Tiger Newspaper March 2020

Empowering students to think critically and creatively since 1913

VOLUME 106 ISSUE 6 MARCH 11, 2020

IN THE NEWS

SOUTH PASADENA HIGH SCHOOL 1401 FREMONT AVE, SOUTH PASADENA, CA 91030

Commission Elections

Arroyo Vista OSS

SPEX Assembly

The 2020-2021 ASB Commission Elections will be held on Friday, Mar. 20.

OSS cabin leaders will journey to Colby Ranch the week of Mar. 23 Arroyo Vista’s annual OSS trip.

The annual SPEX awards assembly will take place in the auditorium tomorrow, Mar. 12.

District prepares for COVID-19 outbreak reunite with him for Chinese New Year due to the outbreak. Senior Han Na Kim visited Korea for winter break was not able to return for more than two months due to the government’s efforts to contain the virus.

STORY LILIAN ZHU PHOTO OSCAR WALSH

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PUSD Superintendent Dr. Geoff Yantz sent out an update about the widespread coronavirus, COVID-19, after the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health declared a state of emergency following the first California virus-related death and the discovery of new cases.

There are currently more than 500 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus in the United States. All cases in Los Angeles are not currently community spread. The virus transmits similarly to the flu but targets the respiratory system, making young children and elders with poor immune systems vulnerable.

“I was [concerned] when I initially arrived but paid no attention afterwards,” Kim said.

“Thankfully my family and I are far from the outbreak area, and we just wore masks the whole time. I was mainly concerned for my grandparents.”

The school district is already taking several precautions to limit exposure to COVID-19.

Several trips, including the Spanish 3/4 Honors classes’ trip to Spain and Virtual Business’ San Francisco conference, were cancelled.

Local businesses around South Pasadena have yet to be greatly affected, however the panic has sent abnormal amounts of people to stores like Costco to stock up on non-perishable foods, bottled water, and disinfectants.

The district also sent multiple emails informing students, teachers, and parents about the necessary precautions. If an outbreak of the coronavirus does spread within South Pasadena, local public health officials will order a temporary school closure, including the SPEF extended day program.

The virus’ outbreak has also taken a toll on students individually. Junior Thompson Yang only gets to see his father, who resides in China, roughly five times a year and was unable to

Lost instructional hours would be made up extended school days or by days added on to the end of the regular school year, unless waived by the California Department of Education.

SHAKESPEARE A Letter to the Editor from the SPHS English Department addresses Tiger’s February Staff Editorial criticizing the role of Shakespeare in the classroom.

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MOSAIC TILE HOUSE

Tiger visits a couple’s colorful bungalow in Venice. The city has embraced the mosaic tile and continue to add to it.

Page 13

TIGERNEWSPAPER.COM

UNIFORMS

Tiger reviews some of the most notable uniforms. From perfect color schemes to boring tank tops with a lack of creativity, SPHS athletics has it all.

Page 15

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TIGER MARCH 11, 2020

NEWS

NEWS

Students partake in first-ever primaries mock election

Library to commemorate 132nd South Pasadena annniversary STORY HAELEE KIM PHOTO COURTESY OF RICK THOMAS The South Pasadena Public Library and South Pasadena Preservation Foundation (SPPF) will celebrate the 132nd anniversary of South Pasadena with the “Historic Happy Birthday South Pasadena: Celebrating 132 Years!” on Sunday, Mar. 15. The free program will aim to recount South Pas history with the presentations from local authors Glen Duncan, Chip Jacobs, and Rick Thomas.

Additionally, the library invites attendees to partake in short SPPF workshops on the Mills Act, a state law and city incentive program that allows for the reduction of property taxes for owners who restore eligible historic buildings, following the presentations. SPPF will also present the Centennial Plaque program that will allow homeowners with 100-year-old buildings or older to commemorate the anniversary with a bronze plaque.

Thomas, a 19-year resident of South Pasadena, has written South Pasadena, Arroyo Seco, South Pasadena’s Ostrich Farm, and South Pasadena’s Raymond Hotel, a collection of four books published by the historically-driven Arcadia Publishing. The company had reached out to him for his extensive collection of vintage photographs. “[There] was a vintage postcard of an Orange Julius storefront in LA, around the 1930s. I looked at that and the clarity of the image was amazing,” Thomas said. “This to me was like time-travel, and I started being interested in [collecting] photographs as a result.”

At the event, Thomas and other two authors will aim to discuss the impact of various important landmarks in the city. Books from the three speakers will be available to purchase during the event as well.

Thomas remains dedicated to preserving the memories of South Pas’ past outside of these speaking events. Although he has since moved onto other ventures, Thomas’ enthusiasm for the city is unwavering.

“We’re a town of fighters protecting every ounce of our history and that makes us unique,” he said.

The event will take place at the South Pasadena Library Community Room on Sunday, Mar. 15.

SKILLSUSA OFFICERS worked booths throughout the day, allowing students to anonymously vote for Democratic and Republican party candidates in the mock election.

STORY NOAH KUHN PHOTO OSCAR WALSH

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tudents proudly boasted “I voted” stickers around campus after participating in SkillsUSA’s mock presidential primary on Tuesday, Mar. 3. The practice election coincided with Super Tuesday, where 14 states — including California — held its presidential primaries.

SkillsUSA organized the mock primary hastily a week before Super Tuesday, but over 200 students still cast their ballots.

“We don’t usually do the primaries, but because this was so hotly contested […] we thought that it would be a good one since people are so divided on candidates at this

Juniors Jolene Lee and Mollie Parker staffed a booth set up in the CTE foyer to facilitate the voting process. On an adjacent wall, SkillsUSA plastered photos of each candidate, in addition to setting up relevant political information on computers in Room 613.

SkillsUSA made some last minute adjustments on the ballots due to Tom Steyer, Amy Klobuchar, and Pete Buttigieg dropping out of the presidential race. Students thus chose between seven candidates: democrats Joseph Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Tulsi Gabbard, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and republicans Donald Trump and William Weld.

Just under half of students voted for Sanders, while Biden garnered 38 votes. Most of the other 74 students supported either Trump or Warren.

SPHS model voters stressed how essential it is for youth civic engagement even if the majority of high schoolers are ineligible to vote in the actual California primary.

“Mock election[s] allow students to be proactive about the current issues facing our society,” junior voter Nicole Lu said. “It’s more important than ever to start educating ourselves in the current election, especially since the stakes in the November election are so high.”

SkillsUSA will hold a mock general election before the nation casts its ballots on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Chipotle and Starbucks to move onto Fair Oaks

The former Citizens Bank space will host a total of five new businesses STORY NOAH KUHN PHOTO SEAN JIN

Construction on the southwest corner of Fair Oaks and Mission at 901 Fair Oaks Ave. began in November 2019 and will finish by the end of 2020. The new space will host a Starbucks, Chipotle, an undisclosed but regionally recognized restaurant, and two other stores.

The local Kutzer Company bought the building from Citizens Bank, who moved up to 625 Fair Oaks, in 2018 and then contracted work out to Dahl Architects and the landscaper Lillian Montalvo. Kutzer calls the project Fairoaks@mission and has leased out equal property shares to the five tenants, three of whom have yet to sign the contract and therefore cannot yet be disclosed.

The building’s roof, with its 16foot high ceilings and exterior, remains. Dahl Architects still need to put install drywall, new crystal clear glass, electrical wiring, and gas pipes. Dahl Architects will also remove the sidewalk planters to create outdoor patio seating that is level all the way around.

VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHS will be featured at the South Pasadena public library event, including one of South Pasadena’s ostrich farm.

point,” SkillsUSA advisor Sandra Matson-Fennell said.

Starbucks and Chipotle will share a corner seating area with an ivy covered walls and native foliage backdrop. On the Mission side, two used retail stores will meld into

THE BUILDING’S EXTERIOR will remain, while the indoor patio will undergo renovations. the antique shopping ambiance of downtown South Pasadena located next to the adjoining parking lot.

Dahl Architects is seeking to preserve the space’s history by leaving the exterior brick and tile.

At the same time, Fairoaks@mission will include new sustainable features such as its rainwater collection and filtering system that ensures that all precipitation is kept on site and recycled into the ground.

Large skylights and state-of-the-art bicycle racks will promote an ecofriendly community and establish the building’s position as the

contemporary gateway to historic downtown South Pasadena.

“All the outdoor dining and seating is really going to activate the storefronts both on Fair Oaks and Mission,” architect Steve Dahl said.

“I think it will actually help the other existing businesses because people will come here to eat, shop, and park — it helps the whole neighborhood.”

Dahl Architects will collaborate with the landscaper on the exterior patios before turning the project over to each individual tenant. The Fairoaks@mission project will open the new building by the end of 2020.

TIGER MARCH 11, 2020

NEWS

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Students selected for Dragon Kim Fellowship program Recipients focus on combatting community issues through their own large-scale projects and understand more to the different functions, habitats, and organisms.

STORY KIMBERLY HSUEH PHOTOS JAYDEN EDEN & OSCAR WALSH

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he Dragon Kim Foundation’s Fellowship Program chose 23 teams among 170 total applicants across California for its 2020 Fellowship Cohort on Friday, Feb. 21. SPHS sophomores Connor Wang and Liam de Villa and junior Patrick Latting were selected for this year’s fellowship and will receive funding to impact the community in positive ways through their own self-made projects.

Grace and Daniel Kim founded the Dragon Kim Fellowship in 2016 to commemorate their son Dragon Kim and carry on his kindness and generosity. They offer high schoolers the opportunity to build their own summer community service projects with financial freedom. After specific training, the students are granted $5,000 to execute their plan.

The Fellowship Cohort will attend five leadership sessions in Irvine between mid-March and early June. Professionals will lead the trainings and will also serve to equip students with essential skills, such as leadership and finance management, for the approaching summer.

In the previous year, Dragon Kim chose two teams. Seniors Maya Savin Miller from Polytechnic and Lila DworskyHickey from SPHS had a goal to continue the stories and memories of the Holocaust survivor Trudie Strobel. With their project, Trudie Strobel: A Life In Tapestry, the duo portrayed these compelling messages through Strobel’s tapestries.

Additionally, seniors Tianhao Wei, Aidan Lewis, and Evan Kowal created Youth Outdoor Science Education (YOSE).

Through their program, they highlighted different aspects of science as the three trailed through nature with low-income elementary students who lacked the privilege to explore the outside nature

To expose students about the Fellowship Program, Wei invited the Kims to a brainstorming workshop at SPHS in November. Students, including Latting and Wang, discussed the community issues they were passionate about and how they could create a project to solve that issue.

Wang saw the impactful benefits of rock climbing and the large number of students who were unable to experience what he felt. Hence, his interest in rock climbing inspired his project, Rocks Without Limit, which offers rock climbing sessions for underprivileged youth.

“I came up with the idea because I have been climbing for the past five years and I see benefits with climbing such as confidence, perseverance and grit,” Wang said. “Also, climbing has a great community filled with supportive people.

Overall, I want to introduce [the youth] to climbing and hopefully, that will lead them outdoors.”

DRAGON KIM FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS junior Patrick Latting and sophomores Liam de Villa and Connor Wang will represent SPHS.

De Villa and Latting, on the other hand, plan to implement a composting system in South Pas, installing an estimate of 80 compost tumblers in South Pas. The duo will also hand out educational pamphlets that contain instructions for compost, as well as the best items to compost.

“We wanted to have composting as our project since we wanted to make a lasting difference,” Latting said. “Composting can be done nearly anywhere, so by educating people about how helpful it can be we encourage them to apply that knowledge elsewhere and encourage others.”

The 23 teams will launch their projects for their communities through June and August and compete for an additional $5,000 prize as a part of the Dragon Challenge in a panel interview.

Beomyoung Sohn (MFA 2012)

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INSPIRATION WORKSHOP leaders encouraged students to brainstorm their own community projects in November 2019.

TIGER

4 MARCH 11, 2020

NEWS

Women in Local Politics March is National Women’s History Month, a celebration of women’s lasting impacts in society. This issue, Tiger highlights the history of notable women involved in South Pasadena city politics, and the strides the city is making today.

STORY SOFIA ALVA, ELLIE CAMPBELL, CLOE MAURER, & AANJI SIN

PAGE DESIGN TALULLA CHOW & MADDIE YOO ILLUSTRATION MADDIE YOO

GRAPHIC CHARLOTTE COHEN

History of women in local politics Despite making up just over half of South Pasadena population since its founding in 1888, women have only recently been able to make an impact on local issues and politics. Up until 1879, women were barred from entering male-dominated work fields. This changed when California amended its constitution to state that a person cannot be disqualified from pursuing a vocation for any reason other than capability.

The Woman’s Club of South Pasadena sought the first step for representation when it was established in 1899,

5 WOMEN HAVE SERVED AS

MAYOR OF SOUTH PASADENA

bringing professional women educators and writers together to speak on local issues.

Alva Lee Arnold became the first female mayor of South Pasadena, serving from 1983 to 1984. Arnold dedicated her time to fight the completion of the 710 freeway during her term.

Dorothy Cohen took up the mantle in 1996, paving the way for women volunteerism in South Pasadena.

Cohen committed herself to the library, taking part in

organizations such as the Friends of the South Pasadena Public Library Foundation. Cohen was also the first woman to serve more than one term as mayor, being reelected three times.

Women have continued to push for representation in government, with a group of 15 women founding Women Involved in South Pasadena Political Action (WISPPA) in 2010. Furthermore, 2013 marked the first year two women served on the South Pasadena city council at the same time.

Current dialogue on female politicians The dialogue regarding women in South Pasadena politics has changed drastically over the years. South Pasadena saw an increase in women in politics recently which has changed the dynamic of the city as a whole. During last year’s commissioner election, former mayor and now city council member, Dr. Marina Khubesrian, noted that there was a lack of women on South Pasadena commissions.

“I feel strongly, and this is backed by evidence, that boards and teams with diverse perspectives and backgrounds are stronger,” Khubesrian said. “Diversity is our best anecdote to systematic bias that is inevitable when institutions are dominated by any one gender or socioeconomic group.”

City councilwoman Diana Mahmud also noted the importance of diversity in politics. As former mayor, she has seen and experienced firsthand the need for women involvement in the political world.

“There are definitely instances where [there is] too much testosterone in the room. I think the presence of women helps to lower that,” Mahmud said.

“Women by nature tend to be more consensus driven, and I think that results in a better decision making process.”

However, resident Linda Sullivan has noticed the growth of women’s voices in South Pasadena, as organizations like WISPPA allow women to express their views on political issues. “[The next generation of women] have the opportunities that we never had,” Sullivan said. “We were talking for years about the glass ceiling. We couldn’t get people to listen to us because men were prominent in every industry.”

“

[THE NEXT GENERATION OF WOMEN] HAVE THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE NEVER HAD... WE COULDN’T GET PEOPLE TO LISTEN TO US BECAUSE MEN WERE PROMINENT IN EVERY INDUSTRY

”

AP Government teacher, Maryann Nielsen aims to integrate women’s history into her daily lessons.

“In class we look at laws, supreme court cases, and historical issues that affect women,” Nielsen said. “We’re half the population and the more women we have in government, the better.”

Freshman Jayden Tran echoed the importance of women and political representation, believing that starting political education at a young age will encourage women to pursue governmental fields.

“I’ve met and seen women who have become stifled in their dreams of politics because of a lack of representation,” Tran said. “In South Pas government, women can help push the narrative that women do belong in politics.”

Womens’ impact on the community WISPPA has made one of the largest impacts for women in South Pasadena politics. The organization exists to empower women to involve themselves in the community and in local government.

The group also advocates for governmental transparency and works to provide the public with relevant information about City Council and other city issues.

WISPPA most recently held their monthly meeting at the South Pasadena Senior Center on Saturday, Mar. 7. They discussed the City’s updated general plan in another effort to keep women informed about important local decisions.

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WE’RE 50 PERCENT OF THE POPULATION. IF WOMEN ARE NOT INVOLVED THEN THERE’S AN ENTIRE HALF OF THE POPULATION MAKING DECISIONS FOR US THAT DON’T AFFECT THEM

”

“We’re 50 percent of the population. If women are not involved then there’s an entire half of the population making decisions for us that don’t affect them,” WISPPA President Betty Emirhanian said. “I hope WISPPA continues to be a safe place for people to come and discuss their concerns for the city.”

Many of South Pasadena’s most civically engaged women are involved with WISPPA, including Councilwoman Diana Mahmud.

Mahmud worked as an attorney for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. She was the eighth woman to serve on City Council and the fifth to be mayor, using her position to address environmental issues in South Pasadena.

Mahmud is currently the chair of the Clean Power Alliance, a large group that includes unincorporated areas of Los Angeles, Ventura Counties, and 29 cities. She is also one of 12 councilmembers from Los Angeles working to address stormwater funding options, a common problem in most urban areas. She continues to work alongside former mayor Dr. Marina Khubesrian in WISPPA and in City Council.

During her term, Khubesrian pushed for gender equity in the South Pasadena city government. She appointed 16 women to serve as commissioners, a decision that was criticized for being made too hastily without carefully considering all qualified candidates. Khubesrian defended the choice, pointing out that it balanced the number of men and women on the 13 voluntary boards and commissions.

Women have been historically underrepresented in multiple branches of South Pasadena government, one of them being the local police force. At the February city council meeting, South Pasadena police chief Joe Ortiz introduced officer Kristina Roppo to the community. Roppo’s addition to the force, alongside current police officer Catalina Vasquez, brings in new perspectives and communication styles to the team.

“Historically, policing is a male dominated profession,” Khubesrian said. “I’m pleased that the SPPD is on the forefront of this shift and [is] committed to recruiting the best qualified officers whether they be male or female.”

The recent introduction of South Pasadena Police Department’s second female police officer represents another stride the city has taken towards increasing gender equity in government.

TIGER MARCH 11, 2020

THE TIGER ESTABLISHED 1913

CSPA GOLD MEDALIST 2020 CSPA GOLD MEDALIST 2019 CSPA CROWN AWARD 2018 CSPA GOLD MEDALIST 2017 CSPA CROWN AWARD 2016

STA F F ED IT OR IA L

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF PRESTON SHARKEY

5

OPINION

MANAGING EDITORS CAROLINE KIMBEL, Print DOMINIC MARZIALI, Online NEWS ADAM KWOH, Editor NOAH KUHN, Associate OPINION CAT FLORES, Editor NICOLAS LIU, Editor HAELEE KIM, Associate FEATURE LUYANG ZHANG, Editor CLOE MAURER, Associate SPORTS MATTHEW TSAI, Editor ELLIE CAMPBELL, Associate SOFIA ALVA, Associate DESIGN TALULLA CHOW, Editor MADDIE YOO, Editor DAVID SOHN, Associate PHOTOGRAPHY OSCAR WALSH, Editor ELLA JAYASEKERA, Associate COPY CHRISTINE MAO, Editor PETER WANG, Editor SENIOR STAFF WRITER AANJI SIN STAFF WRITERS AMBER CHEN, AUDREY ERNST, KATHARINE FLORENCE, KIMBERLY HSUEH, ZOE SCHLAAK, LILIAN ZHU PHOTOGRAPHERS JAYDEN EDEN, KATELYN HERNANDEZ, SEAN JIN, SARAH LEE ILLUSTRATORS NICHOLAS FORMAN, ALICIA ZHANG GRAPHIC DESIGNER CHARLOTTE COHEN BUSINESS & ADS HYUN KIM, Business Manager JOSEPH LEE, Ads Manager WEBMASTER & VIDEOGRAPHER ALEX PARRA FACULTY ADVISOR MIKE HOGAN VOL. 106 NO. 6 DISTRIBUTED ON MARCH 11, 2020.

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Opening the conversation about cultural appropriation

The toxic and accusatory debate around cultural appropriation needs to be redirected into a conversaion about America’s vestigial colonialism Cultural appropriation has become an accusatory phrase, often leading to defensiveness and the shame of those who are uncertain. The media fuels this hysteria, frequently defining cultural appropriation as “the taking of another culture’s practices without consent.” However this interpretation takes away from the phrase’s underlying complexity.

systematic consequences are exacerbated when a dominant culture participates. However, the debate around cultural appropriation escalates outside the context of sanctity. People often have a hard time understanding that “non-sacred” cultural items, such as cornrows and qipaos, still possess the same power dynamic in the form of double standards.

The definition of this concept according to Oxford Dictionary is as follows: “Cultural appropriation is the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society.” Therefore, “consent” lingua does not fit within the terms of an issue like cultural appropriation. It turns a systematic problem into a personal one and exacerbates racial divides.

When a marginalized group participates in their own cultural practices in an American setting they are further alienated.

For example, when a Black person wears cornrows they are seen as “ghetto.” When an Asian person wears a qipao, they fall vicitm to xenophobia. Conversely, people who aren’t members of these groups — which includes other people of color — have the freedom of experimenting with a “fun” style. Although the intention may not have been racist, the repercussions further marginalize minorities.

The power dynamic expressed within this definition complicates cultural appropriation within American society. This country is privileged to be so diverse. However, people of color simultaneously reconcile with the present day repercussions of oppression. The issue of cultural appropriation was created and is fueled by this country’s unbalanced cultural power dynamic. People need to foster constructive dialogue around the systemic causes of cultural appropriation instead of attacking individual offenses.

People appropriate unconsciously on a daily basis: the ingredients one uses while cooking, the word that has become a part of one’s vocabulary, the dance move one automatically steps into. These actions cannot be controlled because they lack intention, and therefore significance. But when intention is involved, the action takes on a new phrase — cultural appropriation — and fuels America’s unbalance.

The action of consciously taking a culturally sacred item out of its traditional context is unacceptable for everyone and its

Yet, with further understanding, it becomes difficult to draw lines. The two generalized instances of cultural appropriation listed above each hold many different situations and circumstances. The difficult questions they conjure emphasize that cultural appropriation does not have set guidelines or even a set solution. In fact, the issue even extends past clothing and hair to music, tattoos, mannerisms, etc, making it incredibly hard to compartmentalize.

What should be a discussion has turned into a two-sided conflict: people either disapprove of anything that feels slightly off-par or argue under the pretext that everyone appropriates, ignoring the power dynamic at play. People must do their part to recognize the complexity and unknowns of cultural appropriation and the unbalance that fuels it.

Uncertainty needs to be met with empathy in order to open up this difficult conversation.

Boos & Bravo Tiger ’s cheer and jeers for the month of March. 2020 has not been it.

BOOS

BRAVO + BOOS

BOO to everyone complaining about their European vacations being canceled because of the coronavirus.

We feel so bad for you ;(

BRAVO to Mike Bloomberg for dropping out. He stopped, but will he frisk?

BOO to cream of wheat. Y’all nasty.

BOO to Preston for taking five-minute showers.

He stanky.

BOO to Charli D’amelio; didn’t even know who you were when you came up to me at Frank’s Auto Body Shop asking if I wanted to take a picture.

BOO to the random little girls wearing sashes who keep coming to my door asking me to buy overpriced cookies. It says no solicitors.

TIGER

6 MARCH 11, 2020

OPINION

The multiracial struggle for identity Biracial individuals often find themselves forced out of their own cultural narratives STORY CLOE MAURER ILLUSTRATION DAVID SOHN

A

s the conversation about racial identity has widened, there is new terminology for the more intangible aspects of the minority experience.

One of these newly coined terms is racial imposter syndrome. Racial imposter syndrome occurs when one does not feel like they are connected enough to one race to be able to authentically identify as part of it and participate in its dialogue. This leaves many confused about the “true” nature of their identities and unsure about how to connect with their heritages.

There is something unique to be said about the minority experience in America. The American melting pot is very real, but it’s a dominantly white one. Disconnection from the values and cultures of one's birthplace amplifies generationally. It manifests in first, second, and third-generation children of immigrants as racial imposter syndrome.

Racial imposter syndrome is something that all minorities in America have to reconcile with, but it takes a slightly different shape for mixed-race people. It compels these individuals to choose a defining part of their identity for the sake of convenience — and usually the deciding factor is the environment.

Environment plays a big part in a predominantly white city like South Pasadena. White dominance results in race-defined cliques, with multiracial

kids being caught in the middle. They don’t feel white enough for the white kids or Asian enough for the Asian kids, etcetera. Multiracial kids have to choose which part of their heritage they identify stronger with, but then in the end are not accepted as a part of any group because they are not perceived as enough of one race to be able to understand the struggle.

But, ultimately, it is wrong to minimize someone else’s experiences or carry preconceived notions about how much adversity someone has faced because of their racial identity.

“I often find myself trying to prove my connection to one of my heritages. Many times, I have been shamed by my peers for not having a better understanding of a culture I identify with. I’ve been told that I am a ‘bad Asian’ when I have never tried a certain food or been to a certain place.

I have been told that I am ‘not really Mexican’ because my family doesn’t look like other families.

It has left me to not only feel like I lack a cultural identity, but that I am failing to live up to the ethnicities in my blood,” a student said.

There is no “cure” for racial imposter syndrome, but there are ways to remedy it. Multiracial people need to open up a discussion about the mixed experience and create their own unique dialogue about being a person of color. However, the importance of understanding that it is unfair to decide for someone if they have the right to feel connected to their own heritage pertains to everyone.

Fostering acceptance of vulnerability STORY ZOE SCHLAAK ILLUSTRATION DAVID SOHN The rise of social media has made an undeniable impact on the way people interact on a daily basis. Although innovation has made communication easier, the resulting decline of face-to-face conversation has fostered a dangerous internalization of emotions. Furthermore, social media subconsciously pressures teens to constantly appear “put together.”

Society needs to destigmatize vulnerability and expand safe spaces where people, specifically teenagers, can share personal issues without fear of being judged.

In a study from Tilburg University’s Journal of Social Psychology, participants made judgments on crying and noncrying people; those who were crying were viewed less positively than those who were not.

This example is indicative of a larger societal issue: People are uncomfortable with displays of vulnerability.

Social media contributes to this discomfort, acting as a barrier to expression of vulnerability.

Through social media, users are able to chat with anyone, anywhere. Teens find communicating through social media easier and more modern, as it is done through a screen.

However, as a result of most of their livelihood existing through technology,

people don’t practice enough face-to-face communication. This limited socialization consequently teaches teenagers that they should never express their emotions, whether online or in person.

Academic competition at South Pasadena exacerbates this trend of internalizing emotions. Students constantly compete to stay at the top of their class, taking on various extracurriculars and AP classes in an attempt to outdo each other. Those with more rigorous classes or coursework often find themselves unable to express vulnerability at the risk of appearing incompetent or underqualified, which leads to a detrimental internalization of stress and insecurity.

Teenagers should not compromise their emotional wellness for the sake of maintaining a strong front. Contrary to society’s stigma towards it, being vulnerable is a sign of strength. Teenagers should fight the fear of uncomfortable situations to allow themselves open up their emotions to others.

Being vulnerable is an important factor in building authentic relationships with others. The expression of emotion also allows one to acknowledge an internal emotional journey. Emotions should never be bottled up. Society must expand safe spaces in order to promote the destigmatization of vulnerability.

OPPOSITE OVER HYPOTENUSE | AANJI SIN

A pandemic is no excuse for xenophobia The world is on the verge of even more racial division because of the coronavirus outbreak, but this isn’t the first case of Chinese-targeted xenophobia to emerge from a disease. As I read more and more stories about ChineseCanadians living through the SARS outbreak and the hostility they experienced, the more I am reminded of the impact the coronavirus has had on the Asian-American community as a whole. People must realize that the racism surrounding the coronavirus and Chinese-Americans is baseless and that it encourages the racial discrimination that society have fought so hard to stay away from.

On Feb. 1, a man on a Los Angeles subway train picked out Asian-American passengers and went on a racist tirade about Chinese people’s “f****** disgusting” hygiene. On Feb. 2, a woman was attacked in a New York City subway station for wearing a face mask. Just a few weeks ago in San Francisco, an elderly Chinese man was attacked by a group of men while collecting recycling cans.

Even in South Pasadena, a city with a prominent Asian population, my Asian friends and I have been approached and genuinely asked if we had the virus.

In case any of this sounds dramatic to my bubbledin peers at SPHS, here are some real news stories.

It’s especially irritating that non-Chinese AsianAmericans are taking flak from people who can’t tell the

difference between ethnicities. The woman berated by the man on the LA subway was Thai-American and didn’t realize the comments were being made towards her until a friend noticed him looking at her. Refusing to educate and correct one’s mistake when mislabeling someone’s Asian race just reaffirms the West’s terrible habit of grouping all Asian cultures together as one. If people are going to accuse Chinese people of infecting the entire world, at least try to blame the right people.

The coronavirus is a joke on social media, but people must keep in mind that it’s an actual event hurting an entire group of people. It’s disappointing to watch the world fall back into its old ignorant habits.

TIGER MARCH 11, 2020

OPINION

7

Letter to the Editor: Shakespeare Revisited English Department Chair responds to Tiger's February staff editorial: It is time to bury the "dead white men" SUBMITTED BY KATIE JAROCH ILLUSTRATION NICHOLAS FORMAN

W

hen it comes to Will Shakespeare, I’ve always been a superfan. I’m an English Literature major, an English teacher, the daughter of an English teacher, and I used to read the Oxford English Dictionary for fun. I’ve visited Stratford, viewed live performances (eight), and memorized extra soliloquies (three). (But I’m not the one who performed an interpretive dance on Macbeth in middle school. I have my limits.) When my son was born, I was gifted a book entitled Teaching Shakespeare to Your Children.

Yes, I’m that kind of Shakespeare nerd.

Yet I also understand that Shakespeare can be a tough sell. Any challenging text can be a tough sell, for that matter. When I was a junior, I informed my French teacher that Albert Camus was stupid. We were reading The Myth of Sisyphus. I didn’t get it.

Happy? Rolling a rock up a hill for eternity? Please.

(Sorry, Madame Berk.)

But here’s the thing — when we ask, “Why read Shakespeare?” we are really asking, “Why read anything challenging at all?” Here’s why I read and teach Shakespeare. Because I love language in all its forms and I want you to love it, too. Because there’s absolutely nothing like Shakespeare’s brilliant syntax and wordplay. Because I can work on my wokeness and still say no — I won’t “bury” certain dead white

men. And because reading and valuing Shakespeare doesn’t mean we can’t also read and value anything else. In fact, reading Shakespeare helps us read and value everything else.

It’s impossible to overstate Shakespeare’s impact on authors from Austen and Morrison to Huxley and Rowling. According to scholars, only the King James version of The Bible stands with Shakespeare’s works as equally influential on the Western canon of literature. British author and feminist Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), another one of my favorites, wrote, “I read Shakespeare directly after I have finished writing, when my mind is agile and red and hot. Then it is astonishing. I never knew how amazing his stretch and speed and word-coining power is, until I felt it utterly outpace and outrace my own. . . I could say that Shakespeare surpasses literature altogether, if I knew what that meant.”

If Woolf had known the term “OG,” I’m certain she would have used it to describe Will.

If we reflexively turn to Sparknotes or only read the modernized versions of Shakespeare, then we choose to miss the essence of it all: the depth, liveliness, and thrum of vitality. We could shrug when we read, “Conceal me what I am”, or we could pause, dig in, and suddenly arrive at, “Oh! ‘Disguise me.’” This takes effort and practice.

And as with most things worthwhile, the payoff is tremendously satisfying.

The truth behind cheating and plagiarism STORY KATHARINE FLORENCE ILLUSTRATION ALICIA ZHANG Teachers constantly tell students throughout their academic careers that the worst thing they could do is cheat. Yet, cheating and plagiarism in academic environments are reaching epidemic proportions.

The false narrative that students do this because they are lazy or unmotivated is an oversimplification of a complex issue and doesn’t accurately reflect reality, which happens to be the complete opposite.

The hard-to-face truth for teachers and administration is that students cheat because they care. It is their desire to do well that prompts action. Cheating to succeed instead of accepting failure blatantly exposes the reality that a large portion of offenders are highlymotivated students. The most important thing to recognize is that students engage in this behavior for a wide variety of reasons and that it is not just lowachieving students who participate. In reality, the majority of students cheat regardless of perceived or implemented rigor.

Cheating is and always has been ingrained in the very foundation of the American education system.

Unfortunatly, there will never be a day in which a large percentage of students do not cheat unless this country completely revolutionizes the very system that pressured them into doing so in the first place.

The need to prioritize grades and achievement over authentic learning is still very prevalent. Often times, a single bad test score can sabotage months of hard work. Students shouldn’t be shamed or discredited as lesser for slightly sacrificing their integrity to reach impossible expectations.

Cheating has, arguably, become a necessity within our education system. High schools are now ubercompetitive environments, with students battling to receive admission from the top 50 household names.

Students who internalize that pressure to attain perfection will often turn to cheating as a way of finding an edge on that competition. Considering this, it almost becomes foolish not to cheat, as it grants everyone else an automatic step-up. If one chooses not to sacrifice their integrity, they also sacrifice their opportunities.

SPUSD needs to address the pressure put on students directly. Many students choose to cheat or plagiarize instead of ceding mental health; it is understandable to want to slightly plagiarize in order to quickly complete an assignment before 3 a.m. This objectively unethical behavior shouldn’t be celebrated or rewarded. Nevertheless, it is important for teachers and administration to understand the rationale and not simply write students off. Those who cheat are not bad people and shouldn’t be treated as such, especially when they are products of a grade-obsessed society that has not taught them any different.

Power dynamics, standards, and gender STORY AUDREY ERNST ILLUSTRATION NICHOLAS FORMAN Confidence and charisma are the makings of a dominant leader, not necessarily intelligence or respect. SPHS students might know them as the guy who always shares his unsolicited opinions and repeatedly receives praise for his loud, obnoxious behavior. Being a loud or confident boy isn’t the issue; the problem is when men who dominate a room use their power to suppress the ideas of intelligent women who are not given the same inherent respect.

The most identifiable example of this is Donald Trump, who uses his power to insult and undermine his way to the presidency. He constantly minimizes his opponents' intellect instead of their beliefs when he feels attacked.

Trump consistently undermines women, most notably when he called Hillary Clinton a “nasty woman” in the 2016 presidential race because she challenged him. When a woman called out his behavior, he retaliated with more of the same degrading language.

Trump is just one example that students at SPHS, especially female students, can relate to. When a boy gets

up to speak and demands the room, not with intelligence, but with brash words and a superior attitude, he silences his female peers who can’t match his authority. This is present not only in classrooms and debate stages, but on sports teams as well.

“I get overpowered all the time by the guys on the team. I’m not sure if it’s because of their overwhelming presence or the atmosphere of the team in general, but I think people have accepted that the girls are not decision makers on the team,” a female student athlete said.

Women cannot have the same kind of inherent power solely because of their gender. It comes down to systemic sexism. When women are taught to stay quiet, they cannot gain the same respect by doing what their male counterparts do. When a woman commands a room with the same dominance as a man, she is seen as malicious, or a “nasty woman.” This is why women often resort to being exceedingly nice and accommodating. However, being poised and thoughtful does not assert the same authority as loud, brash language and a commanding presence can. Leaders should be respected for their ideas, not for their egos.

8

TIGER MARCH 11, 2020

TIGER MARCH 11, 2020

STUDENTS ON THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

STUDENTS ON THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION P

ete Buttigeg, Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg’s recent drop-outs in the 2020 presidential election have cultivated a clear divide in the Democratic party between the progressive far-left and the moderate establishment. Although President Donald Trump appears to be the clear front-runner in the Republican primary, Biden and Sanders are butting heads in their race to win the Democratic nomination. Tiger investigates students’ views on the presidential race and who they are supporting.

STORY AMBER CHEN, KATHARINE FLORENCE, CAROLINE KIMBERL, & CLOE MAURER PAGE DESIGN & ILLUSTRATIONS TALULLA CHOW & MADDIE YOO GRAPHICS CHARLOTTE COHEN

Donald Trump

Joe Biden

President Donald Trump’s bid for re-election will likely win him the Republican nomination. Many of his supporters cite the economy’s upward trend during the past three years as one of Trump’s biggest draws, but due to the economy’s natural fluctuation as well as payoff from the work Obama did for his two terms after the 2008 recession. His only other opponent is William Weld, an anti-Trump Republican from Massachusetts.

“I support Trump because he has done great things for the economy and he supports our constitution. He’s making America great again through getting rid of government policies and giving people freedom,” junior Timothy Johnson said.

Former Vice-President Joe Biden is running on a platform of “uniting American and returning to an age without political polarization.” His campaign prioritizes healthcare, which he often discusses in the context of his own personal tragedies. However, he doesn’t support the concept of Medicare for All, instead supporting the expansion of Obamacare. Biden believes strongly in bipartisanship, citing his record of being able to secure Republican senate votes through negotiation. However, Biden’s negotiation has often come as a result of personal relations with segregationists. He has also been criticized for innappropriate behavior towards women and a controversial voting record.

“With Joe Biden we can return to a day without political polarization. While not everyone may agree with him, I feel people can trust him to rule the nation,” sophomore Joseph Broderick said. “The problem with Bernie Sanders is that he is advertising a more polarized political administration and I don’t think that’s the right path for the nation. I want it to be more moderate because people have to come together.”

Biden lacks the political consistency of Bernie Sanders: He didn’t support same-sex marriage until 2012 and voted to allow states to overturn Roe vs. Wade. He also voted for the War on Drugs, the Iraq war, and deregulating banks, among many other items that are in conflict to Democratic Party values.

Biden’s current success, in addition to his perceived electability, is most likely his appealment to supporters of other moderates. His campaign’s sweep during Super Tuesday can be credited to unexpected wins in states like Texas and Minnesota, home to endorsers and previous presidential candidates Congressman Beto O’Rourke and Senator Amy Kloubuchar. Pete Buttigieg, who has I FEEL PEOPLE CAN TRUST garnered an unexpectedly large following has also suspended his campaign and proclaimed [BIDEN] TO RULE THE NATION his support for Biden.

“

”

Bernie Sanders

Out of the Race Candidates Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the race just before Super Tuesday and endorsed fellow moderate Democrat candidate Joe Biden.

Michael Bloomberg went on to do the same the next morning. It’s been projected that the strategic consolidation of the four moderate candidates will give Biden a much needed boost in the polls. Elizabeth Warren followed suit after Super Tuesday failed to revitalize her campaign. She has yet to announce her endorsement.

Survey Results Tiger sent a survey to 183 students during their sixth period classes on Wednesday, Mar. 4 to investigate students’ perspectives on the 2020 presidential election. Out of the students surveyed, 38.5 percent support Sanders the most whereas 19.2 percent support Biden and 11.5 percent Trump. Drop-out candidates Warren and Bloomberg are still included in the results for accuracy purposes.

Which presidential candidate do you support the most?

Sanders 38.5%

Trump 11.5%

Warren 10.4%

Bloomberg 3.3%

Bernie Sanders is a democratic socialist who has served as an independent senator for Vermont for 14 years. Prior to that, his congressional career spanned from 1991 to 2006. Sander’s campaign focuses on the issues of the working and middle class. It emphasizes the importance of fixing wealth inequality, providing Medicare for All, and implementing a Green New Deal. Sanders’ campaign takes zero money from billionaires or Super Political Action Committees and instead, relies on grassroots fundraising which has earned him over $34.5 million, the largest amount fundraised for any presidential candidate in American history. However, many criticize his far-left approach, wishing to see more bipartisanship from the candidate. This has commonly led to concern of his electability over incumbent President Trump.

Another concern for many is his old age and prior health problems.

“I think it means something that for everything the U.S. has done wrong in the last 40 years, there’s a video of Bernie Sanders opposing it,” senior Kenneth Schultz said. “He’s always been on the right side of history.”

Sanders’ consistency in his beliefs is one of his strongest points. In his 1972 campaign for governor of Vermont, he issued a statement is support of same-sex marriage. In 1986, Sanders attended and spoke at the Vermont Lesbian and Gay Pride parade. In 1996, he opposed the Defense of Marriage Act, anti-gay marriage legislation. Compared to other candidates like Joe Biden, who supported the act, Sanders has persistently held progressive views throughout his political career.

Sanders’ far-left ideals are a concern for many voters who prioritize removing President Trump from office. Many believe that because of those values, he will appeal less to moderates and conservatives and is, therefore, less electable. Voters are also considering his health problems and age, debating whether he is in fit physical condition to serve as president.

The 78-year-old candidate suffered a heart [SANDERS’] ALWAYS BEEN ON attack in late 2019, and underwent a minor THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY surgery, receiving two stent implants.

“

”

Biden 19.2%

Other 17%

What's most important to you when considering which candidate you should support?

Electability Unsure

Track Record

Platform

21.4% 25.8% 28% 29.1%

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TIGER

10 MARCH 11, 2020

FEATURE

FEATURE

Green beans for dinner CAROLINE KIMBEL

J.K. Rowling and color blindness I was infatuated with Harry Potter growing up. My adoration for this series made J.K. Rowling — the first person to ever fall off the Forbes billionaires list due to philanthropy — a huge role model. It’s been upsetting for me to see one of my female role models tarnish the legacy of her works, making me question whether I should continue to support her.

WITH A LESS-THAN-INTERESTING CAST and forced dialogue to boot, Love is Blind fails form the “genuine connections” the show is meant to foster.

After a full season, Love is Blind remains blind to its faults

The show fails to capatalize on its interesting premise and lacks entertainment value STORY CLOE MAURER ILLUSTRATION ALICIA ZHANG

L

ove is Blind, Netflix’s first attempt at a reality dating show, has been a wild success on paper. The show gained a large following and even a pull-down tab on Buzzfeed — major accomplishment alert. In the show, men and women live on separate sides of a house and their only contact is through “pod dates.” They sit in adjacent rooms and talk through a wall, never seeing what the other looks like — hence the name Love is Blind. The show is supposed to test whether or not people can fall in love when physical attraction is secondary or eliminated entirely.

The participants talk more to the people they connect with, and after a few more pod dates, they propose. The rest of the show is the couples getting to know each other via a vacation to Mexico and other reality TV stunts until they either get married or get left at the altar.

Love is Blind should be entertaining. Mystery romance in the form of a “social experiment” should be a recipe for something crazy. Unfortunately, that’s not how Love is Blind goes down.

By design, it’s not a competition. Love is Blind is about forming connections, but when the connections still feel fabricated, à la reality TV, what’s left is a show that takes itself too seriously.

Right off the bat, there didn’t look to be a wine fight or a rendition of the classic ‘girl gets pushed down the staircase’ scenario in store. It feels even worse to admit that watching a house full of girls going at each other’s throats is what makes dating shows entertaining. But suffice it to say, Love is Blind was missing that crucial dramatic foundation from the get-go.

Maybe the one exception to the all too neutral-good cast was a fellow named Barnett. Barnett strolled in with the swagger

of a Jake Gyllenhaal-in-Brokeback-Mountain-wannabe and all the charisma of a weird uncle. From there, things went south very quickly. On one of his very first dates, Barnett asked a woman named Diamond Jack if she was a stripper.

Barnett made me very uncomfortable. He is, in a fratty six foot two inch parcel, exactly what’s so perplexing about reality TV. Was he the best part of the show or the worst part? Nobody can be sure. Is it okay to give problematic people a platform for the sake of entertainment? More than likely, this is probably an accidentally provoked dilemma because Love is Blind just isn’t that deep.

A lot of the cast’s unlikeability can probably be attributed to the boring, formulaic dialogue, because when a show is riding on the audience members buying into “genuine connection,” the authenticity has to extend to how the cast is presented.

This is exactly why a show like Love is Blind doesn’t work.

Reality TV cannot and should never mimic real life, nor should they try to explore the complexities of the human condition because that’s not what it’s for. Basically, the verdict is this: Love is Blind, stay in your lane.

Love is Blind is what it advertises itself to be. It is in fact a dating show and the contestants’ love is indeed “blind.” This doesn’t mean it’s politically correct television, but it really has no business being politically correct anyways.

Love is Blind Creator Genre Episode time

Chris Coelen Reality 48–84 minutes

When a fan complained about Hogwarts’ lack of Jewish representation, she tweeted back, “Anthony Goldstein, Ravenclaw, Jewish wizard.” Yet, throughout all seven books, Goldstein’s Jewish identity is never mentioned. She also spontaneously announced that Dumbledore is gay, even though he was never written as such in any of the books. Lastly, she announced that Hermoine is Black, despite the absence of any textual evidence. She subsequently called anyone that called Hermione white “racist.”

Rowling has been retroactively making her series more inclusive to compensate for a total lack of representation. She’s lying to give herself a better reputation.

The problem with writing with no regard to race creates the same problems as pretending that gender does not exist. History curriculum pretty much only covers the stories of white male conquerors. Likewise, television and movie stars are usually white, pressuring people to interpret unclearly identified characters as so. Essentially, writing colorblind is just writing white. There is no doubt that Rowling originally intended for all of Harry Potter’s characters to be white.

In fact, in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Rowling even describes Hermione as having a “white face.”

When analyzing how I should interpret these ugly revelations, I’ve thought a lot about how this “colorblind” mindset has manifested itself not just in the Harry Potter series, but in South Pasadena. Many in this small liberal community automatically assume that race plays no role in local interactions, as if this town lives post-racially. But, as soon as people detach themselves from racism and other social issues, they overshadow the minorities in their community. Especially considering that South Pasadena was once a ‘white’s only’ town, there is always more that people could be doing to push in the progressive direction.

Seeing J.K. Rowling’s behavior, I no longer want to give her my praise. So, I’ve decided that if I ever want to pick up one of the books once again, I’ll just have to keep in mind the consequences of a seven-book “colorblind” series and the gravity of J.K. Rowling’s random character assignment to minority groups.

Regardless of Rowling’s intent, no book, or small community outside of Los Angeles for that matter, is truly colorblind. This attitude boils down to egotism and willful ignorance.

TIGER MARCH 11, 2020

FEATURE

11

PERSONALITY PROFILE SARAH ZENAS: SERVING WITH LOVE AND SELFLESSNESS STORY KIMBERLY HSUEH PHOTO KATELYN HERNANDEZ

S

enior Sarah Zenas slowly climbed onto the diving board and waited for the whistle to blow. Muscles aching and out of breath, she wanted to climb back down. Instead, she waited in position and recalled her experience with the people living on Skid Row: Homeless children endured a lifelong journey of hardships and still grinned with positivity with the hopes of moving forward. With this in mind, Zenas looked up, smiled, and dove in.

“At swim, when I’m having a rough time and I can’t keep swimming, I remember that people are going through so much more than I am, especially the mothers on Skid Row. These mothers don’t have time to wallow, because they have children to care for. They have so much to worry about but they do it and they’re okay. So, this has taught me that you can always keep going even when things are hard.”

Thousands of homeless people live on the crowded, impoverished streets of Skid Row, a neighborhood of tents occupying 50 blocks in Downtown Los Angeles. When Zenas and her family drove past the area, she had her firsthand experience of the scene. Bewildered by the number of people lingering on the streets, she felt helpless and an overwhelming feeling to learn about their stories and needs.

Once she entered high school, she attained her dream through her sister’s Feel Full Club. In 2016, Feel Full tackled its goal of ending homelessness by collaborating with the Chilo Foundation, an outreach charity dedicated to “pause for those in need.” Zenas actively participated in their service events, seeking to bring hope to the areas of Skid Row, darkened by society’s backlash and ignorance of homelessness, with a welcoming attitude.

INSPIRED TO HELP others by a childhood trip past Skid Row, Sarah Zenas dedicates her time towards empowering her peers to work to improve the world around them.

As one of the officers of the Feel Full Club, Zenas wanted to bring the South Pasadena community to Skid Row. She passionately believed that exposing students to the true situation of that homeless individuals faced could refute the stereotypes of the people living on streets as well as spark compassion, selflessness, generosity, and action amongst her peers at school.

Feel Full allows students to discover the beauty of volunteering, and share stories while serving food or donating necessities. The homeless people are able to receive the resources they need, such as menstrual products. But, Zenas didn’t stop here. She also brought her samaritan acts to school, collaborating with the health department to provide pads in the girls’ bathroom.

“I really wanted other people to experience [volunteering]. So, [my officers and I] were able to expand [the club] a lot, and more students began participating,” Zenas said. “At Skid Row, talking to the homeless and seeking what it’s like to not have access, made [hygiene products] way more important to me now. Now every year, we do a menstrual care product drive, for them and the students at our school.”

Volunteering has been much more than just a way to earn community service hours to Zenas. For her, it has been a way to bond with other people and learn about their experiences, connect with different communities, and take the first steps to end homelessness in LA.

TIGER’S MARCH GALLERY

By Staff Photographers

TIGER

12 MARCH 11, 2020

FEATURE

Miss Anthropocene brings post-irony to unrelenting darkness deepens the constant storm of attention that surrounds her.

Looking past the drama, Grimes is marked by a dynamic persona with a unique agenda to match.

Art Angels, her previous project, was a slick rebuttal against the music industry’s domineering patriarchy, colored with peppy mainstream appeal.

Miss Anthropocene departs from her former optimism; she embraces society’s failures by presenting herself as a villain. The concept album personifies social issues as gods, but fails to provide a cohesive narrative structure.

STORY PETER WANG ILLUSTRATION ALICIA ZHANG Grimes is an enigma. Her meteoric ascent from underground electronic producer to almost-mainstream pop star shows remarkable dedication to indie ideals — but her boundary-pushing antics have incited controversy and confusion. On top of her divisive reputation, being pregnant with Elon Musk’s child

In terms of sound, the album is the culmination of 10 years of technical and creative growth.

The record’s production, handled almost entirely by the artist herself, is impeccable.

Spirited synth riffs, punchy percussion, and Grimes’ signature siren calls meld on an expansive soundstage to form an otherworldly atmosphere while still being unmistakably organic. Though the album is sometimes overproduced and texturally crowded, it triumphes with its 90s-esque blend of goth, darkwave, and art-pop — a step up from the disjointed Art Angels.

While the tracklist is well-planned, it suffers from unnecessarily drawn out tracks such as its opener

“So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth,” which offers sparse songwriting but compensates with gorgeous instrumentals. “Darkseid” features Taiwanese rapper Aristophanes and her bone-chilling Mandarin verses; unfortunately, the language barrier will bewilder most listeners. Grimes furnishes a standout acoustic 90s pop-rock track on “Delete Forever,” pairing bright instrumentals with clear and deeply personal vocals.

The record’s weakest link is “Violence,” a vapid and incongruous party track.

The second (and better) half of Miss Anthropocene begins with “New Gods” and “My Name is Dark,” bringing a heated auditory and narrative climax. In “You’ll miss me when I’m not around,” Grimes challenges Billie Eilish’s crown in cathartic emo-pop. “Before the fever,” with its seething imagery of burning at the stake, mixes haunting ambiance and melodramatic writing. Finally, “IDORU” gracefully transcends the previous bleakness with heavenly ecstasy.

This new LP is the most refined Grimes record yet, but it is certainly flawed: the vocals are at times muddled, and the abstract narrative is difficult to follow. However, these shortcomings are excusable given the consistent merits of the album’s boldly vulnerable vision. It exemplifies how overproduction can coexist with eccentricity, and how darkness can be graceful yet enthralling.

Miss Anthropocene Artist/Label Genre

Grimes/4AD Ethereal Wave, art-pop

Length

10 tracks, 44 minutes

BOBA RANKINGS STORY KIMBERLY HSUEH, HAELEE KIM, & AANJI SIN

PHOTOS ELLA JAYASEKERA & SARAH LEE

PAGE DESIGN CHARLOTTE COHEN

B

oba is an integral component of the South Pasadena lifestyle, but shops such as T-Pumps and Teamorrow dominate in emptying the wallets of SPHS students. Tiger ranks four unique yet underrated boba shops across the San Gabriel Valley.

1. Cafe 86 Cafe 86 is often lost to customers making their way through the hustle of Old Town Pasadena, but it is a gulp of pleasing new flavors amidst the traditional matcha and oolong of tea houses. The cafe takes the Taiwanese concepts of boba and experiments with uniquely, authentic Filipino twists to its flavors, such as calamansi, mango, and coconut. However, Cafe 86’s standout and staple product is their ube treats. Their version of halo-halo, a Filipino shaved ice dessert featuring ube, is a bestselling item and is comprised of a decadent scoop of ube ice cream over classic milk tea, with add-ons such as boba, coconut jellies, and creamy flan pudding. Whether providing quality ube products, boba drinks, or a combination of both, Cafe 86 fulfills boba cravings while adding a unique cultural twist.

2. One Zo

3. Wushiland

A friendly white bunny awaits visitors who enter One Zo. Established in 2015, One Zo is a direct byproduct of the bubble tea frenzy around the world. Although it only recently opened stores in the United States, the brand has already established a strong presence among the countless boba shops in the market. One Zo’s specialty is their housemade tapioca balls, which has allowed the chain to experiment with different flavors such as chrysanthemum and black sesame. One can also customize their drinks with various teas, smoothies, and lattes, in addition to adjusting the temperature. But the true gems of One Zo come from the distinct contrast of their traditional, best-selling flavors like Brown Sugar Milk Tea and the unique Bamboo Charcoal Latte.

With Instagram-worthy visuals, the drink’s highlight is its tapioca pearls, a perfect, chewy texture that is jam packed with sesame flavor, providing customers with an innovative and delicious taste of Taiwanese boba.

Wushiland prides itself on authenticity and refreshment with its nostalgic Taiwanese tea flavor. Originating from Taiwan, Wushiland brings its variety of teas — from aromatic jasmine to creamy oolong — to the San Gabriel Valley. Unlike many shops that have an overpowering artificial sugary taste, Wushiland’s soft boba is lightly drizzled in black sugar and complements its light tea, perfectly quenching thirst without leaving customers with a sugar-coated throat.

Wushiland also provides a large array of options for toppings, such as miniature boba pearls, along with four levels of sweetness and ice and large cup sizes. For those who dislike the aftertaste of sugar and artificial tea, Wushiland offers cups of high quality tea and an ample serving of boba that melts once it hits one’s taste buds.

4. Bopomofo Bopomofo is the home of Eric and Phil Wang’s creation of TaiwaneseAmerican fusion cuisine, located in San Gabriel. After starting a career with Wongfu Productions, a YouTube channel of 3.29 million subscribers, P. Wang began his journey to pursue his passion of opening his own cafe. In 2018, the Wangs began producing eclectic drinks, made from fresh and lactose-free ingredients that cater to lactose intolerant customers. Bopomofo reveals an unexpected refreshing taste with subtle hints of fruits and vegetables, such as beet and carrots, and completes its drinks with a final touch: biodegradable straws to present a message of environmental friendliness. However, the cafe sells its drinks at a high price of six dollars and offers small amounts of boba. If one is looking for the familiar faces from Wongfu Productions and expensive street snacks, Bopomofo is the place to go.

TIGER 13 MARCH 11, 2020

FEATURE

TAAGLAA: The Mosaic Tile House TIGER’S AWESOME ADVENTURES IN THE GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA The Venice Art Walk from the Los Angeles Times discovered the couple’s passion. Soon after, visitors from all over the world have gathered to see the mesmerizing house for themselves, especially after the Instagram boom the early 2010s.

Since the beginning of the tours, Pann and Duran have introduced new compenents to the house, such as a caterpillar-like bench covered in mosaics, and designing the porch was to cultivate a cave-like experience for younger children.

Using mosaics in the most innovative ways, the Mosaic Tile House’s scattered placing of tiles and foreign objects transforms the art form into one of their own. A mere two miles from the coast of Venice Beach, this is a rare experience, and a photogenic trip worth adding to one’s bucket list.

STORY LILIAN ZHU PHOTOS ELLA JAYASEKERA

A

mong the quiet homes in Venice Beach, Los Angeles, one particular house is covered wall to wall with the most unique composition of colorful tiles, statues, and art. Curated by couple Cheri Pann and Gonzalo Duran and opened for public tours in 1997, the Mosaic Tile House creates a-one-of-a-kind atmosphere, merging stained glass with clay to create whimsical furnishings that seem as though they have come straight out of a childhood daydream.

The Mosaic Tile House does not shy away from embracing an eccentric, almost chaoticc, design. Splashes of color and a variety of pipes, shapes, and tiles peek out from the road, beckoning visitors in. Both the interior and exterior are carefully designed with stained glass and broken dinnerware, boldly showcasing the owners’ dedication and creativity towards their home.

As Ella and I stepped through the gate, dozens of different glass-tiled murals greeted us and the contrasting blue and orange flooring transitioned into red carpeting. We felt an overwhelmingly therapeutic feeling as we entered

the house. Perfectly melded into the mosaic front yard design, a low overbranching orange tree and a variety of garden vegetables stood to our right, and assorted buttons, beads, and shells lined the porch window, leaving no area vacant. The style of the house felt vintagelike, through the O’Keefe & Merritt stove, yet youthful because of the mosaics.

Hours: Saturday 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Address: 1116 Palms Blvd, Venice, CA 90291 Price: $

After purchasing the home 1994, Pann and Duran planned on adding a studio at the back of their house and renovating their kitchen into a traditional Mexican style. However, with the combination of the unflattering porch and yard and long duration for the construction of the studio, the couple decided to add in the design of mosaic tiles on various walls around their house to create a more interesting appeal as well as a fun hobby.

Pann and Duran’s kind and welcoming nature made their home feel like our own. The intimate love and care between the owners was apparent, as it was manifested through the different mosaiced walls and Pann’s countless portraits of Duran. Walls that are not mosaiced are painted intricantly and include quirky quotes such as, “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.”

BOLDLY SHOWCASING colorful mixed media, Mosiac Tile House has all the whimsy of a childhood daydream.

Beomyoung Sohn (MFA 2012)

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TIGER

14 MARCH 11, 2020

SPORTS

Pre-game Rituals STORY SOFIA ALVA & ELLIE CAMPBELL

PAGE TALULLA CHOW & MADDIE YOO

M

any athletes have one goal in mind: gain every advantage possible. While some may put extra hours in at the gym or scour over film, others believe that developing their own unique pre-game rituals or superstitions allows them to compete at a higher level. Worth it or not, athletic rituals seem to bring teams and individuals good luck every season.

Some athletes are extremely selective with their gameday clothing or accessories. Throughout girls volleyball’s legendary Division III CIF State Regional title run, sophomore Abby Garner did not wash her knee pads.

Garner associated those kneepads with the Tigers’ success and believed they would maintain their momentum. Meanwhile, senior basketball player Alan Quan always brings multiple pairs of socks to school on game days.

ILLUSTRATION NICHOLAS FORMAN

“We all get in a circle with the captains in the middle,” sophomore Sadie Metcalfe said. “Then we do a cheer all together. It really helps everyone get hyped up and excited before the meet.”

In recent years, softball has trudged through frustratingly grueling seasons with the help of pre-game rituals. Before each game, the players would lie on the grass, taking turns setting individual and team goals for the upcoming match, and top it off with a small team cheer.

This tradition originated last year, due to the large amount of athletes who felt disjointed and unfocused before a game.

The Tigers, suffering with a discouraging record, took it upon themselves to find something that would realign the team before the opening pitch.

“We decided to start doing this to clear our head[s] and improve our focus so we could increase the chances of a win,” junior Carissa Park said.

“Before I get to the gym where we’re playing, I have to change socks,” Quan said. “I don’t like playing in socks that I’ve worn to school. It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

The team’s infielders have recently developed their own ritual as well, known as their “vocal and mental sync-up.” Before every inning, Park and fellow juniors Amanda Kanaly and Mollie Parker huddle together on the pitcher’s mound. Parker leads with a tune, while Park and Kanaly harmonize. It began as a random activity in practice and they decided that their “vocal and mental sync-up” would become an every inning ritual.

Others rely on superstitions to ease their minds and grant them confidence before races and meets. Senior Sarah Zenas has a special pre-meet routine. She’ll rub a penny and pound her chest four times before mounting the starting blocks. Senior track star Gianna Beasley has a similar habit. She always wears a gold chain and jumps up and down three times.

The girls cross country team has a long history of reaching the CIF finals every year, which can be attributed to their pre-game traditions. Before each meet, the team circles up and locks fingers while going around saying their full names and cultishly chanting, “We eat meat!” However, many girls on the team do not actually eat meat.

“I’m not sure if it helps me win exactly, but it definitely calms my nerves,” Beasley said.

Many teams also perform rituals to bond and hone in before a big match. These traditions can be crucial to their performance, especially for swimmers. Before every meet, captains Zenas and junior Carly Rodriguez lead the team in a call-and-response cheer, serving as a way to intimidate the opposing teams and raise energy levels.

No one will ever know if any of these pre-game rituals, traditions, and superstitions guarantee success, but they certainly do give players one advantage: allowing for confidence and composure. Sometimes, that’s all an athlete needs.

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TIGER MARCH 11, 2020

SPORTS

15

Brian Wong: finding a second family STORY LILIAN ZHU PHOTO COURTESY OF MATT SCHOLTZ Brian Wong wobbled on the ice. He had just joined the West Valley Wolves hockey team. He pressed forward, slowly gaining momentum, and glided across the rink. The junior didn’t know it yet, but this sport would strengthen his bonds with his family and also grant him a completely new one.

Coming from a line of hockey players — his father played roller hockey and his older brother ice hockey — Wong was destined to follow suit. On the rink, he discovered an entirely different world. From something as simple as the stark temperature shift to a personal means of escaping his dreary everyday life, Wong immediately realized his passion for the next decade, and hopefully, the rest of his life.

While he bonded with his brother and father over watching their favorite team, the Winnipeg Jets, Wong found another family on the ice. With few able to relate to Wong’s passion for hockey, his teammates on the Burbank Cougars became some of his closest friends, before becoming his second family. Their bond is inseparable, whether they are at their favorite teriyaki chicken spot, playing cards, or just sitting around and conversing.

PLAYING HOCKEY SINCE AGE 7, Wong has found “[Hockey] is a nice way to build friendships that last a long period of time,” Wong said. “We enjoy being his passion and a tight-knit group of friends.

around each other. My hockey [friends] are more outgoing and goofy, but when it comes down to the game, they are always ready to focus and win.”

Wong’s hockey team offers a greater flexibility than most high school sports, with only two mandatory practices per week. Despite the smaller commitment, Wong continues to push himself further to maintain his training, putting in dozens of extra hours at the rink each month. “[Hockey has] a really relaxed schedule, so you get to make it what you want it to be,” Wong said. “You don’t ever want to let your team down. Since the team is your family and you want to make them proud, you try your best all the time and make yourself better.”

Wong’s desire to improve himself has reflected itself in his performance. He worked his way up to be one of the Cougars’ top offensive players and team captain. As he improved, the Cougars also climbed to the top. The team won the Los Angeles Kings High School Hockey League title for the first time in club history this past Sunday and will advance to state competitions in April.

Wong aspires to play competitively at the collegiate level, but he knows that it won’t be his future. Still, Brian Wong loves the cherished family that hockey has brought him and he is ready to go wherever it will take him.

Opinions on the Best and Worst Athletic Uniforms STORY CLOE MAURER & MATTHEW TSAI

PHOTOS JAYDEN EDEN, KATELYN HERNANDEZ, ELLA JAYASEKERA, & OSCAR WALSH

E

very athlete patiently waits through offseason workouts and preseason practices for the moment they finally get to put on their official uniforms.

From utter disappointment at ugly hand-me-downs to pure elation for sparkling new jerseys, Tiger takes a look at SPHS’ most notable uniforms.

Girls tennis

Track and field

Skorts, skorts, and more skorts. What’s not to love? The classic white skort is where fashion, functionality, and versatility meet. Girls tennis might be the only sport where tank tops work.

White piping on the jerseys ties right back into the skort, and the poised visors bring it all together.

For one of South Pas’ most successful sports, track and field uniforms are a real letdown. It’s literally just a bright orange tank-top that reads “South Pasadena.” There’s a total lack of creativity — they look like basketball practice jerseys — and nothing can make up for the soul-crushing dreariness.

The only fault in the uniform is that a tank top is their only jersey option. On the other hand, the minimalism and simplicity is certainly worthy of praise. Regardless, there is one unequivocal truth: The “country club meets public high school” look is truly a timeless one.

The bottom line is this: Track and field deserves much better. For a team that consistently sends athletes to CIF State meets, something with a little more sleeve and a little less Richard Simmons workout tape would truly make a uniform reflective of champions.

Football

Boys soccer

There’s something to be said about how football uniforms look in general. The bulky pads on top and the tight capris on the bottom make for a fairly awkward silhouette.

Boys soccer is one of the rare teams that doesn’t rock “South Pas” or “Tigers” on its uniforms.

Instead, the team boasts its emblem on one side of the chest and a Joma logo on the other. What’s Joma? Well, it’s only one of the top handball, squash, roller hockey, cricket, and paddle tennis sponsors in the world.

South Pas’ uniforms really drop the ball by violating basic principles of design. Inconsistent colors and fonts make the otherwise classic black, white, and orange combo look haphazard.

Some numbers are rounder and burnt orange, but others are done in vibrant block letters.

This violently detracts from the unified look, an absolute must for any sports team.

Boys basketball

Girls volleyball Division III CIF State Regional champions? Who cares? Girls volleyball’s uniforms are the real force to be reckoned with. They’ve got the variety down with a white short-sleeved jersey and a black longsleeved one.

The white trim reminds one of a Shamu from SeaWorld. It perfectly reflects the girls volleyballs’ playstyle: the combination of the speed and aggression of a tiger with the grace of a killer whale. In all seriousness, they receive bonus points for supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a pink jersey set.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The team has a home, away, and even an alternate jersey to choose from. Crowds have the pleasure of guessing which set the Tigers will rock, a far more entertaining game than the 80 minutes of kids running around in circles.

As boys basketball flies up and down the hardwood floor, many fans often forget to notice the meticulous design on the team’s away jerseys.

The white outlining complements the orange lettering and mix-and-match fonts complete this vision. The shorts’ geometric detailing is a perfect callback to the angular Roman typeface on the unique Jordan uniforms.

Sometimes, the team fights monotony by breaking out the gray set. Some say it’s reminiscent of a prison uniform, but a more appropriate description would be innovative and stylish.

BASEBALL

BOYS WATER POLO

SWIMMING

Belts and button-up shirt are cool, but the baggy nature of baseball uniforms and the tightly tucked-in shirts ruins any attractive appeal.

Many people love Speedos and sixpacks, but any kind of helmet that can contain junior Eddie Lane-Flanigan’s hair really deserves praise.

The tiger-striped uniforms are beautiful out of the water, but in the pool and in motion, they are just a murky mess of orange and black.

TIGER

16 MARCH 11, 2020

SPORTS

The best time of the year STORY PRESTON SHARKEY & MATTHEW TSAI The iconic March Madness college basketball tournament is right around the corner, so Tiger ranks the top times of the year for sports fans.

1. January and February: Winter is perhaps the busiest and best time of the year. January is filled with exciting NFL playoff games. Whether fans desperately want their favorite squad to squeeze into a wildcard slot or hope their fantasy teams can come in clutch down the stretch, every game is exciting.

FOLLOWING A COMBINED 8-30 SEASON, the two spring sports have finally jumped out of the cellar.

Baseball and softball: redemption seasons STORY AUDREY ERNST PHOTOS KATELYN HERNANDEZ & SARAH LEE

B

aseball and softball have struggled to find success in recent years. With only 11 and 13 league wins in the last eight seasons respectively, SPHS softball and baseball have been the laughing stock of the Rio Hondo League (RHL).

However, the 2020 season brings new hope for both teams.

This season, baseball boasts a fresh infusion of talent and a new mentality. The team welcomes 12 new players from the junior-varsity level, all of whom are determined to bring winning baseball to South Pas. “We need to take advantage of every opportunity we’re given [and] we’ll win games,” junior Pablo Guerrero said. “We know how good we are. We need to keep believing that and not play down to the level of weaker teams.”

South Pas has already experienced more success with Guerrero and fellow junior Nico Schroeder at the helm.

Guerrero has a .438 batting average in 16 at bats while Schroeder leads the team in base hits and runs batted in.

This past Friday, the team finally ended South Pas’ three-year losing streak in league play. Junior pitchers Noah Takeda-

Teer and Manny Chavez delivered strong performances on the mound to lead the Tigers to a 4-2 win over San Marino in the RHL opener.

Meanwhile, softball hopes to build on its 1-11 record from last year behind an experienced roster with 12 returners. With new coach Ed McCarthy, the Tigers have their sights set on finishing with a winning record for the first time since 2009.

Softball has excelled in non-conference play with a stellar 7-2 standing in various tournaments, averaging over seven runs a game.

“I think [baseball and softball] are finally seeing good results that we haven’t seen in the past. I think we all are feeling confident for once,” junior softball player Gillian Terhune said. “We already have a couple wins under our belt, so we hope to keep the trend going.”

Despite the high-powered offense in preseason play, the Tigers’ bats came up empty in the league-opening 8-0 blowout loss against the Titans. To avoid another subpar season, South Pas must find a way to translate its batting success to the RHL. Softball looks to get back on track, while baseball hopes to carry its momentum Tuesday, Mar. 10, when both teams host the Temple City Rams.

Meanwhile, the NBA and NHL both reach their midway points, answering everyone’s burning preseason questions and setting up interesting second-half storylines. In Europe, all five major soccer leagues are in the midst of their seasons with a few Champions League games sprinkled in between.

2. March and April: The Big Dance kicks off midway through March, uniting obsessed fans and casuals alike with 67 basketball games in just 21 days. March Madness’ nonstop action captures the entire nation, and easy-to-access online streaming apps allow students to tune in on their laptops at school or watch from their phone on the go.

From the Cinderella story upset wins or last second buzzer beaters, to a little known player captivating the nation’s attention, both the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments have a magic and aurora that can’t be found in any other sporting event.

3. October: The dog days of summer can be painstakingly boring for a sports fan, but by the time the fall rolls around, all the major American sports are in full swing. Baseball takes center stage when World Series, known as “The Fall Classic,” rolls around in late October. At the same time, the NBA, NFL, NHL, and European soccer are all in the thick of their new seasons.

Nutrition: the unseen factor critical to a runner’s success STORY SOFIA ALVA ILLUSTRATION ALICIA ZHANG Natural-born talent, dedication, and training regiments all factor into a runner’s performance, but a strict diet is just as important. With nutritional research rapidly advancing, runners are constantly searching for anything that can gift them a slight advantage. As veganism and other unique diets have become more popular, many have tweaked their eating habits and reaped countless benefits.

SPHS alumna Sarah Uriarte went vegan in her junior year after noticing a very prevalent misconception among SPHS athletes; in order to exercise and perform well, they must eat meat and animal products. After extensively researching veganism and its benefits, Uriarte transitioned to a plantbased diet.

“After becoming vegan, I found myself having much more energy than I did before,” Uriarte said. “I felt lighter, rarely got sick, and was able to push myself harder during workouts.”

Following the change, Uriarte saw a decrease in both cross country times and athletic injuries. During her underclassman years, intense cross country

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workouts gave her tendonitis and shin splints.

However, in her junior and senior years, she ran injury-free and saw major improvements in track and cross country.

On the other hand, sophomore Kerrigan Riley had the problem of being “too healthy.” As cross country ended and track season ramped up, her performances declined and she struggled to keep up with her teammates. Riley found that her body metabolized food too quickly, leaving her sluggish before races. Riley began to super-load her diet with chicken breasts and rice to store up body fat to give her the long-term stamina she needed to succeed.

While most athletes don’t permanently change their diets like Uriarte or Riley, most will slightly alter them before important races or games. Cross country combines team bonding with preparation through team dinners at Souplantation to load up on carbohydrates the night before a race.

Although often overlooked, nutrition is as equally integral as a driven work ethic and consistent practicing. Food fuels the body, so maintaining a healthy diet is crucial. There is no perfect diet, so student-athletes must experiment and find the right balance to fit their own needs.

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