THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL FOR SCIENCE AND TECH || ALEXANDRIA, VA
TJTODAY
MARCH 15, 2019 || VOL 4 ISSUE 6 || www. tjtoday.org
THE MAGAZINE
TRAIL BLAZERS
The minds behind the making of the first high school liquid fuel rocket
CONTENTS EDITORIAL BOARD Editors-in-Chief MiJin Cho Sabria Kazmi Online Managing Editor Shruthi Nyshadham
BROADCAST EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Lynn Nguyen
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AIMING FOR LIFT OFF Project Caelus plans to send the first high school rocket into space
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TEAM LEADERS Justin Chang Pratika Katiyar Irina Lee Grace Mak
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SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Sid Ram
STAFF WRITERS Rose Du, Sarah Wang, Sonia Kanchan, Connie Ryu, Anuj Khemka, Ananda Kalukun, Aafreen Ali, Claire Wilson, Reena Wang, and Jessica Feng
ADVISER Erinn Harris tjTODAY is the official newsmagazine of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology published by the journalism staff. The staff is deeply committed to a code of journalistic ethics that demands the exercise of accuracy, good judgment and impartiality. The content of tjTODAY is determined by the editorial board. Unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of the staff of tjTODAY, but not necessarily the opinions of individual editors.
04 Features 04
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Smash Success
Perform and Platform
Profile on Miss Greater Prince William’s Outstanding Teen
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26 Alumnus Rishi Malhotra’s rise to top-tier gaming
Sci-Tech Time to Hit Play
The challenges and benefits to being a student Youtuber
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Climate Change
Opinions on the climate change debate
CONTENTS AND ONLINE || MARCH 15, 2019 03
Have You Seen Visit tjtoday.org for our lastest What We’ve articles as well as online versions of Been Doing? what you see in this issue. TJ ON: THE SPEED OF THE SCHOOL YEAR
JEFFERSON WINS SCHOLASTIC BOWL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
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Sports
Opinion
Entertainment
18 Closer than Brothers
22 Don’t Distress, De-Stress
26
Varsity baseball players reflect on the friendship they have fromed
Lead Editorial on the challenges of high school stress
Movie review of Captain Marvel, a new superhero film featuring a female lead
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Ready to Row
The crew team describes their team’s dynamics and traditions
24 Food for Thought Opinions from tjTODAY staff on the best types of food
Power Up
PERFORM and
2019 Miss Greater Prince William’s Outstanding Teen, senior Chrissy Blake, recounts her entrance into the beauty pageant world.
PLATFORM Rose Du and Sarah Wang || STAFF WRITERS
CHRISSY BLAKE
A
ching body. Mental exhaustion. Sore cheeks. It’s the life of a pageant contestant.
“ I had butterflies all day, and I was so nervous because this was just such a new environment for me. No one I knew was there in terms of the rehearsals, and no one I knew was competing. I don’t think the nerves really went away until it was finally over. ” - SENIOR CHRISSY BLAKE
my talent is lyrical dance,” Blake said. “For evening gown and on-stage questions, you walk across the stage and show off your evening gown. They [the judges] ask you Senior Chrissy Blake began participating in pageants just this year, her first being only questions, usually about your platform, but two months ago, on Jan. 5. She was inspired it can be about current events, or just your personal values and your ideals, and you to enter by media influences and a friend. have to answer it on the spot in front of “I had always seen [pageants] growing up - everyone.” on social media, on TV shows, movies, and a variety of other sources,” Blake said. “One Coming from a childhood background full of performances on stage, Blake has been a of my really good friends - her name was Victoria [Chuah], and she was from Class of natural performer. 2018 - started competing in them her junior “When I would go onstage I would year. She helped me prepare for this one.” be nervous for a second, but I’ve been performing for most of my life between The pageant experience has several dance, cheer, theatre and all of the various sections, which typically take days to activities that I do, so I am used to being up complete. The first section is an eight minute long private interview in front of a on a stage,” Blake said. “As soon as I was onstage, the nerves kind of went away and it panel of judges, worth 25 percent of the was all about performing.” competition score. “You have a platform, which is the issue you want to spread awareness about and help solve,” Blake said. “Mine is STEM education, specifically targeted towards children. They ask you questions about your platform and resume so they can get to know you a little bit more and learn more about your personality.” The on-stage portion follower the private interview, which comprises the other 75 percent of the competition score. “The first thing you compete in is lifestyle and fitness, so you wear activewear and do a short fitness routine. Then, there’s talent -
However, Blake’s first pageant experience got off on a rocky start. “Pretty much the entire day leading up to it, I went to sleep pretty late the night before because I was stressing about it,” Blake said. On top of pre-pageant jitters, Blake ran into an unplanned situation the same night. “One of my friends called me in the middle of the night because he had a problem that was going on, so I helped him deal with that. I went into this with maybe three and a half to four hours of sleep,” Blake said.
FEATURES || MARCH 15, 2019 05 Photo Courtesy of Chrissy Blake
Cradling a bouqet of flowers in one arm, Blake stands on stage with other beauty pageant finalists.
Even with a lack of sleep, Blake pushed forward. However, she was soon faced with a new challenge of trying to fit in with a group of strangers she had never met before. “I had butterflies all day, and I was so nervous because this was just such a new environment for me,” Blake said. “No one I knew was there in terms of the rehearsals, and no one I knew was competing. I don’t think the nerves really went away until it was finally over.” Blake did not go into the competition expecting to win, but rather to experience something new. “I really wanted to go into the pageant having fun and doing my best, and obviously you want to win any time you go into a competition,” Blake said. Encouraged by her initial positive experience, Blake is entering another competition. In June of 2019, Blake will be competing in the Miss Virginia’s Outstanding Teen Pageant in Lynchburg, Virginia, which is just outside of Richmond. The competition will last for several days, and Blake wants to see where it will take her. “I’m excited to see how the state pageant goes as well, and maybe we will have a Miss Virginia’s Outstanding Teen on our hands,” Blake said.
PHOTOS // Grace Mak
Programming Lead
AKASH BHAVE
Electronics Lead
ANKIT KHANDELWAL
Project Lead
JASON CHEN
COVER STORY || MARCH 15, 2019 07
Systems Lead
JACOB CONSALVI
Flight Dynamics Lead
AYUSH RAUTWAR
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MiJin Cho, Sabria Kazmi, Shruthi Nyshadham || Editors-In-Chief PHOTO // MiJin Cho ILLUSTRATIONS // Samantha Yap
Aiming for
IFTOFF
Project Caelus, with its 16 members, plans to send the first high school-built liquid-fueled rocket into space.
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t began in seventh grade. With a movie.
After watching ‘October Sky’, a film about a boy inspired to build rockets by seeing Sputnik 1 streak across the sky, 12-yearold Jason Chen knew he wanted to pursue aerospace engineering. Following that ambition to Jefferson, Chen, a sophomore, has grown that initial spark into Project Caelus, a 16-member initiative to do what no high school students have before: launch a liquid-fueled rocket to the edge of space. Their goal is for Callisto to reach the Karman Line, the space-Earth boundary 100 kilometers above sea level.
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“One day I just thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if [Jefferson] had [its] own amateur rocketry team where we could build our own engines and have more control over them?’” Chen said. “I pulled some of my closest friends, [and] I was like, ‘We can come together and make this really cool project.’”
The Team Such an undertaking called for a team of committed students encompassing diverse skill sets. With this in mind, Chen recruited several fellow sophomores to serve alongside him as leads on the project. “Jason approached me a week before Thanksgiving, and he [was] like, ‘I know you’re good with electronics. I want you to help design the electronics for our rocket,’’’ sophomore Ankit Khandelwal said.
COVER STORY || MARCH 15, 2019 09 much about aerospace in general,” Catalano said. “But during the first meeting, Jason walked us through how everything was going to work. I felt like I could work hard to catch up and understand everything just as much as the sophomores or leads.”
The Process Composed entirely of freshmen and sophomores, the team has not yet had the opportunity to take advanced courses that could aid in their project. As a result, their information comes almost exclusively from resources outside of school. “Google is your best friend in any sort of engineering challenge. The majority of our research and design came from Google,” Khandelwal said. “We [also] have reached out to rocketry programs at Stanford, Georgia Tech, USC and Purdue, and we have connections there.”
Khandelwal joined as the Electronics Lead for the project, rounding out the five-member Although they occasionally consult Jefferson leadership team. The leads then held auditions teachers with relevant expertise, such as Design consisting of an initial application and an interview & Technology teacher Michael Piccione, Project to staff their teams. Caelus has no official adult sponsor. Working with collegiate rocketry teams helps bridge that “I saw that Jason posted on Facebook about knowledge gap. Project Caelus [saying], ‘If you want to apply, fill
“If you have a passion for learning, you find time. If you have a goal, if you’re motivated to do something, you will put everything aside and go for it.” -Ankit Khandelwal (10)
1 1. Discussing the projectile of the rocket, sophomores Ankit Khandelwal, Aarya Patel, and Akash Bhave demonstrate the interdisplinary aspect of Project Caelus as the programming and electronics teams work together. 2. Designed by the project lead, sophomore Jason Chen, the CAD design shows the engine of the rocket. 3. Another look at the engine, the 3D-printed version of the engine serves as a baseline for the actual creation. PHOTOS // MiJin Cho ILLUSTRATION // Samantha Yap
out this form,’” sophomore Sophia Troshynski said. “It seemed intriguing, because it’s something new. This is my first experience with aerospace engineering.” During the application process, the leadership team made a concerted effort to attract freshmen. “We’re probably not going to finish what we want to do by the end of our time at [Jefferson],” Chen said. “We wanted some inheritance. We got [freshmen] to join, and we spent the first four months training them up.”
“Mainly our help comes from emails and calls to other colleges,” Chen said. “We had a two hour call with Stanford one day, and that was really helpful because they walked us through the procedures that they did to make their project work. It was really good for us.” To coordinate these and other planning, learning, coding and building efforts, the team holds a meeting from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. every Saturday.
“If you have a passion for learning, you find time,” Khandelwal said. “If you have a goal, if you’re motivated to do something, you will put That training bolstered freshman Anna Catalano’s confidence that she could contribute to everything aside and go for it.” the project. “I was behind all the other[s], because I’m the only freshman programmer. Also I didn’t know
As it stands right now, that goal is to reach the Karman Line by June 2021, when the sophomore class will graduate. There is still a ways to go before Callisto is ready to launch, but approaching the project with a collaborative spirit in mind boosts individual and overall productivity. “If I have questions, I ask one of the leads or my partner, and then it helps me understand it better. Whereas when I work alone, it’s hard to understand [by] just reading a bunch of texts,” Catalano said. “I’ve never been in a club where everyone was so passionate about what they’re doing [and] so interested in our goal. It’s really cool to see everyone engaging [and] contributing ideas.” The group’s current efforts are geared toward conducting a static engine test, the project’s first main milestone, by the end of the summer. “It’s a controlled way to test our rocket,” Khandelwal said. “Basically, you put the
engine on a test stand, bolt it down, ignite it, and let the flame come out horizontally. Through that, we can see if there are any problems on the ground instead of having to wait until we’re in the air.”
The Funding This static engine test could be the key to unlocking much-needed corporate funding for Project Caelus. “Just getting enough money to get started was the hardest,” Chen said. “We had a period where Akash and Ayush particularly were like, ‘Jason, we’ve been spending this many man-hours on this project, but we still have no money. How is this going to happen?’” The group cannot directly fundraise at Jefferson since they are not an official club, but obtaining funds has become easier now that Project Caelus has been designated as a nonprofit and can open a bank account.
“Right now, we only have our budget planned out for the first engine test, and that’s around $5,000,” Chen said. “We expect the final rocket to be $40,000, and that’s quite a bit of money. We only have $500 right now, so that’s definitely a hardship.” That $500 was donated by German aerospace company Valispace, currently the group’s only rocketry corporate sponsor. To further raise money, as well as kindle interest in aerospace engineering, Troshynski came up with the idea to host STEM nights at elementary and middle schools. But given the steep projected budget, corporate funding may still be required, and a successful static engine test would be crucial to getting aerospace companies to buy in. “We started out by looking for sponsors, but we realized that we need to get credibility,” Khandelwal said. “Once we get our static engine test up, we hope to
COVER STORY || MARCH 15, 2019
1. Designed and created by sophomore Jason Chen, the infographic outlines the liquid-fueled rocket with correct parts and dimensions, outlining the Project’s plans for the construction and building. Currently, the rocket is projected to be six meters tall. 2. Drawing the potential rocket structure, sophomore Jacob Consalvi shows his idea of the design to the rest of his Systems team members. 3. Giving constructive criticism, senior Shihao Cao goes through his feedback for the team members who will be presenting the project to potential sponsors. PHOTOS // MiJin Cho ILLUSTRATIONS // Samantha Yap
Project Caelus A timeline of events
Sid Ram & Claire Wilson
Courtesy of PROJECTCAELUS.ORG
Nov. 26, 2018
Project Caelus is created
Sept. 1, 2019 get further sponsorships by showing the companies: ‘We were able to do a static engine test with minimal resources. Now look what we can do if you give us your money, tools, and software.’”
an Electronics Lead, it’s been a learning curve for me trying to figure out how best to assign tasks, figure out people’s strengths [and] weaknesses, and get stuff done.” Getting things done requires every team member to give the Impact project their all. Scientifically, Project Caelus aims to “Pretty much every week, we have take rocketry to new heights. some sort of new learning to do,” “The end goal of this project was Troshynski said. “I feel like it got me [to] be the first high school to send [a] into a place where everyone’s learning rocket into space, [but] we also want together. We have a really good team, to test new technologies,” Chen said. everyone’s intelligent and kind, and it’s “So that would be a methane and liquid a really good environment. I didn’t see oxygen engine, which is slightly more myself as an aerospace engineer even modern than most other half a year ago, but now I think it’s propeller combinations.” actually super interesting On a more personal level, the project and a possibility.” has been a learning experience for all the students involved. “I’ve never been in a position to lead a team before,” Khandelwal said. “So as
Static engine test
Static engine test of our Aphlex engine to demonstrate its capabilities.
Sept. 1, 2020
communications testing
Further communications testing, reach a higher apogee.
The initial Project Caelus team was created.
Jun. 1, 2019
component testing Test the 3D printed Methalox bi-propellant engine, communications and electronics.
Jun 1, 2020
Reach Karman Line
The final goal:
Reach the Karman line, 100km above sea level, and successfully recover the rocket.
NEWS
TIME to
PLAY
hit
Whether playing recorder covers or dancing, students build up their youtube channels Sonia Kanchan & Connie Ryu || STAFF WRITER
I
did it in a penguin onesie.” seriously freshman year.
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Junior Suruchi Sen is one of a select few that can hold the title of “student youtuber.” Recently, she has been posting recorded gaming videos, but her signature is dancing to Wii music in animal onesies, which she posts every Christmas as a tradition. “My friend and I were watching those videos where people dance to Wii music with mannequin heads at 1 am and my friend dared me to it, but I didn’t have a mannequin head, so I did it in a penguin onesie and posted it on Facebook,” Sen said.
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Sen captioned the video, saying that if it received 50 likes, she would post it on Youtube. To her surprise, it ended up racking up over 200 likes.
“It was basically because my friends were doing it and I thought, ‘it would be a fun hobby, so I might as well,’ but I never actually started seriously posting until freshman year and now I’m kind of falling off a little bit because I started streaming on Twitch more,” Sen said. When asked why she continues to promote as a Youtuber, Sen mentioned it as a hobby for fun, but she also brought up the social aspect and feedback she received from her peers because of her channel. “I’m definitely kind of a meme,” Sen said. “I feel weird calling myself a meme, because that’s a big no-no, but it definitely comes up a lot with friends, especially because I post the annual onesie videos on Christmas, so when it gets close, people ask me, ‘What are you going to do?’”
“I was like, ‘oof,’ and now it has a little over 1000 views. That’s probably my most unique thing and I do one every year. The recent one was While being a Youtuber is me in a shark onesie,” Sen said. more of a hobby than a job for Sen’s Youtube career began Sen, as a student, there seems to be a clear line between back in middle school, as student and non-student she and a group of friends Youtubers. all decided to start Youtube
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channels. However, she “I definitely think if you’re a revealed that she began to post student, there’s always a time more regularly and take it more
FEATURES| March 15 2018 13
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Caption: 1. Junior Suruchi Sen dances to Beyonce in a bee costume 2. Racking up 3.5 million views, Kim performs a cover of music in fornite 3. The home page of junior Danny Kim’s channel, Recorder Legend 3. 4. With around 530 thousand views on youtube, this video features Kim’s recorder cover of Kero Kero Bonito
constraint and dilemma of studying versus being a Youtuber,” Sen said. “Usually non-student Youtubers have enough of a following to support themselves. Student Youtubers, if they get big, might consider dropping out, but I think it’s mostly just a hobby for students.” As expected, being a student Youtuber can lead to numerous dilemmas, resulting from the difficulty of balancing between schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and creating quality, unique Youtube content. Junior Danny Park, another Youtuber at Jefferson, agrees. “I get less time to make videos so I’m not able to upload as frequently as non-student Youtubers,” Park said. Park uploads videos of recorder covers for songs ranging from “Never Gonna Give You Up” to “Mo Bamba.” His channel has garnered a following of over 152,000 subscribers which features multiple videos with over one million or nearly a million views. His recorder cover of Spongebob’s Krusty Krab song is his most viewed video at nearly five million.
“It all started freshman year of highschool when I found my old recorder from third grade. I thought it would be fun to bring it to school and play meme songs like “We are number one” and “Careless Whisper” on the bus with my friends. We were just messing around then, but I began to realize that I was actually pretty good at it,” Park said. While
care whether those videos do well or not, because I feel satisfied playing the songs I like and making a good quality video out of it, regardless of how many views I get,” Park said. And whether or not his video does get a massive number of views, Park enjoys the perks of being a Youtuber.
“What influences me most is how much I like a song personally and how much I enjoy playing it. ” - Danny Park many of his cover ideas stem from the latest iconic meme songs, Park prioritizes his passion, rather than the number of views he expects to receive. “What influences me most is how much I like a song personally and how much I enjoy playing it. I usually don’t
“I get a lot of nice and funny comments that I enjoy reading. Also, I get that Youtube cash,” Park said.
Despite Jefferson’s infamous academic workload and other extracurricular activities, such as music or sports, Sen concludes that her Youtube channel has ultimately allowed her to create her own unparalleled, creative content and enjoy a peculiar yet entertaining hobby. “It’s just a hobby, so it’s not really that stressful for me - it’s more fun.”
SPORTS
S M A S H
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volution Championship Series (EVO). Las Vegas. July, 2018. Thousands of fans cheer as the top Super Smash Bro Melee (SSBM) gamers furiously engage in intense combat to become crowned as the ultimate champion of the game. Among the competitors is gradually rising gamer and TJ alumni Rishi Malhotra. As a semi-professional SSBM gamer, Malhotra frequently competes in local, national, and international tournaments in which he challenges some of the world’s top Melee gamers. “Typically, I’m traveling to regional, national, or international level events around
twice per month. Last year there were some periods where I was traveling more than twice. For example, in August, there were three super major events within the course of four weeks,” Malhotra said. “So sometimes it can get pretty crazy but in a way there are on-seasons and off-seasons for competing so you can kind of plan ahead.” Although Malhotra started playing Melee in 2005 alongside a number of other games, he only began to compete seriously after beating top 5 player Corey Shin, who operates under the gamer tag “False”, during the EVO 2015 tournament.
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SUCCESS
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Rishi Malhotra’s rise to top-tier gaming through Smash Melee Anuj Khemka & Ananda Kalukun || STAFF WRITERS
st
in the New York Tri-state Area
top
at first 3 national events
FEATURE| MARCH 15, 2019 15 CAPTION: 1. At a Super Smash Bros Melee event, Rishi Malhotra, who uses Marsh as his main, competes against a player who uses the name Army while playing. Malhotra’s opponent uses a main of Ice Climbers. 2. The cover of Super Smash Bros 3. Malhotra’s senior portrait 4. During the 2012 MEX, Malhotra sings a duet as part of the senior class to raise spirit.
“There’s always been a passion of mine, but it wasn’t something I started taking as seriously as I do currently until 2015 when I ended up beating a top player for the first time. And basically the thrill of being a top layer in front of a crowd was something that I couldn’t let go of,” Malhotra said. The large majority of Melee players ranked in the top 30 in the world compete full-time, yet Malhotra, ranked no. 26, balances Melee gameplay alongside a fulltime job in marketing analytics. Despite the difficulties of essentially having two jobs, Malhotra prefers being able to control how much time he dedicates to Melee without worrying about his financial stability. “It’s not easy because sometimes it feels like you have two full time jobs. You have to realize how you’re feeling because sometimes, I can definitely overdo it. I’ll have a long day at work and then I’ll have a long night of practicing, and then I’m basically drained,” Malhotra said. “It’s a reminder to sleep well and eat well because if you don’t, you’re just not going to be able to get everything done.” Malhotra has also been involved in publicising his gaming experiences and beliefs as a content creator on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. In addition to his personal YouTube channel, Malhotra produces a podcast named “Analog” with a fellow competitive Melee player. “We started the podcast because we felt like there were a lot of the issues in the community. We wanted a medium through which we could address issues which are important and also just to kind of have a time to talk about a recent tournament and
PHOTO // EVO
results to talk about our ideas of how the community is developing,” Malhotra said. Despite the time-consuming nature and magnitude of his gaming experiences, Malhotra notes that he still sees constant skepticism of the idea of professional gaming. “One of my friends is actually a full time coach for smash, and I remember telling that to someone and they kind of just laughed it off like I was joking,” Malhotra said. “But you have to ask yourself, what do you think it takes to be one of the best people in the world at anything. Any endeavor that people can undertake to become one of the best in the world requires an incredible amount of work.” Malhotra’s experience at Jefferson shaped his career in gaming as well. “It’s definitely nice being surrounded by other people who are nerds. We played Melee in the senior lounge the last couple years that I was there. It was an interesting hobby of mine, and there’s actually some people from TJ that I lost contact with after graduating TJ, but I have seen since through Smash, which is cool,” Malhotra said. Ultimately, regardless of what students decide to pursue in the end, Malhotra stresses the importance of making the most of Jefferson the way he did through gaming. “Enjoy your time at TJ while you can,” Malhotra said. “It’s rare that you’re going to be in such a concentrated environment where we can learn from so many other smart people. Like, that’s not something you’re going to really get any other time to the rest of your life.”
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26
th
ranking globally 3
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Ganesh Nanduru, 10
Thomas Ryan, 11
HOTLY Ananda Kalukin and Sidarth Ram || STAFF WRITERS
CONTESTED
CLIMATE CHANGE
Opinions and beliefs surrounding the climate change debate
PHOTOS // Justin Chang
SCI-TECH || MARCH 15, 2019 17
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s the planet’s warming of 1.8 degrees celsius over the past century significant? Is it caused by humans? Is climate change up for debate? One would think that, in a school like Jefferson, which is fairly homogeneous on STEM-related beliefs, students would agree on a STEM issue like climate change, but that is not the case. In reality, climate change, both in the Jefferson community and in the real world, is hotly contested.
Political Heat on Climate Change Those who support climate change agree on one thing: it will be difficult to solve. However, they disagree about how and who should solve the issue.
real political issue.” The one area of consensus is that there will be harmful effects if no action is taken. Most people agree that some action, but not drastic measures, are taken to prevent it. “I think [climate change] exists but current solutions, such as the Green New Deal, are too radical on either side and most probably wouldn’t work,” junior Aditya Kumar said. “Scientific evidence is pretty strong on [the issue] given the large majority of qualified scientists who claim that climate change exists. It wouldn’t be wise to go against them.”
A Brewing Storm The six out of ten Americans who do think that humans are to blame for climate change take their position seriously. Some believe climate change is an inevitable disaster. “[The] research I’ve done for congressional debate has convinced me that climate change is as bad as I believe it is,” junior Amey Gupta said. “I’m a fatalist on climate change. At this point, it’s pretty much irreversible and it’s going to be extremely bad.” Around the world, humans are concerned that climate change will soon
“We have a new threat to humanity, but now its backed by scientific evidence and there are clear steps we can take to avoid it.”- Junior Ganesh Nanduru “I don’t necessarily believe that humans are the direct cause of climate change. Science has revealed itself to have made a lot of mistakes in the past.”- Junior Thomas Ryan Science or Pseudoscience?
impact our daily lives, with increased storms and extreme weather, destruction, and contamination of food sources. About four in 10 Americans do not “Global warming threatens our crops, “I don’t think anyone from a believe that humans are the cause of the animals, and supply of fresh water. It business perspective is obligated to shape changing global temperatures, according takes a single Google search to verify your their plans around the issue,” sophomore to Climate Chat. beliefs [on] climate change,” sophomore Eugene Lee said. “I don’t necessarily believe that humans Ganesh Nadaru said. “So please conduct Even who people who acknowledge are the direct cause of climate change,” research if you are hesitant about it.” climate change dispute its urgency. junior Thomas Ryan said. “First of all, Both sides agree the conversation “I think that it’s certainly an issue but because it’s become an extremely partisan on climate change has evolved into a that it’s not a terribly pressing issue when issue, and [secondly, ] science has revealed shouting match in which buzzwords our country has more important things itself to have made a lot of mistakes and name calling are prevalent. Take for it could be worried about,” junior Caleb in the past, just through traditional example the word ‘denier’. O’Cain said. “Issues such as national experimentation.” “It’s unreasonable in its connotation security and reducing our national debt When scientific evidence is called into I think, because as soon as you label take precedence over climate change.” question, it can be difficult to know what someone a denier, it’s like they’re going Politics has also made understanding sources to trust. against reality, and you are immediately the problem more difficult. Instead of a “I haven’t seen a lot of credible [work] just neglecting any possible legitimate debate involving evidence and science, it out there,” Ryan said. “Especially the criticisms with how evidence could be has become a debate of hostile exchanges fact that there’s an incredible financial collected,” Hattrup said. “I don’t like between members of opposing political incentive for climate scientists to prove labeling people deniers even if I disagree parties. that global warming is a problem so that with their take on the evidence because it “You have talking heads like Bill Nye they can continue to receive grants. That’s implies that they’re being illogical and that saying random stuff, but you know, he’s just a monetary incentive.” they’re not looking at the facts.” not really scientifically literate,” junior Matthew Hattrup said. “That’s become a
CLOSER THAN
Juniors Saketh Gabbita, Andrew Yoon, Rohan Cherukuri, and Aidan Witeck reflect on the memories shared and deep bonds formed while playing varsity baseball since freshman year
BROTHERS
Saketh Gabbita, 11
Justin Chang || Team Leader
Andrew Yoon, 11
Aidan Witeck, 11
PHOTOS // John Lee
A
drenaline pumping. Sweat dripping. Heart racing. The boys on varsity baseball team were ready. As they watched their opponents take the field, they knew that it was now or never. With the crowd cheering them on, the players took the field one by one ready to begin their high school adventure. Two years later, those same boys found themselves on the same field, but this time it was different. Not only did they return with a new found level of experience, but for juniors Saketh Gabbita, Andrew Yoon, Rohan Cherukuri, and Aidan Witeck, this season would mark their third year playing on Jefferson’s varsity baseball team together.
Becoming a Family The quartet made the cut for the varsity baseball team in their freshman year and have played together since. Both on and off the field, the group found themselves growing closer together and developing strong friendships with one another, which proved to be critical in enhancing the team’s solidarity. “We’ve developed a bond that extends outside of just baseball too. The players in each grade are tight. I knew Rohan before high school, so I was friends with him already,” Gabbita said. “Andrew and Aidan are now some of my close friends, and I didn’t really know them before baseball freshman year, so playing with them has been a big part of developing unity.” During the 2017 spring season, the quartet represented the only freshmen on Jefferson’s varsity baseball team, which often lead to situations where they were grouped with one another to practice since each member possessed similar skill sets. “In freshman year it, was us four and we kind of just did everything together,” Gabbita said. “Andy and I threw together, and Aidan and Rohan threw together for indoor practices in the winter where we would always form a group.” Similar to Gabbita, Yoon also recalls how he bonded with members of the group through simple, mundane activities despite not knowing anyone on the team at first. “Spending time during practices and games the past three years has made us closer on and off the field. I’ve been playing baseball for years, but didn’t know anybody on the team when I first came to TJ,” Yoon said. “We definitely bonded quickly being together on varsity from the start. From sharing tough freshman duties like carrying buckets of water to practice and loading heavy equipment onto the bus, we became closer.”
Support System Now juniors and closer than ever before, the quartet also serves as a support network where Gabbita, Yoon, Cherukuri, and Witeck have been there for each other in times of struggle and difficulty when teammates were a bit down after a major loss or recent slump in performance. “The ones that sting are the close games but the team is just super supportive. Whenever someone is in a slump or is down, there is always someone else working to pick that guy up morally and that’s what’s special about this group,” Gabbita said. “Being part of a program that isn’t known for its athletic superiority, just being there to pick up each other when something doesn’t go the way we want… that kind of stuff sticks with you.”
SPORTS || MARCH 15, 2019 19 Noting how the sentiments of brotherhood have kept them together, Gabbita shared how the group not only serves as ‘shoulder to lean on’ in times of need, but also as a motivator whose members push each other to strive for success. “We all have been playing baseball for so many years, so we really like the game. Playing any sport concurrently with the rigorous academic demands is tough but having the group of people that is willing to support you is a big part of sticking with it,” Gabbita said. “It makes it a lot easier to continue.” Though the varsity baseball team had losing records in the 2017 and 2018 spring seasons, the quartet has always stuck together and refused quit throughout the years. “We had a tough loss last year in the district playoffs. Although we didn’t go as far as we wanted to, knowing that most of the team would be back, we knew we had good things to look forward to,” Yoon said. “We know that we have the potential to go somewhere. This is probably the best team that TJ baseball has had in recent years. We hope that our team can come together and make some history.”
Importance of Teamwork Since a team is only as strong as its weakest player, teamwork is crucial to baseball. The level of trust and unity each player on the team delivers indicates the proficiency of teamwork demonstrated during each match. According to Gabbita, the outstanding chemistry and close bonds has improved the team’s ability to come together and perform better as a group. “There are teams we have beat that maybe on paper we weren’t actually better than, and I think that TJ baseball has great team chemistry. Everyone is extremely supportive of each other, which you don’t see at all base schools and our bonds allow us to come together as a group better and push through adversity that often comes up,” Gabitta said. “In the end, being able to play the game we’ve loved since kindergarten and just having another family to be a part of are the greatest things about being part of this team.”
Up by several runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, varsity pitcher Saketh Gabbita pitches the ball hoping to maintain the team’s lead. The varsity baseball team would go on to defeat School Without Walls with a score of 15-5, giving the team its third win of the 2018 spring season.
READY to ROW Sonia Kanchan, Aafreen Ali || STAFF WRITERS
M
y cult tells me to say no.” Despite stereotypes surrounding Jefferson’s crew team, senior crew captain Clare Heinbaugh was adamant that crew was anything but a cult. “Calling crew a cult is just a negative way of expressing how close and supportive we are as a team,” Heinbaugh said. In her freshman year, Heinbaugh was a two-season athlete, playing golf in the fall and basketball in the winter. But as a sophomore, she ended up going to physical therapy more often due to squinting patella, a condition resulting in her knees turning in. Around this time, the current crew coach at the time, Ms. Kimberly Ehrman Bryant, discovered her after one of her basketball games. “The head coach of the crew team found me in the hallway outside Gym 1 and said, ‘You’re tall.’ She asked me for my name and email, and the next week all of these crew kids started trying to recruit me,” Heinbaugh said. While she originally joined crew because she wasn’t participating in a spring sport, Heinbaugh stayed because of the intensity of workouts and the people who surrounded her. “Any person willing to put herself through a grueling erg workout is someone I want to be around. The people on crew push me to work harder and get faster,” Heinbaugh said. As a current competitive rower, crew coach Bridget Laszewski has experience with the atmosphere of rowing and stresses the necessity for tight-knit relationships between rowers on the team. “You’re confined to your boat, so you need to work with everyone else. The relationships you build with your teammates are really important,” Laszewski said. Freshman Abhiram Srivastava, who is in his first season as a rower, recognized the depth of these relationships when he joined the team. “People are great friends in crew. From what I’ve heard from the upperclassmen, they made some of
Within the Jefferson halls walks a group of students clad in red and blue windbreakers, with a bond that’s tougher than any gust of wind
their best friends in crew and I’m making a lot of great friends as well,” Srivastava said. In addition to these new relationships, Srivastava enjoys the perks of starting a spring sport with a clean slate. “Crew was just for everyone. I was getting a fresh start in sports and I wouldn’t be behind like I am in every other sport. And I know it has a lot of great leadership opportunities,” Srivastava said. This same fresh start is in no way restricted by seniority, as Coach Laszewski says. “There’s teammates who push each other and they’re also supported by the growing community overall. All team members are included in every team activity or event and there’s no segregation by year or experience,” Laszewski said. The ever-present camaraderie in the crew community is also a huge plus, especially for freshmen like Srivastava. “A lot of us were learning how to do the strokes together and that was really fun. It seems really simple to learn but the little techniques take a while to practice but everyone does it together,” Srivastava said. Along with tweaking their techniques, the crew team regularly enjoys pho together at a restaurant near Sandy Run Boathouse. “For the freshman year boat that we had last year, along with our coach after Saturday practices, we would go and eat pho. It was just fun and hanging out was stress-free as a team,” sophomore rower Julia Feldhaus said. This group— not a cult— of Jefferson students is a representation of inclusivity and determination. “I love how they don’t give up. Even when a race is challenging, the weather might be challenging, like it might be raining sideways with a headwind, everyone shows up,” Laszewski said, “and they’re like, ‘All right, we’re here to row,’ and everyone puts on their jackets and off we go.”
SPORTS || MARCH 15, 2019 21 PHOTOS // Elizabeth Ling
“Any person willing to put herself through a grueling erg workout is someone I want to be around.” -Senior Claire Heinbaugh
A group of rowers pull in unison on the Occoquan River during an afterschool practice. Although the team often tires on the river, they find ways to motivate themselves to keep on rowing. “To motivate myself I think of the races where we lost by tiny margins and think of how every moment I stay on could help us win it next time. Or I imagine winning races in the spring,” junior Ho Yeon Jeong said. PHOTO // Arya Kumar
LEAD EDITORIAL:
DON’T
DISTRESS,
DE-STRESS The causes of teenage stress, why it’s an issue, and what we should do
ILLUSTRATION // Samantha Yap
OPINION || MARCH 15, 2019 23
I
t’s done. After hours of rewriting and editing your research paper, you finally turned it in. A weight is lifted off your shoulders. But as soon as the stress from that paper is gone, you’re hit with the news that you have a Physics test in two weeks. The stress is back. The American school system seems to place weight on everything we do. Every homework assignment, every quiz, and every test contributes to our grade point averages (GPAs), which are reported to the thousandths decimal place. In other countries, not as much work contributes to students’ grades and college acceptances. For example, in India students’ results on the Class 12 Central Board of Secondary Education board exam is the only academic factor that determines their collegiate path. The result is greater pressure to perform well on every single thing we do. Another contributor to students feeling overwhelmed is the pattern of school work piling up during certain weeks. There are period of times where schoolwork seems to ease up and assignments aren’t as hard, but that grace period is almost always the calm before the storm. Some weeks end up being filled with projects and assessments, while other weeks will have none at all. The effect is extremely straining for students. The average teenager experiences unhealthy levels of stress according to an American Psychological Association (APA) survey. This stress puts students at risk for health issues. Stress can cause a variety of symptoms, such as headaches, stomach aches, trouble sleeping, anxiety, depression, and a lack of motivation, according to Mayo Clinic. This last symptom is one that many of us have felt as a result of certain difficult classes at Jefferson. We feel “learned helplessness” after stressing ourselves over doing well and putting in a huge amount of effort, only to fall short of our expectations. Essentially, students have learned to believe no matter how much effort they put into succeeding at something, they won’t. That mentality is extremely worrisome because it causes people to no longer attempt to learn. Another result stress can have on students is forcing them to constantly sacrifice aspects of their life that are important to them. Whether it be sleep, social interaction with friends and family, or extracurricular activities, almost all students have had to make a sacrifice for the sake of school at some point in their high school career.
The school is aware of the stress students are going through. One way they have taken action is by supporting student advocacy, but unfortunately the system in place has not been effective enough. One student advocacy rule is that students should not have to take three or more assessments in a day. If they do, they may ask a teacher in advance to move their test to another day. But what happens when the teacher says no? While many teachers want to help students, often times they feel that the student should ask a different teacher to move their test instead. This results in a cycle of pointing fingers, and eventually students give up hope on actually moving their tests. Is stress just a part of life though? Adults have to make sacrifices all the time too. They have more stress because they have actual jobs, right? Actually the APA reports that teenagers have more stress than adults do, although they are relatively close (5.8 compared to 5.1 on a 10-point scale). One could argue the stress in high school just prepares us for the real world, and we have to learn how to deal with it. Our response is that students aren’t the same as adults, our brains are still developing. In these crucial stages of development, it’s more important for teenagers to have a full night’s rest and a healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, that’s uncommon for high schoolers because of the stress they’re under. So what should we do? We don’t have one definite answer, it’s a complex issue. We believe working on this issue takes effort from both students and administrators. Individuals should work on dealing with their stress internally, the APA found that 42% of teenagers admit they have not worked on managing their stress enough. Stress is inevitable in life, and students need to take some steps of their own to deal with it--we have some of our own techniques that we’ve compiled on this page. But students aren’t the only ones who should take action. We also believe that our school, and schools across the country, need to work on reducing the stress that students feel. Jefferson has started on that track with some of their policies and by initiating the Challenge Success program, but the issue is far from over and it goes beyond our school. High stress levels stemming from academics is a widespread issue, and it’s something education programs in our nation need to improve.
OUR TIPS: 1. 2. 3.
HAVE ANCHOR ACTIVITIES. Whether it’s a club or something you pursue after school, find out what you’re passionate about and pursue it.
PLAN STUFF OUT. Make to-do lists, write on a white board, create a schedule, find a good way to plan out all the things you have to do.
THINK POSITIVE. Challenge yourself to think of one thing you are grateful for today and something you’re looking forward to tomorrow.
4.
LET YOURSELF FEEL. If you feel the need to cry,
5.
REWARD YOURSELF. Take breaks from studying,. Let yourself watch some TV or read a book. Get your work done, but give your brain a breather.
let yourself cry. If you need to talk about how you’re feeling, find a person to talk to. Let it out.
PHOTO // Shruthi Nyshadham
Shruthi Nyshadham, Aafreen Ali ||| EDITOR, STAFF WRITER
“While people say that Starbucks is overpriced coffee and that Dunkin’ Donuts has better priced coffee, I believe that Starbucks has a wider variety. Depending on the mood I am in, I can get either a refresher, iced coffee, or regular coffee. Starbucks also has breakfast sandwiches, cake pops, and parfaits.” Pratika Katiyar, 10
tjTODAY staffers share their opinions on popular ongoing food debates, from coffee shops and soda preferences to breakfast habits
“I don’t drink caffeine, so Starbucks doesn’t hold that much appeal to me. Ultimately I like donuts better than coffee. It’s that simple.” Anuj Khemka, 9
“You can add more things to [pancakes] without them being squished into little shapes. There’s banana crunch, blueberry and all these kinds of things that taste good when they’re not crunched up into a waffle machine.” MiJin Cho, 12
“Waffles hold stuff better, they do all the same stuff as pancakes. Savory waffles have the same effect- they hold more. And the texture of the waffle is just more satisfying than the texture of pancakes.” Annika Duneja, 9
OPINION || MARCH 15, 2018 25
PHOTO // Shruthi Nyshadham
OPINION || MARCH 14, 2019 25
Visit us at www.mycollegematters.com to see how we can support you on your college journey.
Chomping on a donut, freshman Alison Wan listens to a crew interest meeting on Feb 15. Several freshmen were present at the meeting in order to decide whether or not to join crew. “ I think that people are really obsessed with Starbucks these days, and I don’t drink anything from Starbucks so when my friends go to Starbucks I feel, sort of left out,” Wan said. “I don’t really know what to do about it and I don’t know if I should like follow that trend or not, because I like other stores.”
“Definitely cereal first. I do not understand how one can put the milk first and then make sure the cereal doesn’t fall out. The physics doesn’t work.”
Ms. Emily (Orser) Richardson, M.A.,Ed., Senior College Counselor (and former TJ English teacher from 2003-2015; ask your veteran TJ teachers about me!) We offer pro bono support to students and families who qualify for free and reduced lunch.
“People call me a barbarian, but I can portion out how much cereal I take based on how much milk I take, rather than vice versa. The cereal is the dependent variable for me.” Sid Ram, 11
Sonia Kanchan, 10 InspiringTestPrep.com
MAKE YOUR DREAm SCHOOl A REALITY
“I was watching this YouTube video on how it seems like [Coke and Pepsi] are a duopoly, but they go for different markets. Pepsi goes for the newer, hipper market, because they change their recipe frequently. Coke goes for the more traditional market. I like Coke because they don’t change their recipe; I like something dependable.” Will Cho, 12
“I think [Pepsi] is more flavorful, and it doesn’t have as much caffeine. It gives me headaches when i drink Coke, so I prefer Pepsi because of that.” Ananda Kalukin, 9
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POWER UP: ENTERTAINMENT || MARCH 15, 2019 27
Reena Wang and Jessica Feng || STAFF WRITERS
With its newest superhero, Captain Marvel, the Marvel Cinematic Universe levels up.
CAPTAIN MARVEL
F
Photos from Marvel Studios 1. Marvel Cinematic Universe’s newest superhero, Carol Danvers, known as Captain Marvel, powers up to save the universe. 2. Played by actress Brie Larson, Captain Marvel prepares to enter a train in one scene of the movie.
inally, the long-awaited movie, Captain Marvel, hits the big screen on March 8 after it was first officially announced in 2014. It is the first ever female-led superhero film made by the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the second in Hollywood after Wonder Woman. First debuted in 1977, Captain Marvel has also been seen in many teams, such as The Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D, and the Guardians of the Galaxy. After watching the engrossing storyline development, it really made me want to rewatch the other Marvel movies and bring back nostalgic memories from the MCU. Captain Marvel is portrayed by the Best Actress Oscar Winner for Room, Brie Larson. She took on a difficult role yet brought a new level of emotion and excitement to the character. You will also see many famous faces and superheroes, such as Nick Fury (portrayed by Samuel Jackson) from Iron Man and Avengers, YonRogg (portray by Jude Law) from Marvel Super Heroes, Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) from The Dark Knight Rise, and Dr. Wendy Lawson (Annette Bening) from Mars Attacks, etc. The movie develops the story of the main character Carol, also known as Captain Marvel or Vers. She is a most extraordinary fighter pilot tester who was involved in the alien races’ conflicts when a huge blast of the energy-core gave her mighty power but erased her memory. At first, the movie seemed like any typical superhero movie, but as I continued watching,
the more attached I became to the movie and Carol. Carol is portrayed not only as a confident, strong, and fearless woman with a plethora of power, but she also possesses perseverance, integrity, and good morals. Larson really took on the role and brought the character to life and made me feel an emotional attachment to her. Throughout the movie, Carol helps fight a battle between the Krees and the Skrulls, but I felt that she was also fighting a battle against herself to regain and remember her true identity and purpose. The soundtrack of Captain Marvel contains features of many 90’s hits including “Whatta Man” by Salt-N-Pepa, “Only Happy When It Rains” by Garbage, and “Just a Girl” by No Doubt, which I felt brought a good connection to the movie since it takes place in the ’90s. The other songs of the soundtrack composed by Pinar Toprak have a strong yet emotional feeling to them. Captain Marvel is a science fiction, fantasy, action, and adventure film that builds onto the MCU. It has many dramatic twists of plot, tons of action, special effects, and a colorful cast of characters. This movie is rated PG-13 and great entertainment for Marvel fans and those who enjoy adventure and a strong female superhero lead. Captain Marvel overall was an enjoyable, powerful, and brilliant movie. The MCU did an amazing job with their first female-led movie and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.
YOU’VE GOT A
FRIEND
“
PHOTO // Lynn Nguyen REPORTING // Lynn Nguyen
IN ME
[Art made me] realize I’M PROBABLY MORE CREATIVE THAN I THOUGHT. A lot of people at TJ say ‘I’m not creative,’ but we actually are, because when we do projects and things, EVERYONE HAS GOOD SOLUTIONS.
I also think I’ve gotten a lot better at handling [and asking] for criticism, because THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN GROW IS [WITH] CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. When someone gives you criticism, they’re not trying to insult you personally it’s because they want the whole team to be better as a whole. YOU’RE HELPING EVERYONE [AND YOURSELF] BY LISTENING TO OTHER PEOPLE. You have to keep that in mind, always.
At TJ, people say that it’s a toxic environment, and it kind of can be sometimes. But also, IF YOU FIND THE RIGHT FRIEND GROUP, THEY’RE REALLY SUPPORTIVE. They encourage you to do things that actually make you a better person, they’ll tell you when something you want to do is a bad idea, and THEY WON’T LIE TO YOU and hold you back. They’re the ones that encouraged me to do field hockey and lacrosse - I wouldn’t have played those sports if they weren’t there to be like, ‘We should do this [and] try something new.
”
JUNIOR
SOPHIA CHENG || WHAT I VE LEARNED