Election Issue (Issue 9)

Volume 118 Issue 9

Horace Mann’s Weekly Newspaper Since 1903

Biden or Trump:

record.horacemann.org November 6th, 2020

Preferred candidate by student gender identity

Who does the student body prefer?

Preferred candidate by student racial identity

Political leaning among students and faculty

These graphs use selected portions of data from an anonymous poll of the Upper Division on Tuesday night.

Categories with insufficient data have been excluded.

284 students and 49 faculty members responded.

Reactions to the election: Reporting by Staff Writers Liliana Greyf and Emily Sun “If Trump wins, I personally think we’d be taking a step backwards in history. There will be a lot more restriction on my personal rights, immigration policies — things like that.”

-Erica Jiang (9)

“This election is really important to a lot of the community as a symbol, hopefully, that America is turning towards what's right or what we perceive to be right. And if it goes the other way, that would be really disheartening for a lot of HM students.”

-Lara Hersch (12)

“I’m personally mostly concerned about the climate crisis. That’s a big deal for me, because I have a son. I don’t know what the world is going to look like in 30 years. Unfortunately, a lot of people in power aren’t taking it seriously right now. That’s one of my biggest concerns.” -Joel Colon, Facilities Management

“My daughter, who is nine, in a private moment revealed to me that she was worried. We were like, what are you worried about? And she said ‘I think if Trump doesn't get elected he's not going to leave the White House.’ I was like, why do you even know this? You’re nine. What did I know at nine?”

-Javaid Khan, Head of Middle Division

“That's what I worry about, really: the whole civil unrest of this whole thing. People have worked their whole lives to build up these businesses and make a livelihood for themselves, only to have it destroyed. That's what I worry about: those people.”

-Peter Clancy, Assistant Director of Public Safety

“I just hope that America is safe, and we can get through the coronavirus pandemic safely, and we will return to some sort of a new normal, and people will accept that instead of being resistant to science. I want people to trust each other.

People don't trust each other.”

-Mekhala Mantravadi (11)

“Nobody’s perfect. If Biden is elected as the president, it doesn't mean he is the savior. It's a step towards the right direction, especially with Harris because I think having a Black person as Vice President who understands the Black community is very helpful. When I say the work is not done, I mean the work that we've been dealing with for the last 400 years — we still see it today.”

-Jaquan Shaw, ICIE Administrative Assistant

“I can't remember an election in recent memory where there was talk about and fear of violence occurring. Violence is antithetical to democracy. It's the result of a combination of factors: deep polarization in our country, social media fueling people's deepest anxieties, conspiracy theories that exist. I also think quite frankly that the President has fed into some of this.”

-Daniel Link, History Department Chair

“Among the queer kids, we joke about going to ‘Summer Camp.’ But that is a reality: we could get sent away for being queer, they could send us away to conversion therapy camp, and the presidency could end up being a dictatorship. So it's my responsibility to educate those around me to make an informed decision that preserves my human rights and don't infringe on it.”

-Trisha Tran (10)

One word responses from Tuesday night:

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THE RECORD OPINIONS NOVEMBER 6TH, 2020

TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT Anonymous Students Donald Trump: No two words are more taboo to the overwhelmingly liberal Horace Mann student body. To Trump supporters like us, it often feels like this condemnation extends not only to Trump but to all who support him, the so-called “deplorables” and racists. We are neither. This piece is being submitted anonymously because at Horace Mann, there is extreme pressure to conceal politically conservative beliefs. Our options are to pretend to be aligned with policies which we disagree with, or to express our real beliefs and be penalized and ostracized.

Dueling echo chambers result from the school not creating safe spaces for conservatives to speak. This situation prevents constructive dialogue and benefits nobody. Horace Mann needs to acknowledge that politics is an area in which reasonable and decent people can disagree. Especially in an educational environment such as ours, we should all feel free to express our sincerely held views. We value what the Trump administration has done over whatever Trump himself has tweeted. We do not support every thought that comes out of Trump’s mouth.

Rather, we make the argument that the actual policies that he has implemented have, on balance, benefited American citizens and greatly advanced our global standing.

It is easy to reject President Trump out of hand on account of some of the things he has said over the course of his life. What requires more thoughtful, complex analysis, however, is to take notice of his leadership of the country. Many of President Trump’s greatest successes concern the economy.

His tax reform legislation lowered the income tax rate for individuals in nearly every bracket.

Under President Trump’s leadership, the n a t i o n experienced consistent growth i n b o t h G D P a n d employment levels pre-COVID, eventually reaching the highest total employment the US had ever seen.

Unemployment rates for Black, Hispanic, and Asian Americans each hit their all-time lows.

Wages grew across the board, with the median household income hitting the highest recorded rate in U.S. history. It was, indisputably, the most strong and successful economy any nation in the world has ever seen, and every American benefited as a result of it.

Trump’s deliberate piloting of the economy has not only propelled untold numbers of Americans out of poverty, but it has quite literally saved thousands of American lives. While the exact number is debated by statisticians, for every percent unemployment rises, a certain number of deaths occur, generally understood to be in the tens of thousands. A similar statistical link has been confirmed between economic growth and a decrease in the number of citizens living below the poverty line. Many dismiss President Trump’s economic achievements, claiming that a strong economy benefits only the rich. This is simply incorrect. A strong U.S. economy benefits all Americans, as well as many others around the world.

Additionally, President Trump has advanced peace in the Middle East, halting the meteoric growth of ISIS, a n d

achieving l an d m ar k diplomatic agreements between Israel and a number of Middle Eastern countries.

Most recently, ISIS was forced to relinquish the entirety of its land

holdings, eliminating an epicenter for terrorist activity and recruitment. In the process, a region of more than 12 million people was liberated from its oppressive control. Even the President’s critics have praised his efforts toward peace in the Middle East. The Abraham Accords formally established diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, and Bahrain, with all three

“We don’t have to love the personality of our President to value his contributions to the country.” nations acknowledging for the first time Israel’s right to exist. These achievements have already created a more stable political climate in the Middle East.

President Trump also signed the FIRST STEP Act into law, achieving much needed reform in the federal criminal justice system as well as improvements in the treatment of federal inmates.

This legislation shortened or eliminated a number of mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses and allowed for many people already incarcerated under those minimums to be released from prison or have their sentences reduced. These reforms

Annabelle Chan/Art Director

BIDEN FOR PRESIDENT Nathan Zelizer There are two ways to make the pro-Biden case. The first one is by attacking President Trump; the second one is by examining Biden’s policies. This piece will make the latter argument.

The most prominent issue in America currently is COVID-19. To counteract this, Biden will “Make Testing Widely Available and Free.” Although this plan does not outline the actual piece of legislation that Biden would propose, the rhetoric Biden uses shows how seriously he will take this virus. Biden also wants to regain American moral authority on the global stage, so he will make sure that the fight against the Coronavirus is an international issue.

The second major crisis that the U.S. faces right now is the plight of systemic racism. Biden has repeatedly addressed systemic racism as a threat to our nation, which is significant because many politicians deny the existence of systemic racism. Selecting Kamala Harris as his running mate indicates what his presidency will look like. Looking back, it is true that Biden played a large role in the 1994 Crime bill, but he also has publicly denounced the bill. This issue is of pressing importance in this election and Biden’s stance takes measure to continue the process of fighting for equality in our country.

The third plight that our country faces is a significant economic crisis. Biden has proved to the country that he can navigate through a recession. In 2008, he was in charge of controlling a large part of the economic recovery

and generally stopping the recession from turning into a full-blown depression.

Biden handled that crisis effectively and persuaded enough legislators, from both sides of the aisle, to vote for the economic relief that the country needed.

While this is all true, the economy is one of Biden’s weaker points. Higher taxes coupled with conservative fear-mongering always scare the general public. Biden’s tax plan is not as liberal as many in the party would like; he has repeatedly pledged that he will not raise taxes on anyone making below $400,000 a year. The most notable increase in taxes is in corporate taxes. His plan raises the corporate tax from 21% to 26%. He also will decrease the number of tax cuts given out by around 50%. Most of that 50% will come from the ultra-rich, and not the working class. Generally, people do not like the idea of higher taxes.

But, Biden has shown that he knows how to use that new revenue to stimulate the economy, which the country badly needs right now.

Of course, none of these policies can be done without some level of Republican support. Biden, in his almost 50year long political career, has shown that he is one of the best at working across the aisle. One of his main responsibilities as Vice President was to persuade Republicans to support his agenda. This message is at the heart of his campaign, as Biden constantly talks about how he is running for the heart of America. Biden is a moderate Democrat who has already gained the endorsement of many major Republicans, including Former Governor of Ohio John Kasich and

specifically targeted r a c i s t disparities in sentencing between c r a c k cocaine a n d

powder cocaine. The act further mandated improvements in federal prison conditions across America, earning landmark gains such as barring the use of handcuffs on pregnant inmates.

In addition to the accomplishments above, Trump has revamped the US military, providing desperately needed funding to modernize our weaponry and increase wages for our men and women in uniform. President Trump stood up to China for its economic malfeasance, penalizing the country and certain of its business entities for blatantly violating American and international trade law. He provided millions in both short and long term funding for historically black colleges and universities across America. Finally, he passed a number of reforms to the Veterans Affairs bureau to help provide critical support and care to those who have served this country.

Perhaps the most widespread condemnation of President Trump relates to his handling of COVID-19. In this regard, it is important to note that this has been a global pandemic and that the entire world has struggled with this disease. For a long time and arguably to this day, experts have been sharply divided on how to best contain the virus. President Trump acted decisively, however, moving to shut down travel early on, saving many thousands of American lives in the process. There remains genuine disagreement on whether lockdowns are successful at tamping down the virus, as evidenced by the events that have taken place in Italy. Further, the potential benefits of lockdowns must be weighed against the enormous costs. Every day the nation was in lockdown, countless businesses, large and small, were forced to shut their doors, and many Americans were put out of work, leaving them struggling to pay their rent and feed their families. As noted above, unemployment quite literally costs lives.

In conclusion, do we agree with everything Donald Trump stands for? Of course not. He has several character flaws, but at the end of the day we are voting for his policies, not his tweets. We hope we have demonstrated that the actions of the Trump administration over the last four years have enormously benefitted both America and Americans, and we are proud to support President Trump for another four years.

three former RNC c om mu n i c at i on directors, and the unofficial support of many other ex-law makers. Biden is the perfect candidate to deal with the divisiveness of our time.

Biden takes the most criticism from both parties about his climate change policy. Biden has openly fought against the Green New Deal and many other more extreme climate change counter-measures. For instance, he refuses to agree to add banning fracking, mainly in Pennsylvania, to his agenda. While most of these policies come from him trying to boost his election bid, it is still important to recognize that Biden does not go as far as many people want him to go. Biden will make progress in fighting climate change; for one, he has repeatedly pledged to make all of his climaterelated decisions based on advice from top scientists. Biden also made the United States a carbon net neutral high on his policy list. It is clear that he sees this crisis as an opportunity to not only fix our environment but to create a large number of jobs as well.

Of course, little of the Biden plan is possible without international backing. Biden served as the chair of the Senate Foreign-Relation for around five years. During this time and his time as vice president, Biden has gained considerable respect in the international community. Biden has always aimed to make sure that America continues to be an extremely important leader in the international community. Biden will make sure that America gains back the moral authority that it lost in the past four years.

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HORACE MANN NEWS NOVEMBER 6TH, 2020 Lauren Kim/Art Director

Election concerns cause temporary shift to HM Online Yin Fei and Purvi Jonnalagadda Staff Writers

ICIE hosts spaces to process the election

Hanna Hornfeld, Vivian Coraci, and Julia Phillips Staff and Contributing Writers To help students and faculty members process their emotions and questions surrounding the presidential election, ICIE hosted master classes every period throughout the day on Wednesday, which were open to the entire Middle Division (MD) and Upper Division (UD) communities. Processing spaces for faculty and students were also held on Tuesday and Thursday. Ten faculty members attended the faculty processing spaces, one student attended the general student processing space, and ten students attended the student of color processing space.

ICIE’s goal in creating these events was to support the community by giving people a space to think through the influence the election has on themselves and other people, regardless of their political views, Associate Director of ICIE Ronald Taylor said. By surveying faculty members and listening to students who reached out to him, Taylor found that members of the community were looking for places to unpack their thoughts about the election.

Taylor wanted to keep the discussion nonpartisan to focus solely on the impact the election has had on people and help them identify their personal agency. “We are not talking about red states and blue states; we are talking about how we are giving people who are asking for basic rights dignity,” he said. “What are we doing to make sure we are centering dignity to human beings?”

For Teddy Ganea (11), focusing on the broader issues surrounding the election, such as racism and educational inequity, rather than the details of who was winning and the implications of each potential result, helped clear his mind and remind him of what was most important, he said.

The master classes began with a “pulse check,” during which Taylor asked students to reflect on their thoughts and what was at stake for them in this election. Taylor then discussed civil unrest and inequity in the United States and split participants into breakout rooms.

In these breakout rooms, students and faculty members spoke about their feelings, questions, and hopes surrounding the election, as well as where they needed support. Computer teacher Dr. Glenda Guerrero said the breakout rooms were comforting, especially because she was able to hear the perspectives of students in various grades. “It just was great to hear

how the middle schoolers’ reflections were the same reflections as the high schoolers,” she said. “We were unified, we were respectful, and we were listening.”

Annabelle Chan (12) said everyone she spoke with at the meeting had similar opinions to hers. Other groups with more varied opinions might have been more productive learning experiences, she said.

All of the members of Chan’s breakout room, with the exception of herself, were either middle school students or freshmen.

Chan is very vocal about her political opinions, but conversing with young people who were still developing their opinions was unusual to her, she said. As a result, Chan felt as though she was conducting the conversation, she said. Despite this dynamic, seeing younger students express an early interest in politics showed her how much things have changed since she was their age, she said.

This is the first election that Athena Rem (9) has been invested in, she said.

Even so, because the winner hadn’t been determined, it didn’t feel completely real to her until she attended one of the meetings on Wednesday. “The meeting reminded me what’s riding on the outcome,” she said.

“It made me more aware and a little more stressed. Not in a bad way — I realized the importance that it had.”

After the breakout conversations, participants regrouped to discuss ways they could make meaningful change.

“Things are going to change, but at the end of the day you all have agency despite the outcome,” Taylor said. “To be frank, it doesn’t matter who is president, it matters what you all do in your communities.

Ultimately, what we do on the small level impacts larger levels.”

World Languages Department Chair Pilar Valencia said this mindset was meaningful. Everyone would love for their preferred candidate to win and fix all the country’s problems, but that is not possible, she said. Instead, the community should work to make change where possible.

“Being directed to think proactively, being reminded of your agency, I think that is very powerful.”

Four years ago, math teacher Ben Kafoglis used class time to discuss the election results with his students, he wrote in an email. This year, Kafoglis chose to lead the student processing space to provide students with a similar, but more organized, environment. “[This election season] especially has impacted those people — many in our community — whose very humanity has been called

into question by the President and many of his followers,” he wrote. “That kind of language, and the divisiness it wreaks, can affect us in ways we don’t realize. It’s important for us to recognize how we are being affected.”

As an immigrant woman, Valencia was very concerned about the election, and she knew that many others, regardless of their perspectives, were anxious too. To help them process everything in a thoughtful and organized way, Valencia took all of her classes to the master classes hosted by the Office for Identity, Culture, and Institutional Equity (ICIE) on Wednesday, she said. “I do believe that we are more intelligent and more powerful when we are together in dialogue than in monologue,” she said.

In addition to the general meetings, Taylor organized separate processing spaces for students and faculty members of color. He chose to do this because, between faculty polls and individual conversations, people of color in the community had expressed a need for a space to think about the unique ways in which the election affected their experiences, he said.

Additionally, people of color are more comfortable sharing their uncensored thoughts in spaces intended only for them, Monitor Jaquan Shaw said. Shaw co-led the student of color processing space on Thursday.

Director of Center for Community Values and Action Dr. Kimberly Joyce-Bernard, who co-led the faculty of color processing space on Tuesday, wrote that the space focused on encouraging faculty and staff to offer their intersectional perspectives on the election season, centering their agency and strength. “BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, and People of Color] faculty and staff are not a monolith,” she wrote. “Mr. Taylor and I were intentional about creating a space where the ways in which people are experiencing and considering this election cycle, the current landscape of our country, and their personal journeys was centered.”

Although 45 minutes is not enough time for students to work through all of their emotions regarding the election, Kafoglis hoped that the meeting helped guide their thoughts, he wrote. “I hope students leave having more clarity than when they entered — maybe about their own emotions in relation to national politics, about their own place in the world, or around some of the intense emotions they’ve seen in their families and communities,” he wrote.

The school decided to conduct Upper Division (UD) and Middle Division (MD) classes remotely on Tuesday and Wednesday due to potential Election Day commotion.

On Monday afternoon, Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly sent an email to the school informing the community of the decision. In the email, Kelly cited disruptions in travel as his main worry.

Specifically, protests and a surge of riders on public transportation could interfere with bus routes.

“Bus companies do not have alternate plans if a bus needs to evacuate prior to completing its route because of traffic or road closures,” he wrote. “We do not have the ability to tell buses to turn around and come back to campus because we cannot safely house large numbers of students after hours in our communal spaces.”

The idea to close campus first emerged on Sunday, when there were reports of numerous intentional road blockages, Kelly said. Over the weekend, in one of many incidents, Trump supporters blocked the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in New York, which caused heavy traffic.

According to Head of Upper Division Dr. Jessica Levenstein, Kelly decided to be especially cautious, recalling the snowstorm two years ago that left school buses stuck in traffic with no backup plan for hours. “The nightmare vision [Kelly] had was that a school bus on the Major Deegan would find itself surrounded again and would be halted for hour after hour with parents unable to get to those kids,” Levenstein said.

Along with fears of election chaos, several residences and businesses began to board up, which furthered Kelly’s urgency to close the campus for the two days.

Before finalizing the decision, Kelly consulted members of the Administrative Council, the school’s bus companies, and local law enforcement.

The officers of the Board of Trustees and the full Board were also made aware of the concern and potential outcomes, Kelly said. “While this may have appeared to be an abrupt decision to some, we are constantly thinking about how our kids and employees get to and from school every day.”

While remote, MD followed the HM Online 2.0 schedule and the UD followed their in-person schedule.

Levenstein helped to finalize the schedule on Monday morning after meeting with the UD Deans, who discussed the pros and cons of holding A through H classes or following the HM Online schedule, she said. They came to the conclusion that it would be best to have the full schedule, with a few modifications like no advisory and an option for teachers to alter their class plans, she said.

“HM Online involves less class time, with no class on Wednesday, and it felt like we actually needed to have some class on Wednesday from a community standpoint,” Levenstein said.

Kelly said this choice was also made because shifting to HM Online 2.0 would have entailed omitting classes that the school felt were important to include.

Although the school reopened on Thursday, Kelly wrote that the school never stopped thinking about the possibility of extending the closure; the administration continued to monitor potentially violent activity in the tri-state area, he said.

Rachel Zhu/Art Director

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Tensions emerge in discussions amo Emma Colacino Staff Writer Last spring, Clementine Bondor (10) woke up one morning and immediately came across a news article with an image of cheering people burning American flags. As the daughter of a former law enforcement officer, she was heartbroken by the image. Bondor then texted her friend group, explaining that she did not understand the gesture. “I got almost immediately slammed with text messages about how disrespectful and oblivious I was, caring more about a stupid square of fabric than millions of lives,” she said. “That conversation has gone down in history in our friend group as the first time I was seen as a flag-loving, redneck freak show who couldn’t care less about people’s lives.”

In a time of intense political polarization, the political views of a student often impact their life within the classroom, with family members, or between friends. While some students are able to maintain healthy relationships with those they have vastly different viewpoints from, others find that political views completely dictate their relationships.

Humanities classes can serve as breeding grounds for political discussion, and teachers often must actively create classroom environments that accommodate all political stances. Aaron Shuchman (12) is an independent, and he has not felt free to express his views to the class in recent years. However, after his history teacher thanked Shuchman for sharing a non-conventional opinion during a discussion, he felt that his ideas were more accepted in the class than he had originally believed.

“I used to be concerned that faculty would give me a hard grade on a paper because of something that I said in class,” Shuchman said. “But I realized that it is more of an issue socially, where if you say something in class and someone interprets it the wrong way or just doesn’t like it, they could go to Snapchat and post something mean about you.”

In classroom environments, History Department Chair Dr. Daniel Link attempts to create discussions that are not dominated by one political view by structuring discussions around current events, having students write down their ideas and come up with questions, and picking articles to read that shine light on different perspectives.

During such discussions, Link encourages

students to express multiple viewpoints on specific topics, he said. “Sometimes I see from body language that students might be holding back, and if everyone in the class is expressing the same view, I might say something like, ‘Even if you don’t personally share this view, what might be a contrasting view?’”

Similarly, Computer Science Teacher John Tomczak often includes political discussions in his class, and during these discussions, he tries to bring up multiple viewpoints to consider an issue thoroughly. Specifically, when discussing the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, Tomczak brought up the counter-argument in favor of Barrett’s nomination, he said. “I tried to see if there was a way for people to understand the potential argument that it is not just reasonable, but actually logically consistent with the [reasoning used to block the] nomination of Merrick Garland.”

However, Bondor still finds that classroom environments are often not open to all viewpoints. “A class is a perfect laboratory to practice forming an argument and thinking independently, and yet [at Horace Mann] the classroom is the place where people don’t feel like they’re allowed to think independently,” Bondor said.

Bondor, who has conservative political views, has found she often can not express her views to friends and in the classroom because they differ from the majority of students at the school, she said. Specifically, Bondor supports love of the U.S., a belief she said many of her peers do not share.

Bondor forms her political opinions from research she does outside of class, she said. “I’ll sit quietly, I’ll take notes, I’ll pay attention in class and nod along to the things people are saying, but nothing stops me from going home and doing my own reading and doing my own learning,” she said.

To make the classroom a place open to more ideas, only a couple of changes must be made, Bondor said. “All we have to do is encourage discussion and critical thinking in classes rather than being told what to think.”

In an attempt to make the school environment a place more inclusive to different political standpoints, teachers from the Upper and Middle Divisions created the Civic Engagement and 2020 Election Document, which is a guideline for approaching political discussions in a way that upholds the school’s values. “[The document] is specifically calling

us all in to think about the words we say, despite their intentions, will have impacts,” Associate Director of ICIE Ronald Taylor said.

Walker McCarthy (11) said that the document promotes fact-based discussion, but he feels that it suggests that all opinions on political matters are of equal value and automatically deserve the same level of respect, he said. “It’s important to not shut someone down before they have a chance to explain what they’re thinking, but I do think we have to resist making one idea equivalent to the other, morally, ethically, and in this case, politically.”

Political views are heavily intertwined with morality, Sogona Cisse (12) said. “People supporting certain politicians will make me rethink their character, intentions, and if we’re friends, then our friendship.”

On the other hand, Bondor thinks that it is problematic to end friendships over politics.

“Often, people say that politics represent morals,” she said. “While there can be overlap when it comes to the prioritization of certain issues over others, I think that they exist in separate worlds.”

Political views also often dictate familial dynamics and relationships; differences in political opinions can originate from the dissimilarities in parents and their childrens’ upbringings.

Yana Gitelman (12)’s parents, f o r example, are significantly more conservative than she.

Her parents, firstgeneration immigrants from Russia, had very different experiences with capitalism after coming to America as refugees than she has had. “I see why they believe in [capitalism], but for me, I’ve witnessed a part of the latter half of that American dream for them,” she said. “My reaction has been gratitude that they’ve experienced it, but anger that other people will never get to.”

Despite the differences in their opinions, Gitelman’s family often discusses politics.

Although her mother will grow tired of talking about politics, Gitelman and her father constantly engage in political discussions, which causes a lot of arguments, she said. “We deal with [arguments] by setting boundaries

and conversations as best as possible, and I try to cut off conversations where they’re getting to an unproductive point.”

Gitelman knows conversations are becoming unproductive when someone starts raising their voice or making personal statements instead of broad ideological ones, she said. When someone says, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about’ as opposed to, ‘Why do you think that,’ Gitelman knows that the discussions are no longer productive, she said.

Sarene C h ou d hu r y (10) is a liberal, while her parents are liberal centrists, which causes occasional disagreements, she said. “Since everyone in my family has a fiery

personality, if we are at the dinner table, and [politics] does come up, it always leads to a little bit of strife.”

Like Choudhury, Braden Queen’s (10) parents have different political views than his own. Queen’s father holds authoritarian beliefs, while his mother holds libertarian beliefs.

Despite these contrasting political affiliations, Queen’s family does not ever argue over political disagreements, he said. “We can all understand

Rachel Zhu/Art Director

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HORACE MANN FEATURES NOVEMBER 6TH, 2020

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ong classmates, friends, and family each other’s views, and sometimes I think my dad’s views are a little bit misguided, but I still respect my dad and think he’s a smart person.”

On the other hand, McCarthy shares liberal views with the rest of his family. Growing up in a town with strong conservative views, McCarthy has noticed that the conservative political views of his friends’ families played a major role in shaping their viewpoints. His friends’ families watched sources like Fox N e w s , w h i l e McCarthy’s f a m i l y watched MSNBC and CNN. “So their political views were shaped by that news ecosystem, and mine was shaped by my own family’s political leaning,” he said.

While

Gabby Fischberg/Art Director

Bondor feels hesitant to express her views inside of school, she is able to voice her views to her family, with whom she shares the same opinions, without fear of judgment, she said. “It’s refreshing to be in a room where I can speak freely without having to worry about anything I say either being immediately dismissed or being picked apart,” Bondor said. “Everyone in my family appreciates that space and that freedom. It’s as if there’s a weight that’s being lifted off all of our shoulders.”

As political issues become more pertinent to students’ lives, differences in political opinions arise among friend groups and lead to divisive conversations. In political discussions with friends, Bondor is often hesitant to voice her own opinions, as she does not want to be labeled as “extreme,” she said. “I have views that differ drastically from all of my closest friends, so often I stay silent simply to forestall dismissal in any discussion of politics.”

Within her friend group, Bondor said her friends view the world in fundamentally different ways, which occasionally causes her to feel judged. Despite this feeling, Bondor never feels as though her friends are pressuring her to change her views. “We disagree about almost everything, but we’ve accepted that fact and get along seamlessly regardless,” Bondor said.

Cisse said most of her friends share liberal views like her own. However, Cisse supports the Settle for Biden Campaign, which endorsed Biden for the purpose of replacing Trump as President, while some of her friends are strong supporters of the Biden-Harris ticket. “I don’t like either of those politicians, and I don’t like seeing people who glorify [Biden and Harris], because I don’t think they deserve to be glorified,” she said.

Cisse thinks that all politicians are flawed, including B i d e n and Harris. “It’s important to be

c ons c i ou s of the fact that even if they are the best option for office right now, they still need to be held accountable for their harmful words and policies from the past,” Cisse said.

However, her friend group does not discuss this difference in opinion because the conversations become tense, she said. “It’s hard debating about things that feel personal to you because there’s a layer of humanity to it that the other person may not have,” she said. “Specifically, Kamala Harris’s track record as Attorney General in California really bothers me as a Black woman, but it may not carry the same weight for a non-Black supporter of hers.”

A person’s political views influence McCarthy’s desire to be friends with them.

“These days, your political beliefs are oftentimes connected to who you are as a person and the way you interact with other people and the way you feel about things beyond a specific election or political candidate,” he said.

McCarthy once confronted one of his friends about their political beliefs. “I remember just when I was younger, there was this one kid who was older than me on a sports team who is a super strong Trump supporter, and he was really loud about it,” he said. “After a while, I stood up and challenged his super Trump-y views.”

Queen holds political views that differ from

the majority of his friend group: Queen is a centrist, while the majority of his friends are far left on the political spectrum. Despite these differences, Queen said he enjoys debating Gabby Fischberg/Art Director with them and thinks that it is important.

He has had many conversations with his friends about politics, and he has found that his friends have greatly influenced his political perspective. “I used to not necessarily agree with government involvement in health care,” Queen said. “But now I really see the idea that you cannot receive treatment because of your socioeconomic status, and I’m much more open towards more expansion in Medicaid and Medicare.”

Despite enjoying debates with his friends, Queen has still found that he must be cautious of how he explains his views to his friends.

“Sometimes other people will not understand where you’re coming from, and they’ll assume that you have the worst intentions at heart,” he said.

An example of this occurred when he said that violent protests have not worked in history, and he then started hearing rumors that he was not a supporter of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. “I remember getting a Snapchat notification saying ‘BLM,’ and I replied ‘Yes.’ Afterwards, I was told that people thought I did not support BLM,” he said.

Eli Scher (12) is a moderate who identifies most strongly with the Libertarian Party, and he is also cautious of who he shares specific opinions to. “I know there are some people who are going to take issue with specific opinions either if they are misunderstood or if they’re without proper sensitivity,” he said.

Specifically, Scher was cautious about sharing his views on the case of Breonna Taylor because the case was so controversial and involved a death that should not have happened in the first place, he said. “I felt like if I tried to correct something that someone else said, it might seem as though I was trying to minimize the case or argue against its severity.”

Bondor feels that it is a challenge to freely express her views to her friends and peers, as she does not want to be immediately misjudged and misunderstood. “I’m afraid of being immediately dismissed,” she said.

“Mostly I’m just afraid of not being taken seriously, especially because most people actually don’t know where I stand politically.

People hear any trace of conservatism and kick into defense mode, yelling all sorts of nasty things about my family and me.”

Jordan Wasserberger (11) identifies as a pragmatic progressive, meaning he aligns himself with progressive goals but approaches them from a practical rather than a theoretical standpoint, he said. His views do not align with either conservative or liberal ideologies strictly and often differ from those of his friends.

In political discussions, Wasserberger will attempt to explain his viewpoint to those in

the discussion. “I’ve never tried to outright say ‘Your views are wrong, listen to this,’ but I think the nature of political discourse is saying, ‘Hey, have you ever tried looking at it through this lens or thinking about it like this?’” he said.

Wasserberger was once discussing the idea of packing the court with one of his peers, he said. “They were saying that they were very supportive of that idea, and I explained how in my opinion, packing the court is the biggest threat to our democracy.”

Within this conversation, Wasserberger thought it was unproductive altogether because the other person was unwilling to thoughtfully consider his opinion, he said. “They did not change their mind in the slightest,” he said.

“I think in general at Horace Mann, trying to change someone’s mind is impossible—it just doesn’t happen.”

Choudhury said her friends mostly share similar political views; however, she does occasionally use social media to influence the views of those who she knows have different political opinions than her own. “I’ve used Snapchat, mainly posting political things to my private story, like TikToks or just my response to current world events,” Choudhury said. “My main purpose with that isn’t to influence my peers, but if I ended up providing them with more information on a topic, then I believe that would be productive.”

In terms of her forming friendships, Cisse said that while some people would not consider unfriending someone based on politics, she would. “Donald Trump has very violent policies and supports a lot of things that are very harmful for many demographics,” she said. “So I don’t see myself being friends with Trump supporters just because of the fact that this man has created so much damage and affected so many minorities in this country.”

Similarly, McCarthy also takes political views into account when considering his friendship with someone, he said. “If someone were a hardcore Trump supporter, I probably wouldn’t be friends with them, not because they would want to vote for Trump, but rather because of who they are,” he said. “I’m not particularly attracted to a personality that finds Trump appealing.”

While McCarthy can not draw a line for every person he meets, he said that to determine if he would be friends with them, he would ask them if they understand what supporting a candidate really means and reflects about themself. “These days, people often try to disconnect certain policies from a candidate or party to pick and choose what parts of a platform they support,” he said.

“But with someone like Trump and the larger Republican Party, you can’t do that.”

Volume 118 Editorial Board Managing Editor Talia Winiarsky News Sam Chiang Yesh Nikam Marina Kazarian

Features Henry Owens Emily Shi Vivien Sweet

Opinions Maurice Campbell Avi Kapadia Natalie Sweet

A&E Izzy Abbott Abby Beckler Oliver Steinman

Editor-in-Chief Julia Goldberg Lions’ Den Yotam Hahn Alison Isko Josh Underberg

Middle Division Adrian Arnaboldi Bradley Bennett Jack Crovitz

Staff Staff Writers Devin Allard-Neptune, Mia Calzolaio Chloe Choi, Emma Colacino, Yin Fei, Lucas Glickman, Claire Goldberg, Tuhin Ghosh, Liliana Greyf, Lauren Ho, Hanna Hornfeld, Purvi Jonnalagadda, Oliver Lewis, Rowan Mally, Simon Schackner, Morgan Smith, Arushi Talwar, Katya Tolunsky, Nathan Zelizer, Max Chasin, Alex Lautin, Jillian Lee, Hannah Katzke, Vidhatrie Keetha, Zachary Kurtz, Clio Rao, Ayesha Sen, Emily Salzhauer, Aden Soroca, Emily Sun, Madison Xu Staff Photographers Kelly Troop, Sophie Gordon, Amanda Wein, Emma Colacino, AJ Walker, Lucas Glickman, Lauren Ho Staff Artists Eliza Becker, Felix Brenner, Riva Vig

Issues Editor Adam Frommer Design Lowell Finster John Mauro Sarah Sun

Art Annabelle Chan Gabby Fischberg Lauren Kim Rachel Zhu

Photography Jackson Feigin Julia Isko Maxwell Shopkorn

Faculty Adviser David Berenson

Editorial Policy About Founded in 1903, The Record is Horace Mann School’s award-winning weekly student newspaper. We publish approximately 30 times during the academic year, offering news, features, opinions, arts, Middle Division and sports coverage relevant to the school community. The Record serves as a public forum to provide the community with information, entertainment, and an outlet for various viewpoints. As a student publication, the contents of The Record are the views and work of the students and do not necessarily represent those of the faculty or administration of the Horace Mann School. Horace Mann School is not responsible for the accuracy and contents of The Record and is not liable for any claims based on the contents or views expressed therein.

Editorials All editorial decisions regarding content, grammar, and layout are made by the senior editorial board. The unsigned editorial represents the opinion of the majority of the board.

Opinions Opinion columns represent the viewpoint of the author and not of The Record or the school. We encourage students, alumni, faculty, staff, and parents to submit opinions by emailing record@horacemann.org.

Letters Letters to the editor often respond to editorials, articles, and opinions pieces, allowing The Record to uphold its commitment to open discourse within the school community. They too represent the opinion of the author and not of The Record or the school.

To be considered for publication in the next issue, letters should

be submitted by mail (The Record, 231 West 246th Street, Bronx, NY 10471) or email (record@horacemann.org) before 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening. All submissions must be signed.

Contact For all tips, comments, queries, story suggestions, complaints and corrections, please contact us by email at record@ horacemann.org.

6

THE RECORD NEWS NOVEMBER 6TH, 2020

Students and faculty cast their ballots Mia Calzolaio, Erica Jiang, and Lucy Peck Staff Writer and Contributing Writers Around 7 a.m. on Election Day, Spanish teacher Daisy Vazquez headed down to the basement of her building to vote. A neighbor told her that the line wasn’t long, and when she arrived, it took less than five minutes to fill in her ballot. “It’s a joyful moment,” Vazquez said.

“I’m proud of being able to vote, and it’s a right that I’m happy to exercise.”

While Vazquez was able to vote easily in person, others, like theater teacher Haila VanHentenryck, chose to mail in an absentee ballot. VanHentenryck felt uncomfortable waiting in long lines at polling locations and was unsure of whether people would be able to

socially distance, she said.

VanHentenryck had never felt so much anxiety about an election before, nor had she ever lost sleep because of one, she said. “I feel like most people I talk to are losing their minds over this election and are very stressed about it, and I haven’t seen that ever before in my lifetime,” she said.

Much of her emotion comes from the tone of public discourse, she said. The idea that people attack and fight each other as a first line of defense without asking questions and the lack of empathy she has seen from political figures and the people who elected them frightens her, she said.

Like VanHentenryck, Eli Scher (12) voted via an absentee ballot and dropped his ballot off at an early voting poll site near his house,

Courtesy of Leyli Granmayeh

Courtesy of Eli Scher

SHE VOTES, SCHER VOTES Granmayeh and Scher cast their ballots for the first time.

he said. Scher lives in New Jersey, a state where vote by mail ballots were automatically sent to all registered voters, regardless of whether they planned to use them.

Scher registered to vote in October, he said. “Voting feels to me like a privilege and a responsibility, and I was honored to be able to exercise that,” he said. “It’s something I’ve always dreamed of since I was a little kid.”

Leyli Granmayeh (12) turned 18 on November 3, so she could not cast her vote until Election Day. She voted after school when the lines were shorter because less people were off from work, she said.

Granmayeh was worried about contracting COVID-19 if she voted in-person, but there were only a few people at the polls, and she was given a clean pen with which to fill out her ballot, she said.

The experience was slightly nerve-wracking but generally positive, she said. “I checked over my ballot a bunch of times because I got nervous that I was doing something wrong, but I had searched [the ballot] up before and my family had told me [about it], so I went in feeling pretty prepared for what to do,” Granmayeh said.

Prior to voting, Granmayeh worried whether she was fully prepared to vote, since part of her registration was missing in a form that she received in the mail, she said. However, after calling the Board of Elections, she was informed that her registration would process once she turned 18.

Eli Bacon (12) said his voting experience went smoothly. He received an absentee ballot around a week after he registered and mailed it in about two weeks before the election, he said.

The experience was moderately exciting, he said. “It’s not like there was confetti, but I

understood that I was doing my civic duty, and that’s really important.”

Voting for president is not the only important part of voting, Bacon said. “When you vote, you don’t vote in only one race, you vote in countless down ballot races,” he said.

“Many of those races are going to have a far bigger impact on you and your personal life today than voting for president.”

It is also important to vote even if a state is expected to go a certain direction, VanHentenryck said. The mentality of not needing to vote in a state like New York, which is expected to be Democratic, is dangerous, she said. “If enough people think like that, then New York won’t go blue anymore.”

“Democracy only functions if as many people as possible are exercising their right to vote and are making their voices heard,” Scher Courtesy of Eli Scher said.

Additionally, Scher sees voting as a way to make change in the overarching political system. “Almost every person is going to have some sort of opinion on an election, so if you really value your own opinion, there’s no reason not to vote,” he said. “I think it’s the best way to share your opinion and have it make a true impact on our country.”

Voting is a way to maintain democracy, VanHentenryck said. “If we don’t vote and use the power that we have, people who don’t have a problem with using their power for nefarious means will take it away,” she said.

“Democracy requires the citizens to be paying attention and to not be apathetic and to continue voting even if, like in this race, there’s not a candidate that you one hundred percent can get behind,” VanHentenryck said.

Election prompts teachers to change class plans Devin Allard-Neptune Staff Writer Many teachers have incorporated discussions surrounding this week’s elections into their classes to provide a deeper understanding of current events and to support their students.

Instead of continuing his regularly scheduled class on Election Day, ceramics teacher Keith Renner diverged from his lesson plan and taught his students about Ancient Greece.

In his class, Renner taught students about pottery’s connection to the history of elections and democracy.

Renner created a PowerPoint presentation with pictures of shards of pottery called “ostracons” that were used as ballots in Ancient Greece, he said.

In preparation for election day, Associate Director of the Office for Identity, Culture, and Institutional Equity (ICIE) Ronald Taylor held the second faculty equity workshop focusing on the inclusion of different viewpoints in the classroom. Taylor said that the goal of the workshop was to give teachers the opportunity to work on being inclusive of all political viewpoints before they held their classes on election day.

Taylor made the conscious decision to hold the discussion the day before the election, he said. “At a time when our country is extremely polarized and divided, inclusion is ultimately what we’re going to need to weather us through this moment,” he said.

Over Zoom, Taylor went over hypothetical scenarios that teachers might face regarding political opinions and the election, he said.

The workshop began as Taylor provided research to show why inclusion is important in academic

environments. In the second half of the workshop, participants went over hypothetical scenarios that emphasized the importance of inclusion, he said.

In one hypothetical example discussed, two female students announced that anyone who supported Trump was “brain-dead,” and as a result, a white male student angrily left the room. “How would a teacher feel about telling two young women to be mindful of their speech for the sake of a white male student?

That’s a really interesting dynamic that actually might happen in some classes,” Taylor said. “It was a really interesting activity because I could tell people were getting nervous.”

After the workshop, many teachers held classes that differed from their regular scheduled lesson plans. In Chloe Coward’s (11) Calculus BC class, math teacher Catherine Crowley checked in with the class over Zoom.

Using the chat feature, Crowley asked how each student was doing, and each student communicated their feelings privately in the chat or spoke in front of the class, Coward said. “I think she did this to get a sense of our energy and to look out for us.”

Crowley then allowed students to bring up any topics they wanted to discuss and let the students decide whether to talk about the election or do math, Coward said. The class talked about the election for the beginning of class, then played a math themed version of Pictionary, and Crowley ended the class early. “[Crowley] was very supportive as a teacher,” Coward said.

Even before November 3, teachers found a way to incorporate the election into their classes. For the past month, History Department Chair Dr. Daniel Link has been

weaving the election into his classes by allowing students in his US History class to cover the election for their current events projects, he said. A week before the election, Link created lesson plans surrounding the topic for both his US History and Global Cold War classes, he said.

Depending on the class, Link planned to cover different topics of the election, he said. In his Global Cold War classes, Link said he focused on the political foundations of elections, such as what creates dictatorial and democratic governments. For his US History classes, he covered the election more generally, going into the makeup of the electoral college and the ballot casting process, he said.

In addition to learning about elections from a historical standpoint,

Jordan Wasserberger (11) said that his Global Cold War class took time in class to discuss their thoughts and feelings about the election. “It was really nice,” he said. “It wasn’t anything too hyped up or intense. It was just a great chill way to deal with everything that is going on.”

For history classes in particular, Link said it is important to tie in current events to the curriculum.

“We always want to try to connect the past and the present for students,” he said. “Thinking historically about presidential elections and how they’ve evolved over time, I think it’s really important and helpful for students to think about what’s unusual and unique about this election.”

After his ceramics class learned about the history of ceramics in the democratic process, Renner played a

relaxing video to show the creation of a traditional Chinese teapot for the class. “It definitely put me in a calm place, and I wanted to be able to share that with everyone,” he said.

To end class, Renner opened a class discussion about both the video and potential anxiety surrounding Election Day, he said. Through conversation, he aimed to focus on the wellbeing of the class and not about politics, he said.

Renner decided to change the lesson plan of the class to allow his students to take a much needed break from school work on Election Day, he said. “As teachers and students, we can get caught up in the juggernaut of the curriculum, and we can forget to pause sometimes,” he said. “If there was ever a moment to pause, it’s now.”

Jackson Feigin/Photo Director

POST-ELECTION History classs engages in discussion.

7

HORACE MANN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT AND MIDDLE DIVISION NOVEMBER 6TH, 2020

Twitter and the Times: How students consume their news Lauren Ho, Maeve Goldman, and Mira Bansal Staff and Contributing Writers Connor Bernard (11) thinks that most people, almost unconsciously, gravitate towards news sources that reaffirm their personal views, he said. Bernard used to read only sources that confirmed his personal beliefs, but over the past year, he has gradually tried to view topics from more than one perspective, he said.

According to an anonymous Record poll conducted this week, out of 191 students, 39.7% of students’ primary news sources are newspapers or magazines, 30.4% of students who prefer cable television, and 25.3% of students acquire news from social media.

Since the 2016 election, Ahaana Shrivastava (12) has used CNN as her main source of information because of its large presence across several platforms, easy access, and hosts’ opinions on important issues, she said.

“Anderson Cooper was the first news anchor I was exposed to since he was involved in some of the debates during the 2016 presidential election, and from there I just continued watching him, since I agree with his views.”

Although she generally only reads CNN, sometimes Shrivastava will find other articles from other news outlets on the topic to supplement her knowledge with additional information, she said.

Mazyar Azmi (11) said that while it is “torture” to read articles he doesn’t agree with, it is important for people to expose themselves to different opinions.

Sonia Shuster (12) makes sure that she reads news from a variety of sources across the political spectrum, as she wants to understand as many perspectives as possible, she said.

Shuster receives news from several different platforms, including podcasts, magazines, newspapers on social media, and news websites, such as the Economist, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, and the New York Times, she said.

While some of Shuster’s friends do not want to read articles from more conservative

news sources, because they think that they are biased, she thinks that all news sources have biases, which is why she likes to look at a topic from several different perspectives, she said.

Azmi does not like switching around several different news outlets, because he already knows which outlets are well-written and high-quality, he said. Azmi prefers reading the Washington Post, listening to the New York Times Daily Podcast, and receiving texts from a newspaper called the New Paper, which sends daily texts of important headlines. “[The New Paper has] no spin, no story, just the headline, which is very cool,” he said. “But at the same time, we talk all the time about how news is sensationalized, but with such a monotone outlook, it’s neither interesting nor engaging, so it’s not for everyone.”

During the 2020 election cycle, Azmi has enjoyed visiting the Politico page “2020 Candidates Views on the Issues: A Voter’s Guide,” which describes all of the candidates running for president and their stances on certain topics, he said.

Bernard has received most of his news from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times during the 2020 election cycle, as well as by watching the debates, he said. Depending on what topic he wants to read about, he will visit different sources. If Bernard wants to read about politics, he will read the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, but if he wants to read about economics, he will read the Wall Street Journal and the Economist, he said.

Bernard enjoys reading these sources because they are all well-acclaimed and wellvetted, and although they are becoming more politically biased, they are still far less biased than many other news outlets like Fox News and CNN, he said.

Similarly, Shuster doesn’t trust any news outlet to do “purely objective factual reporting.”

However, she finds that certain outlets are more reputable than others because they’re heavily fact checked, she said. “I try to read in between the lines and make sure that I’m getting mostly factual information rather than the stuff that’s

more opinionated,” she said. “In this day and age, news outlets pick and choose what information and statistics they want to include, and which ones they want to leave out, which doesn’t necessarily make their arguments false, but just twisted.”

Even the Washington Post, Azmi’s preferred news outlet, cannot be read at face value, because it is owned by Amazon, he said. Azmi avoids reading any articles about the economy, free market, or anything else related to Amazon on the Washington Post, he said.

While Alexa Turteltaub (10) will read more fact-based articles on the New York Times website, her preferred news outlet, she finds the opinion articles and columnists to be more interesting, since they provide interesting perspectives and arguments, she said.

Turteltaub also reads and shares news with her friends on social media. “When I share social media posts, I try and find the source of where the information is coming from, because it’s very important to read and share reputable information, otherwise you can do a lot of damage spreading information that is unfounded,” Turteltaub said. When receiving news from social media, Turteltaub keeps in mind that media is not coming directly from journalists or researchers, she said.

“It’s so easy to look at your phone, read something, and then scroll and keep on moving, but you have to make sure that you are making sure that it is factual before you simply absorb it and move on,” Shrivastava said.

Students who receive a lot of their news, particularly political news, from social media, should be careful, since it is rarely fact-checked and sometimes fraudulent, Bernard said. “If you’re looking for fast news, social media is the best place, but if you are looking for analysis and more in-depth news, you have to turn towards a traditional media outlet.”

Shrivastava doesn’t follow specific accounts on social media, and instead relies on the algorithm of the Explore page on Instagram or the For You page on TikTok for news, which she finds to be well curated, she said.

Frequently, while scrolling through TikTok, Bernard will see several political posts, but he generally ignores them because many videos tend to be misinformed, he said. “It’s not meant to be a platform for politics, and within the one-minute maximum time for videos, there’s not enough time for a complex political issue to be explained in depth,” he said.

Posts on TikTok tend to be heavily biased towards one side or the other, and the news is often portrayed the way the creator of the post wants it to be seen, which is why TikTok is not a reputable source, Rhea Patel (11) said.

There is also a bigger focus on politicians using social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok to spread news to Gen Z and young adults, Shrivastava said.

Social media is a powerful tool for politicians to communicate and expose themselves to young adults; however, viewers must be cognizant that many politicians treat social media as an advertising tool rather than a true news platform, Azmi said. “Politicians can and frequently will say whatever they need to on social media to garner your vote or get your support, which is why you can’t take everything at face value.”

However, there are still benefits to receiving news from both traditional news sources and social media, Shrivastava said. Traditional news sources are generally more trustworthy, since there usually are large teams working to make sure that all of the information they put out is accurate, while on social media, there is a benefit of an unfiltered and raw perspective, she said. There are benefits to both, which is why Shrivastava continues to use both sources when reading news, she said.

Patel also said traditional news sources are generally very reliable while social media frequently is not. However, social media can often be more accessible than many newspapers, she said. Ultimately, she finds the benefits of receiving news from traditional news sources to outweigh the benefits of receiving news from social media platforms.

Lauren Kim/Art Director

EMERGING ELECTORS: MD STUDENTS’ POLITICAL VIEWS Claire Goldberg, Lawson Wright, and Kate Beckler Staff and Contributing Writers MD Students Reveal the Roots of their Political BeliefsIn a recent Record poll, 69% of the 176 Middle Division (MD) students who participated in the poll said that they share the same political beliefs with their parents. Social media, the school, and peers have also influenced many MD students’ politics.

After years of family dinners, Charlotte Henes (8) has found that she shares the political beliefs as her parents and family, she said.

“I’ve always lived with my parents, so I usually believe what they say,” she said. Additionally, after hearing her brother speak passionately about gun control, Henes said she has started to adopt his views on the issue as her own.

Suli Kumble (6) and her parents want Biden to win the election, but she doesn’t know if she and her parents agree on everything, she said. “My parents are Democrats and I think I am too, but I’m not sure yet,” Kumble said. Kumble thinks she’s a Democrat because she has been raised by two Democrats, she said.

Noelle Yoo (6) said she agrees with her parents on all policies because they are the ones who teach her about politics. “I learn everything from my parents, so I always assume that they’re right when they talk about politics,” Yoo said.

Rena Salsberg (8) said that she shares the same political beliefs as her family because they raised her with a set of core values that align with liberal agendas. Salsberg lived overseas in Japan and Singapore, which also contributed to her political beliefs. “To me, being liberal means to be open to others ideas and to respect everyone, and when you live in a country where you’re with different people you really begin to understand how crucial accepting others is.”

Having grown up in a politically active and liberal household, Meshu Malik (6) shares most of her parents’ political beliefs. Malik thinks that even if she hadn’t grown up in a liberal household, she would still be a Democrat because she agrees with socially democratic principles, she said.

Although they are all Biden supporters, Malik and her family engage in friendly debates in which some of family members play devil’s advocate and argue from the side of Trump supporters and the others argue from the side of Biden supporters, she said. “We have friendly arguments about topics like healthcare in order to hear both sides.”

According to a survey, 34 percent of MD students who participated in the poll said that they are more liberal than their parents, while only 15 percent of students are more conservative.

Ethan Furman (7) said his political beliefs are often a fusion of his parents, one of whom is a Democrat and the other a Republican.

For example, his parents have different stances on the confirmation of Justice Barrett, and Furman’s beliefs are somewhere in between.

“While I don’t think that the confirmation was fair, I still don’t support packing the court.”

Furman said he identifies more as a Democrat than a Republican, because the only Republican president in his lifetime has been President Trump. “For the past four years we haven’t had a good Republican president, so my views are definitely biased towards the Democrats,” he said.

Gabby Fischberg/Art Director

While Kaitlyn Fan (6) and her parents all support Biden, their political beliefs sometimes vary. Fan said racial justice is her priority in choosing which candidate to support, but it is not for her parents.

“My parents think that it [racial injustice] is not actually that serious, but I think that it’s an emergency and needs to be changed immediately,” she said.

Social media also plays a role in shaping some MD students’

political beliefs, Henes said.

“Everyone [on social media] is always talking about the impacts of Trump’s and Biden’s actions, and that continues to shape my own opinions,” Malik said. In addition, Malik said celebrities’ political opinions have influenced her own, oftentimes through a social media platform. However, unless she sees something really bad that Biden has done, Malik said her opinion won’t change very easily just based on social media.

Evie Steinman (7), who also supports Biden, said speaking to peers has influenced her political opinion. For an article in the HM Post, Steinman interviewed Jaden Jefferson, an 11-year-old political news reporter who has interviewed political figures such as Elizabeth Warren. Her conversation helped Steinman learn about politics and shaped some of her own beliefs, like the importance of local news, she said.

The school has also influenced Furman’s political beliefs, he said.

“The school definitely [promotes] for social justice, so that’s made me pay more attention to it.”.

News sources can also play a role in shaping political stances, Emily Park (7) said. Park usually gets her news from CNN, NBC, and the New York Times, and these sources influence her opinions on different issues, she said.

Malik wants Biden to win because he will be better equipped to deal with COVID-19, she said. “President Trump has not done a great job with the country, especially considering coronavirus, so I support him because I want to protect the lives of Americans.”

Neil Jain (6) wants Biden to win because he lives with his grandparents, and he believes that Biden has the better plan to address COVID-19, he said. “I wasn’t into politics before this week, but now I know from my parents that Biden will help us prevent exposing my grandparents to the virus.”

Jain also said that the school has encouraged students to continue to develop their political beliefs with open minds. “My teacher encourages us to watch the news, but he has also taught us about how there are always different political opinions, with positives and negatives to both sides,” he said.

This election has played a crucial role in sparking Steinman’s interest in politics, she said. “For this election, I’ve been watching the news and I’ve just started to form my own opinions,” she said.

To continue to learn more about politics and develop her own beliefs, Steinman will continue to watch the news in order to get more information. Steinman also thinks that she will become more interested in politics as she gets older.

8

HORACE MANN OPINIONS NOVEMBER 6TH, 2020

A reflection on political awareness during Trump’s presidency

Katya Tolunsky I do not remember politics before Donald Trump was president. I was in seventh grade when Trump was elected and before then I had little to no political awareness of what was going on in the world around me. I just started to tune in and ask questions for the first time around the 2016 election.

My understanding of politics was limited, to say the least. Based on what I heard my parents say at the dinner table, I knew Trump was “bad” and Hillary was “good-ish,” and since I grew up in a liberal household, I also thought that Democrats were the “good guys” and Republicans were the “bad guys.” Red was the color of the villains in Star Wars, so it all checked out for me.

When I was younger, I always associated a sense of prestige, dignity, and honor with our country’s democracy. Maybe it was due to the forced nationalism instilled by my elementary school’s daily pledge of allegiance, trips to the state senate in Albany, and the American flags

in all the classrooms. I was blissfully naive about the flaws in our two-party governmental system. I thought that the majority of elected officials and politicians were intelligent, moral beings with a longing to make the world a better place. And then I watched Trump speak on TV at his inaugural address. My faith in our nation’s democracy slowly but surely began to fade.

As I grew up throughout the Trump presidency, I have developed a growing feeling of disdain and distrust towards politicians on both sides of the political spectrum. I question their motives constantly. This skepticism is driven by a barrage of stories of corruption, blatant lies, false promises to gain votes in elections, and the country’s shockingly partisan politics.

And worst of all, I have become desensitized to many of the disturbing and unnerving news notifications that pop up on my phone daily.

Putting aside his bigotry, incompetence, and narcissism, the perpetually erupting scandals of the Trump presidency have caused me to view politics as more of a game, or reality tv show, rather than a body that governs and affects the lives of millions. After witnessing Trump’s

Lauren Kim/Art Director

divisive rhetoric, his impeachment trial, his monthly dismissal of his staff, his laughable tweets, and the simple fact that he is never held accountable for his words or actions, I no longer associate dignity or prestige with United States politics.

I also no longer feel surprised when politicians do not make decisions in the interest of their constituency but rather act solely to maintain their power or advance their party’s best interest. From the Senate voting against Trump’s impeachment to the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barett, our incredibly partisan government has undermined our so-called “democracy.”

I have become disillusioned with our justice system as well. Whether it’s the absence of justice for Breonna Taylor’s murder or the fact that nine individuals have the power to eliminate a woman’s bodily autonomy or LGBTQ+ rights, our legal system seems both too powerful, too random, and too often just not just. It is terrifying to watch the government that is supposedly there to protect the welfare of the people, continually let the people down.

At a certain point, it is only natural to develop a feeling of disdain and distrust towards politicians.

Trump, his administration, and his supporters’ actions over the past four years have normalized corruption in politics. The president, who lives in and creates his own reality, is never bound to the truth. There is no pretense of morality in the White House anymore. I am only sixteen years old and I have a very bleak outlook on those who lead our nation.

While I feel cynical about the last four years,

one silver lining of growing up in the Trump era was the forced political awareness at a young age. It is hard to not pay attention when a racist reality tv star with 42 sexual assault allegations manages to get a hold of the most powerful position in our country. But my generation has been energized and propelled into action.

From phone banking to protesting, or simply spreading awareness through social media we are more politically engaged, aware, and motivated than ever before. I sincerely hope that this political engagement is translated in the form of a vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

“I no longer associate dignity or prestige with the politics of the United States.”

I acknowledge that my political views are constantly changing, as I am young and the little knowledge I do have is ever-expanding, but I am proud of my political engagement. I often wonder if I would have gotten as politically involved if we had a more capable, conventional leader. Now, no matter how “boring” the people in office may be, I truly can’t imagine not staying politically aware and active for the rest of my life. Although it often may seem like it, politics is not a game; our lives are deeply affected by it. The more people pay attention, the more we can try and hold our politicians accountable for their words and their actions.

Letters to the Editor

regarding the William Barr ’67 decision From the creators of the petition Exactly two weeks ago, the Horace Mann Alumni Council published their conclusion regarding the petition we initiated on June 6, 2020. While we accept their decision, by no means do we believe their explanation was sufficient nor their argument logical.

The Horace Mann Alumni Council over the last five months has been a major disappointment and their report does not vindicate them of this characterization.

To begin, the Alumni Council did not even attempt to answer the two questions we have been asking them since the beginning of this effort. We asked: (1) Would we still offer the Distinguished Achievement Award to Attorney General William Barr ‘67 if the decision was made today, given all we know of his current misconduct? and (2) Is there any act, so heinous or antithetical to our school’s values, that would cause us to rescind a previously granted award?

The Council explained that the award specifically rewards “demonstrated sustained excellence in a field.” We agree: the Attorney General has achieved high office and this achievement is impressive.

But has this achievement been sustained? Is overseeing the violent removal of peaceful protestors, which the Alumni Council denoted as “repugnant” and “incompatible with Horace Mann School’s core values,” “demonstrated sustained excellence in a field”?

We believe one’s ethical and moral compass carries weight and that their actions after the bestowing of an award merits just as much consideration as the actions beforehand. The Alumni Council agrees, writing in the report that “The images and news reporting of the events that took place in Lafayette Park on June 1, 2020 were deeply troubling, and the Special Committee believes that the Horace Mann School community stands with us in calling on all government officials (HM alumni/ae and non-alumni/ae alike) to uphold the inviolable constitutional ‘right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.’” So now we reach another question: How do we hold people accountable?

This question lies at the center of why the two of us started this petition and why so many members of the community signed: We have the opportunity, as the Horace Mann School, through the revocation of William Barr’s Award, to speak directly to the world and William Barr himself. It gives us the chance to repudiate his actions and reiterate HM’s values.

The Alumni Council notes they are “independent and distinct from Horace Mann School.” Again, we agree: their report clearly demonstrates to the Horace Mann community that they do not represent us. They do not represent either the 8,957 signatories of the petition as of November 2nd nor the “significant number of

members of the Horace Mann community that signed the Petition.”

In addition, we agree with Dr. Kelly’s Letter to the Editor (in the Horace Mann Record) on October 23, 2020; we should consider “what relationship the school should or should not have with the Award.” If the Alumni Council can neither represent Alumni opinion nor properly provide rationale for their decision, should they be considered “Horace Mann Alumni Associations’ Alumni Council”?

Do we need an Alumni Council that acts independently and does not reflect the Horace Mann School community and its ethics?

The case the Council presented for revocation (presumably the reasons why they did not rescind the award) were 1. the petition “reflected a partisan perspective;” 2. Barr is distinguished by the nature of his job; and 3. revocation would lead to a “slippery slope” with regards to other awardees. To address the first point, we do not believe this issue is political: the office of the Attorney General should not be a political one. The issue we take with the Attorney General is not related to the Presidents that have appointed him but rather the Attorney General’s recent specific actions while in office. The argument that this is political is itself an attempt to politicize. Neither the petition nor we argue for a political stance. Secondly, we agree that the office of the Attorney General is distinguished. However, the actions of this Attorney General in his most recent tenure are not; they are that of a tyrannical Attorney General who disregards his oath of office which is to support and defend the Constitution.

Finally, to the slippery slope argument: the Council’s attempt to create a “fair, thorough, methodical and replicable” process, in other words, is possible. Additionally, we believe our alumni, specifically alumni of distinguished achievement, should be held accountable for their actions.

Again, while we disagree with the report and are embarrassed by the Council’s inability to articulate their position, we accept their verdict. We should, however, as the Horace Mann community, continue to question the relationship of the school to an Alumni Council that does not represent our alma mater. We should ask what the value is of an Award for Distinguished Achievement that has been so tainted by Attorney General William Barr. Lastly, we want to note the lack of transparency and accountability demonstrated by the fact that no members of the Council signed their report. Clearly, no one was sufficiently proud of the decision to take responsibility for it.

From, Jessica Rosberger ‘20 and Kiara Royer ‘20

I graduated Horace Mann in 1973, and I have clear memories of learning to understand opposing political positions at Horace Mann. When I started at Horace Mann jackets and ties were required every day, and The Head of the Lower School would perform hair checks.

In my second year at HM a new Headmaster, Robert Thomason, arrived, and all rules were changed. Mr. Thomason’s children went to Dalton, and the Dalton Headmaster’s children, Donald Barr, went to HM. Bill Barr was one of the children of Donald Barr. The importance of this fact was Thomason was liberal, and Barr was conservative. Opposing thoughts were always pushed at HM, and non-popular political thinking was always accepted. Classmates continued to wear ties and jackets, and have very short hair, after the rules were changed, and this was always accepted by fellow students. When the Kent State tragedy happened, HM had a full school assembly to discuss closing the school for a moratorium. My brother Peter, HM ‘75 was in First Form at this time, and he spoke in opposition of closing the school. His argument was persuasive, and he remained active with the various governing councils at HM. My brother became a thinking Democrat, and always was willing to listen to the opinion of the other side. Peter served in the Florida legislature for a decade, and in the US Congress for six terms. Despite being a liberal Democrat, Peter became close friends with Newt Gingrich, and worked with Newt on many issues. Of course I did not like most of what Gingrich had to say, but it was important to listen to his position. I disagree with so much of what William Barr has done as the current Attorney General, but taking back his Alumni Award would be wrong on every level.

Revoking Barr’s award would be against everything that Horace Mann has looked to teach all of us. To the best of my knowledge William Barr has not committed any crime, and he has been a significant legal figure for many years. The student position to take away his alumni award is wrong, and the council decision to have his keep his award is correct.

From, Michael J. Deutsch ’73

See Letters to the Editor from Avani Khorana and English teacher Rebecca Bahr on the Record’s website