The Lion's Roar 35-2

R AR

VOL. 35 ISSUE 2

the LION’S

LEft Behind Immigration restrictions separate junior Pegi Mirkhani from her father

Page 18

By Sophie Lewis and Carrie Ryter Photo by Netta Dror

Newton South High School

· Newton, MA · Est. 1984 · sept. 7, 2018

NEWS page 2|September 7, 2018|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

News@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 2

Newton to provide sophomores with laptops Julian Fefer, Dean Zhang Sr. News Editor, News Reporter

This school year sophomores at both Newton North and South will receive Chromebooks from the Newton Public Schools starting in December or January.

In 2016, the High School Curriculum Council (HSCC) began discussing the One to One Device Pilot, a plan to provide all sophomores a school-funded Chromebook.

The HSCC consists of Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Mary Eich, both Newton North’s and South’s principals and all of the department heads from both Newton high schools.

The One to One Device Pilot aims to increase diversity in teaching strategies and make both Newton high schools more equitable according to Toby Romer, the Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education and a major advocate for the initiative.

“We recognize that teachers and students need a lot more frequent access to technology to really [learn] in a 21st century classroom,” Romer said. “We are also creating more equal access, which will allow everyone to take full advantage of what technology offers.”

The program also ensures that the sophomores have enough computers to take the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), said Information Technology Interim Head Steven Rattendi.

“We are going to need every student to have a computer for MCAS, as testing for English and math will be entirely computer based,” he said.

Last year, the HSCC ran a test pilot by giving 50 high school students both Chromebooks and Macbook Airs. At South, juniors in the Da Vinci program and a freshman history class participated in the pilot. The HSCC said they received positive responses from both teachers and students.

The HSCC said that they chose Chromebooks over Macbook Airs as they meet the needs of a regular high school student and are approximately five times cheaper than buying Macbook Airs.

“There are some features that a Chromebook doesn’t have that a Mac does, but based on the prices we are better off providing [Chromebooks],” Romer said.

“I feel like for school purposes,

Chromebooks work just as well, but some students may have a problem with them and want Macbooks because they are more expensive and high class,” sophomore Sophie Gu said.

Senior Javid Kasraie agreed and said that Chromebooks are powerful enough for basic schoolwork.

“I think a Chromebook would be good enough and would allow [students] to do their work while also not incurring too much of a cost burden on the school district,” he said.

History teacher Jessica Engel said that when she was asked to pilot the program in

puters will apply to the Chromebooks as well.

Romer said that in terms of borrowing logistics, Chromebooks are analogous to textbooks.

“You get a textbook at the beginning of the year from your teacher, it has a barcode on it, you keep it, you bring it back and forth in your backpack to work on it at home and at the end of the year, you are responsible for turning it in with no more than the regular wear and tear,” he said. “If it’s lost or damaged, you have the responsibility to take care of that.”

All sophomores will be given a Chromebook, regardless of if they already

“Originally there were kids who had computers versus kids who didn’t have computers — that created an injustice in the Newton South community, but now that everyone has their own computer, they have the same privilege to do quality work.”

Jay Park, Class of 2020 her class last school year, she agreed because she thought it would have a positive impact on her students.

“After many years of teaching, I’m usually game for trying out a new approach if it has potential to support student learning,” she said.

Engel added that the pilot was a success, as students benefited from having computers in class.

“I know the students appreciated having access to technology during study halls, J-blocks and at home,” she said.

Kasraie said that he believes students may use the computers to play games rather than for schoolwork.

“I think that the threat of students abusing the Chromebooks purpose and playing games on them is very high; which defeats the point of them,” he said.

Teachers will not be able to supervise every students using their computer in class, which means that students may play games in class without getting caught,” Gu said.

According to Romer, web screening restrictions currently on other school com-

have a laptop, but Kasraie said that money should be used on other pressing issues rather than Chromebooks for students who already have their own laptops.

“They can just give the amount [of computers] that they need to give, rather than waste thousands of dollars on laptops, a chunk of which won’t be used,” he said “ They

could invest the money into updating the school, fixing the infrastructure, investing in clubs and doing any improvements that the school needs to do,” Kasraie added.

According to Rattendi, it is still unclear whether students will be required to use the computers allotted to them.

“It could end up being a school decision [or] it may end up being a district decision,” Rattendi said. “It could be a teacher decision where a teacher in their classroom says, ‘you know, I want everyone on the same device so that we don’t have to worry about trying to get it to work on everyone’s different computers.’”

Sophomore Andrew Li said that students who already have their own laptop should be able to use theirs rather than the school-provided Chromebooks.

“All my friends have their own computer, [so] I don’t think they would use a Chromebook over their own laptop,” he said.

“I feel like when people are getting another computer, it’s just useless. What are they going to do with it?” Gu said.

Rattendi, however, said that the standardization of the computers will help classrooms run smoothly.

“If everyone is on the same device in a classroom, it can make things a lot less complicated for teachers who have to make sure that there aren’t compatibility issues, that everyone has the right software and that everything is working as expected,” he said.

Romer added that having all students use the same device is the most equitable option available. “[By] providing every student with affordable computers via our One to One Chromebook initiative, we’re really creating more equal access, which will allow everyone to take advantage of what technology offers,” he said.

Sophomore Jay Park agreed that distributing computers to all soph- omores will reduce inequality b e - tween South students.

“Originally there were k i d s who had computers versus kids who didn’t have computers — that created an injustice in the Newton South community, but now that everyone has their own computer, they have the same privilege to do quality work,” he said.

graphic by Alice Zilberberg

september 7, 2018|page 3

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|news

New teachers excited for first year at South Peri Barest Sr. News Editor

As the school year begins, South welcomes many new teachers across several departments.

Julie Lebeaux, 9th grade world history and AP U.S. history teacher, taught at Westwood High School and student-taught at Newton North before coming to South.

“I really like history because I think the content is very fascinating, and I also think that, especially today, the skills that you learn in history class … are essential for high school students and their success later on,” Lebeaux said.

Matthew Werth, who teaches French and Spanish, said that he loves sharing his passion for languages.

Werth added that South will be a very different environment from his previous job teaching in Taiwan at a small, rural elementary school and in Taipei at a high-needs middle school.

Chemistry teacher Kirsten Vickey student-taught at South last year and said she wanted to continue teaching at South to get more students interested in chemistry.

Spanish teacher Stacy Nazzaro previously taught in Waltham and Boston. She also used her Spanish skills in an international business setting and said she wants to make students excited about opportunities to travel abroad in the future.

Jennifer Bement, who teaches U.S. history and 12th grade Understanding the Contemporary World, said she loves the social justice aspects of history and thinks that Contemporary World is very relevant to students.

“I think that Contemporary World issues will hopefully pull on those ideas that this is our world and we should care, not just about America, but also about what’s going on everywhere,” Bement said.

Wellness teacher Carrie Hanover teaches Yoga and Pilates, Centered Self and Lifetime Pursuits after previously being a science teacher.

“There’s a lot more pressure on students than there was when I was that age, and I think [the skills learned in wellness class] are useful information for … students as they grow up, so that’s why I switched,” Hanover added.

U.S. history and 9th grade world history teacher Zak Gomes said that he finds history fascinating. He added that he’s primarily used to teaching in an urban setting, as he previously taught in Randolph and Roxbury, but that he’s excited to teach in a new environment.

After teaching in Rhode Island, Boston and Easton, Spanish teacher Alexandra van Buren said she is looking forward to giving students the opportunity to become bilingual, as well as establish a career for herself and help develop a new curriculum.

9th grade world history and AP U.S. history teacher David Murdock taught in New York City and Gardner, Mass. before coming to South. Murdock said that he thinks South will be a good place to teach following his previous teaching positions.

Special education teacher MacKenzie Grant said she is excited to work in the RISE

graphic by Emily Zhang

program b e cause she enjoys the challenges each new day brings.

North graduate Lillian Robinson said she is excited to return to Newton schools to teach 9th grade world history. She said she finds history interesting because of how it has impacted her.

“I like history because I have really been touched by it in my life,” she said. “My dad’s dad fought in World War I and my mom’s dad fought in World War II.” Biology teacher Sianna LaForest said that she loves teaching biology because it is a subject that many students find approachable.

Like Nazarro, many teachers said that they hope to get to know their students, colleagues and the school.

“My biggest goal is to get to know and work with as many teachers as possible because we can all learn so much from each other and come up with new ideas and new programs,” Nazzaro said.

Bement agreed, adding that she wants to establish connections within the South community by teaching history.

Hanover said that building trusting relationships with students is one of her goals, as it helps the learning process. Likewise, Gomes said that he hopes to establish connections with his students in order to help them succeed and enjoy history class.

“One of my main goals is to just connect with students as much as possible, find what they’re interested in and help them out in any way that I can as a history teacher … to really challenge and push my students to understand and study history and enjoy it to the greatest degree possible,” he added.

Grant said she wants to help her students feel like they belong in the South community.

“I think one of my goals is to help the students in the RISE program really be-

come a part of the community and become well known within South, and be able to interact with other organizations, other students, other clubs [and] other sports,” she added.

LaForest said that she is new to high school teaching, despite having a background in undergraduate teaching, and said she hopes to learn alongside her students.

Vickey said that she wants to make chemistry more approachable for students than it was in her own high school experience.

“My big goal is to really get to know all of the students that I have and show them that chemistry isn’t scary or inaccessible. … It’s something that they could pursue [and] it’s something that they’re able to do,” she added.

Werth said his biggest goal is to make his students excited and passionate about foreign cultures and languages.

“I think that learning a language on its own is interesting, but it’s more about being able to step into another perspective and seeing the world through a different lens,” he said.

Lebeaux said that she is looking forward to learning about South’s culture, community and values.

“I’m excited to get a sense of what’s important to students at South, what’s important to faculty at South and what people [are] working towards together,” she added.

Bement shared Lebeaux’s sentiment and wants to immerse herself in the school community through school events such as sports games and South Stage productions.

Nazzaro said that she is most excited about meeting her new students.

“I was really impressed by the students

in my [demonstration] class, not only by their performance and what they were doing, but by their honest interest in the subject and the questions that they were asking, so I’m really excited to get to know 100 students like that,” she added.

Lebeaux said that learning the logistics of a new school will be difficult for her.

“The normal kind of getting to know the basic running of the school [will be a challenge.] Like where’s the copier, where do I go to get my mail, … which I know sounds kind of silly to get nervous about, but it’s a lot to learn,” she said.

Bement agreed, adding that learning how to use Schoology and Aspen, in such a short amount of time has been challenging.

Vickey said that she is nervous about assigning a balanced workload.

“In general, school can be anxiety provoking, so [I’m] trying to make sure I balance keeping a rigorous schedule while not overloading people,” she said.

Van Buren said that fresh starts can be exciting, but challenging. “[With] starting at a new school, you have to start over from zero. It’s almost like reestablishing who you are [and] how your classroom runs,” she said.

Werth said that establishing trust with his students might be a challenging aspect of teaching at a new school.

“It really takes time to establish trust with students [and] to let them know that I’m there for them and that I will do everything that I can so that they’re successful,” he said.

Nazzaro said she is nervous about the first week of school because of its novelty. Yet, she said she is excited to start the school year because of South’s welcoming environment.

“This whole summer since I got hired, I’ve felt very welcomed in the South community,” she said.

Additional writing by Julian Fefer and Sophie Lewis

page 4|september 7, 2018

news|THELIONsROAR.com|THE LION’S ROAR

Foundations lets students explore arts, media Peri Barest, Shoshi Gordon Sr. News Editor, News Reporter

This school year, students have the opportunity to participate in the Foundations program, a new art class that aims to give students an introductory approach to different mediums of art and design.

“The entire art department has actually been working on this for three years ... it’s been very thorough, and I’m pleased to say that we’re all really excited about it,” fine and performing arts department head Megan Leary-Crist said.

Leary-Crist added that the Foundations program offers two different tracks: 2-D Meets 3-D and Media Arts.

Both programs are structured around the four term schedule, pushing students to focus on a new subject each term.

The 2-D Meets 3-D Foundations class is a more traditional art class where students will have one term each of photo, drawing, mixed media and ceramics.

In the Media Arts Foundations class, however, all of the work is done digitally, and students have one term each of Photoshop, web design, 3-D imaging and video and 2-D animation.

Photography teacher Laura Penney said that the course will be geared toward freshmen,

but is open to all students, especially those who have not taken an art class before, in order to get a taste of the different classes.

Leary-Crist added that Foundations allows students to have more options when choosing what art class to take because they will already have the prerequisite for most of the upper level art classes.

According to Penney, Foundations will prevent students from feeling like they have to stick to one medium in their high school career.

“It’s just to help students make a more informed decision on what they want the next year because they might find that they like two electives. Before, if you went into an art class you would kind of be stuck in that class ... but now you could jump up to the different levels the following year,” Penney said. “[It] is an opportunity for students to explore most of the digital imaging programs that we use in the media lab,” media lab teacher Carol Ober said.

In the Foundations class, each teacher only has one term to focus on material that was previously being taught for a full year.

“It would be a disservice to students to try to take a full year’s curriculum and cram it into one term,” Leary-Crist said.

“A term [is] roughly eight to 10 weeks ... [students will do] maybe one major project and two smaller projects that build up [their] skills to be able to work in this larger context.”

Mixed media teacher Jeffrey Wixon said his students will have two

main projects: mosaics and a wire sculpture project.

Similarly, ceramics teacher Molly Baring-Gould said that her students will have three mini-projects: decorated coil bowls, clay that is made to look like food and pinch pots.

Ober said that she will base her class on templates and outlines because of the fast paced nature of the course.

“I would give them … a template of a web page and rather than learning all the code from scratch, they would learn how to just kind of get in and play with the code,” she added. “Each program will take that approach — a simplified approach — to learning, and we won’t go into as much depth, but it hopefully will be lots of fun.”

Leary-Crist said that the Foundations program focuses on the elements and principles of design: color, shape, line, form, balance, tension and harmony.

“The theory behind having these Foundations is that in art, very much like in language, you need to understand vocabulary, … you need to understand punctuation, you need to understand syntax [and] you need to understand … how to put it all together,” she said.

Both Penney and Leary-Crist said they are most excited that the Foundations program will push students beyond their comfort zones and challenge them to try new areas of art in which they have little or no experience with.

“We have our comfort zone

and we’re going to work just outside of it [in] the zone of proximal learning where you’re not exactly comfortable but you’re pushed into this place [where] you can do it, but you’ve got to work for it,” she said. “I’m really curious to see what a foundational experience freshman year is going to lead to a little bit down the line.”

Penney said she is slightly nervous about establishing relationships with new students in such a short amount of time.

“One strength of our department is that we do form connections with students, ... but I think that I’m worried that the turnaround time of them leaving and going to the next teacher is so quick that that connection is not going to be there,” she said.

Ober agreed, adding that she does have some concerns about students picking up the material, since it can be difficult to work with computers.

Nonetheless, Leary-Crist said she thinks students will be successful in their art classes if they have the freedom to explore different types of art and develop their passions.

“When kids take an art class, they feel really connected to their teachers [and] their community because you’re working on projects of your own choosing,” she said. “The parameters of the project are such that you can bring your own personal passion to this.”

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September 7, 2018|page 5

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|News

South offers new sport: unified basketball

Jennifer Wang & Rachael Wei Copy Editor, News Reporter

Following the addition of a unified track team last spring, South will offer another unified sport this fall: unified basketball, a co-ed varsity sport that pairs athletes with disabilities and partners (students without disabilities) to compete together on one team. Unified basketball is sponsored by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) and Special Olympics, and the team’s first practice will take place on Sept. 24.

According to athletic director Patricia Gonzalez, the idea for unified basketball came after the success of unified track.

“The students who were doing the spring track were so excited about being part of another program like this with the opportunity to compete,” Gonzalez said.

Unified track and unified basketball coach Alex Strongin said that many students, especially unified track team members, were thrilled upon hearing about the possibility of competing in another unified sport. “[When] I mentioned unified basketball might [happen] next year, several months away, multiple students went [out] and bought basketballs. … Logic had no place here, and they just went out and got ready for the idea of a next season,” he said.

Junior Charlotte Doran said that she decided to join unified basketball as a partner because of the cheerful atmosphere at unified track.

“Everybody seemed like they were having a fun time, and some of the kids just seemed to be really enjoying themselves. During meets, parents would be there and would be cheering them on and it seemed like such a happy and fun and carefree thing to do. … I was just attracted to the overall happiness involved,” she said.

Gonzalez said that parents of both unified athletes and their partners were also supportive of the addition of unified basketball.

“The parents are very involved [and] very grateful that the students have the ability to participate. It’s the same with parents of kids with different abilities and parents of partners,” she said. “We had great feedback

from parents of partners during the spring about the impact on the student’s life and outlook to be able to participate with somebody who needs help.”

Although unified basketball was met with enthusiasm and support, some challenges still need to be addressed. One concern, according to Gonzalez, was how to accommodate athletes’ individual needs.

“If someone is running with something that could be dangerous to the others, that might be something where we look and see how we can include that person, or if the rules allow them to be included or not,” she said. “That’s the challenge with [unified sports], but it’s a good challenge. You are creating opportunities for everyone.”

Athletic trainer Patrick JordanQuern said he is looking forward to the team’s first season even though the addition of a fall varsity team will be demanding of the wellness department.

The initial setup and organization of the program will be challenging as well, Strongin said.

“We aren’t entirely sure how a game runs for unified basketball. … It’s a bit of trial and error in the beginning,” he said. “My ambition as of right now is to learn the sport, to teach kids who have never played a sport before how it’s run and dip our feet in the water to see if we like it.”

Despite thes challenges, Gonzalez said that the unified basketball team will foster inclusion and social equality by providing opportunities for students

“[When] I mentioned unified basketball might [happen] next year, several months away, multiple students went [out] and bought basketballs. … Logic had no place here, and they just went out and got ready for the idea of a next season” Alex Strongin, unified track and basketball coach to represent their school.

“There [are students] in this school who are in our classes, who are in extracurricular activities, but they’ve never had the opportunity to represent this school, to wear the school colors,” Gonzalez said.

“Having [unified basketball] is giving them an area where they can feel secure, participate, ... become var-

graphics by Chris Jang

sity athletes, [and] earn their varsity letter, like any other varsity sport here.”

Strongin added that the unified basketball program will focus on offering every athlete the chance to reach their full potential rather than stress about competition.

“It’s not about winning, it’s more about individual physical improvement.

We don’t care in the end who won and who lost. ... The idea is to bring people with and without ... disabilities together on a team where everyone tries their best,” he said.

Through interactions between athletes and partners, unified basketball will not only benefit those with disabilities, but also benefit the partners, Gonzalez said.

“It’s the opportunity to see the world from a different perspective. When we talk about our core values — showing kindness and listening and showing respect, taking responsibility for [other] human being[s]— all those students, people with and without disabilities, have an equal opportunity to live those core values,” she said.

As a partner on the team, junior Matt Reinstein said his goal is to support and advocate for his teammates with disabilities.

“It’s not about looking good — it’s about allowing your other teammates to look good. I want to allow my teammates

to represent their school in a way that they don’t usually get to. It’s not about me, it’s about them,” he said.

Doran added that the team will allow her to meet more students.

“I think it’s a great way to help integrate people into the community … [and] to get to know people who usually aren’t in my classes, especially since some of these people have disabilities that prevent me getting to know them better,” she said.

Jordan-Quern agreed that running a program like unified basketball is important.

“Everyone has the right and hopefully the opportunities to participate in anything. It’s just like any other varsity sport [and] any other club out there. I think it’s important to get our whole community involved in some type of extracurricular activity,” he said.

“Life and people come in different shapes and forms and colors and all should have the opportunity to represent the schools that they go to, in the same arena that the other students have,” Gonzalez said. “Even when things don’t go their way, and they lose, they’re learning about themselves too. They are pushing their own limits like all the athletes do here, so it’s very rewarding to see that we can do that for them, and we can allow that opportunity.”

EDITORIALS page 6|September 7, 2018|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

editorials@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, Issue 2

Hate speech prevention stems from education, not from zero-tolerance discipline Since students spend nearly one third of their days at school, parents expect their children to be treated well; yet, instances of racism, sexism and bullying remain prevalent not just at South, but at schools across the country. In the past few years, South has been working hard to construct means to combat hate speech.

Every so often, however, a hate speech incident occurs, and the consequences often divide the South community.

Before delving into the intricacies of the issue, it’s important to recognize that nobody — not any person, school or organization — will ever completely eradicate hate speech. Hate will never cease to exist in the world, and therefore hateful actions will inevitably manifest themselves in different ways. The question is: to what degree can we minimize these occurrences and how do we deal with them so that they occur fewer times?

Although hate speech is easily identifiable to most people, the speech’s intent is not always clear. For example, while cer-

tain terms’ origins are inherently offensive, there is a debate over whether modern culture permits their use in a lighthearted, playful context. While some argue that these terms shouldn’t be used under any circumstances, it’s hard to deny their mainstream presence in society today.

Certainly, 14-18 year olds are not intrinsically hateful, but all 14-18 year olds have a lot to learn about the impact their words and actions can have on others Given the intertwined use of slurs both casually and offensively, it puts school administrators in a difficult position: on one hand, they don’t want to police students’ words, but on the other hand, they need to discipline students to maintain school values and to protect students’ wellbeing.

South should focus on treating hate speech with remedies, not punishment. By severely punishing hate speech, we don’t

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get anywhere. A hypothetical offender won’t reflect on their actions during detention or seek forgiveness while suspended; more likely than not, they’ll accuse the school of “sensitivity”. Plus, how will the school know that the intent of the offender is purely to offend?

Writing Graphics

Improve your tech- Conduct interviews, Draw, paint or use report on compel- digital techniques nique by shooting at sports games, ling topics or write to create pieces about your own that accompany school events and opinions. printed articles. staged photos.

Furthermore, establishing strict regulations on speech would pose a daunting logistical nightmare. The act of creating speech codes is completely arbitrary, and enforcing them is even more difficult.

And let’s be honest: Teachers don’t want to become speech police.

The way forward is not easy, but certainly more productive than a ruthless disciplinarian approach. Yes, we should go to war with hate, but not armed with our

yelling voices and in-school suspensions.

Instead, let’s take a more constructive approach.

The administration and teachers should continue with their praiseworthy approaches, like having more conversations about what’s offensive and what’s not and educating the student body more about why hateful language is bad. But next time an incident occurs, we need to seek truth, not a scapegoat. Certainly, 1418 year olds are not intrinsically hateful, but all 14-18 year olds have a lot to learn about the impact their words and actions can have on others.

The answer to the problem is not stricter rules, it’s smarter remedies.

Empower students to have more conversations, not fewer.

When young people take ownership over their actions, they are set up to learn from their mistakes and be receptive to feedback. When framing the issue, let’s ensure that the solution to hate speech is more speech, not less speech.

Volume XXXV The Lion’s Roar Newton South High School’s Student Newspaper 140 Brandeis Road Newton, MA 02459 srstaff@thelionsroar.com

Editors-in-Chief Catherine Granfield Ilan Rotberg

Managing Editors Eu Ro Wang Dina Zeldin

Section Editors Message The-Lion’s Roar on Facebook or email srstaff@thelionsroar.com for more information check out issuu.com/thelionsroar.

Editorial Policy

The Lion’s Roar, founded in 1984, is the student newspaper of Newton South High School, acting as a public forum for student views and attitudes.

The Lion’s Roar’s right to freedom of expression is protected by the Massachusetts Student Free Expression Law (Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 71, Section 82). All content decisions are made by student editors, and the content of The Lion’s Roar in no way reflects the official policy of Newton South, its faculty or its administration.

Editorials are the official opinion of The Lion’s Roar, while opinions and letters are the personal viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Lion’s Roar. The Lion’s Roar reserves the right to edit all submitted content, to reject advertising copy for resubmission of new copy that is deemed acceptable by student editors and to make decisions regarding the submission of letters to the editors, which are welcomed.

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Opinions

Features

Sophie Lewis Carrie Ryter

News

Peri Barest Julian Fefer

Chunyu He Caleb Lazar

Sports

Centerfold

Sophie Goodman Dorra Guermazi

Aron Korsunsky Jackson Slater

Graphics Managers

Copy Editor

Photo Manager

Ellen Deng Alice Zilberberg

Jennifer Wang

Netta Dror

Business Manager Javid Kasraie

Faculty Advisers Ashley Chapman Faye Cassell

September 7, 2018|page 7

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|DESK

Sobering up to the realities of goals, EDITOR’S one bullet journal at a time DESK from the

Catherine Granfield Editor-in-Chief

I began the summer with a trip to Staples. As soon as the smell of paper hit me, I regretted my regression to a scholarly setting not unlike the one I’d escaped just 20 hours before, but I moved through the aisles with a clear purchase in mind: a bullet journal.

For those of us who don’t spend too much time looking at inspiration blogs on Instagram, a bullet journal serves as artsy mix-up of a daily planner, habit tracker and place to write down goals and aspirations. While my summer activities were far too spontaneous to warrant a daily planner, the idea of setting goals and charting the habits to reach them intrigued me.

And so my eight week goals were set. I would go to the gym five days a week. I would drink lots of water and no coffee. I would get my driver’s license, tour every college in the continental United States and begin senior year more prepared than any senior ever. I would, in other words, become unrecognizable.

Things didn’t go as planned. As the summer marched forward, I realized a disturbing, and predictable, reality: I couldn’t keep the same motivation as when the summer began. I surrendered my goals, begrudgingly yet fully, and my bullet journal was soon repurposed as a coaster on my nightstand. By mid-July, I’d written off the summer as a flop.

But even as I berated myself and my quitter tendencies, my summer took an unforeseen direction. I spent more time with my family and friends than ever before, focusing on relationships that had fallen short during the bustle of the school year. I spent more time outside, read more and picked up old hobbies with which I’d fallen out of practice. And as this school year begins, I feel surprisingly prepared.

My preparedness initially surprised me because it challenged my accepted theory of goals. I always believed that goals served like blueprints — like building a house, if you follow Steps A and B and C down to their most precise dimensions, you will eventually construct a better you. Yet through my summer, and through my time at South, I’ve seen that goals are more effective when they act as hypotheses instead of blueprints. Instead of sticking to a static, predetermined set of guidelines for where to go and how to get there, the hypothesis view of goals allows us to account for changing conditions.

For instance, when I finished junior year, I knew I wanted to spend the summer preparing myself for September. That endpoint didn’t change. What changed were my means of obtaining my endpoint — instead of my initial plan to overhaul all my habits, my new plan focused on resurrecting my existing, but temporarily lost, habits. If I had stuck to my blueprint theory, I would have followed a halfhearted, and ultimately unrewarding, path to obtaining my goal. Instead, I took my

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more scientific approach, testing my first hypothesis — If I follow this bullet journal, I will feel prepared for senior year — and tweaking it to match my observations — If I focus on fulfilling experiences and relationships, I will feel prepared for senior year.

Too often, I’ve equated this restructuring of goals with giving up. Especially at the beginning of freshman year, I set a static position of where I wanted to be during my time at South and where I wanted to end up afterwards. Now, as that murky afterwards sneaks closer and closer, I recognize that my time at South and the time’s intended aftermath do not align with my freshman year vision. Although I became aware of this discrepancy between plans and reality early in my high school career — I could not, in fact, fully commit to each of the 8 trillion clubs I signed up for on Step Up Day — I refused to accept this truth until midway through high school, instead sticking with activities that I found neither rewarding nor enjoyable in the name of commitment.

During sophomore year, my chemistry teacher cautioned against this blind adherence to stagnant goals. Though I did not realize the lesson’s personal relevance until much later, one statement stuck with me. He was telling the story of a girl who, upon completing her freshman year of college, discovered that she did not enjoy her intended major. Although she could have switched majors, she was reluctant, as since childhood, she had envisioned herself completing the original major.

My teacher advised her to switch anyway.

“Childhood dreams are great,” he said.

“But you’re not a child anymore.”

Again and again, many people at South let dreams define current wants, whether we set those dreams in childhood or last year. Shortly after my teacher made his statement, I talked to one friend who had always aimed to pursue a career in STEM. During high school, however, she found an affinity for public speaking and humanities, and said she wanted to be an immigration lawyer. Clearly, this redefining wasn’t a capitulation — a successful immigration lawyer would help others as much, if not more so, than a researcher, yet due to our conviction that goals must stay static, my friend felt like she was letting herself and others down.

When we adhere to goals that fail to reflect our current, most honest selves, we deprive ourselves of meaningful experiences and neglect our passions. We need to learn to define our own goals based on need and observation rather than letting no-longer-wanted goals define us.

So to the freshman: You don’t have to stick with drama, or track or math team just because it defined you in middle school. You have to stick with it because it defines you and fulfills you now. And to my fellow seniors: The school you’ve dreamed of since you were two doesn’t need to be the one you dream of this year.

As long as we hold on to our ambition and drive to succeed, we can realign our goals without fear.

OPINIONS page 8|September 7, 2018|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

opinions@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 2

SHOULD SOUTH OFFER MORE AP CLAsSEs to UNDERCLASSMEN? YES

NO

By Haiyi Jiang

A

s teenagers, it’s hard to grapple with what exactly we want to do for the rest of our lives. Recently, students have been projecting their future onto their academic workload, and though this trend may seem to suggest that students would elect to take courses that reflect their interests, in practice it means that students have a tendency to do whatever it takes to get into an Ivy League school, even if that means taking too many challenging courses.

This issue is widespread across many schools, but it is especially pertinent at South, often culminating in students overbooking themselves with difficult courses, namely AP or college-level classes. While some believe that allowing underclassmen to take more APs would fortify their academic strength, I believe that it would only reinforce the toxic values that have been deeply woven in South’s culture.

First and foremost, in South’s already stressful academic environment, students often campaign for reduced homework, fewer tests and longer deadlines in order to combat the academic stress. Allowing underclassmen to take more APs would be a step in the opposite direction. AP courses are college level classes, and often have “college level” workloads. Taking honors classes alone already provides students with a potentially overwhelming amount of work, but adding APs to the mix as students are still adjusting to South’s environment and academic rigor would easily push students past their limits.

AP courses also culminate in taking an AP exam, which determines whether or not a student will receive college credits for their AP course. Studying for finals is already stressful enough, but can you imagine studying for a test that will determine whether or not you can skip an entire level of a course in college? Adding APs to the potential roster for underclassmen would only create more of the unnecessary stress that many students are trying to avoid. South also has a notoriously unhealthy mindset when it comes to GPA and academics, so giving underclassmen access to take even more challenging courses would only increase the everpresent internal and external pressure to overachieve academically. Thus, the solution to South’s stress epidemic isn’t to allow students more access to what causes their stress in the first place.

Furthermore, students often push graphic by Alice Zilberberg

they do not need to spend an unnecessary amount of money on college. In addition, succeeding in AP courses increases the chances students have at receiving certain scholarships or merit aid in colleges. Merit aids average around $10,000 among all colleges. Therefore, offering more AP courses at South could save many students lots of money in the long run.

In the short term, offering more AP courses is essential for more students to be admitted to selective colleges. Students accepted to the top 20 colleges nationwide average seven to 12 AP courses in high school. Even for the top 100 colleges, the average is four to eight. Without access to AP courses as freshmen and sophomores, this goal is extremely hard for South students to achieve without overloading themselves in junior and senior years.

Access to APs for underclassmen can also increase students’ chance of succeeding in future AP courses or any courses in general. Students who don’t feel challenged by courses at their grade level are mainly the ones who would choose to take APs as underclassmen if given the chance. At that point, they can be pressured to find better studying habits at a time when their test results are less important, maximizing their potential.

Even for students who did not succeed in APs, they have a better chance of succeeding in their future high school years only when they’re familiar with APs and learn how to cope with them early.

Without South offering APs to underclassmen, many students still make the decision to self study, giving them the material of an AP without any guidance. Therefore, the negative impacts of bad decisions manifest regardless of South offering APs to underclassmen. The positive impacts of offering APs to freshmen and sophomores, however, can otherwise not exist. graphic by Alice Zilberberg

T

he majority of students at South are overwhelmed. For underclassmen, there are always more APs to self study. For upperclassmen, there are always more commitments, standardized testings and college applications to complete on top of their workload, a torturing amount of AP classes. It would make everyone’s life easier if the workload of AP courses can be more evenly distributed throughout all high school years. Thus South should offer AP’ s to underclassmen.

Offering APs earlier can help students figure out their interest sooner.

According to the Journal of Educational Research, “students who succeeded on the AP calculus and science tests are more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree in a science, technology, engineering and mathematics ... than students who did not pass.” Having a better insight to career paths can significantly amuse a student in a boring academic world. At the moment, South does not officially offer AP courses to underclassmen. By doing so, South would offer students the advantage of having clearer insight regarding prospective career paths in fields relating to that AP course, which would lead to future success. Furthermore, better knowing one’s career path is crucial to prevent wasting time on courses that one is not interested in during college.

Additionally, taking AP courses in high school often exempts students from spending time taking the same courses in college, enabling them to possibly graduate sooner or take higher level courses earlier. To take APs during high school, students will have more opportunities to take other courses.

Avoiding these courses in college also saves students money. The possible exemption from taking these courses in college means students have to take fewer college courses overall. If students are able to finish certain courses in high school,

By Isabel Flessas themselves to take high-level courses just to impress colleges, even if the class is not the right level for them. Of course, taking a course that is too difficult is never a wise option — there is a fine but notable line between taking a class that is challenging, and taking a class that is overwhelming.

South students, however, often seem to confuse the two, because it isn’t uncommon for students to take an AP that they are not equipped to handle.

In college, students often only take three or four courses, which can still amount to a lot of homework.

At South, however, some students take two or three AP courses in addition to their three or four other core classes, all of which could potentially be at an honors level. Furthermore, AP classes are designed to prepare students for the AP exam, which determines whether or not a student receives college credit for their AP course. Naturally, this adds an entirely new layer of stress into student lives that are already consumed with the pursuit of academic perfection. Even worse, occasionally the credit earned from the AP exam doesn’t transfer into college credits, meaning that students could potentially waste time that could’ve been spent studying for other tests or just relaxing.

By taking a class that is intended to replace an introductory college course, students often intend to skip a level of a course in college. Although you may remember something you learned last year, chances are you probably don’t clearly remember the stuff you learned two or three years ago. Imagine starting a new class in college, when almost all of your classmates took the introductory course during the previous year. It would be difficult to keep up in a class without having a fresh and strong memory of the basics. Sometimes, it’s just better to wait until the right time to take an important class.

In conclusion, taking many APs and honors classes can lead to large quantities of stress, which is understandably detrimental when it comes to mental health. By opening up the opportunity for underclassmen to burn countless hours of homework for college level courses, we would be endorsing the competitive and unhealthy mindset to which South has grown accustomed.

September 7, 2018|page 9

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|opinions

D I V E R S I T Y IN EXTRACURRICULARS D

By Laila Polk

iversity, as defined by MerriamWebster, means “the condition of having or being composed of differing elements.” The first listed core value on South’s website states the “dedication to equality and opportunity for all.” But we have to ask: is this definition an accurate description of South’s extracurricular life and does South live up to the expectations it sets in its core values?

As we begin a new school year and welcome a new freshman class, it’s time to look at our clubs and determine whether they’re as inclusive to students of different races and genders as we would hope. Our school has 99 clubs from the Newton South Stock Trading Club to the Black Student Union, so many believe that there is a place for everyone. However, this belief may not be true for many black and brown students looking to join clubs this fall.

There is a deficit of black and brown students in South’s extracurriculars. Meanwhile, other students see South’s extracurricular activities as diverse. Both judgements are valid and truthful in different, but not opposing ways.

There are many East Asian and South Asian students of color participating in South’s academic oriented extracurriculars, like Speech and Debate, but there still isn’t a sizeable number of African-American and Latinx students. The main extracurricular that African American students participate in is sports. So why is it that African-American and Latinx aren’t joining South’s more academically focused clubs?

Generally, if students of color aren’t seeing “mirrors” — people of similar racial identity or other people of color in prospective clubs —they feel detached from the group and become less receptive to what the prospective club offers.

The problem seems to be a lack of visibility of black and brown students in our extracurriculars. But why are black and brown students choosing sports over say, Speech and Debate or The Lion’s Roar? Why not both?

I play a sport, write for the Roar, work on theatre productions for South Stage and participate actively on the Congressional Debate team. Surely these activities can’t be at conflict with my racial identity. Again, why aren’t more black and brown students joining these clubs? Is it solely a problem of visibility? It very well could be.

I remember my first club fair at South. I walked into the field house, instantly bombarded by noise and excitement. It was sensory overload: shiny poster-boards, upperclassmen yelling at freshmen to come visit their booths, videos and slideshows playing in the background and the nearly deafening chorus of chatter. It was overwhelming in the purest sense of the word. Given the unique sense of racial consciousness that black and brown students face in predominantly white institutions like South, it can be even harder to throw yourself into new, complex and overwhelming situations like club fairs. In cases like these, it is much easier to just stand off to the side with your

middle school friends, to cloak yourself in familiarity. During intense situations like these, seeing someone who “mirrors” you is important: it breaks down the first layer of apprehension that students of color may have. Essentially, having diverse club leadership helps create diverse clubs.

Former debate team captain Daniel Abdulah said, “As we had [a] more diverse leadership group, it encouraged more diversity in terms of people joining the team.” Greater leadership diversity causes greater team diversity as a whole.

When you ask most people what is the is the best way to become part of the South community, many will tell you to join a sports team or a club. According to a 2017 Newton Public Schools survey, only 37% of black high school students felt like they are a part of their school. This statistic affirms that to create a more united and diverse South, we need to figure out how to increase African-American student involvement.

There is no doubt of the link between the low African-American participation and their feeling disconnected from South.

The most exciting part of my day is going to softball practice or preparing for a tournament during practice. These activities help me to forge a connection with other students with

whom I don’t share classes and give me a reason to stay invested in South, rather than only being at South for the bare minimum amount of time. Simply put, extracurriculars and clubs help foster community at South.

So, how do we encourage more gender and racial diversity in extracurriculars at South? The club fair format must change first. Club fairs are devastating and are frankly not the best way for new students to get information. Instead of the current format, the clubs should be split into groups, by type. Then, using these groupings, each group then sets up stands in one of the house commons. This way, club fairs can be quieter and create a more intimate setting for club leadership to pitch their clubs to freshmen.

Second, there should be a trial system where students can see a club in action and decide if it’s a good fit for them.

When I started speech, I had to choose which event I wanted to do even though I really didn’t know what all the events were. Luckily, I choose the right event for me on my first try, but some of my peers weren’t so lucky. They bounced from event to event for a month, trying to figure out what worked best. The very process of trying new events gave them an avenue to clarify

what they wanted out of speech. Creating an environment that feels low-stakes is important to recruit new members. Clubs should also do special outreach to METCO students. There is a four week transition program in the spring for incoming METCO freshmen, which is a perfect time to do a club fair that allows the students to interact in a smaller setting with club leadership.

Lastly, South as a community needs to recognize the systems that make it hard for South’s extracurriculars to foster socioeconomic diversity. I’m sure most of us can recall needing to buy a suit for FBLA or new equipment for a sport, all the while our parents rolling their eyes about having to spend their Saturday afternoon shopping. These are the hidden expenses of extracurriculars. Often, these expenses get glossed over during informational meetings and in flyers. They create financial barriers for students who cannot easily afford the additional costs.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of socioeconomic, gender and racial diversity in extracurriculars at South. The first step we can take towards greater diversity is acknowledging the problem and having conversations with club advisors and club leadership. These disparities after regarding how we can make an effort to remedy.

graphic by Alice Zilberberg

page 10|September 7, 2018

Opinions|THELIONSROAR.COM|The Lion’s Roar

Arming Teachers Threatens Student Safety

by Daniella Chalamish

When we think of our past elementary school teachers, we may think of caring people who taught us to read, write and grow. I recall my kindergarten teacher giving us a puppet show to teach us the ABCs, reading picture books and demonstrating kindness. I cannot, however, picture her putting down her book, arming herself with a weapon and shooting an attacker in case of an emergency. How many people can imagine their beloved teachers and role models as potentially able to harm or kill?

According to CNN, in the first 21 weeks of 2018, there were 23 school shootings, averaging over one per week.

As a result, students are afraid that such a horrifying event will happen to them and that their school will be the next one on the news. Students no longer feel safe.

To quell these fears, the National Rifle Association (NRA) supports giving teachers guns to combat shootings in schools. Aside from the few teachers who are military veterans or former police officers, the majority are not well suited to take up arms. Therefore, many possible negative consequences come from arming teachers.

In the event of a shooting, teachers could accidentally fire at a student instead of the shooter, putting students’ lives in

serious danger. Guns can harm not only students, but also the teachers wielding them. Hypothetically speaking, when a teacher faces off against an attacker, they immediately become a target to the shooter, who would most likely have a larger, more effective gun and wear a bulletproof vest or a different protection device.

The odds of survival against the shooter are low, so the teachers’ lives are physically endangered.

Current school shooting protocol training includes teachers finding a safe place to hide along with their students, which prevents anyone from becoming a target. On the contrary, arming teachers puts a target on educators’ back.

Additionally, arming teachers would cause psychological challenges.

For almost everyone, it is mentally repulsive to

kill another human being. Even soldiers, who undergo heavy training to be able to do so, struggle to take a life. If they are unable do it, how can we expect teachers to kill? Some think that with just a little bit of training and a handgun, teachers will be able to do the job of the police or the military. The assumption that a teacher — whose job is instilled with love of children — will somehow be able to take on the persona needed to shoot another human being in the blink of an eye during an incredibly stressful, noisy and chaotic environment is simply unrealistic. During the Parkland shooting, an armed security guard and other police deputies didn’t even set foot in the school while the shooter was active.

How can we ask that from our teachers?

Even if a shooting were never to occur in a school with armed teachers, those guns could still have negative effects. Where would a teacher store their gun? If the gun were stored

in their classroom, even if in a locked drawer, it could be easily stolen. If stored in a secured location, however, it could be hard for the teacher to access that gun during a shooting. If the teacher carried the weapon on them, an unintended fire could easily put student safety at risk. No matter where the gun is kept, a disadvantageous result emerges. Additionally, the weapons effect, a psychological phenomenon, explains that when guns are introduced to almost any context, the potential for violence increases dramatically. In the specific situation of armed teachers, teachers in possession of guns have the capacity to turn their feelings of anger or frustration into violence, once again putting student safety at risk.

Overall, arming teachers is not the solution to school shootings and only decreases the safety of pupils, the opposite of the intended goal. Many other solutions have been offered as an attempt to stop gun attacks in schools, such as metal detectors at school entrances, locked doors and bulletproof backpacks. Those will always have a negligible effect, however, if guns are easily accessible. The way to solve America’s weapons problem is stronger gun reform. It’s the only way to have children focused on learning, not preoccupied with fears of getting shot.

graphic by Alice Zilberberg

Print Media Has Lost Its Power

by Michael Lezhnin Today, print editions of newspapers are left out to gather dust as fewer readers take them, serving as an obsolete formality and the basis of paper mache. While newspapers still exist, their value to consumers has fallen. Digitized media has swept the world by storm, docking traditional print media companies and setting the status quo for new ones, and it’s not hard to see why. With an iPhone in hand and a laptop on desk, the average American need not go more than a few inches to have access to some sort of mobile device that can access a dictionary, encyclopedia and instant news.

Not everyone expected this kind of trend setting, especially not Douglas Ahlers, a fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. His research from 2006 concluded that at the time, a little under one-third of Americans consumed news online. He furthered that while pressure on traditional media would increase, the number of people consuming news online would stay the same. Needless to say, he was wrong.

Nobody feels the need to get off their chair to get news anymore. The decline of print media has resulted in its loss of power. If no one is even willing to even read print news sources, they can’t begin to try and make an imprint on their mind. The rapid change of pace has shifted so quickly that even standalone comput-

ers face a risk of becoming obsolete for distributing news. A 2017 Pew Research Center report found that “among those who get news [from mobile devices and desktops], mobile devices are increasingly preferred. Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of U.S. adults who get news on both mobile and desktop prefer mobile, up from 56 percent in 2016.” If even computers are being outpaced, how can traditional media hope to catch back up?

A different kind of value arises from using the internet over print media. The surcharge for a one time use piece of paper proves far too taxing for a world where an internet connection is guaranteed every step. In 2012, the New York Times cost $2.50; a modest price, but certainly nothing to scoff at, costing about $75 a month if purchased daily. Comparatively, a high speed internet connection from Comcast (something most people have already) is just $40 a month, with higher packages just barely surpassing the $75 mark.

These news companies are beginning to realize how much more pricey it is to provide print options. The model is so expensive that the New York Times no longer provides a print-only subscription, and instead offers a $17 per month digital and print option. To regain lost profits, news companies that have migrated online, like the New York Times, are now instituting a subscription model for access to their website, typically including several

free articles or some other preview. Even then, the median price per month for an online news subscription is roughly $10.

The simplicity and cheap access to the internet shifts advertisement money away from the print version and toward social media platforms and other websites that can then leverage profits to gain market dominance. Charles Angelucci, a researcher at Columbia University, explains this domino effect where “a decrease in the advertisers’ willingness to pay for readers’ attention induces the newspaper to decrease the quality of its content.”

Since print publicists depend on making a large amount of money from advertisements, they aren’t able to maintain a high enough profit margin while maintaining quality. As a result, they choose to either increase prices or sacrifice quality and drive away both customers and advertisers. At that point, print sources become stuck in a quandry: take the smaller margins and debt or become less influential as quality becomes a secondhand thought.

The market that has existed since the advent of the printing press is now a shell of its former self. No longer a staple

of American households, newspapers can’t handle the rapid pace of change. Shifting demographics means shifting the power that these print sources can leverage, ultimately making them a second rate source for advertising and influence. However, change doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. With a 24-hour news cycle and a world of constant updates, staying informed is easier than ever, objectively improving society bit by bit. The death of the paper and ink press no longer means a reversal into the dark ages, but instead the acceleration towards more and more digitization, where every post is permanent, and where every fact is checkable and new.

No longer can print media sustain itself, and no longer does it need to.

graphic by Eric Troung

campus chatter September 7, 2018|page 11

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|opinions

UPGRADE Crazy Rich Asians

The Lion’s Roar asked ...

What do you want to accomplish this school year?

Back2School sales Light first semester homework

“I want to do well on my college essays and enjoy my classes.”

Kevin Kim, Class of 2019

New friends Returning to a normal schedule

“I want to get all my work done without being stressed.”

Katherine Deng, Class of 2020

DOWNGRADE

“I want to become more active in the school community and join clubs.”

Samaria Jackson, Class of 2021 Waking up early

“I want to try new things, make new friends and get good grades.”

Cramming summer work

Jocelyn Wu, Class of 2022

Sharing fun facts Dysfuntional AC Returning to a normal schedule

photos by Caleb Lazar

Restaurant Review: Cook

by Anya Lefkowitz

photos courtesy of Plated With Style

As a food-lover, I found the opportunity to review a restaurant exciting. While doing my research on which local restaurant to review, I stumbled upon Cook, an American bistro in Newtonville. I realized that I passed the place so many times, but had never actually been inside.

To accurately rate my overall experience, I will evaluate Cook’s atmosphere, service and, over course, food.

When I first walked into Cook, I immediately felt that the structure of the restaurant represented the name perfectly — modern, sleek and straight to the point.

Accents of red were introduced throughout the entirety of the restaurant, while the rest remained white, gray and black. Despite the simple color palette, the restaurant didn’t seem gloomy; it was very open and allowed natural light to flow in through the many windows. Even with the modern and clean layout, however, the noise of the restaurant detracted from the ambience and caused some irritation. The music playing in the background was loud to begin with, that paired with the high volume chatter throughout the restaurant made it difficult to enjoy conversation. Overall, the atmosphere at Cook boils down to a 4.5/5.

Walking into the restaurant, my

mom and I were greeted by a hostess and asked to wait while they organized and cleaned a table, which didn’t take long.

Our waiter was very nice and quick on his feet, except for when we finished our meals, at which point we had to wait a few minutes for our waiter to take our plates away and hand us the check. Although I wasn’t particularly bothered, my mom was disappointed, especially considering the amazing service we had received for the rest of our meal. Accounting for my mom’s opinion, the service also deserved a 4.5/5.

With just the perfect amount of sweetness, this course was like no other french toast-based meal I’ve had.

The many different styles of food available made choosing a dish to eat for brunch slightly difficult. There were many classic meals, such as the Cobb Salad and Tomato and Mozzarella Flatbread as entrees. There were also, however, many unique and modern dishes available like the Lobster Slider as a starter, and the Ricotta Pancakes as a main course. I decided to get the Cinnamon French Toast Sticks as a starter and the Steak and Eggs

for an entree to be able to try something I’ve never had before at a restaurant, and something more basic and to see if Cook was able to pull off both sweet and savory dishes nicely. The Cinnamon French Toast Sticks were plated nicely in a stacked fashion. Coated with some sort of crust — which gave them a nice crunch — they remained soft inside. With just the perfect amount of sweetness, this course was like no other french toast-based meal I’ve had.

After the Cinnamon French Toast Sticks, I received the Steak and Eggs, which were also plated nicely. The meal consisted of a lightly dressed side salad, medium-rare steak slices, scrambled eggs and some sort of thick sauce. The salad was a nice side to the steak and eggs and made the entire meal suitable for brunch rather than just a breakfast entree. The steak was a perfectly cooked medium rare (just as I had asked), and contained the right amount of chewiness to it, as any good steak should. The eggs were soft but firm, and were seasoned to perfection. My meal was exactly what I expected: a classic brunch with a modern twist that no doubt deserves a 5/5.

Overall, I’d round my average rating for Cook to a 4.5/5. I highly recommend going to Cook for any meal, as they continue to serve their specialized brunch entrees all day. Stop by this unique Washington St. cafe for a taste-bud adventure!

slurRing the lines

By Sophie Goodman and Dorra Guermazi The growing use of slurs in schools sparks conversations regarding their evolving definitions and their effects on the community at large

L

ast spring, controversy arose regarding an incident in a Facebook group for the class of 2019. Following one student’s use of the derogatory term f**got to insult his friend, seniors Avi Fidler and Jasmin Rotem jumped to express their disapproval.

Rotem said she was not only astonished that this student used this word, but that no one else in the group had opposed its usage. Fidler and Rotem proceeded to explain why the word was offensive in the comment section. Fidler said that their comments were met with some “heart reacts”, but also with arguments explaining that the use of the slur wasn’t such a big deal.

“It was really upsetting to see half a dozen people all seemingly not listening to anything we were saying,” Fidler said.

According to Fidler, students at South often use derogatory terms carelessly, and thus inadvertently hurt their peers.

“I hear kids calling each other things in the hallways as a joke when they don’t seem to be part of the group that the slur describes, and it’s a little worrying to say the least, to see kids throwing those words around as if [the words] mean stupid or idiot,” they said. “They’re ... alienating people they don’t even realize are right behind them.”

Senior Alisa Resnik added that the recurring use of derogatory terms at South has had a negative impact on students.

“If they don’t intend it to hurt that much, it still does affect people in a negative way because of the history behind the terms,” she said.

Junior Matthew Gonzalez take this issue seriously, and is an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) peer leader. These leaders guide discussions with freshman history classes about the use of hate speech. .

“I didn’t realize how big [the problem] was until I participated in those group conversations with ADL, and there’s a lot of people speaking out about slurs,” he said.

Junior Elie Berman, another ADL peer leader, added that students often feel isolated as a result of a lack of discussion on hate speech at South. “[The students] knew that this was happening and they knew it was probably happening to more people, but how it’s really not spoken about at South a lot of the time,” she said.

“They didn’t actually feel like anyone would stand up for them or that they would be able to stand up for anyone else.”

History teacher Robert Parlin said that the term hate speech can be misleading.

“We use the term ‘hate speech’ and get the idea that anyone who’s using that term is doing it of hateful intent, and I think for many students they dismiss that because they didn’t mean it hatefully. They don’t realize that it still has a hateful impact. And that’s maybe what we should be doing more to focus on.”

Why do people use slurs?

The use of these words, however hurtful they may be, does not always come from a place of hate, Fidler said.

“I think the problem, especially at ... South,

[is] that because we [live in a] liberal bubble where a lot of people are very accepting,” they said. “All these people who say these things probably ... don’t hate gay people, and they probably don’t hate mentally ill people, but … they think it’s okay, or it’s funny or it’s cool to use these words.”

“There’s just no need for [using slurs].

You have other ways of greeting people with camaraderie,” junior Maya Jean-Mary said. “All of the derogatory racial slurs, they all date back to a time when there was a lot of pain.”

According to junior Coco Lheritier, people use these words with indifference.

“I think it’s just more [a problem of] ignorance and [of people] not willing to take the time to think.”

Senior Emma Martignoni said that the lack of interaction that some South students have with marginalized groups causes them to not understand how their language is problematic.

“Many students that might use the N-word are miseducated because they do not interact with people of color enough,” she said. “There may not be enough people of color in their classes to see the effects of using that word in class when they are just talking with their friends under their breath.”

Parlin said that the increased partisanship between conservatives and liberals has led to the use of hostile language in national politics.

“When you have a president who uses bullying as part of his communication with people … that normalizes it,” he said. “We’re seeing folks who years ago probably would’ve thought twice about using the N-word, and now they’re using it regularly, people saying mean spirited, racist things in a way, because they somehow think free speech means they can say whatever they want without thinking twice about who they’re hurting. And if we have a president who models that behavior, that’s really challenging for other role models to counter.”

“We live in a country where we sort of think freedom of speech [means] we can say whatever we want but at the same time that doesn’t mean morally it’s the right thing to do. Anyone can say what they want to say, but that doesn’t mean it has to be met with a good response,” added junior Matt Reinstein.

how do people react to slurs?

Jean-Mary said that while people want to tell others not to use derogatory terms, an intervention would fail to alter their peers’ behaviors.

“Everybody wants to stop them right there and give them a whole rundown of why they can’t say it, or why it’s rude, or it’s not their place to say it, or you shouldn’t be using those terms ... but there is always that one person where it’s not going to affect them when they hear that whole speech,” she said.

Parlin added that white people are rarely restricted from something because of their race, and therefore often struggle with the idea that there are words they cannot say.

“It’s a great learning experience for a white person to realize there are some things [they]

can’t say or can’t do. [People of color have] had to live with that their whole lives, but white people rarely have to confront a situation where ‘I can’t do that’ or ‘I can’t say that just because I’m white.’”

Junior Matt Reinstein said that the reaction to hearing derogatory terms is often to either ignore the person or call them out.

“I just think the entire narrative of not wanting to have a two-sided conversation about it, I think that’s not that healthy,” he said.

How do Slurs affect specific communities?

Rotem said that, regardless of people’s intentions, the words have a deragatory meaning.

“The point of words is that they mean something, and if the meaning of the word is inherently oppressive or inherently just offensive and rude, then that word is going to upset people because that’s the meaning of it,” she said.

Senior Bobby Lovett said that he became a target of slurs in middle school.

“I was very consistently referred to as a f**got between twelve years old until about sixteen years old. I was called ch*nk a lot throughout the end of my middle school year and my freshman year of high school, and a lot of those connotations really messed me up,” he said. “It got to me because I never heard anybody I didn’t know say these words.

The only people who called me them were people

I was close to and that was the most upsetting factor.

I think that the most hateful crimes in our lives come from the people that we’re most close to. I think that especially in this scenario, it’s incredibly damaging for me.”

Jean-Mary said she witnessed a student being called a n*gger last year.

“They were just powerless,” she said. “When someone calls you such a derogatory term, you just want to sit there and fight back.”

According to Jean-Mary, she fears fighting back will perpetuate steryotypes.

“When black people fight back, it isn’t seen like they are protecting themselves. It just seems like they are the attacker,” she said.

how do slurs influence us every day?

The usage of slurs in music, media and pop culture has also caused controversy.

Jean-Mary said that she believes artists use derogatory terms in music as a form of self

graphic by Alice Zilberberg

expression.

“Rap originated from NWA and Naz and Doctor Dre, and they were all speaking out on how they were treated with police brutality, [and how they grew] up in unsafe neighborhoods where racial profiling was a serious problem, as it still is today. I think them using [the N-word] in music, they are trying to make a political statement and speaking out on how they are feeling and how society is treating them,” she said. “It is how they are expressing themselves through all the pain, that as a race, we’ve been through.”

Lopez said some uses of slurs in music can be harmful. “[Rap] has misogynistic themes, sometimes which can be damaging, because if I like the song, it’s difficult for me to hear all these derogatory terms towards women or ... the LGBT community,” she said.

She added that people are likely to adopt words that are heavily in their favorite music.

“If they see that [artists] are using words like that, they are going to incorporate it into their own everyday vocabulary.”

In terms of other slurs, Rotem said that the media has set a precedent on how they are used.

“Media has taken a very clear stance on ‘don’t use slurs against people,’” she said.

Who can use a slur?

Fidler said that it is each individual person’s choice whether or not to use the slur.

“I think it’s up to an individual person, if they identify within a group which has had systematic oppression resulting in a slur used against them … to decide if they want to call themself that,” they said. “No person who’s not in a minority group should ever tell a member of that minority group that they can’t reclaim a slur.”

Martignoni agreed that no outside groups should supervise a word’s usage.

“Take the N-word for example. Its use in any context makes me uncomfortable, and I don’t like hearing it,” she said. “But I do think that if a black person decides that they want to use that word, … I don’t think it is the place of any white person to use that word or tell any black people that they can’t use that word.”

Lopez agreed, specifically regarding the use of the word n*gger.

“With the N-Word especially, I believe that only black people should say it, but I’ve heard a lot of non Afro-Latinos saying the word, and that’s something that is hard because people had to use it in their lingo for so long,” she added.

“I feel like some people like to throw the word around without knowing the real effect behind it,” Jean-Mary said. “They are using it without understanding the years of slavery that came along with it. Those was some of the last words that black people heard, hanging from trees.”

According to Rotem, however, slurs directed towards women have different effects from racial slurs, as the oppressive history behind the slurs was more subtle.

“The [patriarchal] structure has still remained to this day, so in order to recognize that those are words that bring women down, we have to recognize that we are bringing women down as a society,” she said.

how can a slur be reclaimed?

Rotem believes that marginalized groups can take back their power by using the slur as a form of empowerment instead of a form of oppression.

“I think we can learn a lot of about the history of the reclamation of ‘queer,’ because it was only reclaimed in the context of the AIDS crisis,’” she said.

“It’s kind of turning the table on that, where it is no longer a word that belittles but rather a word that takes back the power.”

Fidler added that there are many ways an individual or group can reclaim a slur.

“If a person has decided that they want to reclaim a slur that has been used to attack their community, they can make music, they can make TV [shows], they can make movies, they can be an activist and [they can] spread their message using that word in a positive way to reinforce their ideals and their positive messages and their community,” they said.

Resnik things that people can only reclaim a word if the word is no longer used as an attack.

“The word queer … has been used as a more positive term and a way for people to identify, and we’ve kind of distanced ourselves from that time period when people used it as a negative term,” she said. “[In] other words —like the F word to describe gay men — those are still being used today, so it is harder for people to reclaim that. It really depends on the situation, on the word and how distanced our society is from that word now.”

Lopez said that groups targeted by the slurs should control the conversation over their usage.

“Listen to the people who don’t want these derogatory terms used. The people who are affected by them should be heard and listened to, and not just brushed off to the side,” she said.

Lovett said that personal discussions like the presentations in health classes are important tools in preventing the misunderstandings that surround the slurs.

“The level of intimacy in a small-scale classroom helped teach me to be more compassionate and kind and empathetic,” he said. “Transgender people and people in the LGBT community [came in] and [talked] about their experiences and [talked] about the gender spectrum and how it’s okay to be gay.”

Rotem said that people who aren’t members of marginalized groups have more power in situations where derogatory terms are used.

“A white person has more power than a black person in this society; a straight person has more power over a gay person; a Christian person has more power over a Muslim or Jewish person. Those are the types of people who should be standing up against the use of these [words],” she said. “It’s a lot less risk for them than for me to do it, or for anyone else to do it when they are a part of that marginalized community.”

“I think [that] by protesting the usage of these issues or these words should go beyond the oversimplification of blaming it on the word. That’s not really the problem because I think the word is ammo, but its not the actual weapon, it’s not the actual person behind it,” Lovett said. “If you just take the word away, they will just find another one. You have to go beyond the word. And of course the word is part of it, but it really goes deeper in that. You have combat the issue itself in order to really talk about these issues.”

slurRing the lines

By Sophie Goodman and Dorra Guermazi The growing use of slurs in schools sparks conversations regarding their evolving definitions and their effects on the community at large

L

ast spring, controversy arose regarding an incident in a Facebook group for the class of 2019. Following one student’s use of the derogatory term f**got to insult his friend, seniors Avi Fidler and Jasmin Rotem jumped to express their disapproval.

Rotem said she was not only astonished that this student used this word, but that no one else in the group had opposed its usage. Fidler and Rotem proceeded to explain why the word was offensive in the comment section. Fidler said that their comments were met with some “heart reacts”, but also with arguments explaining that the use of the slur wasn’t such a big deal.

“It was really upsetting to see half a dozen people all seemingly not listening to anything we were saying,” Fidler said.

According to Fidler, students at South often use derogatory terms carelessly, and thus inadvertently hurt their peers.

“I hear kids calling each other things in the hallways as a joke when they don’t seem to be part of the group that the slur describes, and it’s a little worrying to say the least, to see kids throwing those words around as if [the words] mean stupid or idiot,” they said. “They’re ... alienating people they don’t even realize are right behind them.”

Senior Alisa Resnik added that the recurring use of derogatory terms at South has had a negative impact on students.

“If they don’t intend it to hurt that much, it still does affect people in a negative way because of the history behind the terms,” she said.

Junior Matthew Gonzalez take this issue seriously, and is an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) peer leader. These leaders guide discussions with freshman history classes about the use of hate speech. .

“I didn’t realize how big [the problem] was until I participated in those group conversations with ADL, and there’s a lot of people speaking out about slurs,” he said.

Junior Elie Berman, another ADL peer leader, added that students often feel isolated as a result of a lack of discussion on hate speech at South. “[The students] knew that this was happening and they knew it was probably happening to more people, but how it’s really not spoken about at South a lot of the time,” she said.

“They didn’t actually feel like anyone would stand up for them or that they would be able to stand up for anyone else.”

History teacher Robert Parlin said that the term hate speech can be misleading.

“We use the term ‘hate speech’ and get the idea that anyone who’s using that term is doing it of hateful intent, and I think for many students they dismiss that because they didn’t mean it hatefully. They don’t realize that it still has a hateful impact. And that’s maybe what we should be doing more to focus on.”

Why do people use slurs?

The use of these words, however hurtful they may be, does not always come from a place of hate, Fidler said.

“I think the problem, especially at ... South,

[is] that because we [live in a] liberal bubble where a lot of people are very accepting,” they said. “All these people who say these things probably ... don’t hate gay people, and they probably don’t hate mentally ill people, but … they think it’s okay, or it’s funny or it’s cool to use these words.”

“There’s just no need for [using slurs].

You have other ways of greeting people with camaraderie,” junior Maya Jean-Mary said. “All of the derogatory racial slurs, they all date back to a time when there was a lot of pain.”

According to junior Coco Lheritier, people use these words with indifference.

“I think it’s just more [a problem of] ignorance and [of people] not willing to take the time to think.”

Senior Emma Martignoni said that the lack of interaction that some South students have with marginalized groups causes them to not understand how their language is problematic.

“Many students that might use the N-word are miseducated because they do not interact with people of color enough,” she said. “There may not be enough people of color in their classes to see the effects of using that word in class when they are just talking with their friends under their breath.”

Parlin said that the increased partisanship between conservatives and liberals has led to the use of hostile language in national politics.

“When you have a president who uses bullying as part of his communication with people … that normalizes it,” he said. “We’re seeing folks who years ago probably would’ve thought twice about using the N-word, and now they’re using it regularly, people saying mean spirited, racist things in a way, because they somehow think free speech means they can say whatever they want without thinking twice about who they’re hurting. And if we have a president who models that behavior, that’s really challenging for other role models to counter.”

“We live in a country where we sort of think freedom of speech [means] we can say whatever we want but at the same time that doesn’t mean morally it’s the right thing to do. Anyone can say what they want to say, but that doesn’t mean it has to be met with a good response,” added junior Matt Reinstein.

how do people react to slurs?

Jean-Mary said that while people want to tell others not to use derogatory terms, an intervention would fail to alter their peers’ behaviors.

“Everybody wants to stop them right there and give them a whole rundown of why they can’t say it, or why it’s rude, or it’s not their place to say it, or you shouldn’t be using those terms ... but there is always that one person where it’s not going to affect them when they hear that whole speech,” she said.

Parlin added that white people are rarely restricted from something because of their race, and therefore often struggle with the idea that there are words they cannot say.

“It’s a great learning experience for a white person to realize there are some things [they]

can’t say or can’t do. [People of color have] had to live with that their whole lives, but white people rarely have to confront a situation where ‘I can’t do that’ or ‘I can’t say that just because I’m white.’”

Junior Matt Reinstein said that the reaction to hearing derogatory terms is often to either ignore the person or call them out.

“I just think the entire narrative of not wanting to have a two-sided conversation about it, I think that’s not that healthy,” he said.

How do Slurs affect specific communities?

Rotem said that, regardless of people’s intentions, the words have a deragatory meaning.

“The point of words is that they mean something, and if the meaning of the word is inherently oppressive or inherently just offensive and rude, then that word is going to upset people because that’s the meaning of it,” she said.

Senior Bobby Lovett said that he became a target of slurs in middle school.

“I was very consistently referred to as a f**got between twelve years old until about sixteen years old. I was called ch*nk a lot throughout the end of my middle school year and my freshman year of high school, and a lot of those connotations really messed me up,” he said. “It got to me because I never heard anybody I didn’t know say these words.

The only people who called me them were people

I was close to and that was the most upsetting factor.

I think that the most hateful crimes in our lives come from the people that we’re most close to. I think that especially in this scenario, it’s incredibly damaging for me.”

Jean-Mary said she witnessed a student being called a n*gger last year.

“They were just powerless,” she said. “When someone calls you such a derogatory term, you just want to sit there and fight back.”

According to Jean-Mary, she fears fighting back will perpetuate steryotypes.

“When black people fight back, it isn’t seen like they are protecting themselves. It just seems like they are the attacker,” she said.

how do slurs influence us every day?

The usage of slurs in music, media and pop culture has also caused controversy.

Jean-Mary said that she believes artists use derogatory terms in music as a form of self

graphic by Alice Zilberberg

expression.

“Rap originated from NWA and Naz and Doctor Dre, and they were all speaking out on how they were treated with police brutality, [and how they grew] up in unsafe neighborhoods where racial profiling was a serious problem, as it still is today. I think them using [the N-word] in music, they are trying to make a political statement and speaking out on how they are feeling and how society is treating them,” she said. “It is how they are expressing themselves through all the pain, that as a race, we’ve been through.”

Lopez said some uses of slurs in music can be harmful. “[Rap] has misogynistic themes, sometimes which can be damaging, because if I like the song, it’s difficult for me to hear all these derogatory terms towards women or ... the LGBT community,” she said.

She added that people are likely to adopt words that are heavily in their favorite music.

“If they see that [artists] are using words like that, they are going to incorporate it into their own everyday vocabulary.”

In terms of other slurs, Rotem said that the media has set a precedent on how they are used.

“Media has taken a very clear stance on ‘don’t use slurs against people,’” she said.

Who can use a slur?

Fidler said that it is each individual person’s choice whether or not to use the slur.

“I think it’s up to an individual person, if they identify within a group which has had systematic oppression resulting in a slur used against them … to decide if they want to call themself that,” they said. “No person who’s not in a minority group should ever tell a member of that minority group that they can’t reclaim a slur.”

Martignoni agreed that no outside groups should supervise a word’s usage.

“Take the N-word for example. Its use in any context makes me uncomfortable, and I don’t like hearing it,” she said. “But I do think that if a black person decides that they want to use that word, … I don’t think it is the place of any white person to use that word or tell any black people that they can’t use that word.”

Lopez agreed, specifically regarding the use of the word n*gger.

“With the N-Word especially, I believe that only black people should say it, but I’ve heard a lot of non Afro-Latinos saying the word, and that’s something that is hard because people had to use it in their lingo for so long,” she added.

“I feel like some people like to throw the word around without knowing the real effect behind it,” Jean-Mary said. “They are using it without understanding the years of slavery that came along with it. Those was some of the last words that black people heard, hanging from trees.”

According to Rotem, however, slurs directed towards women have different effects from racial slurs, as the oppressive history behind the slurs was more subtle.

“The [patriarchal] structure has still remained to this day, so in order to recognize that those are words that bring women down, we have to recognize that we are bringing women down as a society,” she said.

how can a slur be reclaimed?

Rotem believes that marginalized groups can take back their power by using the slur as a form of empowerment instead of a form of oppression.

“I think we can learn a lot of about the history of the reclamation of ‘queer,’ because it was only reclaimed in the context of the AIDS crisis,’” she said.

“It’s kind of turning the table on that, where it is no longer a word that belittles but rather a word that takes back the power.”

Fidler added that there are many ways an individual or group can reclaim a slur.

“If a person has decided that they want to reclaim a slur that has been used to attack their community, they can make music, they can make TV [shows], they can make movies, they can be an activist and [they can] spread their message using that word in a positive way to reinforce their ideals and their positive messages and their community,” they said.

Resnik things that people can only reclaim a word if the word is no longer used as an attack.

“The word queer … has been used as a more positive term and a way for people to identify, and we’ve kind of distanced ourselves from that time period when people used it as a negative term,” she said. “[In] other words —like the F word to describe gay men — those are still being used today, so it is harder for people to reclaim that. It really depends on the situation, on the word and how distanced our society is from that word now.”

Lopez said that groups targeted by the slurs should control the conversation over their usage.

“Listen to the people who don’t want these derogatory terms used. The people who are affected by them should be heard and listened to, and not just brushed off to the side,” she said.

Lovett said that personal discussions like the presentations in health classes are important tools in preventing the misunderstandings that surround the slurs.

“The level of intimacy in a small-scale classroom helped teach me to be more compassionate and kind and empathetic,” he said. “Transgender people and people in the LGBT community [came in] and [talked] about their experiences and [talked] about the gender spectrum and how it’s okay to be gay.”

Rotem said that people who aren’t members of marginalized groups have more power in situations where derogatory terms are used.

“A white person has more power than a black person in this society; a straight person has more power over a gay person; a Christian person has more power over a Muslim or Jewish person. Those are the types of people who should be standing up against the use of these [words],” she said. “It’s a lot less risk for them than for me to do it, or for anyone else to do it when they are a part of that marginalized community.”

“I think [that] by protesting the usage of these issues or these words should go beyond the oversimplification of blaming it on the word. That’s not really the problem because I think the word is ammo, but its not the actual weapon, it’s not the actual person behind it,” Lovett said. “If you just take the word away, they will just find another one. You have to go beyond the word. And of course the word is part of it, but it really goes deeper in that. You have combat the issue itself in order to really talk about these issues.”

page 14|September 7, 2018

the

TRUTH behind the words

#

!

@

*

centerfold|THELIONsROAR.com|THE LION’S ROAR

$

The word f*** was originally used in the early 10th century to refer to men who were more feminine than society expected. By the end of the10th century, it was used as a slur against gay men and men who were perceived to be gay. “[Slurs] definitely affect people in negative ways because these terms are used in a demeaning way to hurt people, and even if people don’t really know how much it hurts, and if they don’t intend it to hurt that much, it still does affect people in a negative way because of the history behind the terms.”

Alisa Resnik, ‘19 According to historian Geoffrey Hughes, insulting a woman by calling her a female dog pre-dates the existence of the word b*tch itself. He suggests the connection came about because of the Greek goddess of the hunt, Artemis, who was often portrayed with a pack of hunting dogs and sometimes transformed into an animal herself. In Ancient Greece and Rome, the comparison was a sexist slur equating women to dogs in heat, sexually depraved beasts who grovel and beg for men. “[People] are like ‘oh they’re just women, it’s not like they’ve had this one specific thing happen to them that was so bad that we can’t say it,’ because it’s a continuous thing, and if it’s on a spectrum it’s really hard to see all at once. But the other groups of people kind of have those specific moments that make people not want to use those words. I think it’s definitely a societal thing where we’ve allowed this to continue.”

Coco Lhertier, ‘20 By the early 1800s, n*gger was used as a derogatory term. Originally the term was used as a surname for black slaves to distinguish them from the rest of society. It was used as a way to exclude and discriminate against African Americans and represents the hatred directed toward black Africans.

“I feel like some people like to throw the word around without knowing the real effect behind it. ... They are using it without understanding the years of slavery that came along with it.”

Maya Jean-Mary, ‘20

The word r*tarded refers to a specific diagnosis by doctors and psychiatrists and was not meant to refer to everyone with a disability. It has become commonly used to describe people with disabilities and used as an insult to mean slow or stupid.

“I think the word ‘r*tarded’ in a derogatory sense has been normalized. I think a lot of that comes from pop culture. In music for example, most teenagers listen to those words [being used] in a song, and I don’t think, for the most part, the artists are doing it as a means of hurting people, but it’s just when language like that becomes normalized through pop culture and the music that teenagers listen to every day, it does send mixed signals as to whether or not those words are okay to use on a day-to-day basis, and what context to use them in.”

Emma Martignoni, ‘19 In the late 19th century, white Americans started to oppose Chinese immigrants and the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by Congress to prohibit further Chinese immigration. In the 1940s, labor shortages on the West Coast led to the end of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Chinese butcher crews were held in such high esteem that when Edmund A. Smith patented his mechanized fish-butchering machine in 1905, he named it the iron chink. Some thought of it as a symbol of the anti-Chinese racism of that era. Though ch*nk originally referred to Chinese immigrants, it has expanded to include Asian descendants.

“I think a lot of the time people learn these words less so from their own community and more so from media.

I think that because, for example, I was almost shocked when someone called me a ch*nk because I felt that that is a very age old term that’s not really common knowledge anymore and I’m sure that person learned that from media.”

Bobby Lovett, ‘19

Sources: African American Registry, The Anti-Defamation League, Clare Bayley, GLSEN, Northwest Asian Weekly, PBS

FEATURES page 15|September 7, 2018|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

FEATURES@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 2

THE

COMMON

APPLICATION

The Roar follows four seniors with different interests as they navigate the college application process and will reveal their identities and college plans as they make their decisions

By Sophie Lewis and Carrie Ryter

R

yan* said that even though he has only toured schools in New England so far, his top choices currently are Boston University, Brown University, Northeastern University and Tufts University.

“Each of the four schools that I visited … talked to me about their school’s version of a South Asian club, and that was something which stood out to me and has been big to me at South,” he said. “I’d like to continue in college [with] things I’ve been doing for a while.”

As a first-generation American college student, Ryan said that his older friends have been great resources as he’s begun navigating the application process.

“My friends who graduated … sent me their essays and I’ve been looking at those as examples,” he said.

Ryan added, however, that he’s found it difficult to paint a complete picture of himself for colleges on the Common Application.

“The thing for me about college is that it’s like choosing what you want to tell about yourself ... and I find that hard [to do] because I don’t know if there’s a story I can tell about myself in such a limited amount of space,” he said.

“I’m still figuring out whether I want to go more into the math and science side or [into] the humanities,” he added. “Having [both of] those options is something I’m looking for.”

Meanwhile, Ryan said he hopes to make the most out of his last year at South.

“I’m looking forward to leaving an impact on South my last year.” he said.

“But I’m still nervous for moving on from the home I’ve known for 13 years.”

M

illy* said that in college she plans to combine her interests in science and business. “[I want to go] into pharmaceutical work, hospital administration [or] biotech,” she said. “There are so many people in science that need a business side to help them succeed.”

She said that she hopes to go to the South for college, as she said she prefers that region’s culture and climate.

“The South is more hospitable and down there it’s not mutually exclusive to be smart and to be welcoming,” she said.

Milly said that Vanderbilt University and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania are currently front-runners on her list.

Milly said that another factor in her school search was her religion.

“I wouldn’t want to be just one of a hundred kids in the whole school that’s Jewish,” she said. “If I hear that there’s lots of instances [of anti-Semitism], that would definitely break my interest in that school.”

Milly added that the college process has been full of highs and lows so far.

“There are days [when] I’m very calm about the whole thing, … [but] there are days when [I feel] like if I don’t get into [a certain] school, my life is over,” she said.

“It’s ridiculous that four years of grades are almost overshadowed by your ability to sit in a cold room and take a test for three and a half hours,” she added.

Still, Milly said she is excited about the possibilities that lie ahead.

“For the first time [I get] to choose what path I want to take,” she said. “As long as I keep working hard and be[ing] positive, then everything will be okay.”

O

wen* said he plans to play baseball in college. “[Getting recruited] has been the ultimate goal that I’ve [had] for myself for ... as long as I can remember,” he said.

Owen said that he plans to select a school out of those that offer him a spot on their baseball team roster; however, he added that he will be choosing with an eye towards his future.

“I value the sense of where I’m going to be within the next 40 years, rather than the next four years,” he said. “[Division III schools are] a lot more flexible with what you want to do with your life and what different academic things you want to pursue,” he added.

He said that he is particularly interested in schools which are members of the New England Small College Athletic Conference — schools that he said have high academic standards within Division III and fit his location preference of not venturing farther south than Virginia.

Aside from baseball, Owen said he is looking for a sense of school pride.

“I would like to have a community where everybody can unite under the school name, where everybody could communicate with each other and be understanding,” he said.

Owen said he hopes South seniors will look at the big picture even when they are surrounded by the pressures of the college application process.

“A lot of the time, students at South forget to realize the holistic viewpoint of who they are as a person,” he said. “Know that wherever you end up, you’re going to end up at the school that’s meant for you.”

B

graphics by Alice Zilberberg

ailey* said she hopes to pursue a career in classical piano and major in piano performance. Because both of her parents are musicians, she said she has been around music her whole life. “[I grew up] watching operas ... and listening to symphonies,” she said.

Bailey said that she made the decision to become a serious musician before she began high school. She added that she will need to submit an audition video by the early decision November 1 deadline.

“I have to get as ready as I can be

by October, … which is when I plan to do recording [sessions],” she said.

She said she is planning on applying to both music conservatories and joint programs, where she would be able to balance her music studies with traditional academic courses.

“Just because I’m doing music doesn’t mean that I’m completely abandoning school,” she said. “I strongly believe that there should be … a strong basic academic backbone if you’re going to be a well rounded artist.”

Bailey said she plans on applying early action to Yale University in New Haven, Conn., in part because she can imagine herself working productively there.

“If I can see myself working in a place, … I’ll love it instantly,” she said.

Bailey added that she is trying to stay positive regarding the college process. “[I keep] reminding myself that everything has its time and eventually everything passes,” she said. “The challenge that seems the greatest will always be less than the next one that comes.” *Names changed to protect students’ identities

page 16|september 7, 2018

Features|THELIONsROAR.com|THE LION’S ROAR

summer stories

By Jessica Altman, Zoe Golub and Maggie Kenslea

Summer offers students unique opportunities to pursue passions

of his time at the id the highlight sa al sk ru K an at a five-week intenophomore M g in Manhattan, in ct A of io ud St re he learned Stella Adler nique class, whe ch te as w , m ra og sive acting pr la Adler. ram founder Stel ’… and how [to] the style of prog to ‘what is acting? in ep de g in lv de else,” he said. “[We were] e are somebody w at th ve lie be ce ree, but he fell make the audien ncing since age th da en be s ha he n of “FootKruskal said ing in a productio m or rf pe le hi w e tr in love with thea years ago. o tw dancy number. ly ar ne e” loos e show [is] a very th of r be m nu g ody doing some“The openin in front of everyb … g in be n fu h ble experience.”

I just had so muc just an unforgetta as w t “I . id sa he ” y, g roles, includthing that I enjo ken on many actin ta s ha al sk ru K , s Monsters” and Since then tions of “She Kill uc od pr e’s ag St h ing roles in Sout program specifi“Julius Caesar.” interested in this as w he at th id Kruskal sa reputation. seriousness and its of ent and the proe us ca be cally e intense environm th r e fo d te ci ex t ating] us with th “I was mos lk a lot about [tre ta ey “Th . id ” sa . ts fessionalism,” he eat college studen nsity that they tr te aracter in ch d of an r h pt go ri de e w sam bring a ne to s pe ho he id Kruskal sa acSouth Stage. not just the char tanding back to rs de un tter understand be to le ab be to y." “[I want] nd] the real stor rlying subtext [a de un e th t bu … ters

S

C Y N l a k s u r K Matan

J

unior Matthew Cole said that working in a lab this summer made him feel like a kid in a candy store.

“From the first time I walked into one of my parents’ labs, I’ve always been really interested to learn about how everything works,” he said. “It’s just such an interesting space full of different things that I’m just excited to learn about and discover.”

Cole worked in a Boston Children’s Hospital lab which focuses on a gastrointestinal disease called ulcerative colitis. He added that his family's history inspired him to do this work.

“Multiple people in my family have had the misfortune of having to deal with [the disease],” he said. “This summer I wanted to find a way that I could help them [and other] people who struggle similarly to them."

Cole said that the building had a room devoted to performing tests on mice, some of which had been infected with the disease, where he was able to witness experiments — an aspect of the job that he said was strange at first, though ultimately intriguing.

“I have watched ... mice go from alive to dead to dissected in a bag and it’s quite an interesting experience to say the least,” he said.

Cole added that he was ultimately looking to learn and gain experience toward helping people from this internship.

“The idea that someone is on the verge of a discovery that can possibly help people who struggle [is one] that really excites me."

Matthew Cole Boston

J

unior Izzy Klein said that working on the Jay Gonzalez for Governor campaign as a teen fellow and organizer allowed her to be politically active in important ways.

“A lot of people think that they can act [from] behind the screen, [but] for me to justify my work, I want to not only be tweeting and writing Facebook posts about candidates I care about, but [getting] behind them and doing the work," she said.

Klein said that her work on the campaign included making calls, hosting canvasses and attending rallies.

She added that a highlight has been collaborating with other politically passionate people.

“Being able to talk to people and really understand their points of view, their struggles and their hopes for our government and how the state is run [is a] really interesting and unique thing that I get to do,” Klein said.

“I love honing into people’s perspectives and … if their perspectives are unsure, being able to influence their perspective is a really cool thing,” Klein said that the current political climate has inspired her to enact change.

“In order to make a change, it starts with our elected officials,” she said. “Working on [a campaign] where I get to hopefully promote an elected official is really important."

Izzy Klein Newton

J

unior Clair e Olson said that she’s a Alaska. Th lways wante is summer, d to travel her wish ca summer pro to me true th gram calle rough a hik d Adventu “Even befo in g re T re re ks.

I went to A bucket list." dventure T sh reks, I had [do] all tha e said. "I [wanted] to Alaska on t stuff that find a moo my a little kid se in the w me that ou w ild and a nts to do. A tlet and tha t opportun dventure T Olson said ity.” reks gave that the ch cluded two a ll e n g in -we g nature of the trip, wh her favorite ek long hikes and ice ich inclimbs, wa part was fo s rm exciting; h in g relationsh “The sense o wever, ips of commun ing,” she sa ity that you with peers. id. “These build are the peo top of a mo ple that see is absolutely amazuntain and you when yo your wrist you're at th falling off a u're super happy [an e d] after you m o u n tain bike.”

She said th break ese relation ships are d “When you ifferent tha 're at ho people see n ones at sc you, wheth me, you’re kind of ab hool. le to shape er that be th or makeup the way rough socia ,” Olson sa id. “When l media or no way to clothing you're awa hide who y y from all o o u a c tu a f that, there lly are.”

Olson add ed that her 's best friend Adventure s.

Trek peers are some o “My friend f her s from Adv friends I h e n ture Treks ave because are some o we have th to them ab f the b at bond th out anythin at [allows m est g, and they e to] talk know every thing abou t [me]."

Claire Olson Alaska

September 7, 2018|page 17

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|Features

Puerto Rico Recovery F

Students provide aid to Puerto Rico as the island struggles with Hurricane Maria's devastation

By Elianna Kruskal, Claire Slack and Iris Yang

or junior Jay Park, the most impactful aspect of his Puerto Rico trip was interacting with locals, especially during a day trip to plant trees in Humacao, a small town on the island’s eastern coast.

“I encountered two ladies who were from that area and we [had] a conversation in Spanish, and ultimately we found out each other’s identities,” he said. “I [am] Korean, and upon hearing this, [one of the women] got pretty excited, ... expressing her love of K-Pop and Korean dramas.”

Park was one of 25 students who went on a seven day service trip to Puerto Rico last June hoping to rebuild some of the island’s infrastructure following the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in September 2017.

A typical day in Puerto Rico consisted of a 7 or 8 a.m. wakeup, eating breakfast in the cafeteria at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, where the group stayed, followed by a bus trip to a service site, where students would spend about three hours each day. The rest of the day was devoted to exploring the island, which junior Tito Garcia said was equally important.

“We did activities just to get our minds off of the service,” he said. “It can be very emotional at times and … it was key for the group to spend time together.”

Service tasks included working at a manatee center, helping out at a food bank, planting trees and working in a community center, according to senior Julie Shoen.

Shoen added that at the community center, she personally handed out hot lunches to those in need, an experience that trip chaperone and Newton Public Schools Global Program Coordinator Samantha Mandel said helped build a connection with those in need.

“We were actually able to see the

faces of the people that we were helping and give them a hug,” Mandel said. “They obviously really needed us and it was directly related to disaster relief.”

Jose Camacho, a trip chaperone, teacher aide and native Puerto Rican, was invited along on the trip by junior Tito Garcia and Park, both presidents of the Spanish Club. Camacho said that when he was invited, he was nervous to see the destruction caused by the hurricane, as he left Puerto Rico in 2016. “[This was] my first time coming back to the island that [was] a complete disaster,” Camacho said. “I was overwhelmed [by] the invitation, but at the same time I

“There’s this common message that tells us not to take life for granted and to be more humble, but that doesn’t really come to us until we go somewhere where people are living through hardships and I felt that in Puerto Rico,” Park said.

He added that he is dissatisfied with President Trump’s reaction to the hurricane.

“As Puerto Rico is U.S. territory, it is our responsibility … to help the people recover, and he’s not doing that,” he said.

Murphy Ferguson said that the group's reforestation work felt most impactful because of the project's longevity.

“We could do everything, from the

photo courtesy of Suzanne Murphy Ferguson

and that they want to do more service locally,” She added. “It’s [important] that you do service because it’s a part of being a global citizen.”

Garcia said that being able to see his classmates enjoy Puerto Rico was a source of fulfillment during the trip.

“It put a smile on my face just to be able to see my friends and classmates enjoying my culture, meeting people in Puerto Rico and helping out,” he said.

“That was my main goal, so seeing that happen was a dream come true.”

Park, however, said that he wishes they were able to make more of an impact.

“We didn't have as much of an impact as I would have liked. That’s because "There's this common message that tells us not to take life for we only did three hours of work everyday granted and to be more humble, but that doesn't really come to and I would agree with other people when we all say that three hours of work a day is us until we go somewhere where people are living through not quite enough,” he said. “We felt like we could have done more.” hardships and I felt that in Puerto Rico."

Senior Savannah Macero, in contrast, Jay Park, Class of 2020 said she believes that the group made a tangible overall impact. was worried [about] my island.” nursery … to the planting of the trees, “Going there and having the Puerto Senior Sabrina Clebnik added that where we could see these empty forests Ricans see us doing work [proved] that the destruction was even worse than what now beginning,” she said. “To me there was there are people who still care,” she said. the mainstream media reported. also that aspect of saying that this is … goMurphy Ferguson agreed, adding “Trump really undercut the amount ing to be long-term.” that the people of Puerto Rico were exof damage that was done [and] the amount According to Garcia, who grew up tremely grateful for the students’ work. of help that they really need,” she said. in Puerto Rico for nine years, he and his “[They said] it is so helpful for World Language Department Chair brother felt a deeper connection than most [them] to see just ordinary people who and trip chaperone Suzanne Murphy Ferother participants. want to come and spend their time here guson said she realized how hard everyday “We could feel the emotion more helping,” she said. tasks became because of the destruction. because we have family there, but I thought Clebnik said that she too believes “Two of the things I heard that I throughout the trip, people were able to get they made a difference in Puerto Rico. hadn't even thought of [were] what it was more and more emotional,” Garcia said.

“I think I subconsciously knew it like to try to get gas for your cars [and] Mandel said that in addition to help- would be that bad, but I really had to see it what it was like to try to get money, being in Puerto Rico, some were also inspired to believe it,” she said. “I didn’t really think cause none of the bank cards would work to do more in their own communities. it was possible in a week to leave such a [since] electricity was down, so people “I think one of the biggest impacts lasting mark, but I think we really did.” would stand in line for hours ... at the bank for me is watching all of our students sayand fights would be breaking out,” she said. ing that they want to keep doing service Additional reporting by Carrie Ryter

page 18|september 7, 2018

Features|THELIONsROAR.com|THE LION’S ROAR

Torn

Trump’s travel ban separates junior Pegi Mirkhani from her father

T

o an outsider, junior Pegi Mirkhani is simply an exemplary member of the South community. She is involved in clubs like Art from the Heart and New to South, as well as the Madrigals and Festies choruses. Despite all of her extracurricular involvement, Mirkhani said her life feels incomplete.

“When I was in Iran, I thought it wasn’t going to be a problem living without [my father], but right now I understand that that [was] totally wrong. It feels like a part of me is missing. My dad … would be there for me always,” she said.

Pegi and her mother, Ania Riahi, emigrated from Iran nearly two years ago.

The family, however, was forced to leave behind Pegi’s father, Behzad Mirkhani, because he was not granted a U.S. visa. Riahi said her husband’s mandatory service in the Iranian military might have caused his rejection.

On June 26, 2018, Behzad’s chances of being granted a visa dwindled to near impossibility, as the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the third version of President Donald Trump’s travel ban. The decision affirmed the president’s power to regulate immigration and indefinitely suspended the power to distribute immigrant and nonimmigrant U.S. visas to citizens of Iran, Libya, Sudan, Syria and Yemen—all predominantly Muslim countries. Pegi said she has not seen her father since December 2016.

Riahi said that she was confident that the family would be together if Trump had not been elected.

“We had [our immigration] interview when Obama was president, and they told us that he [would be able to] join us without any problem after two to four months,” she said. “After Trump’s presidency, everything changed.”

“Exactly the week that they told us that they were going to let my dad get his passport, the Muslim Ban happened, so my dad never got his passport,” Pegi said.

Riahi said that living without her husband has been an immense challenge.

“We need each other, we need to live with each other, so that makes everything so hard for me,” she said.

The ban was originally enacted in January 2017, when Trump signed an graphic by Alice Zilbrberg

executive order banning foreigners from seven majority Muslim countries for 90 days, with more severe restrictions on refugees, especially those from Syria, hoping to enter the country.

In a February 2017 speech at a law enforcement conference in Washington, President Trump defended the ban.

“It was done for the security of our nation [and] the security of our citizens, so that people come in who aren’t going to do us harm,” he said.

Harvard Law School professor Deborah Anker disagreed with this claim; she said that she believes the ban was based on religion.

“There’s no evidence that it was enacted to prevent terrorism. All of Trump’s statements during the campaign and in the issuance of the first travel ban indicate that this was a ban [on] Muslims,” she said.

Pegi’s friend, junior Erin Acosta, said her friendship with Pegi has clarified and strengthened her views on immigration politics.

“People usually talk about [the ban] in the grand scheme of things. We might keep people who want to harm us out, but when you really get down to individual family units, [Pegi] just really misses her dad,” she said.

According to Newton-based immigration lawyer Monique Kornfeld, the third and latest iteration of the ban applies to slightly different countries and differentiates between types of visas.

For the MirkhaniRiahi family, the revision has no tangible effect. Riahi said that the The United States embassy of Ankara in Turkey will not give her a reason for the delay in granting her husband a visa.

“I always ask them one

Apart

By Sophie Lewis and Carrie Ryter

question: ‘what’s my husband’s problem? Just let me know,’ and they [won’t] give me any answers,” she said.

If Behzad is never allowed to immigrate, the family will be forced to decide whether or not to return to Iran, a situation Riahi said would hurt the whole family.

“It’s not good for me, it’s not good for my husband [and] it’s not good for my daughter to go back to Iran, for sure,” she said.

Behzad added that his career makes living in Iran particularly difficult.

“I’m a classical guitarist … but here in my country, Iran, the government has banned music that promotes western culture,” he said. “My career [goes] from bad to worse every single day.”

Despite the hardship, Pegi said she chooses to remain positive.

“I’m not even thinking about my dad’s case not being successful,” she said. “I’m just hoping for the best right now because I really do not want to choose between my dad and my education.”

She added that she would like to return to Iran to visit, but not to move back.

“I really want to go there and … visit my house, visit the places that I used to go [to], my friends, and obviously my dad,” Pegi said. “But I don’t want to live there anymore … it’s so much better to live here.”

According to Riahi, visiting would be legal, but not possible given the financial strain. Behzad said that he is prohibited from sending his wife and daughter money due to

bank sanctions.

“Iran experienced an economic crisis nobody could’ve expected,” Behzad added. “I lost 100 percent of the money in my pocket. [That was hard] for me, my wife and my daughter.”

Riahi said that this has forced her to work long hours to single-handedly support her daughter.

“I don’t have enough time to spend with my daughter. I need to work hard here and that’s my problem,” she said.

She added that Pegi now spends more time with her new friends.

Acosta said that, from an outsider’s perspective, Pegi’s transition to South seemed generally smooth.

“I like to think at least that our school didn’t limit her because of where she was coming from,” Acosta said. “[Since] I’ve known her, she’s always seemed like a very big part of the community.”

Pegi agreed, adding that she has felt welcomed.

“Anywhere I went people would say hi to me … and that was really welcoming,” she said. “I felt good about the school and the environment.”

According to Acosta, the cultural difference between her and her friend has never been a barrier.

“If anything, [the differences] drew me to her [more strongly] because she had something to share and she was really open and happy about it, so I got to see a different part of the world that I wouldn’t have necessarily before,” she said. “[My friends] have a lot of questions about me and my situation and my country and how I used to live,” Pegi said, adding that she is happy to answer her friends’ questions.

Despite the challenges, Riahi said that moving to the U.S., even without her husband, was the right choice.

“It was a hard decision for us, but everything was about my daughter. We are here because of my daughter … because she can find a better future here,” she said.

“She is her parents’ priority … so we decided to come here and to make our lives from zero.”

Pegi said that Behzad is scheduled to have another interiew in early October, which she said has made the family more hopeful.

Behzad, nonetheless, said that the situation as of now is inconceivably challenging.

“You have to be away from your family, from your daughter, from your wife,” he said.

“It’s beyond imagination.”

photo by Netta Dror

September 7, 2018|page 19

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|Fun Page

Today's Roaroscope Look to the stars!

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Like all things in this world, your tan will soon fade. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Gemini (May 21- June 20): A great storm lurks in your future. And in your backpack. Buy some folders for your own good.

Libra (Sept. 23- Oct. 22): The weather will soon turn bad. Don’t let your fashion turn with it.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): Your teachers are easy graders, you lucky fool.

Cancer (June 21- July 22): Cancelled F Block! Don’t show up.

Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov. 21): Your homeroom will reach deathly temperatures.

Take a dip in the fourth floor pool to cool off.

Leo (July 23- Aug. 22): Test each water fountain, for one is bound to work. Fate is on your side!

Sagittarius (Nov. 22- Dec. 21): Join EVERY club. The College Board is watching.

Aries (March 21-April 19): Today’s choices may haunt your tomorrows. Pick your lab group wisely.

Taurus (April 20-May 20): Don’t get lost. Bring a compass, freshman.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sept. 22): It’s never too late to change your destiny.

Cram that summer reading! Your year depends on it.

Overheard at SOUTH

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 19): Cut toxic people out of your life. Drop a class.

Embarrassing Roar Staff Photo of the Month:

Yes, we heard you say that.

Future Gynecologist: “A pancreas? Is that a thing that women have?”

Afflicted Student: “I can’t do the homework. I’m allergic to paper.”

Green Teacher: “The homework’s online.”

Concerned Citizen: “What are you doing?”

Standard Freshman: “Just knocking on every door in this building until I find my advisory.”

Architecturally-Minded Freshman: Why is the school built like this?

CrosSWord Puzzle

Fefer throws some sass your way.

Deng shows off miles of smiles.

Review for the school year — test your knowledge of South’s lingo!

•

Across

5. Hey freshmen, your class is on the fourth floor next to the ...

6. Pointless standardized test; will not get you into college 8. This is not a chalkboard 12. PE or gym, but for well-rounded individuals

14. Juul room 15. A chair and a table together 16. School colors 18. Student information system; also a type of tree 19. Number of official South publications 20. The four letter word we never call Principal Stembridge

DowN

1. April Fool’s senior tradition 2. Assignments 3. A social media that shouldn’t exist 4. Parking pass system 7. Don’t pull it!

9. The legal thing no club can enforce 10. Magical people who fix your schedules

11. Highest ranking sports team 13. YoU cAn’T eAt FoOd HeRe 17. South students, as described by North students

SPORTS page 20|September 7, 2015|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

sports@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 35, ISSUE 2

FALL SEASON

PREVIEW SOCCER

By Jackson Slater and Dina Zeldin

GIRLS

BOYS

HEAD COACH: John Conte CAPTAINS: Justin Casler, Joey Cohen, Ben Kritsy and Max Plottel PREVIOUS RECORD: 1-12-5; did not qualify for playoffs

F

ollowing a tough season in which the team won only one game, boys soccer turns to an unorthodox set of captains, two of whom are juniors, and one, a keeper.

This year’s team needs to focus on building chemistry and use these bonds to pioneer success, captain Max Plottel said.

“If we come together and play as a team, then we’ll have a lot of success,”

he said.“We have to create a greater sense of unity amongst the team.

A more successful fall seems promising, for this team’s talent is much greater than last year’s, Plottel said, and with better teamwork, success is well within reach.

“We have a lot of improvement in key areas of the field, and I think we’ll do a fantastic job and be much, much better,” he said.

football D

espite last year’s successful 6-1 season, this fall, the football team looks to improve, captain Brandon Bailey said.

“We’re trying to do the same thing and go even further in the playoffs” Bailey said.

Bailey added that the team’s great chemistry allows for simple communication, making execution on the field easier.

“We all get along [and] we all joke around, so communicating is very easy,” he said.

This chemsitry will ultimately make or break this season, Bailey said.

“The x-factor is everyone believing in each other,” Bailey said. “Being one team. One unit.”

HEAD COACH: Dough McCarthy CAPTAINS: Audrey Lavey, Maia Madison and Willa Frantzis PREVIOUS RECORD: 19-1, lost to King Phillip in overtime in Sectional Finals

C

oming off one of the best seasons in program history, the girls soccer team hopes to achive similar success this fall, captain Audrey Lavey.

Last year’s team’s strength was determination and teamwork, she added. “[We] realized we need to put in everything,” she said. “Everyone [was] all in.”

As long as the team remembers this passion, they are playoff bound, she said.

“Everyone needs to step up and give their best all the time,” Lavey said.

“If we keep working, other teams will slack off, and we will have an advantage.”

HEAD COACH: Ted Dalicandro CAPTAINS: Brandon Bailey, Walter Lazare, Aidan Lopci and Ethan Weiss PREVIOUS RECORD: 6-1; lost in first round of playoffs

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|SPorts

G I R L S

Volleyball

september 7, 2018|page 21

HEAD COACH: Victoria Bryan CAPTAINS: Phoebe Blumberg and Maria DiNisco PREVIOUS RECORD: 11-9, lost in second round of playoffs

D

espite the departure of coach Todd Elwell, the volleyball team hopes to recreate last season’s playoff success.

New head coach Victoria Bryan played under Elwell at South before playing Division I college

volleyball at Bryant University.

“She knows our style of practice [and] she’s able to continue with what we’re used to, but [slightly] differently,” captain Maria DiNisco said.

She added that the team will

need time to adjust to a new coach.

Team chemistry will be crucial, she added.

“If people are playing for themselves we will not [succeed,” she said. “We have to play as one team.”

cross Country

GIRLS

HEAD COACH: Steve McChesney CAPTAINS: Clara Boberg, Nikta Mozghani and Tal Sternberg

I

njuries limited last season’s success, but the girls cross country team remains motivated to senior captain Clara Boberg said. “[Coach] gives us long talks ... and they are really inspiring and help us apply [his expertise] to our ... running,” she said.

The departure of key seniors leaves obvious gaps in the team’s structure. Boberg, however, said she is positive that younger team members will rise and lead the team.

“We just have to do our best, put all of our effort into training,” she said.

BOYS

HEAD COACH: Ted Norton CAPTAINS: Daniel Lacayo and Joe Sangiolo PREVIOUS RECORD: 3-3; placed sixth in the DCL and 13th at states

F

ollowing last fall the team aims for more competitive success.

Last season the team’s top tier had an average time of 17:33 over 3.1 miles.

Captain Joe Sangiolo said he

believes that new success would come from hard work put in before and throughout the season. “[To succeed] it’ll take all the we put in over the summer and then some,” he said.

golf Field Hockey HEADCOACH: Mike Flemming CAPTAINS: Nick Aicardi and Jack McGrath RECORD: 8-4

R

eturning captains, Nick Aicardi and Jack Mcgrath intend to lead the team to sectionals success.

Aicardi said he is confident younger players will step up

and fill the gaps from graduated seniors.

“We have a few new kids who can replace them ... and be even better than they were,” he said.

“To be successful you really need to have a deep team ... and I think that’s what we have this year and I think that’s why we’re going to have a successful season,” Aicardi said.

HEAD COACH: Stephanie Pavao CAPTAINS: Lexi Nelson, Nola Quinn and Sophie Szymanski RECORD: 3-13-3, did not make playoffs

photos by Netta Dror and Maia Madison

page 22|September 7, 2018

Sports|THELIONsROAR.com|THE LION’S ROAR

aye aye captain

After years of preparation, South captains step up to lead the new season

By Aron Korsunsky Student-athletes have the unique opportunity to stand out in a leadership role.

A select few athletes are chosen as captains for their teams. They are often thrust into this role unexpectedly and facilitate communication between coaches and players, using the leadership skills they have acquired over the years.

“I didn’t necessarily expect the title of captain for this year, but I was prepared to step up in a leadership role,” said girls soccer captain senior Audrey Lavey. She has been playing soccer since kindergarten and will begin her fourth year on the team this fall.

Boys tennis captain junior Nick Hatzis-Schoch has been playing tennis since the age of four and said he was not expecting a leadership role, despite his experience.

“There were a ton of qualified players on the team who could have been chosen for captain, and I knew it was going to be a tough decision,” he said.

He said he proved himself to be a team player last year and attributes his promoted position to the effort he put in last year.

“I worked hard to improve my game, displayed my true passion in tennis and had integrity and dedication throughout the season,” Hatzis-Schoch said.

Dance captain senior Anna Ventouris said she believed that her ability to connect with her teammates is one of her best strengths as a captain.

“I feel like I [give] them the support they need to feel comfortable. As a captain, you need to show that you are a leader,” she said. “If something is wrong, or a team member isn’t being respectful for any reason, I’ll be able to sit down with them to talk individually.”

Hatzis-Schoch agreed that connecting with teammates is an important part of being a team captain. “[I] stay friendly with my teammates and [try] to make everyone feel comfortable on the team,” he said.

Boys cross-country captain senior Joe Sangiolo said he focuses on what qualities he wants to develop as a captain rather than the ones he already has.

“While I do believe I set a pretty good example for my teammates, I feel like the qualities I strive for are far more important than the ones I currently have,” he said.

“I hope to help motivate my teammates and get them invested in the team, while ingraining a good sense of hard work and responsibility.”

New captains are faced with the additional challenge of figuring out what it takes to be a strong leader for their teammates, instead of just being a strong player, girls soccer captain senior Willa Frantzis said.

“It [takes] commitment. Last season I was injured [and] even though I couldn’t play, I still showed up to every practice and every game. I genuinely cared about my team and I wanted to do whatever I could to support them,” she said.

Ventouris said that although she holds the title of captain, her attitude

should remain on par with how she felt in previous

years.

“I need to show that I’m there to learn, and want to learn because that makes all the difference,” she said.

Hatzis-Schoch said that captains need to be dedicated. “As an individual, I think it [takes] having a passion for tennis,” he said. “It takes really hard work in each and every practice.”

Frantzis said that captains need to balance both academic and athletic commitments.

“We play soccer six days a week for [two] hours each day, which means it can be difficult to manage my workload and maintain a good sleep schedule. When I

come home from a game or practice the last thing I want to do is my homework,” she said.

Boys volleyball captain senior Alon Stein agreed.

“South has a big workload, and especially if you’re taking a bunch of AP classes, balance is really important [because] you’re traveling for games or spending a lot of time away from home,” he said.

Lavey said that the ideal captain is someone who can act as a good role model for the other team members.

“A perfect captain [is] able to guide the team to a balance between fun and seriousness, and helps each member to perform to the best of their ability,” she said.

Stein said that being a captain is an opportunity to give back to his team.“[A perfect captain is] someone who can be a really good example for the team — what to do, what not to do, especially for the younger guys, because I know when I was a freshman or sophomore I was really looking up to the captains,” he said.

Frantzis said that captains should not worry about succeeding at everything.

“I don’t think that there is one ‘perfect’ way to be a captain,” she said. “Everyone on a team has role, and a captain should make sure that everyone on the team, especially new or younger players, knows this and feels included, because it takes everyone for a team to be successful.”

graphic by Dina Katz

sebtember 7, 2018|page 23

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|SPorts

Sports Spotlights

Girls soccer indad Track

photos by Netta Dror

“We’ve set high expectations and big goals for ourselves, but if we approach the season by focusing on one game at a time, we’ll be successful.”

Willa Frantzis Girls soccer co-captain senior Audrey Lavey lining up for a shot during a practice at South on Aug. 30. ‘19, soccer co-captain photo by Alice Zilberberg

Volleyball

photo by Netta Dror

Becca Friedman sets up for a pass in practice on Sept. 4.

football

photo by Kate Esbenshade

Football players run a full-pad pre-season drill on Sept. 1.

“The team this year definitely has a lot of

“We are a pretty solid team this year ...

room to improve. ... We have some really good

Although we lost a good number of seniors,

sophomores who stepped up and I think they

we have guys who are ready to step up and

will play a big part on our team this year.”

play.”

Maria DiNisco, ‘19, volleyball captain

Brandon Bailey, ‘19, football captain