February 2019
Social media:
What’s not to like?
MORE COVERAGE ONLINE AT THELOWELL.ORG Check out The Lowell’s coverage of Battle of the Birds ONLINE: JV boys: 44-29 (Win)
SUSAN WONG
SUSAN WONG
SUSAN WONG
SUSAN WONG
JV girls: 59-12 (Win) Recap by Anita Liu Vars boys: 56-60 (Loss) Recap by Lee Wilcox Vars girls: 50-41 (Win) VISIT THE SITE: THELOWELL.ORG
CONNECT WITH US:
@THELOWELL t h e l owe l l n ews@gmail.c om Cover illustration by Valentin Nguyen
LAUREN CALDWELL
INSIDE THE MAGAZINE EDITORIAL: AP LANGUAGE CLASSES FOR FRESHMEN Editorial Board
2
The writing is (not) on the wall: Why graffiti is more than just unauthorized art By Sophia Shen and Rae Wymer JASMINE LIANG
COVER: HOW SOCIAL MEDIA AFFECTS MENTAL HEALTH By Kate Green
6
SPORTS: COUNSELOR TO GIRLS SOCCER HEAD COACH By Anna Kaplan
12
COLUMN: SPEAKING UP AGAINST SEXUAL ASSAULT Anonymous
14
An eco-friendly alternative: Meatless Mondays By Rae Wymer XINGLIN LI
OPINION: THE CAMP FIRE AND CLIMATE CHANGE
By Luke Woodhouse
16
FEATURE: EXPRESSING GENDER IDENTITY WITH MAKEUP By Xaria Lubensky & Lauren Caldwell
18
Junior raises money for adoption awareness with bluegrass music By Anna Kaplan
NEWS: WHAT’S UP WITH THE SCHEDULE CHANGE? By Elyse Foreman
20
EDITORIAL
E
Language Barriers: Why freshman should be allowed to take AP language classes
very year, several hundred Lowell students take an Advanced Placement language class, but none of them are freshmen. This is due to a Lowell policy that prevents freshmen from taking any AP classes, even if they are qualified for them. This policy is intended to help ease freshmen into Lowell. AP classes are generally harder and more work than regular classes, so the policy is meant to protect freshmen from taking highly demanding classes right from the start. This policy encompasses world language APs. Though students can test into an AP level language, demonstrating that they have the language proficiency for the class, they are still not allowed to take it. So, freshmen who are qualified for AP end up in level-three courses, and have to wait until sophomore year to take the AP. Lowell shouldn’t hold back students who are qualified to take harder courses. People go to school to learn, so people who test into AP classes deserve to take classes at that level, because they will learn the most in those classes. Yet even students who are fluent in a language are prevented from taking AP classes. No exceptions are made for anyone, even native speakers of the language. Sophomore Sophia Zhang had this experience at Lowell. Zhang moved to San Francisco from China during middle school. She has spoken Mandarin for as long as she can remember, but because of the AP policy, she had to take Chinese 3 Honors in her freshman year instead of AP. Zhang had mixed feelings about Chinese 3H. “I liked it, but it wasn’t really hard and challenging for me,” she said. Zhang wishes that she had the opportunity to take AP Chinese freshmen year. “I’m basically wasting a block in my freshmen year, because I think I’m ready to take AP Chinese instead of 3 Honors,” she said. According to Zhang, if she had been able to take AP Chinese freshmen year, she would have been able to add choir last year, giving her the opportunity to take more years of it. Zhang believes that freshmen should have an opportunity to take AP language classes because they are different from other APs. “[Language AP classes] are not like AP Bio and AP Chem, where you need a base during freshman year or sophomore year until you can go to a higher level class.
Editors-in-Chief Olivia Sohn • Susan Wong News Editors Michelle Kim • Emily Sobelman • Olivia Sohn Sports Editors Susan Wong • Jocelyn Xie Opinions Editors Allison Dummel • Sofia Woo Columns Editor Olivia Moss Assistant Editor Kate Green Multimedia Editor Christina Johnson Art Manager Valentin Nguyen Illustrators Jasmine Liang • Amy Marcopulos • Valentin Nguyen • Warren Quan Reporters Jordi Barrientos • Crystal Chan • Shannon Chang • Joelle Chien • Pierre Dayon • Elyse Foreman • Seamus Geoghegan • Io Gilman • Trevor Higgins • Allison Jou • Anna Kaplan • Hana Lee • Sasha Nakamura • Isabella Paterson • Tess Randall • Sophia Shen • Jacob Thompson • Christy Vong • Lee Wilcox • Rae Wymer • Allister Xu • Kristen Yeung Photographers Zephyr Anderson • Lauren Caldwell • Christina Johnson • Christina Kan • Xinglin Li • Anita Liu • Xaria Lubensky • Andrea Tran • Susan Wong • Kimberly Yee • Nathan Yee Business Managers Jacquline Ruan • Anson Tan Web Managers Brandon Bui • Connie Liu Social Media Managers Ashley Franco • Richard Soong • Kristen Yeung
2
v The Lowell February 2019
If you can speak a language fluently, if you can write, if you can read you’re good to go,” she said. Zhang should have been given the opportunity to take AP Chinese freshmen year. Since she lived in China for many years, she is clearly qualified for it. Zhang would not have been overwhelmed by the AP class, because she already had the proficiency she needed for the class freshmen year. This AP policy is intended to help and protect freshmen, but in Zhang’s case, and in many other freshmens’ cases, it didn’t actually help them. It limited them and prevented them from learning as much as they could have. Spanish teacher Carole Cadoppi, however, thinks that the policy is good for freshmen. Through her experiences teaching AP, she has found that though freshmen may have the proficiency for AP Spanish, they don’t always have the maturity. According to Cadoppi, the complex themes and topics that are covered in AP Spanish are better examined in junior and senior year, when students tend to be more mature. Cadoppi advises freshmen with the language proficiency for AP courses to just wait. “Here at Lowell, some people think that more is better. But it isn’t always better. Sometimes what’s better is doing the right thing at the right time, in the right quantity…so that one has the freedom to develop well, and also feel good about oneself and feel confident,” she said. Though her argument has merit, people shouldn’t be held back from taking whatever class teaches them the most. Freshmen are allowed to take other advanced language classes, like Spanish 3 Honors, that are typically classes for juniors and seniors. There shouldn’t be a distinction for AP language classes. Zhang, who is currently taking AP Chinese, disagrees with Cadoppi. “In my opinion, I don’t really think you need that much maturity in order to take an AP language class,” she said. Ultimately, school policies should do what’s best for students. This AP policy does not help freshmen who are qualified for AP classes. For that reason, it should be changed to allow freshmen who test into AP level language courses to take the class. If you have a strong opinion about this issue, contact administration and let them know. v
Accolades 2018 NSPA Print Pacemaker Finalist 2011 NSPA Online Pacemaker 2014 NSPA Online Pacemaker 2009 NSPA First Class Honors 2012 NSPA Print Pacemaker 2007 NSPA Web Pacemaker 2011 NSPA All-American 2007 CSPA Gold Crown 2007 NSPA All-American The Lowell is published by the journalism classes of Lowell High School. All contents copyright Lowell High School journalism classes. All rights reserved. The Lowell strives to inform the public and to use its opinion sections as open forums for debate. All unsigned editorials are opinions of the staff. The Lowell welcomes comments on school-related issues from students, faculty and community members. Send letters to the editors to thelowellnews@gmail. com. Names will be withheld upon request. We reserve the right to edit letters before publication. The Lowell is a student-run publication distributed to thousands of readers including students, parents, teachers and alumni. All advertisement profits fund our newsmagazine issues. To advertise online or in print, email thelowellads@ yahoo.com. Contact us: Lowell High School 1101 Eucalyptus Drive San Francisco, CA 94132 415-759-2730 or at thelowellnews@gmail.com
CARTOON
The messenger
ILLUSTRATION BY WARREN QUAN
FROM THE EDITOR To the readers of The Lowell, Here at Lowell, it is widely believed that almost everyone is stressed, and if you’re not, a common sentiment is that you must be doing something wrong. On social media pages like Lowell Confessions or students’ private “finstas,” you will find a plethora of complaints about mental health— students speaking frequently about their stress, depression and anxiety. But is scrolling or venting on social media a healthy coping mechanism for the academic stress facing Lowellites? In this issue’s cover story, we untangle the complexities of social media’s impact on mental health. Many staff members contributed to this cover story. The survey required a lot of effort, as it was conducted on paper in 12 different registries. Then came the hours of manually inputting the results. Due to the tight deadline, author Kate Green needed help transcribing her numerous interviews. From new reporters to veteran editors, the staff came to Green’s assistance. Pardon the cliche, but it truly was a team effort. Finally, we extend our thanks to all the interview subjects for their time and honesty, including those that did not end up being featured in the story. Editors in Chief, Olivia Sohn and Susan Wong
The Lowell February 2019
v 3
4
v The Lowell February 2019
The Lowell February 2019
v 5
COVER
ILLUSTRATION BY JASMINE LIANG
Social Media: What’s Not to Like?
By Kate Green
VALENTIN NGUYEN
S
crolling through the Lowell Confessions page on Facebook, one can find these messages along with over 7,700 other anonymous posts. Similar sentiments of Lowellites’ mental health struggles can be found speckling Instagram feeds and Snapchat stories, as students turn to social media to vent and escape from school stress. With a survey conducted by The Lowell revealing that our students are 5.9 percent more likely to experience anxiety or depression than at a 5.9 percent above the
8
v The Lowell February 2019
national rate and that 98 percent of our student body uses social media on a regular basis, it is of little surprise that the issues of mental health and social media often intersect. Given this growing trend, it is important to question when social media use crosses the line from a successful coping mechanism to an aggravation of mental health issues. Since freshman year, Jane, a junior who has opted to use a pseudonym, has noticed her mental health on a steep decline. Upon arriving at Lowell, she struggled to adjust
to the long school days, heavy course loads and competitive atmosphere, and soon found herself “crying more often” and stressing over her dropping grades. Faced with symptoms such as hopelessness, loneliness and feeling unmotivated, Jane began searching for methods of escaping her growing anxiety and depression. “Ever since I got into high school, I wanted to avoid work more often,” she said. “So I often went on social media.” To Jane, “often” has come to mean using Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook all on a regular basis— Instagram every waking hour. However, Jane has found that scrolling through endless posts from fellow Lowellites and K-Pop fan accounts has not helped improve her mental health, and in fact, it has compounded the issue. “I see people post they’re on vacation or they’re doing successful stuff, and I kind of feel like I’m not doing anything with my life,” she said. This sense of missing out and jealousy has, over time, eaten away at Jane’s self-esteem, as well as her free time. “I spent more time on social media,” she explained. “And that got in the way of work and sleep.” Jane sleeps on average 4 to 5 hours per school night, only half of the 8 to 10 hours recommended to teens by the National Sleep Foundation. This deficit has fed into a vicious cycle. Anxiety and depression lead her to check her favorite apps, she becomes absorbed in the constant flow of content, her sleep is compromised, she performs worse at school, and her mental health issues are exacerbated. Jane is currently attempting to break this toxic loop through meetings with a Wellness Center counselor from whom she learns about healthier social media habits, like not comparing herself to others online, but she’s yet to experience results. According to junior Stella McGinn, president of Lowell’s Mental Health Awareness club, many Lowellites are falling into similar cycles with their mental health due to social media’s influence, though they might not realize it. “[Students] have been clouded by, ‘I have so much anxiety, I’m suffering from panic attacks, everyone does. It’s Lowell,’” she explained. “But I think something that’s been weaved into our minds so slyly is social media usage.” McGinn considers the root of Lowell’s primary mental health crisis to be our school’s “strong culture of suffering,” in which students become immersed in a twisted competition over who has the hardest schedule, the most homework, and the least sleep. Overloaded with this stress, she feels students are turning to social media as an all too accessible form of relaxation and escape from their workloads, despite the fact it can make matters worse. “I think social media has had a very negative effect on our collective generation,” she said. “This is the first time that students and teenagers have cell phones [with
Our students are 5.9 percent more likely to experience anxiety or depression than the national rate.
she has found such online activity devoid of the emotional connections necessary to truly help those struggling with their mental health. “There is a growing body of research that is looking at the connection between social media and mental health, and one of the things that’s being most talked about is how social media is actually linked to feeling isolated and feeling lonely,” she said. One particularly relevant example Alvarado cites is a 2018 study conducted at University of Pittsburgh. The researchers concluded that negative online experiences have higher potency than positive experiences, and individuals already expressing symptoms of depression might be inclined towards more negative interactions on social media. These findings perhaps explain why Lowellites like Jane tend to experience negative effects when turning to social media
which] they can contact virtually anyone in the and feelings of inadequacy many students like world via social media; there’s a strong idea of Jane are left with after turning to social media fear of missing out.” for comfort. Though McGinn acknowledges this Megan Alvarado, the program coordinator accessibility can connect like-minded of the National Alliance of Mental Illness’s San individuals and provide harmless Francisco branch, also recognizes the dangers entertainment, she feels the constant flow of updates on other people’s lives can be harmful due to the “mask” many construct for themselves online. “People don’t portray who they actually are,” she explained. “Just what society wants them to be, what looks best.” McGinn has found this issue particularly prevalent within the growing Instagram modelling industry. She has observed how seeing heavily edited images of models on Instagram’s Explore page can cause students to question, “Why don’t I have skinny thighs? Why don’t I have a waist that small? Why doesn’t my skin look as clear as theirs?” This negatively affects their body image. The concept of Photoshopped models of Lowellites turning to social media to cope in depressed and anxious states. influencing how teenagers view their bodies with school-related anxiety and depression. Despite these findings and the experiences has been robustly supported by research from Having personally lived with depression since of students such as Jane, The Lowell’s survey the National Eating Disorder Association, her teenage years, Alvarado understands the revealed approximately 46 percent% of Lowell which found “exposure to and pressure exerted appeal of retreating into the internet; however, students don’t feel there is a correlation between by media increases body their symptoms of poor mental dissatisfaction and disordered health and their frequent eating.” However, McGinn social media use. For example, feels that the issue is worsening freshman Leena Barqawi due to social networking sites. vouches for social media’s In comparison to magazines value in sparking friendships where runway-ready bodies and launching careers. Like the are the expectation, teens majority of her fellow Lowellites, are bombarded with more Barqawi’s platforms of choice unrealistic beauty standards are Instagram and Snapchat, than ever before on sites the former being her favorite. intended for capturing realBetween scrolling through life moments. “[These images the site’s vast array of content are] so extremely accessible,” and keeping in touch with she said. “And it’s dangerous friends, Barqawi spends two because the earlier someone hours a day on Instagram (not gets their phone, the more including the minimum hour likely they are to go down that she spends every two weeks rabbit hole and potentially get taking her photos for posting). eating disorders and mental INFOGRAPHIC BY SUSAN WONG Her interest in Instagram was health issues.” This trend of DATA FROM A RANDOM SURVEY OF 300 STUDENTS initially piqued in 6th grade users inaccurately representing (3 REGISTRIES PER GRADE) CONDUCTED BY THE LOWELL IN upon seeing her older sister themselves online is a major JANUARY 2019 using the app, and Barqawi has contributor to the depression
“Ever since I got into high school, I wanted to avoid work more often. So I often went on social media.”
The Lowell February 2019
v 9
DATA FROM A RANDOM SURVEY OF 300 STUDENTS (3 REGISTRIES PER GRADE) CONDUCTED BY THE LOWELL IN JANUARY 2019 subsequently racked up nearly 2,800 followers. Barqawi credits her large following in helping her acclimate to Lowell. She found it made making new friends easier. For example, before even arriving, older students began sending her direct messages with school advice. She also considers the maintenance and growth of her social media presence an investment for her future. Hoping to follow in family members’ footprints, she is planning on pursuing a career as a fashion influencer, and knows having a large platform to showcase her clothing tastes
will be worthwhile in the industry. Barqawi feels her experiences with social media and mental health have overall been more positive than negative, yet she recognizes the issue is not entirely black and white. She has received the occasional hate comment on her pictures, at times compares herself to other girls “living lux lives,” and feels the need to keep her photos looking flawless and “better online than in person.” That being said, she does not believe her social media usage plays a role in aggravating school related anxiety. “I can’t say
DATA FROM A RANDOM SURVEY OF 300 STUDENTS (3 REGISTRIES PER GRADE) CONDUCTED BY THE LOWELL IN JANUARY 2019
10
v The Lowell February 2019
INFOGRAPHIC BY SUSAN WONG much because I’m still a freshman, but so far school hasn’t completely ruined me,” she said. Lacking significant school- related stress to begin with, her Instagram has remained simply a tool for creating an idealized image of herself to share with friends and grow a following. Additionally, some students have discovered social media as a useful platform to vent about their mental- health issues, and thus help themselves cope. A senior coadministrator of the aforementioned Lowell Confessions group on Facebook (who has
INFOGRAPHIC BY SUSAN WONG
decided to remain anonymous due to the nature of the page) agrees with this point of view. He too has observed what McGinn dubbed as Lowell’s “culture of suffering” and believes it creates an environment in which students only feel comfortable sharing their struggles with mental health through an anonymous, digital interface. He says many submissions are prefaced by such comments as, “I didn’t want to say this myself because I know the people around me will just be like ‘Oh no you get more sleep than me you can’t be stressed’,” which he finds problematic. “The mental health of the school isn’t in the best shape,” he added. “The most common submissions we get are someone...stressed about some course, or they’re stressed in general.” Given this primary trend of anxious and depressive statements in the submissions (which according to the page’s co-administrator were sent in at a rate of seven to ten per day last year), he thinks Lowell Confessions has been a good outlet for Lowellites over the past six years. “I think any nonviolent expression is good,” he said. “It is helpful to get [their emotions] out so they don’t feel as alone.” To Jane, who has read Lowell Confessions posts in the past, seeing people finally expressing similar emotions helps her feel slightly less isolated. Instead of feeling alone, she can commiserate with her peers. Barqawi and the Lowell Confessions page bring up valid points about the positives of our student body’s social media usage, but the fact remains that according to The Lowell’s survey, 30 percent of Lowellites feel social media has directly contributed to them experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression, the most common of these including feeling unmotivated and having self doubt. So how can students avoid aggravating school-induced mental health issues through social media use? One solution is going on social media cleanses. Senior Sheena Leong has purged her life of all social networking sites four times during high school, and she feels these cleanses have tremendously improved both her selfesteem and productivity. Prior to embarking on any cleanses, Leong says she spent a lot of time each day using Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. “It really did debilitate my self image,” she said. “When everybody is posting
these Facetuned pictures, it’s kind of like you’re inclined to conform.” In addition, she often turned to Instagram to rant about stress at school on her spam account— an account followed only by closer friends— which she didn’t consider a successful coping mechanism. During junior year, inspired by her mother’s frequent remarks to “put down your phone,” Leong decided to try and log off her apps for at least a month. Her longest cleanse ended up lasting nearly three months, and she began feeling the positive effects of “focusing more on [her]self.” Not only did Leong start sleeping eight to nine hours per night and feeling her productivity skyrocket, her self-esteem also drastically improved. “I used to wear a lot of makeup because of social media’s influence,” she said. “But once you get off [the platforms] you kind of realise you don’t need it.”
of just shutting down their online presence is difficult due to the addictive nature of social media. Jane has attempted her fair share of social media cleanses, but always “felt the urge to download the [apps] again.” Alvarado suggests that instead of completely halting social media usage, Lowellites should instead just be more conscious of how much time they spend online and how they feel while using social networking sites. “One of the things that I’ve started doing for myself is really checking in with myself on how I’m doing while I’m using the app,” she explained. “So if I’m not really having a good time, I don’t need to be using it then.” She believes monitoring these factors will force students to step back and reevaluate their usage before it becomes detrimental. McGinn alternatively feels that the solution to the toxic loop of mental health and social media at Lowell is providing students with healthier coping mechanisms altogether. She recommends journalling over venting emotions into spam accounts and pages like Lowell Confessions. She believes online posts about anxiety and depression might put the negative ideas into other Lowellites’ minds and feed into the campus’ culture of suffering, whereas individual self-care is more effective. The Wellness Center with its wealth of resources, therapy programs like 7 Cups of Tea, and simply talking openly in person with close friends or a trusted staff member are also methods she endorses. “Just make sure you have time for yourself, separate from NATHAN YEE your schoolwork or your phone, and make sure you do Though her cleanses eventually ended something you enjoy,” she said. due to the need to communicate with visitors Traditionally, the factors contributing to from out of town, Leong plans on returning Lowell’s high rates of anxiety and depression to social media cleanses during college and have been identified as our academic rigor and highly recommends them to fellow Lowellites. competitive culture, but the influence of social “I found that being on social media took away media has often been overlooked. “School leads time from being academically focused,” she to stress, then stress leads to ‘Hey I need to explained. In college Leong wants to be laser- take a break!’ and then you go on social media focused on her school work, so she thinks these because it’s right there,” McGinn said. “That periods of abstaining from social media will leads to more stress and anxiety, you don’t do prove beneficial. Leong also feels that if more your homework, it’s a cycle.” In order to break Lowell students went on social media cleanses, out of this pattern, both she and Alvarado our student body’s overall mental health would believe students must step back and reconsider improve. “A lot of people complain about stress, their social media usage and how it actually but I don’t think it’s just the academic factor,... I affects their lives. v think social media is a big part [of it],” she said. For many Lowell students, this method
The Lowell February 2019
v 11
SPORTS
ONE WOMAN
S
an Francisco native, Lowell academic counselor and new head coach of the varsity girls’ soccer team Amber Wilson has had a passion for soccer since her father taught her to play the game when she was just five years old. At the time, there were no all-girls soccer teams in San Francisco, so she and two other girls joined what had been an all-boys team. By the time she started high school at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in 1991, things had changed for female athletes. The formerly all-boys Catholic school was now co-ed, with an all-girls soccer team, which Wilson was selected to play on. Four years later, as a freshman at the University of San Diego, Wilson garnered the one open spot on the school’s womens soccer team. In 1997, postgraduation and back in her hometown, Wilson joined the San Francisco Nighthawks, a team in the Women’s Premier Soccer League, where she played until 2015. Fast forward to 2019, and Wilson is using what she learned during her three decades of playing the game with the goal of leading Lowell’s team to its
22nd consecutive Academic Athletic Association championship. Wilson is well aware that she has some large cleats to fill, replacing long-time head coach Eugene Vrana, who retired from the position at the end of last season and is now assistant coach for the team. In 2018, Vrana was named the California Small Schools Coach of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches Association and also led the team to their first-ever Northern California championship. An academic counselor at Lowell since 2016, Wilson had just one year under her belt as the team’s assistant coach when Vrana decided to step down. “[Coach Vrana] has expressed in his own words that he’s older and he was kind of ready and waiting for someone to come through and take over,” Wilson said. “When he heard that I worked here at school, that’s ideal, I think, as a coach for high school, to be on campus and available to the players.” The decision to become head coach of the 25-member team was not an easy one for Wilson. She enjoys her job as a counselor at Lowell, and was concerned
“It was definitely a hard decision because I love soccer and I’m super passionate about it, but I also really love counseling.”
12
v The Lowell February 2019
Amber Wilson was only an assistant coach for Lowell’s varsity girls soccer team for one year before she became the head coach. CHRISTINA JOHNSON
TWO JOBS By Anna Kaplan that assuming a larger role on the soccer team might mean less time talking to and advising her students. “It was definitely a hard decision because I love soccer and I’m super passionate about it, but I also really love counseling,” Wilson said. “And I’m a mom. I have two kids. It definitely takes a lot of time.” In the end, seeing how responsible and talented the players on the team are swayed her to accept the position. However, juggling her obligations as head coach and an academic counselor are challenging, as she must leave her office during Block 8 to head to the field for practice. “I feel like I leave a lot here in my office and students that have 8th block off are often looking for me,” Wilson said. “But I try to make up for it by checking emails at home or weekends. Really, it’s just being available during the day for whenever people come by.” When Wilson sat down for an interview with The Lowell in January, the soccer season was just getting underway, and Wilson and the team were still in the process of adjusting to her in the role of head coach. Aiming to make the transition as smooth as possible, Wilson has been relying on Vrana and other seasoned high school soccer coaches for counsel and support to help keep her grounded and face any challenges that come her way. Senior co-captain and midfielder Camila Bodden says the transition involved with Vrana and Wilson swapping roles has been fairly seamless for the team, and that some positive outgrowths have emerged from the change, including
Bodden and fellow senior co-captain and defender Fiona Plunkett assuming a stronger leadership role. “Partly because it’s her first year as head coach with this team and also her first year as head coach with any team, she’s more open to suggestions,” Bodden said. “She wants and needs to know what we think about what’s going on.” Bodden and Plunkett also appreciate that Wilson has incorporated new conditioning drills, along with teambonding activities, into the practice. “It’s been the same routine for the past three years, so it’s good to switch it up,” Plunkett said. “It’s good to see a new face, new drills.” Wilson says she is including teambonding activities with the aim of helping team members continue to grow and learn. “I think the biggest thing is to be inclusive as a team because a lot of teams can form groups really quickly,” Wilson said. “I keep telling the captains, let’s keep finding new players to warm up with and pass with, so that we become a stronger unit because 25 players is a lot.” She is impressed with the talent, determination and work ethic of the girls on the team, which she thinks comes from their ability to handle the demands of an academically challenging school like Lowell. Recognizing the strength of the team, Wilson is excited to see how the season will unfold. “I want to see how it will unravel, how we do in the league, if we make it to NorCal and how we do at NorCal,” she said. “I’m just looking forward to seeing how it’s all going to work out.” v
The Lowell February 2019
v 13
COLUMN ILLUSTRATION BY AMY MARCOPULOS
I
refuse to be one of the silent girls from my school. I will not bite my tongue. In seventh grade, I was sexually assaulted by one of my teachers, and living through that experience has changed me forever. The day I realized the extent of what had happened to me was inarguably the worst day of my life. Our school’s band teacher had disappeared unannounced weeks before, and my class had been jumping from substitute to substitute with no explanation of what had happened—until one fateful moment when the truth came out. Early in the morning at school, one of my unassuming classmates whispered a rumor into my ear, and from the second the words registered in my brain I knew it had to be true. What had previously been a muted memory resurfaced in my mind, the reality of what had happened taking shape for the first time. Confusion and shock flooded my mind. I remembered the day he grabbed me, months before. I had thought nothing of it because it didn’t make any sense. I remembered seeing him come up behind another girl, the same way he did with me, and suppressing my suspicion, passing it off, because how could anyone like a teacher, a trustworthy, responsible adult, do something so obviously wrong? Suddenly he wasn’t innocent anymore. Suddenly his actions had a meaning, one that I wished they did not. I wanted the problem to go away, to return to the time-faded memory where it came from and stay there. But I knew that I had to do something to make sure that he never came back again. The next day I found myself in the main office, trembling, while my counselor motioned to the volleyball in my hands and told me to show her where he had touched me. She told me I looked shaken up, but how could I not? My life had been turned upside down in the span of a day, and now I was telling her things that could both get someone fired and potentially put me in danger. Power dynamics are terrifying, especially when the person you’re up against is bigger, stronger and older than you. As the situation progressed, as legal documents were signed, as social workers were called in, I began to feel real fear for the first time. What if he came back to school and punished me for speaking up? What if nobody believed me? These questions still haunt me when I try to sleep at night, and sometimes I see him in my dreams. I scream at him, “How could you do this to me?” But he just stares in response. Sometimes he even smiles. Though the memories hang over my head every day, they aren’t even the worst consequences of this whole ordeal. The most infuriating part is that I wasn’t the only one. It seems like every time I bring him up, more girls come forward and tell me that they heard the rumors too but were afraid to speak up. Each new person I find magnifies my horror, and the known casualties accumulate as the months go on. I am shocked that this one man, this one
despicable human being, has made so many of my friends second guess each male teacher with whom they cross paths, made them lose their trust in the people they love, made them afraid. One man caused so much pain. The girl who I had seen him harass denied it to our counselor and her parents because she was afraid of the repercussions of telling the truth. When they finally convinced her to be honest, she told them that it had happened once. She later admitted to me that he had grabbed her seven times. Then, in Washington D.C. on a school trip, my roommate started talking. Somehow the teacher came up in our conversation, and after hearing from me, she realized that she hadn’t been the only one he assaulted. She thought he had targeted her because she was a bad student. She thought it was her fault. Some people who don’t know the truth joke about our teacher and think it’s funny. Some of my friends from middle school joke about act like it’s all lies, like the teacher they knew could never have done such a thing. When I tell them it was all real, profuse apologies follow. They hadn’t thought what they were saying meant anything to me, when in fact it meant everything. There are victims of sexual harassment everywhere, and so many abusers whose secrets stay safe. The teacher escaped unscathed and moved back to Saipan with his girlfriend. He faced no consequences for the suffering he left in his wake. Though my teacher may never face justice, I hope that other perpetrators of this crime will get the punishment they deserve. I hope that as time moves forward and more people find the courage to address sexual assault, society’s view of this crime will change. In the vision I see, victims will no longer be shamed or ignored, and teachers, coworkers and peers will learn to respect boundaries. Other people won’t have to go through what I experienced. To people who have been sexually assaulted: your voice has the power to bring about this change. I am so thankful that I had my family and friends to support me going through the reporting process, encouraging me to speak up, because otherwise I may have stayed silent forever. If I hadn’t accused the teacher, he might have stayed at the school and assaulted more girls, and that’s a possibility I can’t bear to think about. I can’t go back and change what happened to me, but in that moment I made the best decision I could have to help save other girls. For that I am proud. Even if you have no exposure to this problem whatsoever, please recognize that there are others who are directly affected by the issue. Do your best to be empathetic with victims, because it’s a very difficult and painful topic to talk about. Believing and protecting victims is a big step towards creating a society that actively works to prevent sexual assault. If you see or hear about sexual assault, report it, and if you think somebody is a victim, please reach out to them; you never know what your actions can do to help someone in need. v
“In the vision I see, victims will no longer be shamed or ignored, and teachers, coworkers and peers will learn to respect boundaries.”
This article was written by an anonymous student.
The Lowell February 2019
v 15
E
arly in the morning on Nov. 8, Craig Woodhouse was walking his dog amongst the colorful fall trees of Paradise when he noticed a large cloud looming in the distance. When he saw neighbors frantically loading their cars and fleeing their homes, he knew instantly that it wasn’t an ordinary storm cloud. In less than 30 minutes, he and his wife Shirley gathered their wedding photos and computers and left their house. The sky soon disappeared completely under the thick blankets of jet black smoke, and flames could be seen approaching from all sides of the road as they sat in gridlock traffic. The fire that had struck Paradise, dubbed the Camp Fire, quickly became the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in the history of California. Lasting over two weeks, it destroyed 154,000 OLIVIA SOHN acres of land and nearly 14,000 homes in Northern California’s Butte County. Search teams have recovered the remains of 85 bodies, yet 3 people are still missing. The town of Paradise was hit hardest by the fire, leaving behind an eerie landscape of fallen telephone poles, incinerated buildings, and charred vehicles. After several days, Shirley and Craig received pictures from search teams showing their old brick chimney standing alone in a field of ash and debris, the only remnant of what was their home for the last 25 years. While many factors contributed to the perfect storm of firefriendly conditions this season, the overall trend of the past few years reflects a much more problematic and overarching issue. The greatly increasing size and frequency of these California wildfires are a direct result of climate change. In a tweet on Nov. 10, President Trump blamed California’s “gross” forest mismanagement for the ongoing devastation, quickly sparking widespread rebukes for his insensitivity and misunderstanding of the problem. While forest management does play a role in reducing the amount of natural fuel for fires, nearly 97% of the state’s forests are privately owned or managed by the federal government, giving the state very little jurisdiction on how their forests are maintained. Furthermore, the White House refuses to acknowledge global warming’s role in the recent events. Trump’s political attempt to narrow the issue down to one culprit portrays his greater lack of understanding of the problem at hand. Global warming is caused by an increase of greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere that trap in the earth’s heat. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, humans have increased the amount of
16
v The Lowell Feburary 2019
carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) in the atmosphere by more than a third, and are doing little to slow this trend. Average temperatures across the world have been consistently rising for the last century, and a report by NASA shows that 16 of the 17 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001. Global warming has damaging effects on climates around the world such as melting the polar ice caps and drying up lakes and rivers. Just as much as global warming is causing glaciers to melt, it has greatly contributed to one of the worst droughts in California history. Lasting from 2011 to 2017, the state suffered through one of the driest periods on record, and received less rain in 2013 than in any year since 1850. Additionally, 2014 through 2018 have been the state’s five hottest years on record. An above average winter pulled the state out of its drought conditions in 2017, but groundwater shortages still remain in many areas which leaves California in a long road to recovery. While wildfires are a completely normal occurrence in nature and have always existed in California, their damage and frequency have been exacerbated by the changing climate. Vegetation and soil throughout the state are drier than ever, providing better fuel in regions prone to wildfires. Additionally, the drier climate has shortened the state’s rainy season and consequently lengthened the fire season. These changes have created ideal conditions for the monstrous wildfires sweeping the region. In a 2016 study, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that just
OPINION
The Camp Fire: A glimpse into California’s future By Luke Woodhouse
OLIVIA SOHN over the past 30 years, human-caused global warming has nearly doubled the land burned by wildfires in the western U.S. Furthermore, six of the ten most destructive fires in California history have occurred just in the past three years. The reality of this situation is that until humans change course towards reversing the effects of global warming, wildfires like the one in Butte County will become commonplace in California. They will also affect increasingly more residents like my grandparents Craig and Shirley Woodhouse, who may never be able to return to their original homes. v
The Lowell Feburary 2019
v 17
FEATURE
TRUE COLORS:
XARIA LUBENSKY
ALEX KUNG Alex Kung, who identifies as non-binary, is a senior at Lowell. He began wearing makeup in March of last year. Starting with just his eyes, Kung progressed into other areas of makeup as time passed. Wearing makeup makes him appear more feminine, which he prefers to looking masculine, Kung said.
Why do you like using makeup? Makeup to me is a fun way that I can express myself and make people see me in a different way than what I would normally look like. I feel more liberated and free when I use makeup and it really has become one of the other ways I express my emotions and my thoughts. Has wearing makeup helped you express yourself? Makeup is one of the ways I express my identity and my emotions through colors and shapes along with textures and finishes. I usually change the colors I use or the shape I apply them in depending on my mood or my feelings for the day or week. Makeup has also helped me feel more comfortable because I feel that I get closer to looking how I want to look rather than what I am naturally given. Who or what are you inspired by? Iʼm not sure who or what inspired me but as of now, I would say my inspiration is Jeffree Star because he helped carve the path for more acceptance of guys wearing makeup and even though I might not be a guy he still helped challenge these gender stereotypes and expectations. XARIA LUBENSKY
18
❖ THE LOWELL FEBRUARY 2019
EDITORIAL
Self-expression through makeup By Lauren Caldwell and Xaria Lubensky
YEHOR PARKHOMENKO
LAUREN CALDWELL
Senior Yehor Parkhomenko started experimenting with makeup in his sophomore year, and now he’s “addicted” to it. Parkhomenko enjoys the artistic elements of makeup and views it as an art form, much like painting. He loves doing makeup for other people and seeing their reactions to their new glam looks. He feels that anyone questioning whether they want to try using makeup should try it out and see how they feel with it on.
How does wearing makeup make you feel? I donʼt necessarily wear makeup a lot. Itʼs more the concepts and formulas and the idea of doing makeup. I really like doing makeup on people, thatʼs really fun. Itʼs kind of like an art form for me like painting a canvas. Iʼve always loved drawing and painting since I was little and makeup is like a new path down that same direction where I could put makeup on someone and create a look that is unique to me. Is there anything about the culture at Lowell that makes it harder for more guys to get into makeup? Iʼve had strange and disattached experiences at Lowell, but I think with our society in general, we are a hyper masculine patriarchy. If you donʼt follow the societal norms for being a man, you are called unmanly, un-masculine, feminine, which somehow is a sign of weakness which personally, is complete bulls**t. Are there any places you donʼt feel comfortable wearing makeup? At this school I do feel like people will judge me pretty hard. Iʼm already super insecure so going around wearing makeup will just give them another outlet to attack. Especially in their heads. Itʼs almost as if the non verbal is the worst of it all.
LAUREN CALDWELL
THE LOWELL FEBRUARY 2019
❖ 19
Scheduling Conflict
A difficult process has finally come to an end. By Elyse Foreman
“T
his is the first time students at large were given an opportunity to give their recommendations and opinions on an administrative decision.” The Student Body Council (SBC) wrote this statement after student input brought both confusion and clarity to the process behind developing what may be the final schedule change for the 20192020 school year. After months of conflict, Principal Ishibashi has decided against implementing a block schedule next school year. He reported that a “modified block” schedule has now been sent to the school district for approval. This begs the question: how did we get to this point after the focus all along has been on an upcoming transition to a block schedule? Ishibashi’s final decision was recent, but faculty discussions about changing Lowell’s bell schedule began over 12 years ago. Staff discourse brought forth no change until 2016, when teacher committees began drafting a potential block schedule for upcoming school years, according to Ishibashi. He reported that some staff members wanted a block schedule to lower student workloads, but that his personal focus was on alleviating student anxiety. “Every
schedule we looked at had to do with stress relief,” Ishibashi said. “It really isn’t about me or the administration. It’s about students.” In 2017, Ishibashi supported a 20182019 block schedule implementation, but he reported that staff felt ill-prepared for the transition. To provide more time for discussion before making a major change, Ishibashi put into action this year’s neutral schedule. Although faculty members requested
including Critical Thinking and Social Change classes and groups of peer mentors. These groups, as well as Lowell Student Association (LSA) members, were given unreleased copies of the bell schedules to review during these discussions. The students wrote positive and negative commentary and submitted possible improvements to Ishibashi on response sheets. Some of this feedback made its way into the finals chedule. During discussions, peer mentors found that the schedule options did not offer enough time during registry to support Lowell’s Peer Mentoring program, which sends upperclassmen to freshmen registries at the start of every school year. On Dec. 14, the issue was addressed by writing modified versions of options A and B, which included extended registries and the removal of staggered lunches and registries to simplify supervision and lunch service, according to Science Department head Jonathan Fong. While modifications were being made to Options A and B, sophomore Zephyr Anderson formed the Lowell Student Union, a student coalition, to challenge the two proposed schedules. They used social media as a platform to encourage students to email or call Principal Ishibashi “at least once a day” to express dissatisfaction. “I was getting feedback and hate emails from students on a daily basis,” Ishibashi said. On Dec. 14, the LSU posted images
“A change in the school schedule directly affects both teachers and students.” professional development courses to prepare teachers for longer blocks, such classes have not been offered. Instead of focusing on PD, Ishibashi has used this year to communicate with key groups, including staff, parents and students, to create what he thinks will be an effective bell schedule. In November, teacher committees selected by Ishibashi developed two block schedule options, called “Option A: 3-Period to 2-Block Schedule” and “Option B: Odds and Evens Block Schedule.” The options were soon to become a campus-wide controversy. On Dec. 3, Adee Horn, Lowell’s Peer Resources Coordinator, mediated “confidential discussions” between an estimated 200 students,
Option A – 3-Period to 2-Block Schedule – 1st and 8th every day; 70-minute blocks twice over 3 block days Block Time Meeting Day Similar to Current Meeting Day Schedule
Tuesday Block
Wednesday Block
Thursday Block
Neutral Time
Friday Neutral
8:00 - 8:50
Block 1
Block 1
Block 1
8:00 - 8:50
Block 1
8:55 - 10:05
Block 2
Block 3
Block 2
8:55 - 9:45
Block 2
10:10 - 11:20
Block 3
Block 4
Block 4
11:25 - 11:40
11:50 - 12:05 Except 60-min 12:10 - 1:20 meeting and 40-min class 1:25 - 2:35 periods 2:40 - 3:30
Registry 11th-12th Grades (Lunch 11th-12th is 11:40-12:05) Registry 9th-10th Grades (Lunch 9th-10th is 11:20-11:45)
9:50 - 10:40
Block 3
10:45 - 11:35
Block 4
11:40 - 11:50
Registry
Block 5
Block 6
Block 5
11:55 - 12:45
Block 5
Block 6
Block 7
Block 7
12:50 - 1:40
Block 6
Block 8
Block 8
Block 8
1:45 - 2:35
Block 7
2:40 - 3:30
Block 8
Neutral period is 50 minutes. Block period is 70 minutes. Registry is staggered. Teachers would be scheduled blocks 1-7 or 2-8. Each class = 225 minutes per 5-day week except blocks 1 and 8 (235 minutes per week). Current neutral schedule = 235 minutes per week. Curriculum Strategy for Preparing for Block:
Block 1 and block 8 are the same as this year’s bell schedule (50 minutes per day). v The 20 owell F1ebruary 2019 Spread Tue/Wed/Thu lessonLplans from block or 8 (50 min x 3 days = 150) over 2 days of the longer blocks (70 min x 2 days = 140).
Schedule Option A and B were developed by Ishabshi’s selected teacher committees.
NEWS of the unmodified, unreleased versions of schedule options A and B on Instagram, and opinions immediately flooded in. One student wrote, “This is some god-awful garbage,” and another called the schedules “horrific.” A senior commented, “The proposal is literally stripping Lowell of its identity.” Five days later, department heads and senior staff members met and reviewed the schedules with Ishibashi. According to AP environmental sciences teacher Katherine Melvin, who chaired the meeting, the science department was unanimously in favor of a shift to a block schedule, but others were split. Math and world language department heads were concerned with the break in daily classes and other departments felt that the 70- to 90-minute block periods were incompatible with lecture-based teaching styles. After Winter Break, faculty discussions reconvened with intensity, and Ishibashi’s goal of announcing a schedule on Jan. 1 was delayed to February. During a staff meeting on Jan. 7, a poll was taken by all teachers to determine preference between the two modified schedules. The environment was informal: the poll was taken via Kahoot and followed by Ishibashi performing a piano and vocal accompaniment to a recorded song that he said would help with the stressful situation, according to a number of teachers. An anonymous teacher felt that the poll was rushed. “I was a bit taken aback by the staff meeting when Mr. Ishibashi projected one schedule, then projected another and said, ‘Okay everybody vote,’” the teacher said. “There really wasn’t time to talk about where this schedule came from or to understand what we were voting on.” Staff voted 60-40 in favor of the modified version of Option B. On Jan. 11, the LSA emailed an opinions survey about the modified versions of schedule options A and B to the student body. The data revealed that the majority of students would like either no change to the schedule or a reversion to the B/C code bell schedule of the 2017-2018 school year. SBC reported that the questionnaire received many more responses than other LSA surveys. “A change in the school schedule directly affects both teachers and students,” the SBC wrote in an email to the Lowell. “Thus, many students found it necessary to remain vocal and express their concerns and opinions on the proposed schedules.” With teacher and student input collected and schedules modified to fit concerns,
Ishibashi came to a final decision: neither modified schedule option would work. According to Horn, he retracted both schedules from consideration on Jan. 16. There are multiple reasons why Ishibashi reconsidered the schedules. For one, according to anonymous staff members, excessive input had complicated the matter. “What I think [Ishibashi is] trying to do is keep asking questions until a schedule looks like it works
818 Lowell students participated in a survey conducted by Lowell’s Student Body Council, rating their support for Option A and Option B schedules from a scale of 0 to 10. INFOGRAPHICS BY ANITA LIU for everybody,” an anonymous teacher said. “I don’t think that continuing to ask the question until you get a majority rule is necessarily the answer in this case.” Ishibashi only partially agreed with the notion that an influx of opinions influenced his decision. “Those schedules, although very well intended, didn’t meet something that I would go down for,” he said. This is because the modified Option B did not fulfill his fundamental goal of guaranteeing central lunch blocks for students. The upcoming schedule will force freshman, sophomore and junior classes to take a block off in the middle of the day. Ishibashi hopes that this change will relieve some student stress. “I think it’s going to change the culture here because kids are going to get to actually see each other and eat and
have some downtime,” he said. After block schedule options failed to make the cut, Ishibashi accepted what he calls a “modified block” schedule, which he says will be similar to past “mod” schedules. On Feb. 6, while awaiting district approval from an SFUSD representative on a two-week break, Ishibashi confidentially emailed the final schedule decision to Lowell department heads to allow them time to create a master schedule. Apart from them, no students or staff, other than the teachers on development committees, have seen the schedule. Being out of the loop has been frustrating for some teachers who interpreted Ishibashi’s silence as indecision. “Every time I ask Mr. Ishibashi [what the schedule is] I get a different story,” an anonymous teacher said in January. “He is driving me crazy because ultimately he has the right to make this decision and I want him to make it so I can start changing my curriculum.” Lowell Student Union wishes that the administration would have been open to student opinions and ideas from the start. “I just wish they would’ve been a little bit more transparent,” said sophomore representative Igor Bessa. “They could have taken in student suggestions for how they could reduce stress instead of planning schedules out before letting the students know.” However, Ishibashi maintains that the amount of dialogue between him and students has been unprecedented compared to other schools. “Schools never share their bell schedules with students because it does cause a reaction,” Ishibashi said, “But I don’t care. I wanted to hear it. If I’m going to make a major change, I wanted student input.” As long as students continue to criticize the schedules that were privately retracted, Ishibashi doesn’t mind the disapproval. “Sometimes I think [releasing schedules to peer groups] was a mistake, but I live with it,” Ishibashi said. “While we wait for [the final schedule’s] approval, I have to take the ownership of a lot of people thinking we are using one of those two schedules, and I am okay with that.” Ishibashi knows that the schedule he will announce near the end of February may still receive criticism from students and teachers. However, he is willing to take it “for the greater good,” he said. “I can’t satisfy everybody, but it’s something that I can live with and will be proud of if it works. If not, I take ownership and it’s okay.” v
The Lowell February 2019
v 21