June 2019
AS WELL AS: A Look at Amazon, 3 Andrew Yang and Automation, 5 Grade Separation: A Track of Uncertainty, 13 The Chariot Abortion Inbox, 17
VOLUME 15 • ISSUE 2
RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE: 2020 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY EDITION
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DEAR READERS, EDITORSINCHIEF Edgar Hsieh ('20) Claire Cheng ('20)
LAYOUT EDITORS
Quinn Arbolante ('20) Edgar Hsieh ('20) Aditya Dhir ('20)
GRAPHICS TEAM Edgar Hsieh ('20) David Lurie ('20)
COPY EDITING Senior Editor: Boris Bukchin ('21) Claire Cheng ('20) Aditya Dhir ('20) Quinn Arbolante ('20) Edgar Hsieh ('20) Aanand Joshi ('20)
TREASURER
I
t's finally here! The Chariot Volume 15 Issue 2. Due to various logistical issues and delays, this issue had to be released only digitally during the summer. To make up for this unfortunate circumstance, we decided to pack more content to create the longest Chariot issue ever. The Chariot will continue to promote political awareness and consciousness at Gunn High School. In this issue, we introduced The Chariot Opinion Inbox series. The Chariot Opinon Inbox aims to showcase a controversial and contested issue relevant in the news or the discourse at Gunn. The Chariot Opinion Inbox will feature short snippets of various polarizing student opinions to create a general image of how an issue is discussed. By doing so, a greater range of opinions can be covered and a better image of our political community can be featured. In this issue we also featured a rundown of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates accompanied by amusing graphics. As we are heading towards the eventful day of the 2020 election, it is expected that election coverage will be a recurring topic for our next issues. Finally, as per usual, if you are passionate about politics and social issues or even just want to express a strong opinion, come to The Chariot club meeting during lunch every Monday at Room N106. Help us promote political awareness at Gunn High School.
Scott Hwang ('22)
Have a great summer, Edgar Hsieh EditorinChief
SECRETARY
Jared Shirts ('22)
CONTRIBUTORS
Yara Samad ('22) Scott Hwang ('22) Boris Bukchin ('21) Edgar Hsieh ('20) Neha Muthiah ('22) Joshua Mei ('20) William Xuan ('21) Nikki Suzani ('21) Ethan Shaotran ('20) Aditya Dhir ('20) Quinn Arbolante ('20) Philip Wu ('20) David Lurie ('20) The Chariot would like to thank Advisor Justin Brown for his support.
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Cover by Edgar Hsieh
ABOUT US The Chariot is intended to create and promote political discussion at Gunn and make people aware of issues that matter. We ask that you respect all opinions which are reflected in our publication, and write letters to the editors if you wish to voice your opinion. The views expressed do not reflect that of The Chariot, but rather those of the individual writers. The Chariot was originally founded in 2001 as The Partisan Review by Gunn alumni Ilan Wurman (‘06), Channing Hancock (‘06), and Sarah McDermott (‘05). Visit issuu.com/thechariot if you wish to view any issues from previous years or for more information about us. Any questions, comments, suggestions, or requests to join can be sent to gunnchariot@gmail.com. If you’d like to make a donation or subscribe, please send checks to: Justin Brown Re: The Gunn Chariot 780 Arastradero Road Palo Alto, CA 94306 Checks can be made out to Gunn High School with “The Chariot” on the memo.
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QUICK NEWS LIST Contributors: Edgar Hsieh, Aditya Dhir, Boris Bukchin, Quinn Arbolante, David Lurie, Scott Hwang, Philip Wu
1. Trump Administration Eyes Iran, May 7th Ongoing On May 7th, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo skipped a Berlin meeting for an emergency visit to Iraq and warned Iran to not interfere in affairs of Iraq. On May 24th, President Trump ordered PATRIOT missiles and 1,500 soldiers to be stationed at the Persian Gulf. On June 13th, Pompeo blamed Iran for the torpedo attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
2. U.S. Attorney General William Barr is held in contempt of Congress, May 8th This measure was voted by the House Judicial Comittee in response to Barr's failure to comply with a subpoena demanding the release of the full version of the Mueller Report.
Liverpool emerges victorious in the UEFA Champions League by defeating their rivals, Tottenham Hotspurs.
7. Andy Ruiz Jr. Becomes World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, June 1st Andy Ruiz Jr. knocks out former unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in a dramatic upset to claim the WBO, WBA, and IBF world heavyweight championship.
8. Khartoum Massacre in Sudan, June 3rd As a continuation of the Sudan protests that began in December 2018, the Sudanese Armed Forces opened fire on a camp of protestors in the capital city of Khartoum, resulting in 118 people killed and 70 people raped.
9. Theresa May Steps Down, June 7th
3. U.S. Blacklists Huawei, May 15th President Trump signed an executive order that effectively prohibits American firms from using equipment of Chinese telecommunications company Huawei. The battle of the U.S. government and Huawei is another theater of the U.S.China Trade War.
4. U.S. Indicts Julian Assange, May 23rd The U.S. Department of Justice indicted WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange for violating the Espionage Act of 1917. The U.K. Interior Minister signed papers to extradite Assange to U.S. on June 13th.
5. Taiwan Legalizes SameSex Marriage, May 24th Taiwan becomes the first place in Asia to legalize gay marriage.
6. Liverpool F.C. Wins UEFA Champions League Final, June 1st
CC BY 2.0, by EU2017EE Estonian Presidency
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May resigns as Conservative Party leader. A new Conservative Party leader will be elected and replace May as Prime Minister.
10. Rafael Nadal, Ashleigh Barty Win French Open, June 8th June 9th Tennis player Rafael Nadal defeats Dominic Thiem in French Open final, claiming his 12th French Open title. Ashleign Barty defeats Markéta Vondroušová to claim her first Grand Slam singles title. Layouts: Edgar Hsieh
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TECHNOLOGY a look at amazon Yara Samad Contributing Writer
CC BY-NC 2.0, by Stock Catalog
E
ver needed to do a little lastminute shopping online? Amazon is likely the first place you would check. From a decked-out massage chair to something as simple as toilet paper, Amazon has it all; eighty percent of the world’s online shoppers use Amazon to buy products. With a market cap estimated around 900 billion dollars, Amazon is one of the most influential and successful companies in the world. It is one of the few companies considered to be a monopoly and has become the second-largest private employer in the United States in just 25 years. With hundreds of millions of people using Amazon internationally, how did this company gain its success?
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Strategy Amazon started as a bookstore, but it then moved online. It was one of the first to cash in on the Dot Com Boom, which is why it is so successful today. It knows what sells on the market according to data collected on its website, and then it buys from the suppliers and sells the products for a lower price than other companies. In order to dominate the marketplace, they drain themselves of money through constant buying. Amazon eventually attained the luxury of being able to buy other companies, such as Whole Foods, in order to expand its sphere of influence. It leverages technology and spawned many rivals to imitate their business model. If you type relentless.com into your search bar, you will be immediately redirected to the Amazon website. Jeff Bezos actually wanted to call his company “Amazon Relentless” because of its unremitting strategy. How has Amazon’s strategy worked so well? Amazon focuses on long-term success, not short-term losses. “We are comfortable planting seeds and waiting for them to grow into trees,” says Bezos, “We don’t focus on the optics of the next quarter; we focus on what is going to be good for customers. I think this aspect of our culture is rare.” Their strategy is based on factors that remain consistent. Amazon is comfortable with failing at the moment in order to achieve success in the future; it will make risky decisions that cause stock market prices to drop. But short-term risks are what makes the company more successful in the future. JUNE 2019
"Base your strategy on things that won’t change...Whereas if you base your strategy first and foremost on more transitory things—who your competitors are, what kind of technologies are available, and so on—those things are going to change so rapidly that you’re going to have to change your strategy very rapidly, too." ‐ Jeff Bezos Growth
Amazon is now spreading internationally, reaching farther than any other American company has ever dared. It recently bought a large middle-Eastern company, Souq, for $580 million. This move will help US sellers expand into a new region and open up into a whole new, untapped market. Low Wages and Alleged Worker Mistreatment Amazon workers have recently spoken up against mistreatment by their employer. Many report feeling so stressed and overwhelmed while working that they they did not even have time to use the restroom. Some resorted to urinating in trash cans. They were given impossible deadlines and an incredibly large workload. When workers were injured, they were shamed and discriminated against.
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Amazon not pay any taxes, but it also contributes to the need of many government aid programs. Amazon is essentially making the government lose money in order for Bezos to maintain his status as the world’s richest person with an estimated net worth of $137 billion dollars. Bezos donates less than one percent of his revenue to charities and no percentage of his money to the government. Bezos Drama
Amazon facility, CC BY 2.0 by Álvaro Ibáñez
Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is pushing to reform Amazon’s policies and increase the minimum wage. He released a bill to tax large employers in order to fund benefits like Medicaid or food stamps for their workers. The bill is humorously named the “Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act”, or the “Stop BEZOS Act”. The bill is very popular among blue collar workers. Their working conditions are extremely unhealthy and their wages remain incredibly low; the top ten multi-billion dollar companies in the world pay workers as little as $11 per hour.
Jeff Bezos and Mackenzie Bezos have been divorced for several months, but how long had his affair been going one before that? The world’s richest man and Lauren Sanchez’s intimate text messages were leaked to the world to see. Bezos claimed that this was a political move of his and that the texts were leaked on purpose in order to justify his behavior. Pulling Out of NYC Headquarters Amazon recently announced that due to New York City officials opposing their plans to build their second headquarters in Long Island, they will be pulling out of the deal. New York governor Andrew Cuomo had warned that leaders would be in trouble with voters if Amazon did not provide 25,000 new jobs in NYC. The company released a statement saying that they had pulled out due to local opposition.
Jeff Bezos (left, CC BY 2.0 by Adrian Cadiz) and Bernie Sanders (right, CC BY 2.0 by Phil Roeder)
Tax Evasion Yet, there is more drama involving Amazon other than worker mistreatment. Out of 11.2 billion dollars in profits, Amazon paid an outstanding zero dollars in taxes. A recent study found that one in ten Amazon workers relies on SNAP, a government program providing financial aid to workers in order to help them with purchasing food. The program is funded entirely by tax dollars. As a result, not only does
NYC buildings glwoing "Amazon-orange" lights to attract Amazon to establish second HQ, CC BY 2.0 by Billie Grace Ward
From worker abuse to a highly publicized divorce, Amazon and its founder are the subjects of much drama. Amazon has always had the strategy of harming themselves at the moment in order to benefit in the long run, but how much longer will they last with this strategy? Layouts: Edgar Hsieh
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Andrew Yang and Automation
readily available than people who are able to buy them. Like it or not, this is an inevitable problem that we will have to address.
Scott Hwang Treasurer
Enter: Andrew Yang. Born in New York, the entrepreneur founder of Venture for America, an organization dedicated to training graduates at creating start-ups, and declared Democratic Presidential Candidate as of November 2017 has ran on a platform of Universal Basic Income (UBI). In supporting UBI, he calls for a government-funded income of $1000 per month for every adult citizen in the US. His supporters note that he is the only major candidate to address the issue. His website claims:
F
rom their initial domestication to the early 1900s, horses dominated the transportation industry in much of Europe and Asia. For tens of thousands of years, the most effective way to get from city to city by land was through the force of an animal. Today, even the engine power of cars are measured in horsepower. With the invention of the car, however, the role of the horse become almost ceremonial. Innovation is a force that leaves many behind with nothing. According to statistics from 2016, approximately 1 in 93 people in the United States drives a truck for a living. That’s about as many as the total populations of San Francisco, Houston, and New Orleans combined. That’s over twice the total amount of people who CC BY SA2.0 by WARDjet play the sport squash in the U.S. That’s more than six times as many people who speak Welsh. And every one of those people may soon be out of a job.
“[UBI] would enable all Americans to pay their bills, educate themselves, start businesses, be more creative, stay healthy, relocate for work, spend time with their children, take care of loved ones, and have a real stake in the future.” His plan is not without critics. There are legitimate issues with the plan. To start, increasing taxes to fund UBI, noting that wealthy individuals are adept at avoiding taxes, will burden those who need the UBI most, in direct contradiction to its purpose. Marshall Steinbaum, Fellow and Research Director at the Roosevelt Institute, suggests instead increasing the government spending deficit to fund UBI, as “then you have transferred household debt to the government.”
Tesla is famous for its work in the self-driving car industry, and while their promises of “full self-driving” cars may be misleading, there is clear progress being made towards a society where drivers are no longer needed. Other companies, such as Google, Toyota, Uber, General Motors, Ford, and numerous others have jumped into the fray as well. As selfdriving technology develops, it will become cheaper to use this new technology to transport goods than to pay drivers to do it. This is a common trend in many industries. An Oxford University study examined the probability of a shift towards automation in various industries and the results do not look promising for workers in many of these industries. According to the study, telemarketers have a 99% chance of losing their jobs. So do library technicians. 97% for cashiers and real estate brokers. 94% for waiters and waitresses. According to this study, the number of jobs that will be lost to automation is incredibly high. With fewer jobs, fewer people will have money to make purchases, leaving the dilemma of there being more products
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Andrew Yang, by collision.conf. CC BY 2.0
Despite its faults, UBI has attracted many supporters to his side. A long shot to win the nomination, Yang’s promises have brought questions to the national stage: Is automation going to cost jobs? How many jobs? Is this necessarily a bad thing? What is certain is that for UBI to be implemented, major changes to society, government, and the economy will need to take place. If no such changes can be agreed upon, millions of people will go the way of the horse.
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Layouts: Edgar Hsieh
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DOMESTIC Fame & Law: The 21 Savage Incident
His status as an internationally acclaimed music artist as well as a net worth of over $8 million could have affected the handling of his case. Attorney Alex Spiro said he believes Abraham-Joseph was targeted specifically because of his status as an artist: “He’s both a celebrity and they can use this as a way to send a message and also, perhaps, because of his music”.
Joshua Mei Contributing Writer
The fame that follows celebrities as they enter the legal domain is not a novel situation. From OJ Simpson’s notorious trial, to the current “free Bobby Shmurda” campaigns, celebrities often benefit from choice legal counsel and the support of the public. As such, public perception of certain celebrities has also affected the treatment of celebrities. While Bin Abraham-Joseph was detained, top music artists and celebrities spoke out in support of him, including Kendrick Lamar, Future, Jidenna, and Post Malone. A petition to keep Bin Abraham-Joseph in the US permanently also circulated. It accumulated over 509,000 signatures. Legally, this should have no impact on Bin Abraham-Joseph’s plight. Realistically, however, it almost certainly will. Rapper, songwriter, and producer Jay-Z has also helped assemble an all-star legal team to support Bin Abraham-Joseph, leading to the possibility of a more favorable ruling. In one of the most bizarre flexes ever, 21 Savage notes the strength of his own legal counsel; “How many lawyers you got? A lot”. CC BY 2.0 by Ralph Arvesen
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rammy-nominated artist She’yaa Bin AbrahamJoseph (aka 21 Savage), was arrested on February 3rd by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for overstaying his visa, which had expired in 2006. He was released on February 13, after being detained for nine days, on a $100,000 bond. Bin Abraham-Joseph said he doesn’t disagree with the core philosophy behind his detainment, but rather with the implementation of such practices: “I don’t think the policy is broken, I feel like the way that they enforce the policy is broken”.
However, there are two sides to the coin. Some people, including Spiro, hope that this news could draw public awareness and enact political reform. Spiro said, “I’m hoping people like 21 Savage will bring light to these issues and help the people that are forgotten”. A definitive solution to this issue might seem unsustainable, or even inconsequential at times. Determining legal objectivity for everyone (artists and fans listening to them), however, is essential to the integrity of not only our judicial system, but American democracy as a whole. Layouts: Aditya Dhir
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CC BY 4.0, by Kremlin.ru
The Truth About Russian Collusion in the 2016 Election
that he was willing to accept help from the Russians." Furthermore, Donald Trump’s top associates, including Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr., met with a Russian lawyer in Trump Tower back in 2016. It is alleged that this meeting involved a deal to defame
Hillary Clinton and help secure Donald Trump an election victory.
Jared Kushner, by Lori Berkowitz. CC BY 2.0
Trump Jr., by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0
However, let’s not pretend that this is a one-sided story. The Steele Dossier is a collection of documents that was full of information and illicit activity that
Boris Bukchin Senior Editor
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ll of us have heard about the socalled “Russian Collusion” in the 2016 election, but what really happened? Democrats, as well as some Republicans, claim that Donald Trump colluded with Russia in order to gain an illegitimate advantage to beat Hillary Clinton. However, we are uncertain whether this truly is a conspiracy within the highest form of government or merely a myth waiting to be deflated. Let’s start with the Democratic perspective. An anonymous Democratic Senator told NBC News that, "Donald Trump Jr. made clear in his messages
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launched many campaigns on Twitter and Facebook in an attempt to help Donald Trump win. They reached over a combined 100 million people. However, the amount of people they influenced to change is still unknown. However, this most likely caused a very minimal amount of people to switch positions and vote for Trump.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller
Trump allegedly did. It was eventually published completely uncorroborated by Buzzfeed News in an attempt to be the first news outlet to truly “expose” all of Trump’s wrongdoings. The Steele Dossier was funded either partially or fully by both the Clinton Campaign, the DNC, and some members of the Russian government. After this information was published, even many journalists on the left called out BuzzFeed for publishing this story without any supporting evidence or proof that Trump did any of these illegal activities. Furthermore, there has been plenty of evidence tying the Clinton family with the Russians. In 2010, Bill Clinton gave a speech in Russia. This brusque speech made him five hundred thousand dollars. To put that into perspective, most top celebrities only charge between fifty to one hundred thousand dollars per speech.
All of these claims and allegations against both the Russians as well as Trump and his campaign are being investigated by Department of Justice Special Counsel Robert Mueller. After almost two years, no conclusive evidence directly tying Trump or his campaign to the Russians has been found. Additionally, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr (R - NC), has also found no evidence linking the Russians to Trump or his campaign. It is hard to believe that Mueller's investigation will turn up anything noteworthy. Many people claim since there is no evidence directly tying Trump to Russia, there is no proof that they hacked into our election and somehow rigged the results. It is true that they most likely hacked the DNC a couple of weeks before the election releasing data and private emails. The Russians also JUNE 2019
There has been evidence that the Russians meddled in the 2018 midterms, attacking both sides of the aisle. When Mitt Romney announced that he was rerunning as the senator of Utah, the Utah registration database saw upwards of one billion hack attempts per day. Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen “reported to the FBI multiple attempts to compromise her campaign.” It does not matter what side you are on; if you oppose anything that the Russians stand for, they will target you. Their goal is “to inflame political intensity through supporting radical groups, users dissatisfied with [the] social and economic situation and opposition social movements.” We must not tolerate this but also not put the blame on certain individuals when there is not any. One may ask themselves, what is the point of the Russian collusion in elections in the United States if they try to interfere with both sides of the aisle? This is just a case of a foreign country trying to further their agenda by disrupting another country. Instead of fighting with each other, everyone on both sides of the aisle should come together.
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Race for the White House: 2020 Edgar Hsieh & Neha Muthiah Collaborating Writers Wait what, 2020 presidential elections? We’re just halfway through 2019! Well yes, but actually the race for 2020 has already begun. President Donald Trump had filed for reelection, and the Democratic primary race is filled up with a colorful set of people. We know it is confusing to keep track of all the candidates joining, so we have a rundown here of major candidates (from our semiserious perspective):
Joe Biden, CC BYSA 2.0 by U.S. Embassy Bern Switzerland Carter Sworn In as New Defense Secretary by WhiteHouse.gov
Joe Biden
Positions: Authored Violence Against Women Act. Notably pro NAFTA, Obamacare, Iraq War, PATRIOT Act. Anti marijuana legalization. Pros: Household name, former Vice President. Has carefree appearance. Can tout experience, appeals to moderates. Great media exposure. Cons: Lost past two presidential primaries badly. Pro war establishment neoliberal. Wrote institutionally racist Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Opposed gay marriage until 2012. Gonna face #MeToo one day.
Kamala Harris, CC BYSA 2.0 by Gage Skidmore SF Cop, CC BYNC 2.0 by Thomas Hawk
Kamala Harris
Positions: Started “Back on Track” program (gave first time drugoffenders high school diploma/job instead of imprisonment). Notably pro MedicareFor All, Green New Deal, $15 minimum wage, Israel & AIPAC. Notably anti TPP. Pros: Relatively younger woman of color with political experience. Cons: Bad prosecutor record: prosecuted parents of truant kids instead of Steve Mnuchin, opposed police body cameras in CA, opposed police shooting investigation bill, supported civil asset forfeiture (property seizure w/o charges). Opposed marijuana legalization until 2015. Talks platitudes.
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Bernie Sanders, CC BYSA 2.0 by Nick Solari
Bernie Sanders
Positions: Notably pro MedicareForAll, Green New Deal, tuitionfree college, $15 minimum wage, 15% interest rate cap, progressive estate tax. Notably anti Citzens United, NAFTA, & involvement in Yemeni Civil War. Pros: Loyal base, highly popular. Appeal to working & middle class. OG progressive leader. $5.9 million raised in first day of campaign via 100% grassrots funding. Support more diverse than 2016. Virile campaign strategy. Cons: Party outsider, hated by Hillary supporters. Standing out will be harder now than 2016 with everyone copying his platform. Grampa (77).
Alfred E. Neuman, CC BYSA 2.0 by Belis@rio Pete Buttigieg, CC BY 3.0 by Pete Buttigieg
Pete Buttigieg
Positions: Wants to eliminate electoral college, expand Supreme Court to 15 seats. Open to yearlong mandatory national service. Also notably pro public option healthcare plan, DACA, Israel. Notably anti ban on transgender military participation, tuition free college. Pros: Mayor of some city. Iamverysmart demeanor, speaks seven languages. Appeals to moderates. Youngest candidate (37). LGBT. Already won half of the white soccer mom vote. Cons: Mayor of some city. Virtually no black supporters. Deliberately vague on policies & positions. Unfortunate last name.
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Elizabeth Warren, CC BYSA 2.0 by Gage Skidmore
Elizabeth Warren
Positions: Helped establish Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Notably pro progressive wealth tax, Green New Deal, cancellation of student debt, impeaching Trump, economic patriotism. Notably anti NAFTA, continuing war in Afghanistan. Pros: Known to be a more progressive Democrat, has credibility. Challenges Trump more aggressively than anyone else. Comprehensive policies. Cons: Always aligns with establishment rather than her progressive base. Too intent to prove that she was Native American, will suffer against Trump. Vague support for MedicareForAll.
Beto O'Rourke, CC BYSA 2.0 by Gage Skidmore Tony Hawk, CC BY 2.0 by TimothyJ
Beto O'Rourke
Positions: Notably pro impeaching Trump, public option healthcare plan, $15 minimum wage, marijuana legalization, TPP, Israel & AIPAC. Notably anti increased border security, forprofit prisons, Pros: Hot opponent of Ted Cruz during Midterms 2018, subject of "Betomania". Can fundraise. Can also skateboard, has a punk rock band. Already won the other half of the white soccer mom vote. Cons: Sided with Congress Republicans on 167 votes within six years. Voted to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau & Obamacare. Second highest recipient of oil industry donations in TX (after Ted Cruz). Lost to Ted Cruz.
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Democratic Primary Edition
TBone (his drug dealer friend), CC BY 2.0 by Carnivore Locavore
Cory Booker
Positions: Notably pro Medicare For All, Green New Deal, national gun licensing, marijunana legalization. Pros: Cosponsor of some progressive Senate proposals. African American. Cons: Neoliberal in progressive clothing, supported charter schools in New Jersey, defended Romney's Bain Capital from Obama in 2012. Ties to pharmaceutical industry, voted against drug importation measure. Tries too hard to make himself appealing.
Modi, CC BYSA 2.0 by Narendra Modi
Tulsi Gabbard
Positions: Notably pro Medicare For All, OFF Act (climate plan), tuitionfree college. Pros: Strong antiwar rhetoric. Attracts some Bernie supporters as an early supporter of him herself. Young woman of color (38). Cons: Despite antiwar rhetoric, expressed support for drone strikes in Middle East & CIA torture. Visited Assad of Syria. Reciprocal support for Hindu nationalists. Voted for more restrictions on Iraqi/Syrian refugees.
Amy Klobuchar Positions: Notably pro Green New Deal, Medicare Advantage, trillion dollar infrastructure plan. Pros: Popular senator in Minnesota, which gives her a chance to win one state. Cons: Corporate PAC funding. Generally bad record. Aggressively incarcerated drug offenders when she was prosecutor. Supports mass surveillance (such as PATRIOT Act).
Andrew Yang, CC BY 2.0 by Collision Conf
Andrew Yang
Positions: Notably pro UBI ($1000 "Freedom Dividend"), MedicareForAll, marijuana legalization. Notably anti circumcision. Pros: Unique UBI policy. Extremely detailed policies. A hit in Silicon Valley as an Asian entrepreneur w/ the Iamverysmart factor. Cons: Virtually unheard of in politics. Narrow appeal. UBI removes welfare for poor. Strange ideas: cut federal workforce, expiration date for laws, free marriage counseling, a Head of Culture and Ceremony, digitized social credit system.
Julián Castro Positions: Notably pro reforming ICE, MedicareForAll, internet access for HUDassisted housing. Pros: Former Obama HUD Secretary, popular mayor of San Antonio, TX. Speaks some Spanish. Cons: Insufficent appeal. Demeanor and personality gives no chance winning against Trump.
Marianne Williamson, CC BY 2.0 by Justin Higuchi
Jay Inslee, CC BYSA 2.0 by Jay Inslee
Jay Inslee
Kirsten Gillibrand
Positions: Notably pro assault weapons ban. Has a $9 trillion climate plan. Pros: Governor of Washington, so he was popular enough to get elected there. Strong climate policy focus. Cons: Corporate PAC funding, but that doesn't matter for him. Obscure even after researching. Highly generic, seems to belong to the pack below more.
Positions: Notably pro MedicareForAll, Green New Deal. Introduced bill reforming sexual assault complaint system in U.S. military. Pros: Senator of New York. Ardent supporter of #MeToo movement, stood against Al Franken after his allegations surfaced. Cons: Was a conservative Democrat as House Representative, had progun record & opposed amnesty for undocumented immigrants. Clearly an opportunist. Also many are still sore about her forcing Franken's resignation.
Marianne Williamson Positions: Notably(?) pro MedicareFor All, tuitionfree college, reparations for descendants of slaves. Pros: Activist and author of 13 books, four of which are New York Times number one bestsellers. Cons: We mentioned obscure before, but we really don't know anything about this one.
Mike Gravel, CC BY 2.0 by Bob Barr; Bill de Blasio, CC BY 2.0 by Kevin Case
Nonessentials: Mike Gravel, Michael Bennet, John Hickenlooper, Eric Swalwell, Seth Moulton, Steve Bullock, Wayne Messam, Tim Ryan, John Delaney, Bill de Blasio
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INTERNATIONAL The Venezuelan Coup that Was Not Edgar Hsieh Editor-in-Chief
O
n the 23rd of January, the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, declared himself as the acting president of Venezuela after calling Vice President Mike Pence the night prior. In a publicized speech, Guaidó decried the 2018 Venezuelan elections and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as illegitimate. Almost all governments of the Americas and the ones in the European Union immediately demonstrated their recognition of Guaidó as the legitimate president. The United States and its allies have waged a campaign against the Venezuelan government ever since Hugo Chávez was elected as President about two decades ago and his decision to
From left to right: Juan Guaidó, Colombian President Ivan Duque, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence
nationalize Venezuela’s oil industry, which was once largely owned by American companies under a proAmerican dictator. The campaign ramped up after Maduro became President. These are pretty much standard procedures the U.S. utilizes contemporarily against those who stand
Firstly, on January 30th, Trump’s national security advisor John Bolton openly admitted during an interview with Fox News that “it will make a big difference to the United States economically if we could have American oil companies invest in and produce the oil capabilities in Venezuela”. Say what you want to say about the incompetence of the Trump Administration, but you have to appreciate sometimes how the Trump administration's crass ignorance of the delicacies employed by America’s sinister instruments of foreign intervention can remind us of its darker side. We can clearly see that this isn’t about democracy or human rights, this is about oil.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
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against its interests; America proclaims itself as a harbinger of democracy and vanguard of human rights in opposition of insubordinate nations. Whatever the United States does, it does so eloquently so that it seems justified in its actions. However, this so-called Venezuelan presidential crisis is not a standard.
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The second part of the atypical nature of this event is how weak the justification the United States presents to the world in favor regime change. The legitimacy of the 2018 Venezuelan election can be questioned, and it is fair to call for another election. However, the backers of Juan Guaidó are not interested in elections; Guaidó was never elected as president. In fact, he never even intends to run for president. Guaidó’s claim to power stems from a questionable interpretation of Article 233 of the Venezuelan Constitution:
“The President of the Republic shall become permanently unavailable to serve by reason of any of the following events: death; resignation; removal from office … abandonment of his position, duly declared by the National Assembly; and recall by popular vote”. By asserting that Maduro is a dictator, Guaidó argues that he has essentially abandoned his position as democratically-elected President of the Republic. Even if we allow ourselves to bend over backwards and accept Guaidó’s interpretation, it is clear that gaining democratic consensus is not his goal. The Venezuelan Constitution also
called for an election to be held within thirty days after replacing a president. If Maduro “abandoned” his position, shouldn’t the acting president Guaidó be calling for an election according to the Constitution? Except he never did, and probably never will. Guaidó spends his time rallying up protests across the paralyzed nation and paying visits to neighboring nations such as Colombia and Brazil to seek for possibilities of foreign intervention. The final aspect of the absurdity of this event is that the American attempt at regime change has been an abject failure. The mass defections within the Venezuela army that will lead to Maduro’s demise never happened. On the 25th of February, Vice President Pence remarked how “the tyrant in Caracas danced as his henchmen murdered civilians & burned food & medicine heading to Venezuelans”. Sure enough, U.S. politicians of all shapes and sizes began stepping up their Twitter game, urging the Venezuelan government to accept aid. What they do not acknowledge is that the Maduro government is accepting aid from countries such as Russia, China, Cuba, and more (none of them are questioning the legitimacy of his government). Furthermore, the specific case Pence mentioned about the Maduro
Humanitarian aid set on fire near Colombian border by the opposition, by Yusnaby Pérez via Twitter
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government burning humanitarian aid? The New York Times reported on March 10th that according to new footage it seems like that “[t]he opposition itself, not Mr. Maduro’s men, appears to have set the cargo alight accidentally”. We now can see that this is a surprisingly crude propaganda effort the Trump administration pushes for to justify regime change in Venezuela. A desperate Juan Guaidó consulted Pence and other right-wing South American governments, such as the Colombian government and the fascist (decidedly not a misnomer) President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro. The effort to justify foreign intervention in Venezuela has been so terrible that even the most anti-Maduro governments seem reluctant in taking military action. The eyes of the international community see the obvious puppet strings extending from the fingers of the United States to the flailing arms of Juan Guaidó. Even within our country, a significant portion of Americans are no longer buying the attempts many politicians are making to perpetuate American imperialism. The Venezuelan crisis is now over with the failure of the protests in late April, unless an effort of foreign intervention is made. Whatever happens to Venezuela, we should know clearly now that governments, including our own, are willing to go far lengths to impose business interests even at the cost of hundreds and thousands of lives. As the 2020 elections approach, pay attention to what each presidential candidate says about foreign policy. Does he or she claim to be a defender of freedom that aligns with the likes of Bolsonaro as a means to topple governments they do not like? Or is he or she an actual defender of democracy whose judgment is not tainted by the whispers of big oil magnates? Layouts: Edgar Hsieh
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LOCAL Grade Separation: A Track of Uncertainty
As anyone who has experienced the 0-60 acceleration of a Tesla before, they can tell you that electric motors have a stunning acceleration power, especially compared to their gasguzzling counterparts. Stopping or increasing speed is simply a matter of adding electricity instead of waiting for the engine to warm up or cool down, as for the case of diesel engines.
William Xuan Contributing Writer
Photo courtesy of William Xuan
Caltrain, by Don Debold. CC BY 2.0
Everyday at about 8:03 A.M. on the intersection of Charleston and Alma, you are almost guaranteed to see the inglorious ceremony of the flashing red crossing bars coming down, the roar of the passing train, and commuters stuck behind it. It is a daily ritual and, seemingly despite of the vast changes that life can sometimes bring upon us, one of those persistent occurrences of our lives: just like a bird's chirp to a breaking spring, the freshmen groans about biology, admin riding in golf carts -- the background noise of our dynamic lives. That is about to change though. Caltrain has started to electrify its trains. What does that truly mean?
The Bottom Line:
In order to find that out, we have to examine the problems that the current trains have. Electrification seeks to solve the problems of diesel trains.
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Additionally, electric motors have less moving parts and are much smaller. This means that the motor’s force can be distributed to the entire length of the train. Notice how large the front of the pictured train on the top is, especially compared to the pictured train below it. It’s the difference between having 50 people pushing at the same time, and 1 person pulling 49 other people. This means that you could theoretically have one train with an infinite length, and there would be no difference in how fast the train would go. The diesel train would have problems, as it would slip on the tracks, no matter how much extra force is given.
Electrification allows for more and longer trains to be run on the tracks at any given time. That means not only do drivers have to wait longer when trains go by, but they also have to do
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so more often. By Caltrain’s estimates, there are going to be 4 times more trains running than now. This will result in huge traffic jams for morning commuters. The problems raised by this proposal mean that question is no longer whether or not if we can handle the potential disruption, but rather what can be done to manage it. Many cities along the route have started deliberating on solutions, and there are 5 options on the table by the city.
Due to considerations of cost, potential outcry, and disruption, the selection has been narrowed from these five to two: the citywide tunnel and the viaduct. Palo Alto has a unique challenge when it comes to this; the city is old, and the city planners had limited foresight. The houses are much closer to the tracks than other cities. When considering potential solutions, Palo Alto has to work in a relatively constricted area. The viaduct is the comparatively cheap and easy option. Favored by most residents not living near the tracks, the viaduct would have a raised platform in which trains would run on. It does have the drawback that the area underneath viaducts is prone to attracting crime, or causing dust to come down on residents. This is why it is opposed by those who live near the tracks.
Train on viaduct, by Don Debold. CC BY-SA 2.0
The other option is the underground tunnel. This is the solution that most residents living near the tracks prefer. This involves sticking multiple tunnel boring machines (TBM) under Palo Alto for trains to pass through. It can be an extremely expensive project though, costing around $4 billion. This has multiple upsides, one of them being that the area that was previously occupied by the train tracks can be used as open park space, and that the train commute doesn’t need to be disrupted while construction takes place. This is a solution that many of the cities on the line have adopted, and it should be noted that Elon Musk’s Boring company has reduced
construction costs to 10 million dollars a mile, and plans to build a segment of the tunnel for San Jose. There has been large pushback on this option, mostly due to cost. Four billion dollars is a lot to shoulder, especially for a small city like Palo Alto. Whichever option is chosen, residents are in for a sticker shock. Implementing any of these solutions, according to a consultant, is going to cost an additional $1700 to $6500 per year in property taxes for 30 years. For reference, that is a 60% increase on what is already paid right now. After ten years, millions of dollars, and countless meetings with constituents we are still at the drawing board. The only thing that is clear after all this debate is that this is not an easy effort. There isn’t one solution that fulfills everyone’s desires, but if there was, it wouldn’t be called public policy. The fact that many Palo Altans do not know about this issue adds an additional layer of challenge. This barrier has led Palo Alto Council member Greg Tanaka to reach out to residents asking questions about what they would like to have to fund grade separation.
Stopping my bike during the morning ride to school after the crossing guards come up, I peer down the Charleston and Alma train tracks, inhaling the diesel fumes of the passing train. The rails are straight lines that stretch toward the horizon until they disappear. My friend, Mateo, beckons me over because we are going to be late to school if I keep dawdling by the tracks. I sigh, if only the long road to grade separation for Palo Alto could be as straightforward as that. -William Xuan is a junior at Gunn High School, and a thank you to Palo Alto Council member Greg Tanaka. For additional information regarding this issue, or say something about the issue, he can be reached at William.xuan@gregtanaka.org
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Layouts: Quinn Arbolante & Edgar Hsieh
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SOCIAL A Letter To Feminism Nikki Suzani Contributing Writer
Dear Feminism, To say you knocked upon my mind one morning would be quite an understatement. You bulldozed through, albeit slowly, and wrecked every conception I held of the “proper” world. The first time you arrived was way back in kindergarten when I was told to “be quiet” but he was told to “speak up.” I noticed that we spoke the same amount, but when he interrupted my sentences it was being “excited” while I was “aggressive.” The unfairness of this plagued my mind to the point where I went to the teacher and complained vehemently—my favorite thing to do. The teacher only smiled sadly, her eyes downcast, and waved me away as if to say “This is how it is, Nikki.” Yet, I knew within my heart that this wasn’t the way it should be. After all, I never backed down, kept pushing, kept “whining,” until the teacher gave up and I got my way. I could talk the same number of times that he could. It’s only fair. A linger of you threaded through my brain as I approached my older years, mind preoccupied with pre-algebra and oh my gosh does he have a crush on me? I searched up YouTube videos of perfect girls with faces caked in makeup and looking like a Barbie doll to play with. “This is what you need to look like if you want him to like you,” the title reads. When did playing dress-up go from a game to a societal norm? I’d rather play around with the colors of different clothes, invest time into enjoying myself, rather than follow a tutorial on how to “look like a perfect girl.” And what is a perfect girl? Submissive, quiet, and beautiful to see but unable to be heard? You abandoned me in these moments of reflection as I grew up and pushed my face onto the image of each model. I was aching inside to be as skinny, as gorgeous, and as wonderful as they were. If only, if only. I longed to be the girl that boys would like. That was the period of my lowest lows. I couldn’t find you even in the darkest crannies of my mind. You left me struggling to form my own identity within this world full of the superficial identities that had been created for me. I shouldn’t be able to bike faster than that boy, that’ll make him feel bad. Shhh, just let me get a couple points off on this math quiz. Cool boys don’t like a know-it-all.
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But you came back like a boomerang and whacked me in the face during 5th grade health class where we learned about drugs and rejection, but most importantly about you. Women and men should be equal, you argued. There was no contradiction in that. And I noticed that the ideals pushed upon me to be “like a girl” were just someone else’s ideals. No one can make me fall into that trap without my consent, and at that moment I revoked it. I could be like any boy, be smarter than any boy, and do the things I loved because they made my heart swell with happiness. Not do them because he loved them. Unfortunately, no story is complete without a jump backwards and it definitely came: the period of rejection, of hatred towards your very existence. It was the introduction of Instagram, “feminist” posts that just bashed on other people that provoked it. “All men are pigs,” they read. Well, I didn’t think so. Maybe I’m not a feminist. Maybe feminists are just Social Justice Warriors who are fake in what they profess and just want women to be above men. I didn’t want that. I wanted equality. That’s what they promised me. Where was my equality? So I carved myself out a space for feminism in the professional world, feminism through equality not feminism through advantages. I noticed, through that journey, that the majority of feminists held that same viewpoint. The radicals existed, absolutely, but they were outnumbered by smart, young men and women who only hoped to close the wage gap, make women’s clothing as affordable as men’s, and stop gender discrimination. In other words, feminism had always held the definition that I needed. You have always held the key to unlock my potential. The key word: equality. Such that I’m given the same opportunities, pay, and eventually happiness as anyone else regardless of the gender they identify with.
That is where I stand today. A fierce protector of the true you. A simple statement that should be inherently accepted by everyone, but somehow is still controversial. As we enter the 2020s, I hope that you rear your head for all to see so that each individual person can delve into you and come out with the same message that I did. You are wonderful, inside and out, just like the people you protect. Good luck on your journey spreading equality throughout the world and ending unfair injustices that anyone has to face. You will be loved because you are the message of hope within our minds. Love,
Nikki Suzani Layouts: Aditya Dhir & Edgar Hsieh
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The Chariot Opinion Inbox: Abortion Bans Layouts: Edgar Hsieh
Within the past several months, numerous states—including Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri—pushed to pass legislation effectively banning abortion on any grounds in a seemingly coordinated effort to challenge the precedence of Roe v. Wade. With these events spurring a new flurry of debate surrounding abortion, the discussion also arrived at home here in Gunn High School. The Chariot staff decided to showcase different views and perspectives surrounding this controversy directly from the student body. "If you don't want to get an abortion that is ok. You don't have to do something you're not comfortable with. However, you CANNOT make these decisions for other people. Mind your own business and do what's right for YOU. You wouldn't want someone to force you to have an abortion so you shouldn't make someone not have one"
-Anonymous "Personally, I don't like abortion. I don't like how you are potentially killing the future of a child. I myself would most likely not get an abortion, unless there were special exceptions. That being said, I 100% believe that women do have the right to choose. Just because I don't believe in abortion does not mean it should be enforced on others who think otherwise. What is happening in anti-abortion states is digusting, especially since men are the only ones who have any say in this. Rape victims as young as 11 will be forced to carry a child, punished if they don't. I believe the woman herself has the right to decide what is best for her, whether to keep the baby or not."
-Sophia Little "Just use Plan B bruh." -Boris Bukchin "It’s is not my body my choice because we’re talking about two different bodies here, one of them is being crushed to non existence and the other is not affected. It’s like if you put a burger in a bag, it’s in the bag but it’s not part of it."
-Anonymous Junior
-Anonymous Senior "I am pro-choice. While I would not regulate what others do with their body, because everyone has different situations, I personally do not believe in abortion after 23 weeks, as this is generally when they feel pain. One of the most heartbreaking things about these recent laws is the lack of concern expressed for rape victims; especially young rape victims. For example, in Georgia, they would have to file a police report. This could be dangerous for me victim as their abuser might attack them, and is also putting a lot of psychological stress on them. Women should be able to make choices for their own. If you’re pro-life, I have no problem with that; as long as you don’t tell other people to do with their bodies."
-Sophomore Neha Muthiah "There is an ongoing discussion about where to draw the line with when you can no longer abort a fetus. Personally, I believe the line can be drawn when the fetus could be born prematurely and still be supported by the hospital and survive, unless giving birth to the child would kill the mother. Moms have a heartbeat too, and the bill in Alabama doesn't allow for a big enough window to make sure a woman is pregnant. Sure, the fetus may have a heartbeat, but at that point I value human life that is supporting itself more than life that is in development."
-Junior Sam Schube
"Slaves and immigrants were labeled as inhuman to justify their atrocious treatment. Labeling an unborn child as inhuman has the exact same effect." -Anonymous 17
"I oppose abortion. I think that it is wrong to kill an unborn baby. Men can make laws about women’s bodies because they have been voted into office to make these types of laws."
"Imagine committing first degree murder, everybody has the right to life" -Anonymous Sophomore
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"To all who say the baby is part of the body of the person, so the mother shouldn't care about what she drinks or what she does to her body, fetal alcohol syndrome, hey, it's their body! The only scenario I would support abortions is if the woman was raped, and even then, please do it before 6 months, for the mental health of the poor doctor who has to remove that. And don't, uh, have sex with your relatives? Unless it's rape in which case I already said I support that ... Many people say that sometimes a fetus can react to external sources like loud music or something? Seems pretty alive to me ... and some deny this but how do we know fetuses can't feel pain? Maybe fetuses are silently screaming inside. Abortion supporters speak in the eyes of the law but the law is often flawed. So they're telling me, that if I were pregnant and someone were to punch the sh*t out of my pregnant baby, it wouldn't fell pain? ... the rights of the fetus and the mother are the same ... an easy solution to all this is don't have sex unless you are ready to have a child ... I think the issue here is that sex is too pleasurable ... maybe remove the sex drive then we would only have sex for educated and logical decisions. We aren't primal animals who just eat, sh*t, rape, and die all day ... women should just lay eggs. I would support it, the incubation tech"
"You can be anti-abortion and still be pro-choice. It’s okay for you to disagree with someone’s choices, but you can’t deny them the right to make those choices. The new abortion laws in Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, and Georgia are signed into law in the name of God. Law cannot be signed for God. Law must be signed for the people. Separation of church and state is being violated by these states. These laws are nothing more than an attempt for men in power to assert their dominance over women, mainly women of color. With the ban of abortions, poverty rates for children and their families increase, preventing a woman from bringing a baby into a safe and financially stable home. Without [exceptions] for rape, these states are continuing the perpetration of rape culture. These laws penalize women who have been raped and end up getting an abortion, more than they penalize the rapists. If these states were truly pro-life, they would enact laws restricting eligibility for firearm purchases and put more funding into public sexual education and access to other forms of birth control."
-Junior Julien Crespo
-Senior Abigail Sullivan "Abortion should not be legal" -Senior Evan Alexis
"These abortion bans are a clear effort to undercut the rights "The demonization of abortion is built on a history of of women and take away our bodily autonomy. A fetus is not misconceptions and ignorance. Regardless of your religion/moral a human being and should not be treated as such. The views, what developmental stage the fetus is in, or any past heartbeat concept of the bill in Alabama is appalling seeing experience you might have with abortion, a woman should as though a fetus has a heartbeat when it is no larger than a ALWAYS be in control of what happens to her body. Making pea. Furthermore the law makers failure to lay out policy for abortion illegal doesn’t stop people from getting abortions; noncoventional pregnancies such as IVF shows that they are making abortion illegal makes abortions extremely unsafe. This not fighting for the rights of fetuses but for the ability to issue does not pertain to people without uteruses/uteri (I say this control what happens inside of women’s bodies. Not because not everyone who has a uterus identifies as being a everyone has to agree about abortion and you don’t need woman and not everyone who opposes abortion is automatically think it is religiously or morally right, but there is a separation male). I have heard countless pro-life arguments from women of church and state in this country and one persons beliefs who regret having an abortion and want to prevent other women should not take away rights from others. If you don’t believe from making the same “mistake” they did. In response, I’d like to in abortion then don’t get one." remind those women of the fundamental belief behind the pro-Ellie Roodman, Class of 2019 choice movement: a person who is pro-choice is not necessarily pro-abortion, but rather, in support of there being a choice at all. "The reason people make for anti-abortion is that they value the lives of these babies. However, they fail to see that many We don’t want every baby to die; we want there to be support, people cannot afford to care for these babies. Many of the resources, and safety for those who would like to proceed with people who have passed these laws are also cutting funding abortion and peace of mind for those who don’t. By depriving for public education and for public welfare, which is most women/people with uteri of the opportunity to make a safe, likely needed for the women who have to obey what men say educated decision about their reproductive health, you put the demand to be their personal choices." lives of millions of people at risk."
-Anonymous Sophomore
-Sofia Sierra-Garcia, Class of 2019 JUNE 2019
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English: You Read That Word and Probably Want to Skip This Already Ethan Shaotran Contributing Writer
Despite these empirics, look at your English class. 9 times out of 10, the curriculum is centered around textual comprehension, analysis, and creation; with a lack of stress on oral communication. As a result, the modern education system churns out writers, but not speakers. Give a student an in-class essay and they’ll write it, but have them give a 5-minute impromptu speech on bananas and they’ll go bananas. When it comes to basic speaking skills like eye contact, confidence, hand gestures, posture, enunciation, and tone, most students simply don’t meet the marks. Excluding the rare case like Gunn’s Communications class, this flaw goes undetected in most classes. As academics, we need to find ways to better prepare students for the real world. While clubs like Speech & Debate and Model UN largely help, the majority of high school students will never participate in those activities. The reason why English classes are thought of as “boring” is because they focus too greatly on reading and writing. What if we could have English classes where students could argue about CAASPP testing, or present speeches on their favorite hobbies? It’s a problem when Communications and Student Executive Council are the only two classes doing that.
CC BY-NC 2.0 by Alliance For Excellent Education
Write an essay. Memorize how to spell the word “indict”. Know how to identify independent clauses. What do these tasks have in common? Other than the fact that they’re all quite unengaging, they all focus solely on textual communication. America is failing to keep its English curriculums useful—the writing/reading-based assignments that English classes rely on fail to adequately prepare students for the real world. Yes, while these skills may be important, classes fail to emphasize another, and arguably even more important, skill: speaking.
Tell your nearest senator - it’s time for America’s English classes to change.
Oral communication plays a larger role in one’s life compared to written communication. In fact, the University of Oxford noted that while the average worker only spends about 26% of their day writing or reading, they spend double that amount (42%) of their day speaking. And while the Microsoft Word Autocorrect Tool or the Grammarly checker can fix the mechanics of your quarterly sales report, they can’t fix the way you present your findings at your company’s executive meeting. In real occupations, knowing how to speak well to deliver a point across is as important as knowing how to write it down. Layouts: Edgar Hsieh & Quinn Arbolante
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