the Epic, Volume 57, Issue 6 - April 5, 2022 by the Epic

SECTIONS

WEBSITE

Find exclusive content and all our archived stories: www.lhsepic.com

News: pg. 2-4 Opinion: pg. 5-7 Features: pg. 8-10 In-Depth: pg. 11-13 Sports: pg. 14-16

SOCIAL MEDIA

Follow our Instagram for breaking news, sports and event coverage: @lhs.epic

A CLOSER LOOK

at our stories on past, present and future wars: pg. 11-13

WAR and the RussianUkrainian Crisis

hen Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the 150,000 Russian troops at the Ukrainian border to move into Ukraine for a “special military operation,” it was a climax to an invasion decades in the making: From the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the creation of the Russian Federation to the annexation of Crimea and the revolution of dignity, Ukraine’s independence has ebbed and flowed as opportunistic imperialistic nations have tried to cut it up like cake. Read more about the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and war on our In-Depth pages 11-13.

• All Russians affected by sanctions pg. 11 • Ukraine, explained pg. 11 • Wartime propaganda pg. 12 • A nuclear spring: How global conflicts threaten the environment pg. 13 • America's failed wars pg. 13 GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY SHARLENE CHEN

Miller Middle vandalized

Staff Editorial: Take steps to affirm pronouns

BY SUSANNA TANG

mid rising tensions surrounding Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill barring topics regarding sexual and gender orientation from being discussed in schools, it is more important than ever to ensure that Lynbrook’s LGBTQ+ students feel supported on campus. Seemingly harmless occurrences can serve as reminders of a limiting gender binary that does not fully represent the diverse student body, and one of the best ways to support gender nonconforming students is by respecting pronouns and names. Rather than a binary, gender is a spectrum including the identities of

story continues on pg. 5 || opinion

SUSANNA TANG - EPIC Millder Middle's science wing was severely vandalized, causing alarming damage to school property.

Editors’ Picks • Intro to Java classes create their own Wordle pg. 3 • Cypher: 2022’s senior game pg. 4 • Chess is a sport. Fight me pg. 5

oaquin Miller Middle School was severely vandalized on the weekend of March 5. Targeting the science wing, the vandals caused alarming damage and theft to the school’s property and classrooms. “We are working with San Jose Police Department and San Jose Fire

Department to file the necessary reports and assess damage and loss,” Miller Principal Amy Steele said in a message to the Miller community on March 5. According to students, there may have been small fires that were ignited near the whiteboards of Rooms 8 and 9, which were then smothered with a fire extinguisher. Dry chemical foam from the extinguishers left layers of yellow residue on the classrooms’ desks

story continues on pg. 2 || news

• Prom traditions could use a makeover pg. 7 • Four strings, an endpin and a bow: Angela Sun’s cello journey pg. 10 • Ceci Sun the dancing queen pg. 8

CRYSTAL QIAN - EPIC

NEWS

the Epic lhsepic.com

Berkeley admission limits stir controversy BY SAMIYA ANWAR

O Letter from the Editors

appy spring! First of all, we would like to thank you all for submitting a record number of applications for the 2022-23 Epic staff. We are currently working hard to interview and evaluate applicants. Regardless of final decisions, we are always grateful for your readership and engagement. As always, we want our student body to join us in the Epic’s mission to tell stories that matter in our community, so we encourage you to submit your sub200 word opinions on a piece from this issue (Letters to the Editors) and your sub-500 word opinions on issues in our school, community, country and globe (Guest Columns) to us at enc.epic@gmail. com. We read all submissions, but only ones that we deem timely and relevant to the Lynbrook community will be chosen. Selected submissions will be published on our paper and/or website. Check out our editors’ picks for this issue on the front page! As college acceptances are rolling in, reminiscence about 2022’s senior game, Cypher, on page 4. On the topic of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, flip through to read about double standards in global media coverage on page 6 and wartime propaganda on page 12. Check out how Disney princesses have evolved over time on page 9 and the infamous nicknames on the boys varsity tennis team on page 16. Watch our staffers compete in a cooking challenge against each other and your teachers talk about what their high school life was like on our YouTube channel. Remember to follow @lhs.epic on instagram for timely events and sports coverage, and find more web exclusive stories at lhsepic.com! Sincerely, Mei Corricello & Bennie Chang Editors-in-Chief

n March 14, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that overturned a controversial ruling that would have forced UC Berkeley to immediately decrease student enrollment. Bill 118 gives California’s public colleges and universities 18 months to complete an environmental review before a court can limit a college’s on campus population — meaning Berkeley’s problems are not entirely resolved. The California Supreme Court found that Berkeley violated the California Environmental Quality Act, which was passed in 1970 in an effort to mandate public processes that could have impacts on the environment. In court, Berkeley had claimed that their only legal obligation was to evaluate the impacts of enrollment increase only when it concerns physical construction of new buildings; however, the California’s First District Court of Appeal court rejected their argument. In August 2021, an Alameda County Superior Court ordered Berkeley to freeze campus enrollment at the 2020-21 level in response to SBN’s lawsuit. Although the UC Regents requested to postpone the cap of the enrollment, the California Supreme Court ultimately denied the petition. On March 3, Berkeley was forced to accept 5,000 less students in the upcoming school year, significantly impacting the graduating Class of 2022. “I think the enrollment cap went too far, and it’s a clear indication in the breakdown of communication between the two entities,” Lynbrook college counselor Barb Takahashi said. “They should’ve been able to come up with their own solution without going to court.” The enrollment cap distressed high school students across the country who had applied to Berkeley in the upcoming year. In addition to cutting thousands of students, Berkeley had planned on requiring thousands of incoming freshmen to take their classes online, and an additional 650 undergraduates deferred until January 2023. Some seniors at Lynbrook believed that their chances of getting accepted to Berkeley were significantly reduced, while those accepted during early admissions were fearful of the possibility of having to take classes remotely.

“Having to take my classes online would enrollment increase,” Bokovoy said in an suck,” said senior Anya Sikri, who is planning interview with National Public Radio. To the relief of thousands of UC Berkeley on attending Berkeley in the upcoming school year. “You socialize the most during applicants, Newsom’s signage of SB 118 the first six months of coming to college. ensures that student enrollment would not Having to take my classes online would mean immediately decrease under CEQA. Newsom I would be completely isolated and wouldn’t stated that the capping of enrollment undermines critical priorities of the state, be able to make new friends.” The freezing of enrollment caused mixed including expanding access to education reactions from around the nation. SBN was at all levels and opportunities for transfer undeniably supportive; others denounced students. Although there is temporary relief for the cap, including Newsom and Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin. In a statement, UC incoming Berkeley students, Berkeley has Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ said that 18 months to address their environmental the court order was “devastating news for impact, and if change does not occur, they the students that worked so hard and have have the potential to be sued again. earned an offer of a seat in our fall 2022 class. Our fight on behalf of every one of these students continues.” Save Berkeley’s Neighborhood, a 501(c)(3) public charity made up of Berkeley residents, campaigned against UC Berkeley for their failure to take into consideration the environmental impacts of their increase in enrollment, including the displacement of lower income tenants, the homelessness and noise and disruption in neighborhoods bordering the campus. In a 2017 survey, 10% of Berkeley’s students reported that they have experienced homelessness while in college. Berkeley has beds for only one-fifth of its student population, the lowest among California universities. SBN President Phil Bokovy believes that before Berkeley accepts more students, it needs to provide housing for the ones it already has. In September 2020, the California Supreme Court affirmed a legal victory for SBN and gave them the right to sue Berkeley over environmental impacts. “We sued the university because they had not examined TANIKA ANBU — EPIC the environmental impact of Changes in Berkeley admissions has caused distress among Class of 2022 seniors and their families.

Vandalism strikes Miller Middle School BY SUSANNA TANG

Story continued from front page. and the floors of the science wing’s backroom. Derogatory words were scribbled across the whiteboards. Multiple pieces of technology were stolen, and test papers were missing from the classrooms. After the incident, the teacher and students of one of the affected classrooms temporarily relocated to the library, while the classroom, its surroundings and its properties — including desks, whiteboards, missing technology and missing assignments — were being restored; the students moved back into the classroom after four days. Aside from the shift in the learning environment of some students, most students have not felt a change in their school community. “Both my coding and science teachers’ classrooms were vandalized, so I was really curious and worried when I heard about the news,” Miller sixth grader Savya Churi said. “In my coding classroom, a few laptops and iPads had gone missing. In my science classroom, everything was ruined — there

SUSANNA TANG—EPIC Miller Middle School was severely vandalized on the weekend of March 5.

was broken glass and papers everywhere. The next day, my change to whether students have been leaving on time, but science teacher said that we couldn’t go in our classroom sometimes teachers or staff will come out and ask students anymore, so we had to work in the library for the next week .” to leave.” Although Miller’s campus has always been closed to the Students and parents were shocked when the news of public every day after 3:00 p.m. and on the vandalism was announced to the the weekends, students have not been school. Since minimal information respecting the school hours. Since about the vandalism was given to Vandalism takes away the the incident, Miller administrators the Miller community, many also felt have been emphasizing and enforcing concerned and curious. opportunity for the school the campus-closing times by urging “I was shocked to hear that Miller community to thrive in an parents to remind their children of was vandalized because I didn’t environment that should be school hours. With sports, clubs and think anybody would be interested safe for all students. other on-campus activities taking in vandalizing a middle school, since place after school, the school can only there’s usually nothing valuable here Akshat Dhingra, trust students with this responsibility except for iPads and laptops,” Miller Junior to clear the campus after school unless sixth grader Ashwin Venugopal said. they have a school-related activity. “However, this didn’t really affect my “There have always been groups of view on the school’s safety because students that hang out around campus I knew that nobody comes to school after school,” Miller seventh grader Amie Wu said. “After we on weekends and holidays, so I didn’t really think it was the heard the news about vandalism, there has only been a small school’s fault.” The news of Miller’s vandalism spread rapidly, causing the incident to become a widespread topic of discussion among students in the days after the vandalism. The question of why someone would vandalize a middle school remains in students, parents and staff. Despite the damage caused by the recent vandalism at Miller, students were still able to carry on with their daily routines. “I don’t think anybody likes to see vandalized school property because it’s hard for teachers, students, staff and basically anyone around the area to deal with,” junior Akshat Dhingra said. “Vandalism takes away the opportunity for the school community to thrive in an environment that should be SUSANNA TANG—EPIC safe for all students.” The school’s science wing was the main victim of the damage and thievery.

April 05, 2022

NEWS

Intro to Java classes create their own BY NICOLE GE

he Introduction to Java class completed a month-long project on March 4 to code their own Wordle, a viral word-guessing game featuring a daily five-letter word that players try to guess within six attempts. The goal of the project was for students to apply their creativity and coding skills in a new game. The Wordle project was the capstone project in Python for the class this year, after students in previous years tackled projects such as Blackjack, Poker and Set. “I was thinking about this year and was

not sure what to do, and then I just kind of came across this popular game named Wordle,” Intro to Java teacher Mark Kwong said. “I always try to find a game that is not too hard but not too easy either, and Wordle is very relevant right now for the students.” Students often encountered issues with their code that they had to resolve on their own. One challenge was writing the code for a specific case of when repeated letters were guessed by the player. “The corner case of repeated letters took the longest for me to debug,” sophomore Sanika Iyer said. “Let’s assume that the wordle of the day was ‘apple’, and the word guessed was ‘poppy’. Making sure that only two p’s were colored correctly was one of the hardest parts of the project.” After completing the requirements, students incoporated additional features in their game. “We added additional features such as a dictionary, customized USED WITH PERMISSION OF MARK KWONG difficulty level, a timer and hints,” The game allows you to pick words of different sizes, but the actual

sophomore Anshul Singh said. Some noteworthy features that students incorporated into their code included a version that ranged from two to six random words to be guessed simultaneously. While the basic requirement was to design a text-based game, several students integrated a graphical user interface for players to manipulate when guessing their word. Other students built a variety of modes for players to choose from, ranging from easy to difficult, as well as a point counter to track how many guesses players have made. Some students even added a rage quit mode, for players who wanted to really push themselves. Although the project was challenging, students expanded on their capabilities and discovered the satisfaction of programming a game with minimal help. “Through the project, I gained more knowledge on Python: the purpose of classes, the various data types in Python and a real world application of Python,” junior Ryan Wang said.

answer is always 5 letters long.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY TIMOTHY KIM

Upcoming Viking Events Powerpuff From April 11 to April 15, the four classes will compete on the football field for the annual Powerpuff, hosted by ASB. Valkyries Spring Show The Valkyries will be performing a variety of dance genres in the gym on April 29. Spring Break There will be no school from April 18 to April 22. Enjoy a week off from school! Pops Concert Band, orchestra and choir will perform in the auditorium on May 18 and 19. ASB/Indesign Fashion Show Indesign will host its annual fashion show featuring student model on May 20. By Susanna Tang Photo by Timothy Kim

Students explore Brave New World through art BY MEERA NAMBIAR Tackling the theme of “Brave New Worlds,” seniors Tammi Trujillo and Helena Su, junior Sydney Chao and sophomore Shivam Maji had their art selected for the New Museum of Los Gatos’s ArtNow exhibit, which features works from high schoolers across the county. The artists used techniques and mediums ranging from sculpture to photography to create works that explore the ideas of hope and the future. The prestigious art exhibition will show the student exhibit until May 22.

lthough senior Helena Su’s art comprises mostly of street photography, she decided to photograph a different subject for the competition by combining two elements: a hand in shadows and a clear cube. “I already had the photo of the hand, and I liked it because it had good lighting,” Su said. “I thought it fit well with the theme, and I wanted to show that hands are very important when creating art.” To make the cube, Su folded a piece of transparent film and colored it with highlighters. She shone a laser on the cube to add hues and edited it further on Adobe Photoshop. The piece, titled Create, is meant to encourage others to make their own art and share their vision. “This is more dream-like and unrealistic than street photos, and I like the contrast between the hand and the film,” Su said. “The main message is there are infinite possibilities from what you create with your hands.” Su started taking photos as a way to capture the special moments of daily life. She has a photography based Instagram account, where she posts her photos from the past year. In the future, Su plans to continue photography as a hobby, and encourages others to go visit USED WITH PERMISSION OF HELENA SU NUMU, the museum where her art is featured.

Helena Su’s submission encourages others to make their own art and share their vision.

contrast between the past and the future, sophomore Shivam Maji’s photo depicts how humanity faces its challenges. “I interpreted the theme as how we as humanity want to perceive our future,” Maji said. The picture was taken during the Lunar New Year in San Francisco Chinatown. It shows an old statue wearing a face mask in front of a mural of warriors. After taking the photo, Maji edited it on Adobe USED WITH PERMISSION OF SHIVAM MAJI Lightroom before submitting Shivam Maji’s photo describes how humanity faces its challenges. it to the exhibition. “It’s really cool to see how the past and the future have been blended together and lit by retro futuristic lighting.” Maji said. Maji started becoming interested in photography through the Photography class at Miller Middle School. “I enjoy photography because it not only merges art and technology in a really unique way, but also gives you an insight into the world almost instantaneously,” Maji said. Other than street photography, Maji also does virtual photography, taking photos through photo mode on video games.

unior Sydney Chao takes photos to remember the places she visited. However, the photo she submitted was taken in her own neighborhood. Photographed when the skies were filled with wildfire smoke, the photo represents hope during the darkest of times. “I went outside, and I didn’t think I would take anything because the lighting was really bad,” Chao said. “But then, I looked at this window in my neighborhood, and I took a picture.” Chao submitted her work to the exhibition because she believed it fit the theme of Brave New Worlds. “In the photo, one panel absorbs all the darkness, while the other panel reflects the sky,” Chao said. “It symbolizes how, during unprecedented circumstances, we can’t change the situation, but we can change how we view it.” Chao increased the photo’s saturation in Adobe Lightroom to increase the glow around the window. The photo helped Chao see how photography can improve one’s view of the world. “Later on, I realized that it looked more beautiful through the lens of my camera than in real life,” Chao said. “It shows how you can look at things from different perspectives, and you can see USED WITH PERMISSION OF SYDNEY CHAO the good and bad sides.” Sydney Chao’s photo of a window reflecting the yellow rays of a wildfire motivates a positive mindset during dark times.

“I

’ve always been into art,” senior Tammi Trujillo said. “I’ve always been creative.” Trujillo’s art was originally meant for her AP Studio Art portfolio, but art teacher Matthew Reynolds encouraged Trujillo to submit it to the competition. The sculpture is composed of images of people and three layers of CDs, which were made transparent by removing the foil. She used print transfers to add the people on the discs and organized the layers on strings. Trujillo hopes to represent unity through her work by showing how fighting racial injustice during divisive times helped to unite communities. The piece also shows the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, with people wearing masks, and encourages people to celebrate individuality, not division. “My art is about division and unity,” USED WITH PERMISSION OF TAMMI TRUJILLO Trujillo said. “Throughout the division that we Tammi Trujillo’s sculpture encourages inclusivity have faced during the pandemic, we have also for the future as we grow through individuality. found unity.” Now, Trujillo is shifting her focus on art to fashion, with more of her work featured in Indesign, Lynbrook’s fashion club.

April 05, 2022

NEWS

Cypher: The Class of 2022’s senior game B C

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A, B, D, I. Seniors with their Cypher codes on their mask. C. Seniors play musical chairs to move to the next round. E. Senior class officers pose with the daily challenge. F. Ghosts and teachers take revenge on players with dodgeball. G. Senior Molly Runyon with the daily challenge. H. Senior Archana Pisupati gets eliminated. GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY RIA PHELAN AND AMY LIU

BY CHELSEA LEE

hroughout March, underclassmen and teachers may have wondered why many seniors were covering their masks with hands and having wardrobe malfunctions. This odd behavior was all because of the senior game, Cypher. Following yearly tradition, which took a two-year break due to online learning, the Class of 2022 spent a month of their final semester at Lynbrook playing Cypher, with two free prom tickets worth $300 at stake and some final lasting memories to make. The objective of the game was to eliminate other players and be the last standing after a series of challenges that spanned four weeks. Prior to the game, seniors received bingo cards at the Winter Rally in January. Seventeen seniors blacked out their cards and were immune to elimination during the first week of the game. Players were notified of game rules by email and through the Instagram account dedicated to the game, @22cypher. Players in the first challenge wrote words on their mask and eliminated others with similar words by taking photos of them. By the end of the first week, 71 of 192 players were eliminated and became ghosts. “It's really interesting seeing how different people approach it,” senior Albert Tam said. “Some people are super competitive and in it to win it. Then, there are some people who are a lot more laidback.” The next week’s challenge took place from Tuesday, March 15, to Friday, March 18, with survivors fulfilling accumulating outfit requirements. Players wore one closed-toe and one open-toed shoe on Tuesday. On Wednesday, participants had to wear shorts over pants, and Thursday saw players wearing socks as mittens. On Friday, players played dodgeball against Lynbrook staff and ghosts. The dodgeball games left 25 players remaining at the end of week two. Some players utilized certain rules to their advantage. One rule allowed eliminations to take place outside of school, and senior Demir Genc looked for senior Anya Sikri outside her home before school to catch her without the day’s requirements. Coincidentally, Sikri was sick and never emerged, preventing Genc from eliminating her. The next morning, Sikri did the same and stood on the lookout for him outside his home, but fortunately for Genc, he spotted Sikri’s car across the street and understood it was someone waiting to eliminate him. He quickly retreated and pulled socks over

his hands to adhere to the day’s requirements. “I went back inside because I didn’t have the socks over my hands, so I put the socks back on and just waved to her,” Genc said. “She was pretty upset about that.” During week three, players went on a scavenger hunt around campus based on clues posted on @22cypher’s Instagram. The first eight players to find one of three QR codes could move onto the next week. The 24 remaining players then battled each other in teams of three during games of tug of war on Tuesday. The remaining players competed in a final game of musical chairs on Thursday, narrowing the field to three people. In the final week, seniors Saumitr Dikhit, Rahul Idgunji and Srikar Nimmagadda were the final people to remain and attempted dares to determine the winner. Although senior games have been unique to each graduating class, seniors used play the same game each year — Spoons. In Spoons, players would hold spoons throughout the day and tag others when they were not holding their spoons to eliminate them. After an injury in 2018, the senior game has been adjusted each year to consist of new challenges and games that prioritize safety. The Class of 2022 officers spent months coordinating the new senior game. Their brainstorming started with the popular South Korean TV show, Squid Game, borrowing the concept of elimination when players fail to complete games successfully. They also discussed the party game, Assassin, in which the winner is the last person standing. The officers ultimately combined both inspirations to create Cypher. When Zhu and senior class Secretary Arianna Huang were considering a Valorant tournament as a potential challenge, the name of the Valorant character Cypher inspired the senior game’s title. Cypher came to represent the decoding aspect of the first week's challenges as the class officers continued to flesh out the game’s challenges in the following weeks. Since most seniors were done with college applications, March was a practical time for the officers to hold the senior game, with the intention of helping seniors de-stress, relax and have fun together before they graduate. “I hope that with all this work we put in, hopefully, the seniors can walk away with some good memories,” senior class Vice President Michelle Zhu said. “Even if, right now, it seems pretty intense, I think in the future looking back on it, they'll be nostalgic and enjoy the time they had as seniors.”

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Forensic Science Club investigates criminal activities

ike every crime TV show, Forensic Science Club has a new lead every week to investigate and inspect. During the month of March, members looked at new topics ranging from fingerprint analysis to police interrogation techniques, analyzing the information and applying them in interactive activities. The club’s officer team planned the month full of hands-on and engaging activities to garner more interest in their club and expand the scope of their meetings beyond just educational slides. The first week featured police interrogation methods, followed by an online game. Over the next couple of weeks, members went in-depth on other forensic science topics like fingerprint observations and autopsy reports. To conclude a series of meetings with specific topics, the club connected all the dots with a crime analysis game, giving members the opportunity to display all the skills they learned from past meetings. One of the highlights of the month was fingerprint analysis, for IC P E U— A ANB o which each t s t TANIK rin . umbp s t u d e n t eir th t analysis h t p am gerprin nts st in received a Studeuct their f d n co sheet of

paper to stamp their thumbprint and determined what type of fingerprint they have. As opposed to the normal self-paced online games from previous meetings, students worked as a team and put themselves in the shoes of a forensic scientist. “We could visually experience what it was like to compare fingerprints,” sophomore member Sindhuja Bokkisam said. “It was like a mini simulation of what actual forensic scientists do, which made the activity really interesting.” At the end of the meeting, students from the club corroborated that every person had a unique fingerprint after examining their peers' stamped papers. Another highlight was the meeting on autopsies and post mortem, the procedure of analyzing dead bodies. Students watched three attention selective tests that made them focus on one task at a time. In one video, students determined how many gumdrops a person was eating while other distractions appeared on the screen. Another video displayed a picture of a road that discreetly changed every couple of seconds. After watching three videos centered around these mind games and deceptions, members learned how to be observant and analytical, skills a forensic scientist must have when examining deceased bodies, since even the smallest mistake can have a large impact on the final report. Forensic Science Club ended March strong with a crime analysis game bringing together all the topics learned from the month. Students watched a video describing a crime scene and analyzed the scene’s victim, assailant and cause of death. Students watched the video numerous times to absorb the information explained in the video. Afterward, the officers led the members through a step-bystep approach in dissecting the facts of the scenario, allowing them to form

their conclusions and guess why law enforcement took the actions that they did. "Our goal Offic was to inform crim ers prepa TANIKA AN e ana BU — our club on the lysis re to pres EPIC to me ent a m b different situations ers. video on forensic scientists experience and we achieved that,” Forensic Science Club President Thomas Zheng said. Forensic Science Club plans on hosting a meeting on entomology in the near future to expand upon topics discussed throughout the month. The club will continue to host such activities and interactive meetings in the weeks to come to stir curiosity within students and give them more glimpses into the life of a forensic scientist.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY SUSANNA TANG

BY TANIKA ANBU

OPINION

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READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Chess: The king of mental sports

agnus Carlsen received a standing ovation after winning against reigning World Chess Champion Vishwanathan Anand. Carlsen secured his title as the new champion with a draw in the last match, putting the final score at 6.5–3.5. Both players, exhausted and emotional, shook hands, demonstrating their sportsmanship.

This 2013 World Chess Championship changed my mindset from viewing chess as a children’s game to a competitive sport played by trained mental athletes. At the age of 10, my dad enrolled me in a summer chess camp. I was afraid that my peers would mock me for playing a childish game and consider me a weird social outcast who preferred to stare at a game board and plastic pieces for hours on end. During the camp, the instructor often nagged me because I paid little attention to him and played without much critical thinking due to my lack of interest. During my freshman year, I returned home after school to find my dad solving a chess puzzle on his phone. I helped him solve it, and shortly, we were in an intense conversation about the patterns and slowly transitioned to talking about the 2013 World Championship and Anand’s blunder in Round 7 that led to his loss against Carlsen. As he told me more about Carlsen, I pitied him because I believed that he was forced to play chess as a child. Making a living as a chess player seemed implausible to me, and I did not understand how he could play a board game for the rest of his life without

becoming bored of it. But as my dad continued to describe the immense amount of hard work, preparation and mental strength it took Carlsen to win against Anand, my perception of chess began to change. While I still rejected chess as a sport, I was curious to learn more about it. I watched a recap of the game on Youtube and was surprised to see the plethora of variations that both chess players calculated after each move. I was stunned to hear that Magnus won $1 million, money that I never thought could be made playing chess. I started to enjoy playing chess online and with my dad. As I came up with new strategies, winning when my opponent played into my hand, my aspirations to become a great chess player grew — I knew that chess was a sport in which I could be very talented in. During the pandemic, chess activities like playing online, doing difficult puzzles and studying a chess openings course became a part of my daily life. I analyzed every game I played to not repeat the same inaccuracies again. Starting to nurture my love for chess, I played in online and virtual tournaments set up by YouTubers and Twitch streamers.

Staff Editorial

The Voice of the Epic

ANIRUDH SESHADRI // IN MY OPINION

fun of the following school year. neopronouns, Gender nonconforming student athletes such as putting face the difficult reality that to play school them on par sports, they must play for a gendered team with outlandish that may not match their own. alternatives like “It’s dysphoric that there are only two his/majesty, are categories, and the determining factor of sometimes told on campus with no regard whether you go into one or the other is your for the fact that a student in the room could assigned gender at birth,” Yeh said. be gender nonconforming and not use Surrounded by like-gendered teammates, their pronouns publicly. An ideal learning it can become instinctual to use the pronoun environment is one where all students feel prescribed to the gender of the team, such safe to express themselves fully without as calling all members of a boys’ team ‘he’ fear of judgment or disrespect. In order to and referring to girls’ sports teams as the establish this, it is important to refrain from Lady Vikes. Encompassing terms should be such jokes and take neopronouns seriously, adopted across all sports teams, such as the so all students who desire to use them can term “secret pals” in place of “secret sister” feel supported. for the gift-giving “Your senses of Do you identify as nonbinary tradition. It may not safety, self, emotional be possible in the near or gender noncomforming? wellness and stability future to reform the are foundations way sports teams are for learning and constructed, but using Yes thinking critically in appropriate language 8% the classroom,” Lurie is possible now. said. Lynbrook should Furthermore, participate in the support should programs that give not end at names school administration No and pronouns. comprehensive 92% Bathrooms, attire training to be visible Y for senior pictures, allies and provide KA TIE and even the dress support for LGBTQ+ CH IN code are all defined students, such as the *according to an Instagram survey of by a gender binary Los Angeles LGBT 181 Lynbrook students and can be changed Center’s OUT For Safe by diversifying the options available and the Schools program, which Monta Vista language used. The ongoing construction and Cupertino participate in. will result in a few more gender neutral By respecting everyone’s identity in order bathrooms, but dressing options for sports to accept them fully, Lynbrook can become are still limited. Allowing students to change a more inclusive and enriching community. in the gender neutral bathrooms or including High school encompasses some of the most changing stalls within the locker rooms can transformative years of life, and having benefit students who are uncomfortable in everyone feel safe and respected on campus existing facilities. ASB President-elect Sarah will allow students to grow into themselves Sun has set out to fulfill another necessity and have a positive high school experience. by including menstrual products in both the *the Epic staff voted 36-0 in favor of this girls’ and the gender neutral bathrooms in stance. N

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ELIZABETH CHENG

Teachers can ease the process by asking students at the beginning of the year for their pronouns and name, but more importantly, making a sincere effort to remember. Some teachers have already started asking these questions; at the beginning of the school year, English teacher Anna Kirsh had her students fill out a Google Form that also asked whether students’ parents are aware, which is important to note for student safety. Being mindful of students’ pronouns and names may take some effort initially, but it is well worth the comfort of students in their learning environment and will soon come naturally to teachers and peers alike. Being misgendered or deadnamed, the colloquial term for being referred to by a legal or birth name in place of an asserted one, can be dysphoric for students and place a damper on mental wellbeing. “It’s disrespectful and it can be damaging to one’s self esteem, sense of safety and sense of belonging, and the feeling of belonging is one of the most fundamental needs we have,” said Monta Vista school-based therapist Leila Lurie, who is certified by RISE L.A., a program from the Los Angeles LGBT Center, in Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression. FUHSD has begun the process of making it possible for students to change their names in Infinite Campus, which will assist students who are struggling with being deadnamed or asserting their name, but should extend to roll sheets and student ID cards as well. Jokes that make

TIO GRAPHIC ILLUSTRA

Story continued from front page. male and female as well as anything in between or unrelated. Individuals who do not identify as their assigned gender at birth may use pronouns in agreement with their gender identity. “There are a lot of times when it feels like there is a complete disconnect in the way the people around me perceive me versus how I perceive myself, but using my pronouns really helps,” said junior Nox Yeh, who uses they/he pronouns. According to an Instagram survey conducted by the Epic with 181 responses, 8% of Lynbrook students use the pronouns they/them. Some students also use a combination of pronouns that reflect their identity, such as she/they, they/he or multiple neopronouns, such as ze/zir and xe/xem. Many transgender and gender nonconforming students also use a name other than their legal name or birth name. Not every gender nonconforming student has decided to make their gender public, to choose a label, or to share with peers and teachers how they identify. For those who are out, it can be difficult asking others to respect pronouns and names they are not used to calling the student. “It gets to a point where it’s a bit tiring to keep reminding people, so I just let it slide,” said freshman Sarah Wei, who uses they/ them pronouns.

Yet, it was immensely frustrating to lose a game even if it was to strangers online. One or two careless mistakes could result in a heavy loss of rating points. To succeed, it was imperative to evaluate every mistake and strategize how to avoid these in future games through analysis, just like any other sport. During the pandemic, The Queen’s Gambit was released on Netflix. This show was on my radar after many popular chess streamers suggested that the creators portrayed the world of chess in a unique manner as it depicted a female chess player. Watching this show opened my eyes to issues in the chess community like the gender disparity in chess and motivated me to encourage more girls at our school to play chess by helping them fight that stereotype. Chess is often viewed as just a board game. More involvement in the chess community helped me realize that it is a sport even if not physically demanding. The amount of energy and intense preparation put in by chess players for their matches is comparable to other sports.

April 05, 2022

OPINION

ASB election promises are often unachievable BY SOPHIE AU

olorful graphics and slogans fill students’ social media feeds during election season. To appeal to voters, candidates set glittering promises and lofty visions. While some goals are achieved, many of the goals outlined in campaigns are often not even pursued once candidates are elected. The barrage of content on social media makes it difficult for voters to focus on the true content of a campaign, so ambitious goals with catchy phrases like “inclusivity” or “reducing stress” are often mentioned to convince voters that they can solve pervasive student issues. However, once elected, many realize that these goals are not feasible, as it is up to school administration and current ASB systems to approve bold new measures. Decisions like increasing tutorial time or changing the schedule are not up to ASB. Socials and study sessions involving many people in the school, excluding homecoming or rallies, often need to be toned down and made voluntary. Still, grandiose promises make campaigns more attractive, and students remember these goals more. “For people who care or people who really look into those campaigns, I would consider who has this person worked with and how long have they worked with a certain organization for their goals,” junior and ASB Vice President-elect Allison Hsu said. “Even people within ASB lack information on how feasible their goals are, how needed they are

INCLUSIVITY! DIVERSITY! TRANSPARENCY!

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ANUSHKA ANAND

and how receptive administration will be to them.” Often, smaller goals that are concrete and visible to students are easier to fulfill. Continuations of current projects, such as student wellness weeks and student feedback collection, are much more feasible but may not attract voters. Efforts to change major elements of ASB like communication and organization are possible, but these changes are not large enough to be recognized by students as events that connect them to the class. “There are many behind-the-scenes things our officers do to improve systemic actions, such as communication between ASB-officers-staff, discuss campus climate,

improve the Constitutional bylaws, and more,” ASB Leadership class adviser Jason Lee said. “Often, those go unnoticed, but result in a more cohesive and efficient student government.” Many officers campaign to enter their role with only an overarching vision of how they plan to serve the student body. This serves as a guide to how an officer wants to lead the class, but those visions are often not supported by concrete plans. “What appeals most to class members are goals that directly impact them, as they can know when they’ve been achieved,” Class of 2024 Secretary Janhavi Venkatesh. In addition, each officer role has a baseline set of tasks outlined by the ASB constitution,

Is the media coverage of Ukraine unfair? BY JASON SHAN AND DEEKSHA RAJ

he recent Russian invasion of Ukraine has ignited ardent public outcry, but has in fact been an ongoing conflict for decades even prior to the invasion. The U.S. and Europe are no strangers to their own modern wars, yet the public has paid more attention to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war than to other international conflicts, partially due to the asymmetric reporting from the media. Inequitable coverage and difference in government responses are not easily simplified, but are at least partly a result of Western double standards and racism, desensitization, a comparative lack of civil society as well as self-interest, as the Ukraine situation can easily escalate to nuclear war. While some of these aspects increase the importance of the Russo-Ukrainian war as perceived by America, global conflicts that do not reflect these factors should also be assessed to an equitable extent. The double standard in media reporting can be seen through the attitudes of many reporters, such as CBS correspondent Charlie D’Agata, who claimed that “[Ukraine]..is a relatively civilized, relatively European city where you wouldn’t expect [war], or hope that it’s going to happen.” Similar viewpoints have been expressed on air, perpetuating the perspective that because the Middle East is seen as war-torn and blasé to violence, war there is expected. There are some truths to D’Agata’s statement: Although there have been many major conflicts in its history, Europe has seen less warfare than the Middle East in recent years. But his words also depict a worrying underlying sentiment: Because European

GRAPHIC ILUSTRATION BY EMMA CONSTABLE

countries are supposedly more civilized, a novel conflict between European nations, they are more deserving of aid when war but condemnation of Russia’s actions never does occur. reached the same heights as today. News organizations and the public at large “These classical explanations don’t should check their biases and introspect necessarily explain the reasons why we are on how these ingrained stereotypes affect paying more attention to Ukraine now,” West the way different conflicts are viewed. Valley College Political Science instructor Desensitization is also a major factor: Jamilya Ukudeeva said. “The real explanation, Americans have heard about the Middle I think, is the concept of civil society.” Eastern wars for many years, as opposed to Civil society refers to the forming of the novel war in Ukraine. It is understandable societal groups by like-minded citizens why novelty would cause people to pay without government or corporate more attention to Ukraine, but it is still affiliations, such as labor unions, nonprofits disheartening to see the public’s attention and independent journalists. According span wane when it comes to conflicts in to The World Bank, Ukraine’s civil society the Middle East, which participation has increased are also some of the dramatically between largest in recent history. 2014 and 2020. As such, This self-sustaining system Ukraine has now been Desensitization often creates a normalization of events must be broken, able to more effectively of violence, leading to and it can start with mobilize civilians in taking double standards in individuals being mindful action against the war, news reporting and even such as through on-theof their predispositions. more desensitization. ground reporting. This, in This self-sustaining turn, has raised awareness system of events must of the war in a global be broken, and it can context and — to some start with individuals being mindful of their extent — generated sympathy. predispositions. However, the focus on nations with However, racism and novelty do not fully a thriving civil society both within and account for the disparity in media coverage. outside of social media creates a ruinous They fail to address a contradiction: Why feedback loop: Theaters of war, which was the world uninterested in Russia’s are gripped by a totalitarian regime, have 2014 invasion of Ukraine? It certainly was low civil society participation and are thus unable to garner the aid needed to break free from an autocratic rule. Consequently, totalitarianism in such places is eternalized, leading to even less civil society participation. It can be said that nations with low civil society participation generally need the most aid to combat tyranny, so greater public attention should be diverted to helping these conflicts. The Russo-Ukrainian war has rocketed into the public purview in light of western double standards, self-interest, social media and the formation of civil society in Ukraine. While the fish-eye lens on Ukraine has led to public assistance, it is vital that similar, previously-overlooked READ THE international conflicts be brought into the FULL STORY public consciousness in a similar manner. HERE

such as homecoming management and fundraisers, that they must fulfill before they can chip away at their own election goals. “Most campaigns have vague goals on purpose, generally focusing on inclusivity or making the experience as great as it can be,’” sophomore and 2024 class treasurer Anshul Singh said. “It’s not a bad thing since it’s pretty much the job description for class office, but that’s what everyone focuses on.” The vague job description of a class office role makes officers less accountable, and students are not in a position to hold the elected officers accountable. After election season, campaigns are forgotten, and even if some campaign promises are fulfilled, they are not recognized: All the focus is on collecting as many votes as possible, instead of on true practical changes the candidates can make in office. Class officers can hold themselves accountable by actively showing students the progress they have made in class office, even if students forget about their promises. “To let students know what we did over the year [we created] yearly recap videos, and that really helped summarize everything we did,” Singh said. When candidates campaign for a leadership position, they must think of how their goals can directly impact voters and how feasible they are. While promises cannot be unrealistic, they still need to be actions that voters can feel are directed toward them and that directly improve their time at Lynbrook.

To mask or not to mask BY RIA PHELAN

espite FUHSD also lifting the mask mandate on March 11, most Lynbrook students have chosen to keep their masks on. “I

continue to wear my mask because it is still recommended in order to limit the spread. People are still getting infected, and you can never be too safe.” — Athreya Iyer, Freshman “I wear my mask even though the mandate is lifted first for my personal comfort, and also because of allergies. The mask helps with pollen and also keeps sneezes in.” — Kyrsten Su, Sophomore “Friends I have talked to say that they’re hesitant on removing their masks because not enough people have yet — basically herd b e h av i o r. It would be cool to see everyone’s full face again and have more personal interactions but everyone can decide for themselves when it’s time to not wear masks at school anymore.” — Akhil Saboo, Junior “I wear a mask because it’s safer, I don’t have to show part of my face, and when it’s cold, it keeps my face warm. It’s better to be safe even if the mask mandate is lifted, especially since there are a lot of people at school. Covering part of your face is just nice because sometimes I don’t feel like being perceived.” — Talia Chen, Senior

OPINION

April 05, 2022

Prom traditions could use a makeover

ELIZABETH CHENG—EPIC

the “classic” high school experience. However, these outdated norms of prom make it difficult for anyone to have fun. Some prom traditions should be changed so that they are inclusive of all students, taking into account that not everyone has the same style and money to spend lavishly on prom preparations. Furthermore, there should be less pressure to follow these expectations, especially from advertisements. Some students who may not feel comfortable partaking in these traditions should not have to succumb to peer pressure in order to not miss out on school events. Discarding these harmful prom expectations can make the event include all students in this unique high school experience. PHOTO USED IWTH PERMISSION BY MAIA BLINE

rom is traditionally defined by students as dressing in elegant gowns or tuxedos, dancing, singing and laughing with their friends while capturing memories through photo booths and blurry videos. However, with dress expectations, heteronormative stereotypes and the pressure to find a date, prom is not all glamor and fun. Dress expectations for each gender are evident when it comes to prom. Most prom dresses are expensive, with the cheapest ones being nearly $100. Adding to the cost of dresses, the money spent on hair

and makeup can lead students to spend reinforce these standards. more than $300. Furthermore, girls are not The pressure to find a date for prom, often only expected to wear dresses, but dresses from social media, also stresses students. that they have not worn before. The amount Many people feel the need to find a date of money spent on these preparations puts for one night, trying to ask out people they pressure and shame on those that may not barely know. Going to prom with someone be able to afford them. that they hardly know can be awkward, “Prom is considered the opportunity leading students to not spend time with their to finally express yourself in a fun way, but date at the party. This social requirement there isn’t a lot of excludes students creativity to wear who attend prom different types of without a date or just garments and still with their friends. You can have an equally fit inside the box of Students should not amazing time going with being formal,” senior put pressure on their your friends or wearing Swasti Jain said. peers for following what you want. Through these certain prom dress codes, there traditions or judge is little room for others who disregard Avantika Thiruppukhuzi, androgyny and these expectations. Junior freedom in clothing “We have always styles. Girls are not thought of prom as expected to wear this once-in-a-lifetime suits, and boys are event, so everyone not expected to go to wants to have that prom in dresses. Students can combat these perfect experience, trying to find the right traditions by feeling confident in re-wearing dress or the right date,” junior Avantika a dress or wearing clothes outside the Thiruppukuzhi said. “But, you can have an usual dress or suit, such as a blouse and equally amazing time going with your friends skirt or jumpsuits. or wearing what you want.” “Anything outside the standards of While many spend the weeks before prom normal puts pressure on people when trying to find a date, they are expected to ask they want to dress differently,” junior out others in a public way, spending money Tristan Dowdell said. “But, prom has and time to create elaborate proposals. As a lot of fun aspects, and wearing these proposals are meant for the entire different, cool outfits should be a school to see, students face anxiety and stress part of that too.” from making sure they are not humiliated. The heteronormative ideals of Public proposals also force the other student society are perpetuated in this event to say yes, as rejecting the proposal creates that is supposed to be inclusive of all an environment of fear and embarrassment. students — the image of a boy in a tuxedo “It’s really important to take into and a girl in a ball gown dancing together consideration the feelings of the person you is integral to the idea of prom. Aside are asking because public proposals have the from labeling specific types of clothes for ability to become showy and disingenuous certain genders, heterosexual couples are very quickly,” Jain said. considered the norm. Promotional videos Prom is seen as the event that embodies

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS BY EMMA CONSTABLE

BY NEHA AYYER

April 05, 2022

FEATURES

Ceci wows the world through dance BY JASMINE RIHAL

M Tottenham sucks

t’s not easy being a fan of Tottenham Hotspur. They’re a soccer club that plays in the English Premier League with a reputation for bottling. Spurs just got knocked out of another tournament? Won’t place high enough in the league to qualify for European football? Don’t worry, it’s just the history of the Tottenham, as put by veteran footballer Giorgio Chiellini. Fans, neutrals and haters alike use the phrase liberally, and comments about cobweb-covered trophy cabinets phase no one at this point. Beyond choking in key moments, Spurs frustrate with their inability to perform consistently — they beat Manchester City, the current league leader one week and get knocked out of the Football Association cup by lower-division Middlesbrough the next. Combined with a continued decline following the 2018-19 season, the first and last time Tottenham reached a Champions League final, it’s clear that there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Even their rival Arsenal, a team entrenched in a period of decline more serious than Spurs, are coming together this season, while Spurs continue to struggle. I was drawn to Spurs by their ridiculous, posh-sounding name and their mascot — a chicken standing on a soccer ball — and rewarded with a world of pain once I became too invested to abandon them for a more successful team. But it’s not like I enjoy watching losers. When it comes to national teams, I’m a fan of France, who won the most recent World Cup and have an undeniably star-studded, young roster. Though I don’t keep up with La Liga, I always find myself cheering for Real Madrid when I’m watching the Champions League now that Tottenham rarely make an appearance. Watching that team full of senior citizens continue to prove their dominance against new generations of footballers is always satisfying. Still, supporting a team of champions is very different from supporting a team struggling against the weight of its own status like Spurs, paired with expectations that come with big spending and having talents like Harry Kane and Son Heung-min. Even smaller victories, like our 6-1 thrashing of Manchester United last season, must be celebrated like we’ve just won the league because it won’t be happening soon. With Spurs, I’ve learned unfounded optimism, perhaps, but also patience. Club leadership has declared with each new manager we’ve hired in the past three years a new era of rebuilding, where we can restore the club to the glory it should have as one of the Big 6, but we don’t move forward at all. Seasons end, managers are fired and we slip further down the table than we did last season. Yet, I don’t think I’ll be abandoning Tottenham Hotspur anytime soon, and I don’t think anyone is more surprised than myself. I’ve always been impatient and had no appreciation for the underdog narrative — why wait for a miracle that could never happen in my lifetime if I could just support winners, labels like bandwagon or plastic fan be damned? Still, spending the rest of my life looking on as Tottenham struggle while measuring and toasting to the most minute vicissitudes of their fortunes in my heart while pundits push the narrative of an neverendingly incompetent, stagnant Tottenham really doesn’t sound so bad to me. Sometimes good, sometimes terrible; that’s the story of Tottenham, but it doesn’t mean we’ve never got better just because we end up exactly where we started or even lose progress in the long run. There’s nothing to gain from sticking with Spurs, who have proven themselves more likely to ruin than make my weekend. Still, I’m not going anywhere.

PHOTOS USED WITH PERMISSION OF CECI SUN AND LYNBROOK ASB

BY YOUQI HUANG//MY HOBBY IS...

usic flowing through the surround sound speakers of the dance studio, the low beats of the bass and the melodious tones of the song surround senior Ceci Sun as she expressively and passionately performs a combination. Emotions emanate from the graceful and powerful movement of her limbs. Most people see Sun in the front taking charge during Homecoming girls’ dance practices or Winter Rally performances. However, Sun’s involvement extends beyond just school dance: she choreographs numerous award-winning pieces for herself, dance companies and other dance teams. She also combines songs and edits her own music, which she uses in all of her pieces. Sun first started dancing at Jun Lu Performing Arts when she was 5 years old, taking traditional Chinese dance classes taught by her mother. She fell in love with dance as she felt it was a way for her to express herself artistically, physically and emotionally. After dancing for a few years at Jun Lu Performing Arts, she moved to Dance Academy USA to seek more competition opportunities that could further her career in dance. “I don’t love one studio more than the other, ‘’ Sun said. “I think it was just a step of growing out, growing up, maturing in dancing, so I picked a more competitive team to continue my journey.” Her passion for dance grew because of the way it brought out her humanity, placing her in a vulnerable position and enabling her to express who she truly is without words. Through dance, she found where she could fully be herself and share it with others. Sun’s heartfelt passion for dance has kept her going, but so has the support and encouragement from those around her. Along the way, mentors and teachers pushed her to improve her dance skills and discover who she was as a dancer. Her main inspiration is her mother, who has supported and shaped her into the dancer she is t o d a y. This year, Sun i s

choreographing a solo in honor of her mother and grandmother to thank them for all that they have done for her in her dancing journey and life. “A lot of people helped me, but I wouldn’t say I had one specific mentor,” Sun said. “I kind of went through the journey myself, but there are a lot of teachers that are forever my role models.” Her inspiration for her dance style stems from both her traditional Chinese dance background and the dance styles of her mentors. Sun incorporates what she learned from the studio as well as her personal style into her choreography. When creating the music for her pieces, she mixes multiple songs and edits them herself through Garageband to produce an original track. If she hears a song that she likes, she finds ways to incorporate it into the track among the parts of other songs. She uses a combination of styles for routines that she choreographs for rallies, Homecoming and other pieces for contracts that she signs to choreograph for different companies. While Homecoming dances are choreographed freely and spontaneously, the choreography she does for her contracts is designed for the company’s specific needs. For events such as Homecoming, she first evaluates the skills of people she’s working with, recognizing their strengths and considering how she can incorporate their multiple styles of dance to create the most influential performance. In all of her pieces that she choreographs, she rarely just adheres to one style of dance. “As an artist and choreographer there’s no limitations or restrictions to my work,” Sun said. “I have complete freedom to bundle together my ideas and create pieces in that way.” Beside being a talented dancer at Dance Academy USA, Sun has accomplished more. She is a part of Hollywood Vibe’s Senior Company, has won highest scoring soloist in many competitions and conventions and has been Top Ten Dancer of the year twice at nationals. Every accolade requires hours of dedication to her craft. Throughout Sun’s dancing career, she has learned many lessons such as finding motivation, and to be present in the moment while dancing. Although the dancing industry and community can be harsh at times, she reminds herself that dance is something that she loves to do and will work through the pain to pursue. “At the end of the day, I just keep reminding myself that I love dance, and I’m very grateful and lucky to be pursuing something that I truly love,” Sun said. For other dancers who also aspire to have a future in dance, whether it be dancing professionally or as a hobby, Sun’s advice is to

b e

unafraid of releasing t h e i r potential. Finding their place in dance and continuing to express themselves through it will help them thrive in whatever path they choose. Instead of worrying about their weaknesses, Sun encourages dancers to live in the moment, to focus on themselves and to worry less about what others think or say. Senior Suanna Zhong has been a close friend to Sun since their freshman year of high school. They bonded quickly over their shared artistry in different disciplines, dance and art. “Ceci uses dance more as a medium to reconcile with past experiences, whether it’s family, stress, friends or school related,” Zhong said. “Her work has grown more by making pieces about herself and personal fulfillment rather than just being a technically good dancer.” Zhong admires Sun’s ability to quickly adapt to challenges and devise solutions on the spot. Along with that, Sun is approachable and understands people and their personalities quickly. An example is during Homecoming, when she has to coordinate with numerous girls with a wide range of dancing experiences to develop formations and moves. “She’s very friendly and has really good emotional intelligence, and she can understand people pretty well,” Zhong said. “And that translates into her work as well because she’s a very good teacher when teaching dance to people at any level.” Sun wishes to continue to shape her dancing career throughout college. Even though Bay Area culture has fostered the belief that dance is not a reliable profession, Sun believes that people can be successful in pursuing an unconventional career. “Don’t be discouraged by your community,” Sun said. “If you love to dance, you love to dance — don’t worry about what the future holds, don’t worry about making money or college. Everything will be fine.” Even though Sun is already an accomplished dancer, there is still so much more that she wants to do. “Dancing didn’t really change me — it’s a part of me that I grew up with and it’s just ingrained in my life,” Sun said. “It’s natural — dancing is a part of me.”

April 05, 2022

FEATURES

DRESSING FOR THE OCCASION BY LINA MEZERREG

isney’s cast of fairytale princesses have captured the hearts of audiences for years. As decades have gone by, Disney has diversified its princess cast, continuing to rewrite the princess narrative into a collection of empowering stories instead of a collection of idealized fairy tales.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

rom its iconic soundtrack to its authentic fairytale feel, the original animation of Beauty and the Beast will always be seen as a timeless classic. The film is further revered for the change it brought to the narrative of Disney princesses. By presenting a stronger female lead, Belle, a girl who didn’t fit into the society around her nor tried to, the story showed her independence and empowered younger viewers to do the same. It also showed a healthier representation of an ideal relationship, drawing differences between Belle’s relationship with Gaston versus the Beast.

MULAN

ulan is a Disney story presenting a strong female lead that broke away from the majority of classic Disney movies, defying many classic princess norms, from her lack of love interests to her lack of feminine characteristics and, most importantly, her ethnic diversity from the majority of the fairytales which feature white Disney princesses. Mulan shifted the story to place a large importance on family and protecting the people around her. The story moved to empower women to believe that they were just as strong as men and able to fight and protect their homeland just as well as any male soldier.

FROZEN

more recent Disney movie released in 2015, Frozen placed a strong focus on the bond between sisters, developing strong and independent characters while building unique and realistic relationships exhibiting many relatable day-to-day problems. From failing relationships to expectations and the feeling of not being good enough, these issues are illustrated with Elsa’s frustration of her own powers and Anna’s inability to understand her sister. Placing the focus on sisterhood more than the minor romance is another big step in Disney’s redefining of its princess movie genre.

SLEEPING BEAUTY

s one of the original Disney princesses, Sleeping Beauty is the epitome of a classic princess narrative. From her-simple minded obedience to her complacency and willingness to be rescued, the classic story does not empower younger generations to challenge societal norms and forge their own paths. Adversely, the plot line condemns being strong or curious like the evil witch, who is known for being a miscast in the fairy society, is shunned and is excluded for her individuality. Similarly, with Aurora being knocked out the second she touches the needle that she was not supposed to d u e to her curse, the plot reinforces the idea that curiosity is frowned upon and is instead a negative characteristic. negative characteristic.

princess and the frog

iana only continued to break the common stereotypes, including the ironic use of a classic princess and the frog tale to her ability to dream big and never doubt her ability to achieve those dreams. Tiana was an embodiment not only of how princesses can have dreams, but also have the power to achieve them as well, as she pursues her dreams to open a restaurant with her determination, hard work and dedication. With a healthier and more realistic romantic sidestory, Tiana is known for her reluctant acceptance of Naveen’s comradery and eventual admiration for his character and not status. There was also a stronger emphasis on family, from Tiana’s strong relationship with her mother to her shared dream with her father.

raya and the last dragon

n addition to its unique production setting and inspiration, Raya and the Last Dragon was an awe-inspiring movie for more than one reason. The diverse set of Southeast Asian cultures that inspired many of the different tribes was a remarkable step toward promoting diverse demographic representation. Furthermore, Raya is a strong, powerful woman who, despite her mistakes of naively trusting Namaari and miscalculating on her quests, accepts them and learns from them, which is a great lesson for everyone.

Moana

aired with an empowering and revolutionary soundtrack, Moana, more than anything, not only presented a female lead in an active role of power and adventure but also constantly depicted her with obstacles and difficulties that could easily be paired with modern parallels. For example Maui’s reluctance to accept her help could be seen as how women are constantly seen as not “able enough” or “too emotional.” There was no actual love interest, but rather a redemption arc for Moana. Along with strong character development for several supporting characters, the movie redefined the word “princess” from a privileged one to one with responsibilities and leadership that further empowers viewers. GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY THE FEATURES SECTION

April 05, 2022

FEATURES

ANGELA SUN’S CELLO JOURNEY BY ELIZABETH CHENG

But it wasn’t until listening to Bach’s cello “One thing that’s really special about her playing is suites on Youtube that she discovered the her beautiful, rich tone and vibrato,” Oh said. “I like or senior Angela Sun, the cello is a potential for the quality of music she could listening to her play lyrical passages because her passion, a dream career, a ticket to play. Sun began studying the instrument with tone is really passionate, like a golden sound.” some of the most prestigious music a private teacher in the fourth grade and is During her sophomore year, Sun began schools in the world. First introduced to now under the tutelage of two teachers. practicing more than ever, entering and the instrument when she was 8 years old, “One of my teachers would tell me a winning both local and state competitions Sun now surrounds herself with the cello’s lot about her and attending sonorous sounds everyday, constantly orchestra life and prestigious studying pieces and listening to professional what it’s like to s u m m e r cellists’ exuberant performances. be a professional camps such as I just knew that I wanted Sun is currently the principal cellist of the musician,” Sun Ta n g l e w o o d San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra said. to become a cellist — I Music Festival and the cellist of Quartet Cabaletta as a During middle and Boulder Cello never really wanted to do part of the organization Young Chamber school, Sun Festival. anything else. Musicians. Sun was selected as one of 32 continued regular “Before my students in the world to attend Yellow Barn private lessons and sophomore year, I Young Artists Program, a 3-week chamber- played in different was really behind Angela Sun, intensive camp in Vermont that she will youth orchestras. since I was never Senior attend in the summer of 2022. She has After joining someone who won numerous awards and competitions, YO, Sun began practiced a lot,” including first place in the string division at playing on a more Sun said. “I had to the MTAC VOCE state competition in 2019 expensive and step up my game to and the Alan M. Keys Instrumental Award high-quality cello, loaned to her from the San win competitions and at the Pacific Musical Society Competition in Francisco Symphony. Initially, it was difficult get into a good music school.” 2021. to become accustomed to, but the heightened When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Sun nearly It has taken Sun countless years of sensitivity and delicacy of sound of the cello stopped entering musical contests. She disliked hard work to perform in masterclasses for made it much more enjoyable to play than auditions through recordings because minute acclaimed cellists or win state competitions. her previous instrument. mistakes were inexcusable and Zoom lowered When her mother first signed her up for As co-principal cellist of her orchestra, sound quality. cello group lessons at only 8 years old, Sun Sun leads her section, mainly deciding In her senior year, Sun began immediately knew that she loved playing the certain bowings and fingerings or advising live auditions again, especially instrument and wanted to continue. on the different methods to tackle a difficult to apply to music schools. “When I first started, I simply decided passage. During her first year in the symphony Live auditions have helped her that I liked it,” Sun said. “I as a sophomore, more experienced students rediscover her passion for the just knew that I wanted helped her learn about music schools and instrument — the beautiful to become a cellist — I future musical pathways. She has made many sound that first captivated her never really wanted to do close friends through connecting with people at only 8 years old. anything else.” who have similar passions and goals. Sun also recently But it wasn’t until “I relate to my friends from YO more performed a duet with listening to Bach’s because they’re also applying to music her private teacher at a cello suites on Youtube schools, unlike most of the students at #stopAAPIhate event to that she discovered Lynbrook,” Sun said. honor Vicha Ratanapakdee, the potential for the After Sun and YO violinist Eunseo Oh an 84-year-old Thaiquality of music she realized that they were both struggling with American who was killed in could play. Sun focus during practice sessions, they began a racially motivated attack. b e g a n to practice together on Zoom calls for hours She dreams of becoming while at a time to keep each other in check while an orchestral musician, but sharing technical advice. for now, Sun is preparing to continue her music career in college while continuing to enjoy pieces by her favorite composers, whether it’s the raw emotion of Shostakovich or the elegant beauty of Brahms. GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS BY SOPHIE AU. PHOTOS USED WITH PERMISSION OF ANGELA SUN.

“All Of Us Are Dead” ties zombie outbreaks to political endemics BY EMMA CONSTABLE

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY LINA MEZZEREG

ore than a stereotypical zombie horror show, South Korean drama “All Of Us Are Dead” offers a fresh perspective into the chaos of modern pandemics as it explores love, sacrifice and political flaws at an epicenter of the walking dead breakout. The show follows a group of students in Hyosan, South Korea as they fight to stay alive after a bioengineering experiment backfires, creating a horrific zombie virus that transforms infected humans into bloodthirsty killing machines. Scenes cut between Hyosan High School, government offices and the city, all of which are rapidly transformed into bloodbaths of panic, hysteria and rotting flesh within mere hours. Avoiding apocalyptic stereotypes, the show follows the fate of the school’s few survivors in a grounded and authentic manner. Even viewers inexperienced with crawling through heating pipes and impaling zombies with music

stands can relate to the students’ adolescent anxieties. Class president Nam-ra has lived her entire life for academic validation, yet her peers only respect her leadership in life or death situations. Cheong-san and On-jo struggle with unrequited love and vulnerability, and even the group’s most selfish member, Na-yeon, evokes pity in her craving for social acceptance. By focusing on detailed character development, the show juxtaposes mindless cannibalism with the raw, emotional turmoil of being human. However, plotlines are not without fault; the main characters are often kept alive by convenient plot armor, and displays of physical strength in climatic scenes despite extreme dehydration are unrealistic. Characters staying put to watch the last sparks of life slip away from infected victims instead of evacuating immediately is also frustrating, although this conveys the torment that they experience as their loved ones turn into monsters. Beyond character development and enduring suspense, “All Of Us Are Dead” employs political satire to liken the zombie outbreak to mass hysteria in real life. In the show, government officials and higherups fail to rescue the desperate students, not even attempting to conduct a search for survivors at infected schools. Only one bureaucrat futilely protests that their first priority is to save the children, as they hold the future of society.

Foreign nations’ response to the crisis, which includes closing borders to Hyosan refugees and censoring news coverage, also parallels the inherent selfishness of humanity despite the sacrifice and heroism displayed by the trapped students. Hate, fear and xenophobia morph into a morbid virus in itself. The show explicitly mentions COVID-19 as well, emphasizing the spread of misinformation and sensationalism of the Hyosan crisis to imply that the population has not learnt from its previous mistakes in handling the pandemic. Inevitably, the show raises questions about human nature and the parameters of bioethics. The unintentional creation of the infectious zombie virus was a desperate act of love that ended up doing more harm than good, and the portrayal of antagonist Gwi-nam — who ends up turning against his fellow survivors to feed his own selfish, twisted ego — suggests that humans may have dormant monstrous tendencies waiting to be ignited. While at times unrealistic, “All Of Us Are Dead” still keeps viewers entranced by the rapid progression of the zombie outbreak in Hyosan and the maturing of its sole survivors as they are picked off one by one by the virus. Not only do viewers experience the characters’ terror and moral crises secondhand, but they are also probed to question the pressing ethical dilemmas shared by our own society.

IN-DEPTH

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All Russians affected by sanctions

Club in the U.K. and an ally of Putin, was forced to sell the team after the U.K. froze s Russia continues its invasion of his assets. Although the sanctions are quite Ukraine, many nations have attempted strict, oligarchs are still managing to hide to punish Russia for its actions without their money. “Even though some oligarchs have had direct military involvement. This has been done through sanctions, by which countries their luxury yachts confiscated, they avoid place economic punishments on Russian sanctions by using multiple identities to oligarchs, industrial tycoons who control hide their money in tax havens like the a substantial share of Russia’s economy. Cayman Islands and now they are using cryptocurrency,” U.S According to Forbes, Government and Russian billionaires Economics teacher have lost more than “[Oligarchs] avoid David Pugh said. $126 billion in wealth sanctions by using multiple The plight of since Feb. 16. Many Russia’s ultra-rich identities to hide their in the West hope is only one side of that preventing money in tax havens.” the story, however, the oligarchs from as trade sanctions living their luxurious David Pugh, have devastated lifestyles can inspire Economics Teacher the economy and the elite group to ordinary citizens as persuade Russian well. Western nations President Vladimir have removed Russia’s Putin to end the war. “favored nation” trade But Western sanctions have not been limited to the super-rich — benefits, which gave Russia the best trading they have devastated the Russian economy, terms and made it less susceptible to tariffs. The loss of trade benefits could also lead to impacting everyday citizens as well. The original Russian oligarchs made more sanctions in the future. Furthermore, on their fortunes in the 1990s as former Soviet March 16, the U.S. House of Representatives state companies were offloaded to private voted to remove Russia and its ally Belarus bidders in corrupt deals following the Soviet from the free trade privileges that most Union’s collapse. During this period of countries have. Western countries have also market liberalization, wealthy businessmen reduced their imports of oil from Russia, a acquired large stakes in Russian oil, gas, key industry. The U.S. completely stopped mining, transportation and agricultural imports of Russian oil and natural gas, while European countries, which are more reliant companies. In 1992, Russia implemented the Voucher on Russia for oil, are phasing out their use Privatization effort, which allowed shares of it. President Joe Biden also signed an of 15,000 firms to be available to private executive order on March 11 banning buyers. While the aim was to allow ordinary other imports from Russia, such as vodka, Russians to buy shares, well-connected diamonds and seafood. Corporations ranging from IKEA to businessmen gave themselves large or controlling stakes in firms instead. Two- Starbucks to Netflix have all stopped third of shares came to be held by company operations in Russia due to the war in insiders. President Boris Yeltsin’s 1995 loan- Ukraine. Some companies, like PepsiCo, for-shares scheme, in which a handful of only closed parts of their operations, well-connected businessmen bought stakes allowing for necessities like baby food to in major Russian companies, created many of remain in Russia. However, the mass exodus Russia’s wealthiest oligarchs and was widely of foreign products is causing shortages in considered a scandal that slowed subsequent Russian stores. “By Western companies pulling out of Russian economic growth. A newer group of oligarchs mainly became Russia, it’s poorly impacting the economy wealthy through ties to Putin, with many of and regular people who have jobs with those them being current or former Putin officials. companies in Russia,” junior and Economics Much of their wealth depends either directly Club Secretary and Treasurer Anishka or indirectly on the state. Oligarchs know Banerjee said. “That’s the point, as the their wealth is conditional on obedience motivation behind withdrawals is to signify to Putin, and if they do not support him, he opposition to the invasion to companies’ can take their wealth away. In turn, some consumers, and overall with sanctions, erode oligarchs have sold their companies back to public support of Putin.” The war has greatly impacted the the government. Russian oligarchs, who normally are loyal everyday lives of Russians, as the to Putin, are seeing their wealth disappear economy declined and thousands of due to sanctions. Since Russia started the Russians were jailed for protesting conflict in February, 21 oligarchs have been the war. Russian currency, the ruble, hit with sanctions. Russian billionaires had has depreciated almost 20%. The often used American and European banks Moscow Stock Exchange was to funnel money and support their luxury closed for a month at the spending, and 60% of Russia’s wealth was start of the war, and since held overseas. Now, Western governments its opening, stock prices have started seizing their yachts, apartments have sharply dropped. and private jets. Oligarchs have also faced Inflation rose 12.5%, and travel bans and are unable to go through EU unemployment is rising as the country or U.K. territory. One high-profile oligarch, Roman Abramovich, the owner of the Chelsea Football BY MEERA NAMBIAR AND ANUSHKA ANAND

becomes more economically isolated from the rest of the world. “The main problem with using sanctions to deal with a crisis that is happening in real time is they can take a long time to have an effect,” Pugh said. “It’s true that the ruble has plummeted in value, goods are becoming scarce and 30 years of economic growth is being wiped out, but there is no evidence to indicate that sanctions are affecting Putin or his inner circle. So far, only the Russian people are suffering.” As the war continues, it remains unclear if sanctions on Russia are deterring them from continuing their invasion. Oligarchs impacted by sanctions are beginning to oppose Putin and the war, with many, such as Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska, calling for the war to end. Nonetheless, Putin seems to be committed to continuing to invade Ukraine. “The war is going to go one of two ways,” said Forbes Journalist John Hyatt, who received an M.A. in business and economic reporting. “One is that it is going to be a sort of stalemate for a while, where Russia is not going to back down and is going to keep seizing and bombing these cities, while Ukraine just keeps fighting back. The second is that Russia comes to the negotiating table and strikes a deal with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in which case, that would give Putin an offramp.”

Ukraine, explained BY MYLES KIM

yiv, Ukraine’s current capital, was the center of a Slavic principality, the Kyivan Rus, and was the cultural and linguistic birthplace of both Ukraine and Russia. Mongols in the 13th century conquered the region, and in the 16th century, Polish and Lithuanian armies took over. In the 17th to 19th centuries, a series of wars between the Russian Empire and Western European nations gradually brought modern-day Belarus and Ukraine into Russian territories. Through policies of Russification, Russia sought to assimilate non-Russian people into adopting Russian language and culture. Ukraine remained a subject to Russia until the tail end of World War I during the Bolshevik Revolution, after which Ukraine People’s Republic declared independence in January of 1918.

n the same year, a civil war between the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic and Ukrainian People’s Republic quickly ensued. The war was part of the larger Russian Civil War, and after a Soviet victory, the Soviet Union absorbed the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1922. In the 1930s, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s policy of collectivization aimed to integrate private land and labor into statecontrolled farms, resulting in the Holodomor, which killed millions of Ukrainians and was allegedly manufactured with the intent of punishing Ukrainian people for their resistance and discouraging Ukrainian nationalism. In 1939 and 1954, Polish territories and Crimea, respectively, were both given to the Ukrainian SSR. The borders of 1954 are geographically similar to the Ukrainian state today.

Read more about Ukraine here:

AUDREY SUN — THE EPIC

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY AUDREY SUN AND NICOLE GE

kraine and Russia became seperate countries after the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991. After the Orange Revolution — protests of a fraudulent election, Viktor Yuschenko became president, but pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych assumed the position in 2010. In 2013, he suspended a trade deal with the European Union to please Russia. In early 2014, he was ousted in the Revolution of Dignity. Russia reacted by annexing Crimea. At the same time, pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region declared Luhansk and Donetsk independent, igniting War between government forces and the Russian-backed separatists. In November 2021, Russia placed an estimated 110,000 troops and military equipment near the border of Ukraine and started navy and airforce training exercises. In February, Putin initiated his invasion of Ukraine. GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ANWEN HUANG

IN-DEPTH

wartime

propoganda

BY AMY LIU AND CATHERINE ZHOU

n a world dominated by mass media, misinformation is inseparable from daily life, hoodwinking audiences into believing everything they see. Especially during war, politicians use propaganda to promote their plans and censor unfavorable opinions. From the Roman Civil Wars in 30 B.C.E. to the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine, propaganda has promoted a one-sided perception of what governments want populations to believe. “Propaganda is the use of messaging in print, images, motion pictures, audio or any any kind of media to provide a onesided story for the benefit of a certain point of view,” Foothill College Media Studies faculty member Amy Harrison Shidler said. “It is not balanced, so it does not acknowledge the truths on many sides of the story. Rather, it is a story designed to sway people’s emotions, to move hearts and minds, in sympathy for a particular cause.” Historically, propaganda has negative connotations associated with promoting or blocking communism. Modern propaganda can be spread through social media, posters, memes and other forms of media, yet subtle propaganda exists in education and news sources. Even advertising can be considered propaganda if it aims to achieve a certain political or economic end. Currently, propaganda shapes the world’s view on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In Russia, everything that citizens see and hear about the war is under strict control by the government. To justify its globally condemned invasion, Russia portrays the war as a special military operation to protect Ukranian civilians from a neo-Nazi government. During a state-televised address on Feb. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated his reasons for launching the operation.

“Russia cannot feel safe, develop and exist with a constant threat emanating from the territory of modern Ukraine,” Putin said. According to Putin, the bombings are entirely fabricated, and Russian troops are distributing aid to civilians and helping them evacuate to safety. The government claims that Western countries, particularly the U.S., are orchestrating events in Ukraine to overthrow the Ukranian government. To prevent citizens from discovering the truth, Putin censored the media and cracked down on social media sites. On March 3, he signed a law that would punish anyone spreading information deemed false by authorities. Violators of the law could face up to 15 years in prison. All of the deputies in the State Duma, the lower house of Parliament, voted in support of the law. Many media outlets, such as Echo of Moscow and TV Rain, shut down, and foreign organizations have stopped reporting in Russia. Roskomnadzor, the Russian federal executive agency responsible for managing mass media, also blocked access to the British Broadcasting Corporation’s website and other international news sites. Without any interference, state-run media constantly pushes pro-Kremlin content that reiterates the government’s skewed version of events. “Especially in the last several years, Russia has managed to channel most of their internet traffic through a couple nodal points so they can sort of bottleneck it, and that allows them to shut things down,” UCLA European History professor Peter Baldwin said. “Western media companies have also shut down their own transmission to Russia. In Russia, many Russians don’t even really know what’s going on.” While Putin was able to control the press in the country, social media platforms have exploded with opposition to the war. However, after the fake news law was enacted, Roskomnadzor blocked access to Facebook and Twitter in Russia. Instagram’s blockage on March 17 devastated millions, especially influencers and businesses. In addition, the government also weaponized social media by hiring internet trolls, who post anti-Ukrainian content on thousands of different accounts across multiple

April 05, 2022

citizens as well as the international audience. Zelensky boldly addressed Russians directly in Russian, appealing for peace. In addition, Zelensky takes videos of himself and other cabinet members on the streets of Kyiv leading the defense. These videos helped Ukraine gain international support and have portrayed Zelensky as a global hero. “Zelensky is an actor,” AP US History teacher Steven Roy said. “He’s on a media blitz, and he is going to be the face of how modern conflicts will look from now on.” Throughout history, propaganda has remained a wartime staple. In World War II, dictator Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German People’s party used propaganda to gain power and to convince Germans to reunify and expand territory. The Nazi party used mediums such as entertainment, the radio and educational materials to spread their messages to the German population about their past struggle with foreign enemies. In addition, the Nazi party initiated antisemitic propaganda campaigns against platforms. Jews, portraying them as engaged in a Despite the conspiracy to provoke war, which would c e n s o r s h i p , foreshadow the eventual Holocaust. some Russian “When the Nazi party was first citizens have trying to gain power, they wanted to found loopholes get votes wherever they could get them by using from: left wing or right wing,” Baldwin virtual private said. “They would emphasize different n e t w o r k s aspects of their ideology depending on to mask their what neighborhood they were plastering locations and access posters in, and tailor the message blocked western sites. depending on who they thought their In Ukraine, propaganda audience was.” has largely been on social During the Cold War, the West media and centered around promoted anti-communist sentiment by gaining foreign aid, depicting what running massive propoganda campaigns the invasion is like and contrasting among citizens and in other countries Putin with Ukrainian President Volodymyr suspected of joining the pro-communist Zelensky. Viral videos of Ukrainian soldiers side. Films and television shows portrayed getting married or citizens picking up America as victims of communism and weapons to defend their families have promoted conservative family values. shown the global audience how the war is “There is a product of conformity in playing out in real-time. In addition, pro- the 1950s and 1960s,” Roy said. “In the Ukrainian posts have flooded VKontakte, a U.S., ideas are being pushed in education social media platform through propaganda predominantly used by videos like ‘How to Russian speakers, to Spot a Communist’ highlight the targeting or even socialization, Zelensky is an actor. He’s of civilians within the like ‘How to Go On a on a media blitz, and he is country. Hashtags Date.’” going to be the face of how associated with the Whether it be conflict have helped to in art, movies or modern conflicts will look reach a wide audience posters, propaganda from now on within Russia. continues to shape “Ukraine is very perspectives Steven Roy good at trumpeting of politics and History Teacher how big the losses on international affairs. the Russian side have “Anyone can been and how small critically analyze a the losses on their piece of potential side have been, and propaganda and everybody exaggerates the numbers in their ask the important questions: ‘Whose favor,” Baldwin said. point of view is this?’, ‘Who created The Ghost of Kyiv, a story about a single or paid for this message?’, ‘What is the pilot who took down multiple Russian jets, purpose of this message?’ and ‘How has served as a morale booster for Ukranians. might others perceive this message?’” Many claimed that the pilot won six air fights Shidler said. “When you do that, then in the skies of Kyiv during the first 30 hours you gain some control over the media. of the invasion. Computer-generated footage It’s always important to think critically of the Ghost of Kyiv winning a dogfight was and to discuss the ideas presented in the created using the video game Digital Combat propaganda from multiple perspectives.” Simulator and uploaded onto the internet, causing the myth to become viral across social media. Whether or not the story is true, the Ghost of Kyiv fostered optimism in the Ukrainian population. Unlike Putin, Zelensky is actively taking advantage of social media to talk to his

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY CHELSEA LEE AND ANWEN HUANG

April 05, 2022

IN-DEPTH

Nuclear spring: How global conflicts threaten the environment BY AMISHI CHANDRA AND LAUREN LIU

Estimated global nuclear warhead inventory

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY MEERA NAMBIAR

United Kingdom

225

France

290

China

350

United States

5550

6257

Russia

1000

2000

3000

4000 6000 5000 Number of nuclear warheads per country

s the Russian invasion of Ukraine escalates, concerns over Russia’s large arsenal of nuclear weapons emerged. A nuclear war would devastate the climate and permanently damage future generations. “People would be shocked at how massively destructive they are,” AP U.S. History teacher Kyle Howden said. “It’s not something that you would ever want to see deployed because it would be catastrophic for the whole world, even though it might be one location where it’s being used.” A nuclear weapon is a weapon that explodes due to nuclear fission, nuclear fusion or a combination. Nuclear fission is when a large and unstable nucleus is split into two lighter, more stable nuclei. Nuclear fusion is the opposite: the combination of two nuclei. While fusion reactions produce more energy than fission and do not produce radioactive products, they are more difficult to maintain because they require high pressure and temperatures to occur. “The science behind nuclear weapons is complex and multi-layered,” UC Berkeley

Nuclear Chemistry professor Darleane C. Hoffman said. “There are many triggering aspects which set each other off, much like a domino effect. The reason why the nuclear bombs are highly hazardous is because of the combination of both nuclear fission and fusion. Not only does it vastly damage the environment by blasting out uncontainable amounts of energy particles and radioactive chemicals, but it also has irreversible, lasting effects on the bodies.” Atomic bombs use nuclear fission and hydrogen bombs use nuclear fusion. Atomic bombs are typically the result of fission reactions between uranium or plutonium. Hydrogen bombs use isotopes of hydrogen. These weapons are highly harmful because they release large amounts of energy and radiation. When dropped, a nuclear weapon releases a shock wave, along with lethal ionizing uranium and enormous amounts of heat, causing mass destruction.

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a f time r a s w ca’ ion’s

i r nat e e h t Am back on ing G Look UAN

7000

Convection currents carry the debris into the air, creating the mushroom cloud often associated with nuclear weapons. When this radioactive debris settles, it destroys the ozone layer, resulting in more direct contact with the sun and causing more droughts. Nuclear bombs have only been used once: the U.S.’s bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The catastrophic effects of the two bombs led to Japan’s immediate surrender. The initial detonation in Hiroshima killed an estimated 80,000 people, but the total death toll, which included casualties from radiation exposure, reached approximately 140,000. In Nagasaki, the death toll was estimated to be 70,000. Long term effects continued to be felt in the following decades through increased risk of cancer, which extends to this day. “During that time, we destroyed so many buildings, and that comes with lack of electricity and gas leaks,” junior and Lynbrook Conservation Action Association member Cindy Chou said. “The mass destruction will definitely have an effect on not just the environment, but also on everyone’s lives.” In the aftermath of the bombings, Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced “black rain,” a phenomenon in which radioactive soot and dust fell from the sky. The black rain damaged habitats, contaminating rivers and harming wildlife. It also deteriorated infrastructure and caused radiation poisoning through the inhalation and the consumption of contaminated food and water. Thermal radiation from the explosions burned the surrounding area, but was later suppressed by the natural process of rapid cooling, when energy disperses from the nucleus and is distributed through other parts of the environment. These circumstances allowed for the formation of e n o u g h

KOREA

n 1945, America split the Korean peninsula along the 38th parallel, creating a divide between the communist North and the anti-communist South. Five years later, North Korean forces invaded the South, and President Harry Truman sent American troops into the conflict. Truman and the majority of American government officials felt that nonintervention was not an option — if Korea fell to communism, they argued, so would a host of other countries. American forces, initially following a defensive approach aimed at pushing the North Koreans back over the parallel, soon shifted toward “liberating” the North entirely. But their efforts were quickly halted by the arrival of the Chinese, who, under the command of dictator Mao Zedong, helped the North ambush American forces heading toward the Yalu River that bordered China. Recognizing scant progress, Truman initiated peace talks in July 1951. By the time the war ended in 1953, there were five million casualties on both sides, with more than half being civilians. American forces lost 40,000 lives with little to show for — the 38th parallel remained relatively untouched, and the Korean peninsula remains divided today.

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AFGHANISTAN

fter 9/11, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan to topple the Taliban. By December of that year, the regime was overthrown. But, following a period of Afghan reform that saw the first democratic election and the rise of several female politicians, the Taliban reasserted itself in the country. The U.S.’s mission of rebuilding the Afghan state appeared stunted, with widespread corruption in the new Afghan government and little success targeting Taliban leaders. In 2009, President Barack Obama sent an additional 47,000 U.S. troops after reports that the war was failing. Then, in 2011, with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden killed, Obama began the process of withdrawing troops. To support and train Afghan forces, 13,000 American troops remained in Afghanistan after the end to the combat mission in 2014. In 2020, these remaining forces were withdrawn by President Joe Biden in a hasty exit that saw the Taliban invade the country and regain control in days. The U.S.’s departure left Afghanistan in relatively the same state it was in when American troops landed nearly two decades before.

nitric oxides to weaken the concentration of the ozone layer, which is essential to blocking the sun’s carcinogenic UV rays from entering the surface. “We have to be careful of the future and the way we use our resources,” Chou said. “The radiation is already impacting global warming and hurting the environment. In the future, we could run out of resources at a high rate and kill animals.” In recent decades, nuclear disarmament has become increasingly appealing as the threat of nuclear warfare increased with the amassing of nuclear weaponry. Ukraine, then in possession of the world’s third largest nuclear arsenal after the collapse of the Soviet Union, signed the Budapest Memorandum with Russia, the U.S. and the U.K. in 1994. The signed agreement promised Ukraine’s security if it denuclearized and returned its estimated 5,000 weapons to Russia. Russia first violated the agreement when it annexed Crimea in 2014 and again during its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, facing little consequences. Today, approximately 13,080 nuclear weapons exist worldwide, and the complete disarmament of nuclear weapons is a goal in process. “The whole point of a nuclear weapon seems to just be to generate fear,” Chou said. “We already have fewer nuclear weapons than we did — I don’t think we need enough to destroy the world. It’s really scary thinking about how we would all die just because of a bomb being set and someone saying yes. It just makes me realize how easily our lives can just be thrown away.”

VIETNAM

n 1965, U.S. troops entered the clash in Vietnam between anti-communist South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem and communist dictator Ho Chi Minh from North Vietnam. American military intervention was sparked by the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident, in which U.S. destroyers were attacked by torpedoes from North Vietnam. While one attack was verified, a second one had been erroneously claimed. As Americans back home watched the gruesome guerilla warfare unfold on novel television screens, support for the war began to dwindle. Despite President Lyndon B. Johnson’s proclamation that victory was near, doubt rose, especially after 200,000 more American troops were requested for assistance. When Richard Nixon assumed the presidency, he touted the idea of Vietnamization, the gradual withdrawal of American forces and the training of South Vietnamese ones to fight on their own. Still, Nixon continued to authorize bombing raids. A peace agreement was finally reached in 1973, but just two years later, North Vietnamese forces took control of the nation, undoing more than two decades of warfare. Beyond a massive death toll of 58,000 Americans and two million Vietnamese, the war brought inflation to the U.S. as the nation reeled from its $120 billion war expenditure. Furthermore, destruction was not limited to Vietnam — the U.S. had covertly bombed Laos and had invaded Cambodia alongside South Vietnamese troops.

IRAQ

n March 2003, President George W. Bush and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair presented Iraq with an ultimatum: allow United Nations inspectors to investigate potential weapons of mass destruction or face invasion. Despite objections, Bush launched an attack on Iraq on March 20, 2003. The Americans and the British steadily captured key Iraqi cities and the last major stronghold of the Ba’athist regime by April 2003. In May 2003, Bush declared an end to major combat, and by the end of the year, regime leader Saddam Hussein had been captured. However, Hussein’s downfall brought a wave of crime that erupted into guerilla warfare, extending the war. Casualties mounted quickly, and the revelation that, contrary to the Bush administration’s claims, Hussein’s Ba’athist regime had no connection to al-Qaeda, brought backlash to the war. This contradiction proved especially consequential, as the alleged tie between Hussein’s government and 9/11 was a key reason provided by Bush for the Iraq invasion. Even more damaging, no weapons of mass destruction were ever found.

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SPORTS

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Calvin Zhou smashes national rankings

s Lynbrook’s varsity badminton teams prepare for another successful season, players are feeling more confident than ever before, with many starting to see the rewards of their practice. As of March 30, the varsity co-ed team has an overall standing of 5-1, and many players on the team, such as freshman Calvin Zhou, are vigorously putting their skills to the test as they participate in intense competitions and rise up to national ranks. Zhou has been playing badminton for nearly nine years. He is currently a player for Lynbrook’s boys varsity badminton team and has also played outside of school for Bintang Badminton and the United Badminton Club. Having honed his skills over years of practice, Zhou has entered several competitions throughout his career, including multiple Yonex Junior National tournaments and several regional and outof-state tournaments as far away as North Carolina. He even qualified for Pan American Badminton games and reached a national ranking of No. 49 for boys singles under 17 years of age. Zhou was first exposed to badminton at the age of 6 through his grandfather. He recalls playing casually at first, going to parks to set up nets and playing for a few hours at a time. “I enjoyed badminton at first because it was relatively less strength-based, which was important for me, especially as a kid,” Zhou said. “Playing badminton was immediately really interesting for me because it was fast-paced and active.” Zhou’s interest in badminton eventually led him to join Campbell’s Bintang Badminton Academy junior team when he was 10 years old, when he first began to compete in tournaments. It was only about a year later, though, that Zhou joined a more competitive team in the academy and truly began his career as a badminton player. “At that point I was really starting to get serious about playing,” Zhou said. “There were a lot of great coaches I had that helped me out, and I was surrounded by a lot of high-tier players.” Although Zhou went on to compete in many intense tournaments after gaining solid footing in the beginning of his badminton career, his experiences of success were not entirely free of challenges — injuries in particular were challenging to deal with.

“I remember back in 2018, I got injured while training right before Junior Nationals,” Zhou said. “At that time it was really difficult for me to recover, and I was pretty bummed out because I was hoping for a solid year”. Despite occasional struggles with injury, Zhou recalls that he has always been able to recover and get back into motion. His resilience has allowed him to reach great heights as a player, starting off with several smaller regional tournaments before moving on to out-of-state ones. Zhou particularly recalls playing at Nationals with United Badminton Club in early 2021, where he played exceptionally well, placing third in singles and second in doubles. In July of 2021, Zhou reached the peak of his playing ability when he qualified for Junior Pan America, traveling all the way to Acapulco, Mexico to compete against top international players. He vividly remembers the “nail biting” intensity of his first game, which was against the second best player from Peru in his age group. Zhou ended the game winning 30-29 after a sudden death, in which the first player that scores past 29 points is

automatically the winner. Zhou claims that every game following that match was surprisingly easier, as he ended up winning first in boys doubles and third in singles. From his years of experience in teams and playing tournaments, Zhou has gathered several skills pertaining to good technique rather than relying on pure force. “After recovering from one of my injuries, I remember visiting a badminton club in Fremont, where I met several coaches that really helped me focus more on technique,” Zhou said. “I improved greatly in using my fingers and wrist, rather than just brute force or relying on footwork only. My accuracy had improved significantly which allowed me to compete better.” Although Zhou’s badminton skills have come a long way since the beginning of his career, he still has great aspirations to continue learning and playing, planning to continue playing for Lynbrook and contribute to the team, and maintain his playing out on the road. “For now, I definitely hope to continue playing badminton competitively,” Zhou said. “I think that more people should familiarize themselves with the sport and treat it with more respect as a competitive sport. Badminton is definitely really difficult to play, and it takes a lot of skill and mental strength to persevere.”

Zhou jumps to strike the birdie. SUSANNA TANG- EPIC

Zhou keeps an eye out for the birdy.

Who is your sports idol? Lee Chong Wei What is your highest national rank? 7th

What is something interesting about badminton? It is the fastest racquet sport

Calvin Zhou prepares to strike the birdie.

Viking superfan: Perennial Lynbrook sports fan and volunteer Ling Yau celebrates six years USED WITH PERMISSION OF THE LI FAMILY

BY KATIE CHIN

The Li family at Allison Li’s senior night.

ELIZABETH CHENG- EPIC

If not badminton, what sport would you play? Golf

s Lynbrook students cheered on the boys basketball team following their extraordinary victory in the Central Coast Section Championships, a familiar face is found in the stands. Lynbrook parent Ling Yau has attended nearly every basketball game in the last six years and is among the basketball team’s most ardent fans. Yau started attending basketball games when her daughter Allison Li joined the basketball team in middle school. Passionate about basketball, Li joined the JV girls basketball team as a freshman at Lynbrook, where Yau was acting as the team mom

for two years. During her junior year, Li went on to play in the CCS finals with the girls varsity team, and then the team accomplished the highest score in the league the following year. “It was really nice to have my mom so involved with the team,” Li said. “From my standpoint, it was great to have someone there for me after the games.” During her daughter’s junior and senior years at Lynbrook, Yau managed the scorebook during girls varsity basketball games. Although her daughter graduated in 2020, Yau continues to attend every home game and manages the shot clock and game clock, tracking the time left in the quarter, fouls and timeouts. Since the home team is responsible for managing the clock, Yau has consistently volunteered at girls JV and varsity basketball games during the season, as well as boys basketball games throughout the playoffs. This year, Yau also helped raise more than $1,000 with the girls team during their See’s Candies fundraiser. “Since they were in kindergarten, I’ve always volunteered at my kids’ school,” Yau said. “Especially now that my daughter’s in college, I get more free time, and I don’t mind helping since I like watching the games.” In the future, Yau hopes to continue supporting the coaches by helping with multiple tasks along with cheering on Lynbrook’s sports teams during their home games.

ELIZABETH CHENG- EPIC

BY TIMOTHY KIM

What is your pregame food? Hot dogs

Boys varsity basketball team makes history BY SPORTS SECTION

he boys varsity basketball team achieved a record-breaking season this year, winning the Central Coast Section Division II Championships and appearing in their first NorCal State Tournament playoffs in school history. The team of 15 boys, 11 of whom are seniors, developed strong bonds and teamwork throughout the season, which fostered a winning team dynamic. The team prioritized good teamwork and a strong relationship with their coaches, both of which helped them tally an impressive 21-8 overall record and advance to the NorCal playoffs. Junior Jonathan Fu led the team in scoring with a total of 324 points, followed by senior Nikhil Narasimham with 266 points. Despite losing their California Interscholastic Federation State Championship game against Oakland High School, the team worked exceedingly hard throughout the season and achieved more than ever before in Lynbrook history. “Winning CCS and getting boys basketball its first championship in school history was the best way to end my high school basketball journey,” Narasimhan said.

SPORTS

April 05, 2022

Financial inequality for student athletes BY AUDREY SUN

ith varsity sports becoming increasingly competitive, more student athletes are inclined to join sports clubs outside of school to gain an advantage in making their school’s varsity teams. However, as club costs are rapidly increasing, those from lower socioeconomic groups often cannot afford to participate and, in turn, are significantly disadvantaged in the college sports recruitment process. Having played club sports throughout high school is now almost necessary for making a varsity sports team. Although schools do not make it a requirement, almost all students trying out have taken classes or practiced outside of school to gain a competitive advantage. “Training outside of school definitely factors into players making the varsity team because players are able to develop fundamental skills and competitive experience,” freshman and varsity tennis player Yvonne Wu said. “Clubs are a great way to prepare players for the matches they will play at school.” In addition to club sports benefiting players in making their varsity teams, it also advantages players in the recruitment process. Club sports typically have trainers who are more experienced with the college recruitment process compared to public high school coaches. Club coaches guide players through the process by helping them plan and schedule tournaments, create sport

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY CATHERINE ZHOU

portfolios and contact college coaches, which that are specifically catered to each player’s puts players who aren’t able to afford club needs. One private lesson can cost around sports at a disadvantage. $70 to $100, but players commonly pay “School coaches don’t help us with the much more when they take classes from college recruitment process,” Wu said. more skilled and well-known coaches. “Coaches outside of school have more “I take a private class every week and experience sending their players to colleges, go to clinics about four times a week on and they help us build video portfolios by weekdays,” Wu said. “On weekends, my giving us advice on what playing clips we schedule is usually always booked up with should include.” tournaments.” One season of Similarly, a club sport that costs for playing usually lasts six at tournaments People who are financially months to a year accumulates. Teams disadvantaged have to work can cost anywhere pay the fee to the much harder to make their from $2,000 to organization that $30,000. Teams that hosts the tournament, name known compared to are more serious in addition to entry others who have connections. and competitive are fees for parents, often more expensive commutes and Maggie Lam, since they offer more hotels. Attending Sophomore practices per week, tournaments allows conditioning sessions for more exposure and tournaments. to college recruiters These costs increase and helps athletes simply because practices and conditioning gain more experience playing in an actual sessions are done in gyms, where they often game — they get to learn skills that cannot charge by the amount of days rented. be developed when practicing on their Aside from the expensive costs of own. For an athlete, playing time on a team competing in team sports, non-team sports is extremely valuable as they will be able such as tennis and golf generally cost even to gain vital skills including understanding more. Having a private coach is essential the importance of mental stability, team for athletes who play an individual sport dynamics and stamina. competitively. They help players strategize “Both private schools and showcase for matches and create lessons and drills tournaments are very expensive, but without

being at either of those things, it’s practically impossible to get any sort of recognition from college recruiters,” sophomore and varsity basketball player Maggie Lam said. “People who are financially disadvantaged have to work much harder to make their name known compared to others who have connections.” Adding on to the base cost that is charged for a club, traveling to various tournaments across the country builds onto the price because most clubs do not cover travel costs, resulting in athletes having to pay for these expenses themselves. Traveling is key throughout the college recruitment process, for many major tournaments that recruiters attend are all across the country. Not traveling out of state for tournaments significantly decreases an athlete’s chance of being spotted by college recruiters. “Out of state tournaments cost $600 for one trip for one person,” Lam said. “Traveling is a big part of basketball because you need to go to NCAA-certified showcase tournaments.” Although many athletes have aspirations of recruitment, financially disadvantaged athletes do not have the same connections as more privileged ones. Financially disadvantaged players often rely on athletics as a means of college admittance, but fewer resources throughout the recruitment process translates to a lower likelihood of recruitment for them.

SPORTS

April 05, 2022

Boys tennis nicknames BY EMMA CIONCA

t the start of the boys varsity tennis season, a longstanding tradition takes place: the choosing of nicknames for everyone on the team. These unique nicknames usually highlight each player’s most embarrassing secret and foster a sense of community within the team.

Akul Murthy

Luca Lungeanu

“Hero“

“No Mercy“

managing editor elliu huang

“M

mei corricello bennie chang adviser josh miller

y nickname is ‘No mercy.’ I was called that by my teammates because apparently I look menacing when I wear a backwards hat, and I hit my teammate in the back with a tennis ball once.”

y nickname on the tennis team is ‘Hero,’ and it’s from a math class I took with some of my friends on the tennis team as well where the teacher would call me ‘Hero’ for comedic purposes. It stuck with those teammates and they told the other members of the tennis team.”

editors-in-chief

copy editors youqi huang crystal qian design editors sharlene chen lillian fu news editor amy liu opinion editor elizabeth cheng

EMMA CIONCA — EPIC

features editor sophie au in-depth editor anwen huang sports editor emma cionca web editors sruthi medepalli anirudh seshadri business/pr manager ria phelan

BENNIE CHANG — EPIC

staffers amishi chandra anushka anand audrey sun catherine zhou chelsea lee deeksha raj emma constable jasmine rihal jason shan katie chin lauren liu

lina mezerreg meera nambiar myles kim neha ayyer nicole ge samiya anwar samyukta sarma susanna tang tanika anbu timothy kim

small print: the Epic is the official newspaper of Lynbrook

The boys tennis team poses for a photo on the tennis courts. From left to right: sophmore Atharva Rayan, junior Akhil Saboo, junior Akul Murthy, junior Luca Lunganeu, senior Elliu Huang, junior Sidd Lokay, junior Edward Ke, senior Krishna Ajjarapu, junior Agnick Banerjee and junior Saurabh Abhyankar. Front row from left to right: freshmen Rishav Dutta, freshmen Joshua Li, freshmen Steven Liu, freshmen Sasidhar Kunapuli and freshmen Joey Wang. Not pictured: sophmore Mihir Rao.

High School and is a student-run open forum not subject to prior review, as protected under the California Education Code. Views expressed in the Epic do not necessarily reflect or represent those of the administration or faculty of this school or district.

Mihir Rao

Steven Liu

“Toaster“

Letters to the Editor, guest columns and other materials to be considered for publication are welcome. They should be sent to Room 611, Josh Miller’s box in the main office or enc.epic@gmail.com

“Ball Machine“

“M

y nickname is ‘Toaster’ because when I was 5 years old, I told people in my tennis class that I was going to toast them. Unfortunately, junior Agnik Banerjee brought it up, and it stuck with me ever since.”

y nickname is ‘Ball Machine.’ I don’t know why they gave me the nickname, but I think it’s because it seems like I’ve trained with a ball machine before.”

EMMA CIONCA — EPIC