Writer

Tiffany Nguyen-Tran Staff Writer

Fiona Zeman Staff Writer

Hana Kikuchi Staff Writer

Amy To Staff Writer

Ms. Yaklich Advisor

Annie Lam

Meily Tran Staff Writer

Ms. Gutierrez Principal

Madelyn Leong

Ryan Wong Staff Writer

Co-Editor-in-Chief/ Focus Editor

Copy Editor

Selina Martinez

A&E/Features Editor/ Chief Photographer

Co-Editor-in-Chief/ Viewpoint Editor

Quennie Zeng News Editor

Laura Chen Sports Editor/ Business Manager

Ryan Bautista Staff Writer

Katherine Dodge Staff Writer

Fiona Chan Staff Writer

Staff Writer

Staff Writer Staff Writer

The Aztec is published monthly by the journalism class of Mark Keppel High School and is printed

by News publishers’ press.

Opinions expressed are those of the writers, not of the faculty or administration. Articles without bylines are staff editorials, and reflect the opinion of the staff.

Letters to the editor are welcome and are subject to editing. Letters can be given to Ms. Yaklich in room A134 or sent to theaztecstaff@gmail.com. All letters must be signed, but on request, names will be withheld. We do not acknowledge unsigned letters.

All internet graphics on The Aztec newspaper are the properties of their respective owners.

Alhambra, CA 91801

JANUARY 23, 2020

THE AZTEC

VIEWPOINT 3

Ok, Zoomer: The “bright” side of Generation Z

Knowing when to hit the eject button

AMY TO Staff Writer After a U.S. drone strike killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, conversation about a potential World War 3 quickly followed. Politicians took sides; the media expressed opinions; concerned citizens feared for their safety; and Generation Z made memes.

With the rise of technology, Generation Z, people born between 1995-2010, often use social media to express their opinions through posts, pictures, and videos. These forms of creative expression are often characterized by a dark, self-deprecating humor. In addition to hearing jokes about war and other stressful events, it is not uncommon to hear teenagers respond to minor inconveniences with statements like “I want to die.” Despite their pessimism, many teenagers view their dark humor as a coping mechanism.

Freshman Nikki Leong agrees that the dark humor can be used to alleviate the stress from today’s current events. “People can get a lot off their chest about an event they are particularly concerned about by presenting it in a way that makes the joke funny and not serious. Even by making fun of it, the person telling the joke may feel relieved that their opinion was shared, so they would not stress about it anymore,” she says.

Although several members of Generation Z are stressed from hearing about these issues, turning to dark humor may cause people to normalize poor mental health.

Junior Jasmine Lim states, “ [Dark hu-

QUENNIE ZENG News Editor

mor] makes these ideas [about poor mental health] more attractive for Generation Z, and may result them to falsely diagnose themselves just to relate to the humor.”

Despite the fact that dark humor may give some Generation Z members a sense of ease to today’s current events, people outside of their generation, especially their parents, are concerned with the amount of negativity and pessimism among this younger generation. Lim says that parents with children who have a dark sense of humor should be concerned for their children’s mental health. She believes that these jokes are reflective of their experiences of hopelessness and unworthiness.

Although Leong believes that parents should be concerned with their child’s mental health, she thinks that parents should not worry if Generation Z makes dark jokes on an occasional basis. She adds,

Does society put too much pressure on New Year’s resolutions?

NATASHA MIYANO Staff Writer A New Year’s resolution is a choice to better oneself. The tradition of making New Year’s resolutions began during the reign of Caesar (46 – 44 BC). At the time, New Year’s resolutions were about moral nature. Junior Kayla Lam says, “A New Year, for many, represents new beginnings, to let go of the past and move on…” Individuals choose to break a bad habit, like nail-biting or introduce a positive habit like exercise. People often make New Year’s resolutions on a whim, which leads to these new goals not lasting more than a month. “...Sometimes people get used to their old daily routine as well as habits so to start a new resolution and follow it would be kind of difficult for them…” says senior Vy Van. On social media, most companies market off of the fact that over 40% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions. For example, the most common resolutions involve diet and exercise as people seek to improve their health, so most gyms will

COURTESY OF THE STATE PRESS

Cartoons like these illustrate Generation Z’s darker sense of humor.

heavily promote sales on their memberships. “It’s more bad than good...companies guilt trip these people by implying that they’re not good enough and coerce them into spending money on products that aren’t very useful in the long run,” says Lam. Many people feel pressured to make goals that they may not necessarily want or need due to the fear of missing out (FOMO). In addition, because of social media’s concept of New Years, young people’s mental health can especially be affected by the content. “Unfortunately, I think a lot of people see a lot of things wrong with themselves and they see it as an opportunity to fix themselves. I also feel like it’s a social thing, they see other people making resolutions and they get motivated,” says English teacher Mr.Hill.

Van expresses a similar statement. “In my opinion, social media’s interpretation of New Year’s can be damaging to a person’s mental health because nowadays a lot of people post pictures showing off a lot of things and as people look at it, their self-esteem will likely decrease.”

“Some kids will make these jokes once and a while, but do not really repeat it again about the same topic, unless it holds more value to them than anything else.”

However, sites like medium.com disagree, claiming that frequent negative jokes should be discouraged, stating that “[Generation Z] marginalize anxiety depression in the same way racist, and sexist jokes did. Self-deprecating humor hurts others because it creates and reinforces a culture of self-harm and negative coping skills.”

Pessimism aside, in the end, Generation Z’s humor demonstrates their keen awareness about the distressing events occurring around them and in the world. However, it remains to be determined whether this type of humor has a positive or negative overall effect on today’s youth.

“To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?”

New Year’s Resolutions are pointless.

AGREE

48%

NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE

26%

DISAGREE

23%

Most people probably don’t stick to their New Year’s resolutions.

AGREE

80%

NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE

13%

DISAGREE

3%

SURVEYS BY YOUGOV.COM IN 2018.

1210 PEOPLE WERE POLLED.

As students, we often put a lot of time and stress into partaking in activities we do not enjoy for college or other reasons. However, if we do not enjoy the activity, when is it time to quit?

First, we should ask if they are actually enjoying the activity. Because if not, it can cause a problem in mental health.

Senior Sydney Jou brings up that fact that, “If a student really is not enjoying participating in their activity, and only feels more negative when they are involved in it, it can cause a lot of strain.”

Not only can not knowing when to quit cause a strain, it may also be a big determinant to our mental health. “You could possibly be pushing yourself to your limits without even knowing. This creates unnecessary stress for yourself that would be a detriment to your mental health,” says Junior Polly Ren. Second, we should ask why they are doing the activity. Could it be for college or for family members? Is it for themselves or for others. Either way, it is important to know how important it is to find the activity you enjoy rather than what others push onto you. For example, many high school students sign up for volunteer events, clubs, or classes that they are not interested in to spice up their college applications.

However, this extraneous work is not worth all the stress and time that comes with it.

Jou says, “As the admission process has gotten more competitive, the focus turns more to college apps as opposed to one’s high school experience… I think colleges want to see that people are passionate about the activities they are involved in so if a student can find something they have pursued with a lot of interest, it would be worth it anyway.”

However, in some cases, many cannot quit their activities for personal reasons. Jou says, “I would encourage them to try their best to quit, but if not I would hope they will push through it and try not to be miserable. I had many friends under these circumstances, and so I know it is not easy to look over personal reasons, such as external pressure from family and friends.”

Ultimately, we should all look out for our mental health and see whether it would be worth it to continue participating in something, looking at the pros and cons. However, it is always good to know when to quit. “If the result of the activity do more bad than good, consider quitting. Even if it means something bad can occur. If you are not happy with it, do not endure it.

It will affect you negatively.” says freshman Josephine Kim.

4 FOCUS

THE AZ

LIVING IN A B

Boba is popping off in the 626 One 16 fl oz serving of boba contains about 263 calories and about 38 grams of sugar in total, according to the Public Health Advocate. “Just one drink can put you over the daily recommended sugar intake,” says junior Polly The consumption of boba has been on the rise in recent Ren. Boba shops, however, often allow for the option to years with the global bubble tea market, valuing at $1.957 reduce the amount of sugar in a given drink, having 100, million in 2017 while it is projected to reach $3.214 mil- 75, 50, 25 and 0 percent increments. lion in 2023, according to the Allied Market Research.

The question is, now, do we continue to have boba fundOriginating from Taiwan, boba is a sugary drink that raisers at Mark Keppel? “Boba fundraisers aren’t harmful contains black tea, green tea, or milk tea and a variety of since they provide clubs and sports teams with a great choices for toppings, the most common being the boba fundraising opportunity. They also only occur once a pearls themselves. week. All of these boba fundraisers support the school Boba has become increasclubs, sports teams, and ingly popular in the last local boba shops in our couple of years, with North area,” explains Phan.

America and Asia-Pacific Living in the 626 area accounting for more than means that there are 83% of the global bubble a numerous amount tea industry. But why has of boba shops around, this drink gained so much but does this affect the popularity? “I think that amount of boba tea beboba is really popular being consumed? “I think cause there’s something for living in the 626 area everyone. There are so many definitely increases our options to choose from and consumption of boba even if someone’s not a boba because it is so readifan, many places offer fruit ly available and boba teas or smoothies,” says jushops are on virtually nior Kathryn Phan. Most every corner,” explains boba shops offer a wide variRen. THE AZTEC/LAURA CHEN ety of options, whether that At the end of the day, is choosing your tea flavor, Jasmine milk tea and green milk tea with boba pictured above. like any other food or picking which toppings you drink, it is important to would like and even deciding how much sugar and ice have boba in moderation. Boba cafes are great places to you want in your drink. This customization allows for the have study sessions or to simply stop by and get a drink. boba shops to cater to everyone.

Boba is also a great drink to share with your family and However, many believe that the mass consumption of friends. “It also allows people to explore a little bit of boba can have negative effects. “I think the consumption the flavors Asia has to offer and, to me, it’s always fun to of boba is a health concern. The amount of sugar that share a little bit of my culture,” says Phan. comes with the drink is very high in calories,” states senior Paulyn Sreekhwan.

ANNIE LAM Staff Writer

How to make yo at h

1

Measure 2 cups of w pared. Boil the wate gently until the pea pan to a boil on med low. Cook for 13-15 heat and cover.

Fill another pan with Simple Sugar Sy water to a boil over high heat. After, the stove and stir in 1/2 a cup of suga aside to cool.

3

Drain the boba from simple syrup concoc at least 15 minutes a ready to use). Then, from heat after boili after 15

Pour the prepared tea into a glass wi Add milk for a creamy boba tea, juice fo plain and add a little extra water. Swee more of the simple syrup used

...AND THATS TH *Ingredients can be bought

how has boba evolved over the years?

PHOTO COURTESY OF PACKIST.COM

Boba tea originated from a shop called Chun Shui Tang in Taichung, Taiwan in 1983.

PHOTO C

Tapioca Express became one of the firs to debut in Alhambra, California in 199

ZTEC

JANUARY 23, 2020 5

B BA WORLD

our own boba tea home:

How often do you drink boba? less than once a week/ once a week

water for every Âź cup of boba being preer on high heat and then add boba. Stir arls begin to float to the top. Bring the dium high heat then lower it to medium minutes. Remove the saucepan from the . Let sit for another 13-15 minutes.

three times a week

67.1%

8.7%

Twice a week

Four or more times a week

16.2%

8.1% 173 STUDENTS WERE POLLED

yrup. Bring 1/2 cup of remove the pan from ar until dissolved. Set

2

m the water into a bowl and pour the ction over it. Let the boba mixture sit for at room temperature (or refrigerate until , bring 1 cup of water to boil. Remove ing and add one tea bag. Remove tea bag minutes and let the tea chill.

ith the boba mixture. or a fruity tea, or leave eten to taste by adding d to the boba.

4

HE TEA! at any Asian supermarket*

COURTESY OF AURORA ZENG

st few boba shops 99.

Out of the following, what are your top 3 favorite boba shops to go to?

105 75 57 45

s p ea t m s pu Ta T-

42

le nk n i Tw ow Br gar Su

PHOTO COURTESY OF PAUL @THEFOODIETOGRAPHER K

The 626 area now currently houses more than 30 boba shops. Pictured above is a Twinkle Brown Sugar Cheese Foam Peach Green Tea.

46

38

44

34

k s en lf c e a i R v Zo r H a n B e e Te Tw alf & Tea 7L On H

ea ist

173 STUDENTS WERE POLLED

PHOTO COURTESY OF REDDIT

With the growing popularity of boba comes the introduction of boba ice cream, which can be found at various Asian supermarkets such as 99 Ranch Market.

6 FEATURES

JANUARY 23, 2020 THE AZTEC Decorated student of Mark Keppel: Christine Huynh ELLIS YANG Staff Writer Senior Christine Huynh is a decorated student of Mark Keppel High School.

Huynh has always had ambitious aspirations since she was in middle school, and once she entered high school, her dreams became a reality.

When Huynh has a vision in mind, she commits whole-heartedly, rather than cracking under pressure. Over the course of her four-year journey at Keppel, she has participated in numerous school activities and organizations. Huynh has served as board members in many extracurricular clubs, such as Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), California Scholar-

ship Federation (CSF), National Honor Society (NHS), Associated Student Body (ASB), and Colorguard. Currently, she is a lifetime member of CSF as Secretary for three years, and NHS as Social Chair for two years. In ASB, she serves as the Vice President for the senior class. In FBLA, Huynh is the California State Vice President, as well as the President of the Gold Coast Division.

In Huynh’s perspective, her greatest achievement so far was when she assumed the title as California State Vice President in FBLA. “It’s something I really wanted to do ever since I was in seventh grade. It has been a very long-time goal of mine that I hoped to accomplish. Being in this position I’m able to do so much more for

the organization,” says Huynh. She also states that it has allowed her to meet many different people around the state and be able to help a lot more outside of what she could at Keppel.

From her adventures and leadership roles, Huynh admits that it was a great learning curve. She states, “I learned a lot about myself, my leadership type, and how to better my leadership skills.” Compared to where she was before, this senior has learned to grow and be more patient while leading others, as well as greatly improve her public speaking skills to the point where she feels confident in her ability to speak in crowds or do interviews.

“I have no regrets...everything that I’ve done so far has led me to where [I am

Investigating the “media blackout” on Presidential candidate Andrew Yang MALA HU Staff Writer With the 2020 presidential elections approaching, Democrats only have six months left to decide upon a party candidate. Among the contenders is Andrew Yang, an Asian-American businessman who firmly believes in MATH— Make America Think Harder. He started from rock-bottom, with no history in politics, consistently received the least speaking time during all Democratic debates, and faced bias from the media. However, his supporters— popularly known as the “Yang Gang”— have helped him outlast multiple other candidates, most of whom have had impressive political backgrounds.

But what makes this entrepreneur shine amongst the rest?

Perhaps the reason why he has caught so many eyes and received a substantial amount of grassroots support is due to his straightforward solutions that are supported by data and logic. Yang prides himself on this, and calls himself a “problem solver” who wishes to fix “the problems that got Donald Trump elected in 2016.” He has a list of over 150 policies on his website, yang2020.com, which includes his famous “Freedom Dividend” plan, Medicare For All, Human-Centered

Capitalism, and other solutions that deal with pressing issues such as prejudice against women, the environment, foreign policy, and immigration.

Yang’s clear-cut, forward thinking has caught the eyes of many people, but not all of them have the best intentions. Media outlets— in particular, MSNBC and CNN— seem to have a personal vendetta against the Asian-American candidate, and have conducted what the Yang Gang

COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGES

calls the “Yang Media Blackout.” Yang’s supporters have been vigilant in their collections of instances of bias, and there are Twitter threads, Youtube channels, and websites dedicated to showcasing them.

Some traditional media outlets such as

The Hill, Vox, and The Guardian have also covered these moments. One particular website has events documenting all the way from March 9, 2019, to as recent as January 12, 2020, with 49 separate instances total. Many of these events have been petty mistakes, such as labeling Yang as a billionaire when his net worth is only around one million, getting his name wrong and addressing him as “John Yang,” or using a picture of an entirely different man to represent Yang in a report about fundraising totals. Other instances, however, can be considered detrimental to his campaign, such as how he consistently receives the least speaking time during the Democratic debates, or the multiple occasions when he was omitted from a graphic showing who the Democratic candidates are.

In November 2019, Yang led a boycott against MSNBC, accusing them of being biased against him, and demanding an apology. However, this self-imposed boycott was ended before he received an apology, and Yang appeared on the network just a month later for an interview, tweeting, “I decided that I’d prefer to speak to as many Americans as possible our message is too important.”

Decorated student of Mark Keppel: Ryan Chow ELLIS YANG Staff Writer

THE AZTEC/ IZABELLA COFRESSI

Senior Ryan Chow is someone who is constantly thinking of ways he can give back to others, whether that is through the positions he holds in school clubs or through charitable deeds.

Chow holds a board position in many school organizations. He is the President of the California Scholarship Federation (CSF), Vice President of National Honors

Society (NHS), Public Relations Chair of Speech and Debate, President of Crown and Scepter, and Vice President of Christian Youth Fellowship. When he is not in school, he serves as Vice President of External Affairs at the Chinese American Citizens Alliance Youth Council of San Gabriel Valley, as well as an associated member of the L.A. Monterey Park Optimist Club.

With all the important board positions he is in charge of, leadership is a key aspect to Chow’s success. “I always believed that you shouldn’t ask someone to do something you wouldn’t do yourself, so although I delegate tasks for others to do, I’m also very involved…It’s not the ‘I’ mentality, it’s the ‘we’. Being a leader is not only just doing the work yourself [and be the only one winning,] but also creating leaders out of [those you work with],” says Chow.

One example of Chow’s notable accomplishments as a leader, was during his sophomore year of high school. When he joined Speech and Debate as a freshman,

there were around 50-60 members and about 10 of them were leaving for college the following year. Once he was elected as Public Relations Chair in his sophomore year, he helped kick-start a program where members would go out and give presentations to AUSD middle schools to motivate the incoming freshmen. It was due to his creative effort and problem solving that the club’s membership nearly doubled the following years, boosting the team’s morale substantially.

Chow’s compassion for others is not limited to school activities, but also numerous non-profit programs outside of school. Operation Christmas Child is a project that was created for the purpose of giving less fortunate children in third world countries presents to enjoy over the holidays. For the past two years, Chow has been a part of Operation Christmas Child through his church, gifting over 130 boxes of presents as of right now. Just last year, Chow also held a canned food drive that collected over 513 cans of food. All the food was sent to three local churches to

THE AZTEC/ LAURA CHEN

now] and I’m very happy with how I turned out,” concludes Huynh.

Awkwafina makes Golden Globe history FIONA ZEMAN Staff Writer Actress Awkwafina makes history by being the first female actress of Asian descent to be presented a Golden Globe, on January 5, 2020, in the lead actress film category, and only the sixth woman of Asian descent to be nominated in the lead actress of a musical or comedy category.

She won for her role in The Farewell, a young woman from a Chinese family who is attempting to keep the fact that she has cancer a secret from her grandmother.

Awkwafina’s award was the only win of the night for the film. She beat out actresses Cate Blanchett (Where’d You Go, Bernadette), Ana de Armas (Knives Out), Beanie Feldstein (Booksmart) and Emma Thompson (Late Night). Awkwafina in the past has also starred in many popular movies such as Crazy Rich Asians, and Ocean’s Eight.

Awkwafina being the first women of Asian origin to be acknowledged in this award category has risen some questions.

Why is this important? What changed in the industry? When asked if this is an important part of history, senior Jayden Young says, “Awkwafina winning this award is definitely a landmark in history that will be remembered for a long time to come.” Awkwafina in the past was the sidekick in most of her movies and The Farewell was her first leading role.

Before becoming Awkwafina, she began her career with rapping at the age of 13.

She entered the spotlight in 2016 when a documentary, Bad Rap, featuring her was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival. Then she went on to join the cast of the MTV show Girl Code. From there her career and fame developed rapidly and led her to winning a Golden Globe for Best Actress - Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.

Junior Sophia Yip says, “Awkwafina’s Golden Globe Award has proved to many that if you put effort in what you do, great things will come out of it.” help them feed the homeless.

Aside from his performances, Chow’s motivation for always being involved is simple. “Being a board member, I don’t need hours for my club, but I do things out of school, [for example] my own service projects, and I think I get gratification in knowing that I can do something to help other people,” concludes Chow.

7 SPORTS

THE AZTEC

JANUARY 23, 2020

Boys’ Basketball achieves fifth league game win RYAN WONG Staff Writer

Senior Laird Anderson prepares to make a shot.

COURTESY OF RYAN BAUTISTA

This past Tuesday, the Aztecs’ Boys Basketball team won against the Alhambra Moors with a final score of 54-30.

By the end of the first quarter, the Aztecs scored 14 points, while the Moors were trying to keep up with just seven points.

The teams climbed on the scoreboard, with the Aztecs consistently remaining on top.

The Moors were able to score two points with less than a minute left in the second quarter, but it was not enough to overtake the streak that the Aztecs had in the previous quarter. By the end of the first half, the score was 32-20. Both teams steadily increased in points during the third quarter, but Alhambra failed to get any ground over the Aztecs. The third quarter ended with a score of 46-25.

Keppel started strong in the final quarter, scoring four points in just the first minute.

As the game came to an end, the Moors played more aggressively trying to push for more points. Ultimately, the home team was able to maintain a strong defense and did not allow for the Moors to catch up.

The team had great synergy and commu-

nication during the game, which played an important role in their win. “I feel like we really emphasized our communication and it really affected our game well,” says senior Diego Bustillo.

Another important factor that helped their game, was their preparation of seeing who they were going against. By watching films of the opposing team and determining who their best player was, the Aztecs were able to decipher their plays and find a method to stop them. The team’s quick transitioning from offense to defense and vice versa was very effective in the game. “I think another thing that really helped last night was our transition on offense because it really carried over throughout the game, which gave us a big lead through the 4th quarter,” says Bustillo.

Even with all these preparations, the team still works hard to perfect their game. “Execution and limiting turnovers are always things that we look for to improve,” says Coach Duong. The team has won all five of their league games so far, and plan on continuing this winning streak to advance to CIF.

Girls’ Water Polo falls short against Wrestling loses against Eagle Rock before league finals El Modena by one-point margin LAURA CHEN Sports Editor JASPER DUONG Copy Editor The Aztecs’ Girl’s Water Polo played a close game against the El Modena Vanguards last Friday, but unfortunately lost, 8-9, breaking their eight win streak of the season.

The Aztecs and Vanguards were head to head throughout the game with the scores going back and forth. In the first quarter, the teams managed to tie, but the Aztecs were blown out in the second quarter. The Aztecs managed to pick up the pace of the game and tied again after the third quarter, but El Modena took the win by a onepoint margin in the end. Senior Amanda Cheung expresses that her team could have had better protection over the ball when they were in possession of it.

Although this match was not a league game, “The game was a good experience for the team because it will set us up for the next league game against Montebello,”

says Cheung. Since this is the team’s second year playing together, the players are familiar with each others’ playing styles and are able to coordinate better in the water.

The past week, the team has been constantly conditioning during practice, pushing them to do better during games and execute plays more efficiently. “We’ve been practicing non-stop, five days a week for three hours each day. We did a lot of conditioning where we swim a lot and then run a lot of plays too,” says Cheung.

Sadly, almost half of the team was sick or recovering from a sickness, which prevented the players from performing to the best of their ability.

Despite this recent loss, the Aztecs have high hopes for the rest of their games this league season and plan to advance to CIF. “My goal for this season is to just play every game like my last, and have fun with the sport since it’s the last year I’ll be playing,” says Cheung.

KATHERINE DODGE Staff Writer

Keppel’s Boys Wrestling team played against Eagle Rock High School on Sat., Jan. 18th. The varsity team lost 0-3 against the Eagles. The team won most of the matches they participated in, but lost the duel as a whole because they had to forfeit most of the weight classes.

In order to win the match, the Aztecs need to wrestle their opponents until the timer goes off to accumulate points or pin their opponent for a win. The Aztecs fought hard in all their matches but came up short. Despite their loss, senior captain Ernest Tom is proud of his team, stating, “As a whole, the team did well. We held up against some really good teams… The aggressiveness that everyone had in their matches was great along with the willingness to go on and fight even if they were down by a few points or about to get pinned.” Individually, Keppel found a lot of success. Seniors Hugo Montes and Thomas Phillips both came in first for the tournament.

Tom describes wrestling as “a tough sport

and it’s not always easy to go out onto a mat alone and compete against someone who is trying to hurt you and constantly resisting you will all their force.” About his challenging match, Tom stated, “The opponent I was wrestling was really aggressive as I tried to pin him down on the mat.

I want to work on having more control on setting up my moves before I go for my opponent.”

The team hopes to continue working hard to prepare for future matches and to win the league finals at Montebello High School on Sat., Jan. 25th. “We still have a lot of room to improve… We are preparing for our next match by working harder, not just physically, but also mentally,” states senior Hugo Montes. Regarding future matches he includes how, “We’re going to try to focus on having better technique and reaction times, along with just trying to stay mentally tough during practice. We’ll go in knowing that we can win the match as long as we do the moves we know and keep our opponent in the positions we want them in,” says Tom.

Girls’ Basketball defeat Alhambra Moors in blowout win, 81-16 HANA KIKUCHI Staff Writer On Tuesday, Jan. 21, the Aztecs’ Girls’ Basketball played against Alhambra and came out victorious with a score of 81-16. This game is their fifth league win in a row, leading them to have a perfect score of five wins and zero losses.

The Aztecs were controlling the pace of the game with their great teamwork and pressure. Their intensity throughout the game led them to have a lead of 45-11 by halftime. They played with great confidence and had a lot of plays that were led by their coach, Jose Herrera. “Five years ago, I got hired and it just happened to work out. I happened to be in the right place at the right time,” says Herrera. The team has all worked very hard during practice to prepare

for all of their games.

The team has a special bond with each other, on and off the court. When they are on the court, they are able to have a connection with each other and play with good synergy to give their opponents a hard time scoring and defending the Aztecs.

As team captain, senior Grace Song believes that the team has grown closer with each other through the several practices and games together. “I think being captain gave me the responsibility to get to know everybody, learn more about them, and be able to talk to them when they need me,” says Song.

After this game, the season is halfway over.

This is an important moment for seniors who are playing their last few games of their highschool career. “It hits hard because this journey went by really fast,” says senior Sydney Jou.

Senior Patricia Chung scans the court and prepares for ofensive play.

COURTESY OF RYAN BAUTISTA

THE AZTEC

8 SPORTS

JANUARY 23, 2020

Boys’ Soccer Lose to San Gabriel Matadors in Penalty Shots, 5-4

THE AZTEC/IZABELLA COFRESSI

Athlete’s Profile: Jesus Garcia JASPER DUONG Copy Editor

Senior Alberto Lara successfully wins the ball from the goalkeeper kick.

DANNY ESTRADA Staff Writer

On Jan. 21, the Mark Keppel Aztec Boys’ Soccer team played an intense game against the San Gabriel Matadors and ended the second half of the game with a tie 0-0.

However, since this was a league game, the referees called the game into penalty.

Each team had 5 chances to shoot at the goal, only with the goalkeeper from each team to stand guard. Unfortunately, the Matadors successfully made all five goals, while the Aztecs only made four, ending the game, 5-4.

THE AZTEC/ LAURA CHEN

“It was one of the best games we’ve had.

The team came in with good spirit and we executed the game well,” says Coach Alvarado. Both teams fought hard, trying to make goals, but “Mark Keppel’s advantage was that our defenders were fast enough to catch up with the [Matador’s] strikers, so that they wouldn’t score,” says freshman Joshua Juanico. The Aztecs’ goalkeeper, senior Andrew Escobar, was also able to block every shot on goal that was made by the Matadors during the game. Escobar ended up having 13 saves by the end of the game.

The Aztecs had the advantage on the field by controlling the rhythm of the game and

also having possession of the ball for the majority of the game. With the recent practices, Alvarado has been working on the team’s style of play. Instead of holding the ball, he wants the players to utilize their teammates and pass the ball a lot more. By implementing this “give and go” method, the team is able to pass the ball up the field faster and get to an open space.

The players are also working on communication, finishing their plays, and putting more shots on goal.

The Aztecs’ next game will take place on Jan. 24, against Schurr High School at 3:15pm.

Girls’ Soccer faces defeat against San Gabriel FIONA ZEMAN Staff Writer

THE AZTEC/ SELINA MARTINEZ

Junior Polly Ren attempts to steal the ball from San Gabriel player.

Mark Keppel’s Girls’ Soccer team lost to San Gabriel in a close game. The Aztecs fought hard but in the end, the Matadors gained a 1-0 victory.

Even though they were down by one goal before halftime, the Aztecs never gave up and kept up their positive communication and energy on the field. This prevented the Matadors from scoring more points and held the score at 1-0 till the end of the game. Senior Jessica Basallo noted that throughout the game it was very physical, causing her team and herself to struggle and become frustrated.

Comparing the current team to

last years’, there are a lot of new freshmen coming aboard to play.

The last couple of years, the team has seen many different players of various grade levels come and go.

They are attempting to rebuild their soccer program through the incoming freshmen and underclassmen on varsity year by year.

“The past few years this team has been developing for quite some time,” says Basallo.

Each game it seems that their communication and confidence within one another and themselves increases, but Basallo believes that they need to learn to keep their energy up and are working on not giving up. “Not giving up so easily has really helped build our confidence little by little every game,” says Basallo.

Jesus Garcia was influenced to play soccer early on in his life, starting at the age of four. “I fell in love with the sport by watching my idol Lionel Messi play, and the love of the sport also runs in my family.” Playing soccer at a young age led Jesus to be on the varsity soccer team for three years.

Soccer is a very challenging sport, as players have to run up and down a field, that is about 110 meters or 360 feet long, on offense and defense. While doing so, both teams are trying to score and passing is a very essential tool to achieve that. “I feel like people need to understand that one of the challenges in soccer is passing. The way that people watch and see how players pass the ball in the game is totally different than actually doing it in the game.” Garcia expresses his opinion on his thoughts on soccer saying, “I feel like what makes soccer different from other sports is the way you play it and how you control the ball, and just being able to execute these little things makes soccer the best sport alive.”

Through his four years of playing soccer in high school, he has made new relationships with his teammates and met new rivals. “My experience in high school has been amazing, not only because of the teammates I meet every year, but also the rivals we go up against. I love to see new challenges every year.” He tries to spread a positive impact on his teammates by motivating them and telling them to “never give up and to never quit, always keep fighting until the last whistle, and give all that you got on the field.”

Since it is his last high school season, Garcia has high expectations for himself and his team to perform well. “What I hope to achieve this year is to make it to CIF with my teammates and to get some wins.” In the future, Garcia also wishes to move on to college soccer and make it to professional soccer. “Making it pro is one of my goals and to make it will be a dream come true.”

SPORTS CALENDAR BOYS’ bASKETBALL On 1/24 against Schurr at Schurr On 1/25 against Poly Pasadena at Poly Pasadena On 1/28 against Bell Gardens at Aztec Arena

bOYS’ SOCCER On 1/23 against Schurr at Schurr On 1/24 against Webb at Aztec Stadium On 1/28 against Bell Gardens at Aztec Stadium

GIRLS’ SOCCER

GIRLS’ WATER POLO

On 1/23 against Schurr at Aztec Stadium On 1/28 against Bell Gardens at Bell Gardens On 1/30 against Alhambra at Aztec Stadium

On 1/24 tournament at Downey High School On 1/25 tournament at Downey High School On 1/28 against Webb at Webb High School

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL On 1/24 against Schurr at Schurr On 1/28 against Bell Gardens at Aztec Arena On 1/31 against Montebello at Aztec Arena

WRESTLING On 1/25 League Finals at Montebello