The official publication of Irvington High School
in Fremont, California
THE V ICE March 9, 2020
VOLUME 28, ISSUE 5
Irvington Indivisible
Clash of the Sitcoms pg.
The ultimate battle is here! Exactly which one is better: “The Office”, “Parks and Recreation”, or “Brooklyn 99”? Read up on the Voice’s viewpoints for each of these classic comedy shows!
The 2020 presidential election is almost upon us! The Voice summarizes each of the candidates’ campaigns, the most common political measures in discussion, and Irvington’s political preferences!
pg.
OPINIONS
FEATURES
@theihsvoice @ihs.voice @thevoicebox
FUSD faces further budget reductions
Fremont votes on parcel tax
Staff Writer
By Rachel Kavalakatt
three categories of budget balancing solutions. The FUSD Board of Education’s three categories of budget balancing solutions include increasing revenue, decreasing spending on personnel, and reducing spending on programs and services. Notably, recommendations for increasing revenue include a $10 rental increase for class II and class III facilities (non-district/school related us-
By Kelly Feng
Currently, the Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) Board of Education is facing ongoing discussions about further budget reductions of up to $26.3 million due to increased budget deficits this school year. To mitigate the impacts of the budget deficits, on Feb. 26, the FUSD Board of Education approved
Alameda County Office of Education Irvington DECA sent 130 members to compete at NorCal, the Northern California District Conference.
age) and an $0.50 increase in child nutrition meal prices. Recommendations for program and service spending reductions include the elimination of GATE testing, reducing overtime, and eliminating summer school. LAST YEAR THEY CUT OUR STAFFING AND ALSO OUR DISCRETIONARY BUDGET. FROM A STAFFING STANDPOINT, THEY BASICALLY TELL US HOW MANY FEWER TEACHERS WE HAVE. PRINCIPAL MELSBY
Before 1978, California school districts were mainly funded by property taxes. However, proposition 13, which was passed in 1978, halved the collective earnings by Californian local governments and transferred the responsibility of determining property tax rates to the state government. According to Ann Crosbie, an FUSD Board of Education Trustee, FUSD was already underfunded by about $9 million compared to nearby districts similar in composition to Fremont at the time. In 2013, California Governor Jerry Brown then reformed California’s school district funding, called the Local Control Funding Formula. Each school district receives a certain amount of money, determined by the amount of low income, foster youth, English learners, and overall students they have, funded by property taxes and state aid, though state aid now makes up a larger portion of the funding due to reduced income from property taxes. Continue on Page 4
Humans of Irvington High Editor
Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) placed Measure L, a $296 district-wide education parcel tax expected to generate approximately $18.3 million in yearly revenue, on the ballot for the March 3, 2020 vote. If adopted, the parcel tax would be instituted for 9 years and be an additional source of revenue to bolster schools currently struggling with budget deficit across the district. According to FUSD, Measure L aims to target certain overarching goals with the funding generated through the parcel tax, primarily to “attract and retain highly qualified teachers” in the classroom and “enhance STEAM opportunities for students” inside and outside of school. Additionally, the parcel tax would contribute to “restoring smaller class sizes” while maintaining the quality of programs. “It’s less than a dollar a day,” said FUSD School Board Trustee Ann Crosbie, “and it will make sure that we support having lower class sizes… STEAM programs, [and] that we support our teachers and keep really highly qualified teachers here in Fremont.” With Fremont schools receiving one of the lowest perstudent state funding in the county (based on information provided by the FUSD website), the parcel tax proposes to mitigate the impact of expected budget cuts to staff and academic programs in the 2020- 2021 school year. “Without the parcel tax passing, we are going to be mak-
ing cuts,” said Crosbie. The School Board is set to have a discussion on potential cuts that could be made, and to discuss the 24 million dollars in cuts they will be forced to make across the district. As it is a uniquely local tax, funds raised through the measure would stay within the district and outside of state-level jurisdiction. In order to address growing community concerns about administrative salaries being too high, the language of the parcel tax specifically prohibits allocating the funding for central district administration or administrative salaries. Instead, funds generated through the measure may be used to train or hire new teachers in order to encourage smaller class sizes amid the evergrowing class populations. WITHOUT ADDITIONAL FUNDING, IT’S GOING TO BE DIFFICULT TO CONTINUE TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN REALLY HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS LIKE THE ONES WE ENJOY NOW. TRUSTEE ANN CROSBIE
Additional concerns have sprouted from the community about not seeing satisfactory results from the proposed projects. “Certain areas feel like they haven’t received their share,” said Crosbie, “but it’s coming. The state understands that you are only able to build so much at once, so its planned out so certain projects are done in certain years. Continue on Page 2
Prom and Ramadan conflict sparks frustration among Muslim students By Sameeha Salman Staff Writer
For the fourth year in a row, Irvington High School’s prom falls during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Though this may seem insignificant to most high schoolers, the overlap is problematic for Irvington’s Muslim student population who may not be able to participate in prom celebrations as a result. Ramadan, the most important holiday of the year for Muslims, is a month-long period of spiritual reflection, self-improvement, and increased devo-
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tion and worship. The month of Ramadan is in accordance with the lunar calendar and usually moves up 11 days every year. This year, however, Ramadan falls from April 24th to May 23rd, with the last day of the holy month being the date of the combined prom event. During this month, Muslims refrain from consuming all food and drink (including water) from sunrise to sunset each day. Muslims also join in religious customs such as visiting the mosque for night prayers and reading the Quran, the Islamic holy book. Additionally, it is encouraged for observers of Ramadan to refrain
from excessively worldly activities and focus on strengthening their relationship with God and their religion. “Ramadan is a holy month and as Muslims, we all try to participate in religious activities and focus on our spirituality and faith,” said Safiyah Rasheed (12). “Being in an environment such as prom defeats the principle of Ramadan.” With Irvington being such a diverse school, it is often hard to schedule events that avoid overlap with both religious and other school events. Continue on Page 3
Sameeha Salman | Staff Writer The combined Junior and Senior prom date clashes with the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, causing student frustration and accommodations to be put into place.
Inside: Student Life 6 | Opinions 9 | Features 12 | Entertainment 14 | Sports 17 | Humor 19 | HOIH 22
NEWS
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Monday, March 9, 2020
Parcel tax vote (cont.)
The Irvington Voice
There are also a lot that people just don’t see, things that have been done. We have been doing wiring, we have been putting in Wi-Fi, but you don’t see that.” Similarly to Measure E, a bond measure passed in 2014, the parcel tax aims to improve the instructional quality of education. However, Measure E has fundamentally different purposes, aimed at targeting infrastructure, construction, repair projects, and modernizing classrooms and science labs. Since Measure L is a general funding and not a bond measure, it requires 67% of voters to approve the tax, a higher voting threshold for passage than other measures. “We polled the community and asked what do you want us to do?” said Crosbie. “So we asked three different dollar amounts, and we looked at what the community was in support of.” A $296 tax per parcel (unit of property such as a single-family home or an apartment complex) was decided, and an independent oversight committee composed of Fremont citizens will check-back on the implementation of the parcel tax funding in the coming months. Other enforcement mechanisms, including yearly audits and reports to the community, are put in place to ensure responsible and equitable distribution of the parcel tax revenue. “We have award winning schools, so people think, ‘Well we are already doing really well and making it work with what little we have’,” says Fahria Khan, president of the Fremont Education Foundation, at the parcel tax campaign kickoff at
News Editors Kayla Xu, Felicia Mo
Editors-in-Chief Andrew Fu, Kayla Xu
Student Life Editors Rory Conlon, Megan Dhingra Humans of Irvington High Editor Rachel Kavalakatt Opinions Editors Andrew Fu, Roxana Shahmohammadi Features Editors Vidushee Mishra, Nikoo Alizadeh Entertainment Editors Shradha Krishnamurthy, Akshita Nair Sports Editors Achintya Pinninti, Michael Zhu Humor Editor Alice Shu Photos Editor Ashka Patel Web Editor Kritika Sachar Distribution Manager Sanjana Gudivada Rachel Kavalakatt | Humans of Irvington High Editor The four target goals of the Parcel Tax initiative illustrated in this graphic are expected to be implemented in the 2020-20201 school year. Jack’s Brewery on Thursday, February 6, 2020. “But the thing is, we could be doing
so much better. Having this money is going to help bridge that gap.”
Irvington recommendations prioritized over district prerequisites
By Sanjana Gudivada Distribution Manager
Assisstant Prinicpal John Honerkamp Students who wished to enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) classes for the 2020-2021 school year attended mandatory introduction meeting. These meetings attracted long lines of students unseen in previous years.
In light of a growing student body and AP class cuts, Irvington High School administration has heavily enforced Irvington AP recommendations in addition to the FUSD prerequisites. As a result, mandatory AP introduction meetings attracted large crowds of students attempting to enroll in the classes. Originally, the Irvington-specific recommendations were set based on past trends of students who fulfilled all district prerequisites but still did not perform well in AP classes. “I think it was my second year here and a swarm of students were trying to get out of [AP Chemistry] and they had a lower math,” said Ms. Wendi Bennet, a counselor at Irvington High School. “We noticed that the Precalculus students were doing fine so once we put [the Precalculus recommendation] in, we didn’t see as many students trying to get out of AP Chemistry.” According to Assistant Principal Melissa Antionacci, these recommendations don’t restrict students from taking classes but instead help students understand whether they should take the class or not. This is why Irvington has mandatory AP meetings. “We’ve tried in a number of ways to provide information and we’re going to continue to do so,” said Assistant Principal Antonacci. “We’ve been trying really hard to provide opportunities for [IHS students] to have the best information from the teachers who teach the classes so that you and your parents can make the most appropriately informed decision.” Another reason why these recommendations have been put into place is due to the increasing class sizes. In addition, the limited availability of AP classes and budget cuts requiring removal of certain AP classes further complicates the eligibility of students and the registration process. “Even if you have the require-
Broadcast Manager Prahalad Chari Copy Editor Justin Kim Advisor Matthew Phillips Staff Writers Anushka Nair Arshad Mohammad Darsh Singhania\ Geetika Mahajanw Geoffrey Zhang Isabella Lam Joy Kuo Kelly Feng Sameeha Salman Serena Yeh Shivangi Gupta Will Peng General Policy The Irvington Voice is a student-run newspaper with the sole purpose of providing an open forum for student expression. Anything printed represents the opinion of the writer, but not necessarily that of The Irvington Voice staff, the administration, faculty, or any person affiliated with the Fremont Unified School District. The Irvington Voice does not discriminate against race, political orientation, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. Although The Irvington Voice will never refuse to publish student guest submission based on the aforementioned factors, we reserve the right to edit or not publish them.
ment or recommendation [for certain AP classes], you might still not get it because there’s a pool of students,” said Ms. Bennet. “If we have plenty of openings, we’ll go with the [district prerequisites], but it’s just too many students.” Due to these limited openings, and to avoid students dropping classes that they later realize they are unfit for, students who fulfil the Irvington recommendations are most likely to get AP classes. However, some students have expressed objections to these new set of recommendations, arguing that they are unfair to Irvington students.. Although Surabhi Kannapan (11) had met the district requirement for AP Chemistry — to be concurrently enrolled in Algebra 2 Trigonometry the next year — she was denied the class because of the separate Irvington recommendation, which was to have a concurrent of Precalculus instead. “I don’t think Irvington should have its own separate requirement,” said Kannapan. “I talked to the district and they said that you just needed a concurrent Algebra 2 Trig, and that I’m still eligible to take that class. But the district also said that Irvington has a different prerequisite and we can’t do anything about that.”
Monday, March 9, 2020
Fremont PD Holds Community Meeting
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By Akshita Nair
Entertainment Editor On Feb. 12, the Fremont Police Department (FPD) hosted a community meeting at the City Council Chambers in Fremont to discuss current crime statistics of the city as well as long term goals of the department. Directing most of the meeting was Police Chief Kimbery Petersen along with Lieutenant Micheal Tegner and Public Affairs Manager Geneva Bosques. During the meeting, the FPD highlighted key tech-based crimes as well as new programs implemented to reduce those crimes and promote education and awareness in the community. At the beginning of the meeting, the FPD identified public safety, policing philosophy, and the department’s partnerships with the people of Fremont as their most important missions. The lack of policing staff was discussed as well, since inadequate staffing could lead to less efficient crime enforcement and prevention. Police Chief Peterson also discussed the Vision Zero Project that had been approved in 2015 to help reduce car crashes and the resulting fatalities. By using various techniques in areas of engineering, education, and enforcement, the rate of automobile collisions has significantly shrunk. One such method that has been implemented are Fremont’s first pedestrian signals which aim to slow down cars with special stoplights as they approach a major crosswalk to lessen the risk of a crash. To facilitate transportation, the FPD has invested in a Tesla project which aimed to transition the police car fleet from gas-powered to hybrid or all electric models. The Fremont Police vehicle fleet is responsible for 980 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the city annually, so to decrease these emissions, the FPD has opted to switch to all electric Tesla’s and save mileage-related costs in the process. The first Tesla-model has already been produced and deployed, with major modifications to make it suitable for a police car. The performance of this car will determine the decision to transition all the cars in the fleet to Tesla’s. “I can tell you that it (Tesla program) has been a success,” said Petersen. “The technology has worked the way we had hoped it would. The energy is just pennies on the dollar compared to our gas police cars.” While many different types of
Fremont Police Department According to the FPD, while there was an overall decrease in Part 1 crimes (homicide and manslaughter) compared to 2018, “Theft from Vehicles” rate rose up to 24% from last year’s data. crime were touched upon in the meeting, the most prevalent type discussed were technology-based crimes. Fencing, which involves buying stolen or illegally-acquired electronics and reselling the goods to other organizations (usually foreign) for an even greater profit, is the most notable techbased crime. To prevent this, the Fremont police went undercover in late fall 2019 and busted the biggest fencing operation in the Bay Area. After finding out an electronic theft crew that was based in Torspin Wireless, the FPD set up a surveillance operation that lasted several months, tracking the circulation of the E-products the store wanted , and tracked the listed prices the buyers were willing to pay. Police found out the store was purchasing around 25 to 100 phones on a daily basis. The police then sold devices to Torspin to see where they ended up and found the devices in places such as Asia, Kazakhstan, and other international destinations. When the FPD finally decided to bust the crime organization, police arrested three men, retrieved $350,000 dollars, and uncovered many firearms. Proving a big success, the depart-
Prom and Ramadan conflict sparks frustration among Muslim students (cont.) Many events have the potential to conflict with prom, such as AP testing, which takes place from May 4th to 15th. There are regulations on how far from spring break and graduation prom can be, which restricted the flexibility of choosing a more accommodating prom date. Not only is it hard to pick a date not conflicting with other school events, but the limited availability of the venue was another challenge that Mr. Willer and the class officers had to take into consideration. “We wanted to have prom this year at the Exploratorium, but we found out that almost all of the other dates were booked,” said former junior prom committee chair Raisah Khan (12). “In fact, when we were reserving the venue during February of last year, we came to know that there was someone on the waitlist above us, which compelled us into paying the deposit as early as possible because if not, the venue would go to the next person on the waitlist. Also, we did not have access to the 2019-2020 school year calendar to see if there were other event conflicts, so we based the date for prom off of previous years’ precedent, and senior prom has always fallen on the weekend of the 23rd.” Regardless of the scheduling difficulty that the class council officers has faced, Muslim students at Irvington are unhappy with the decision. “This whole situation is very frustrating,” said Rasheed. “Ramadan is a very important part of my religion, but prom is integral to my high school experience. I
did not get the opportunity to attend junior prom last year either and was very excited to get to experience prom with my friends in my last year of high school. Now, however, I need to make the decision of whether I will prioritize my religion or prom.” As a result, a group of Muslims seniors brought up their concerns with the class council prom committee. While they acknowledged that moving the date for prom this year would not be possible due to the contract signed with the venue and deposit given, they wanted to ensure that some accommodations would be made at prom to cultivate a more Ramadan-friendly environment for those who choose to go and are fasting, and guarantee that prom would not take place in Ramadan next year as well. Khan responded by stating that she is working with the current senior class officers and contact at the venue to do so. “This year, we have a really big venue with many rooms, so we are trying to arrange to have a separate room for both people who don’t like dancing and/or choose not to in respect to Ramadan, to just socialize and eat food,” she said. “We all don’t want to make it seem like we were purposefully ignoring the entire Muslim population at school. None of us previously realized the gravity of the situation. We are trying to figure out some more solutions, but this year when planning the date for next year, we will try to be more cognizant of all religious holidays.”
ment is aiming to shut down other similar operations running in the Bay Area. “Since then, I think we’ve taken down about two other fences,” said Lieutenant Micheal Tegner. “And we’ve targeted many more along with many other agencies in the Bay Area.” The meeting also touched upon the other tech-crimes that are on a smaller but still negatively impactful scale. Autoburglaries in Fremont have risen up to 24% and Petersen added that this rate is bound to go up if people are careless. The FPD encourages a “remove it or lose it” policy which advises residents to either take valuables outside their cars or hide it in order to stop people from smashing in to steal them. In an effort to combat these burglaries, the FPD has also invested in a city-wide surveillance camera project to catch the auto-burglars in the act. Cameras have been placed along major exit and entry points in the city, usually near burglary hot spots. “This proved incredibly helpful,” said Lieutenant Tegner. “We’ve solved many crimes with it. We’ve solved homicides, assault with deadly weapons, [and]
robberies.” These camera systems also contain Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) to minimize the time it takes to identify suspects and vehicles associated with criminal activity. The program also encourages Fremont residents to register their own home-security camera systems so that, if need be, the Fremont police can reach these people to obtain camera footage for evidence and to solve more crimes. The FPD has even teamed up with Ring, a door-bell camera app, to encourage people to anonymously share video clips with the police. The Fremont Police Community meeting was an informative session that helped its residents learn more about the crime-activity happening in town, and what’s being done to reduce and therefore improve these statistics. As the city becomes more advanced and populated, the police staff are on the look-out to find more innovative ways to attend to their jobs such as outfitting Tesla’s as part of their car fleet and using camera systems to catch more auto-burglars.
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Monday, March 9, 2020
FUSD faces further budget reductions (cont.) said former junior prom committee chair Raisah Khan (12). “In fact, when we were reserving the venue during February of last year, we came to know that there was someone on the waitlist above us, which compelled us into paying the deposit as early as possible because if not, the venue would go to the next person on the waitlist. Also, we did not have access to the 2019-2020 school year calendar to see if there were other event conflicts, so we based the date for prom off of previous years’ precedent, and senior prom has always fallen on the weekend of the 23rd.” Regardless of the scheduling difficulty that the class council officers face, Muslim students at Irvington are unhappy with the decision. “This whole situation is very frustrating,” said Rasheed. “Ramadan is a very important part of my religion, but prom is integral to my high school experience. I did not get the opportunity to attend junior prA However, if a school district requires more money than the LCFF amount, they cannot ask the state for more money or increase property tax earnings. Thus, school districts now rely on parcel taxes and bonds for additional earnings. The FUSD board-approved budgeting solutions will be presented to The Alameda County Office of Education on March 11th for reviewing, and if certified by the ACOE, the budget balancing solutions will then be implemented by the FUSD between March and May. However, if the budget solutions are not certified by the ACOE, FUSD will then have to carry out an additional $20 million budget reduction, and there is a possibility that class sizes for the next school year will increase once again. “If you have fewer classes, that means you have to pay fewer teachers, and that’s how we were saving money,” said Crosbie. “We don’t like doing that, and last year we didn’t actually cut any tuition. If somebody retired, we just didn’t hire a teacher for that section and we collapsed classes. So we didn’t actually have
to fire anybody or lay anybody off, which was good.” Because of larger class sizes, some courses at Irvington High School no longer had enough students signing up to actually be offered. As a result, many noncore classes (classes that do not fulfill the A to G graduation requirements) were less likely to stay. This was especially the case for AP classes, which required instructors to also be approved by the College Board. Both core and non-core classes were cut in previous years, though cuts in non-core classes with limited periods such as AP courses were much more noticeable by the student body. “There’s two parts of money from my perspective,” said Principal Amanda Melsby. “There is staffing, and then there is our discretionary budget where we are given money to pay for materials and classes. For example, last year they cut our staffing and also our discretionary budget. From a staffing standpoint, they basically tell us how many fewer teachers we have.” After being notified of the cuts in Irvington’s discretionary budget, Principal Melsby then worked with Irvington’s department head teachers to discuss future staffing projections according to the HR policies they are required to follow. Though they are directly impacted by the budget cuts, individual teachers aren’t involved in this process. “Usually we don’t know about [the budget cuts] until the beginning of the year,” said Ms. Karen Lin, an Irvington math teacher who teaches accelerated math and calculus. “We literally have no control because the class sizes are decided by the time we get back to school.” According to Ms. Lin, her calculus classes used to consist of around 2830 students per period, which has now increased to 36 students per period because of last year’s budget reductions. Due to the increased class sizes, Ms. Lin’s AP Calculus BC class wasn’t approved this year even though around the same amount of students as before signed up for the class. As a result, she now teaches AP Calculus
AB. Increased class sizes with more students meant that teachers now have increased workload, multiplied by the amount of periods they teach. As enrollment rates rise, the current working teachers’ workload increases every year as well. “I spend every weekend, every free time, correcting papers and I am always behind,” said Ms. Lin. “And I’m considered one of the faster graders. “[I only teach four periods a day] but because of the number of students I have I really
should be a full time teacher.” Not only did the budget reductions affect teachers, but students were impacted as well. Because of increased class sizes, classes with fewer student sign-ups were not offered despite protests from the student body. “As education matters a lot to me, I’m bummed that the school isn’t putting students first,” said Melissa Liu (10). “I think it really sucks that I have less of an opportunity to pursue the classes I am interested in in high school.”
Monday, March 9, 2020
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STUDENT LIFE
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MILESTONE
Monday, March 9, 2020
Muslim Student Association holds an advisory event discussing the history of hijabs, educating Irvington students about Muslim culture.
QUESTION A Mardi Gras Fit For Fairytales MAN By Felicia Mo News Editor
By Darsh Singhania Staff Writer
If you could create a new law for a day, what would it be?
Sterling Sun (9) “Probably abolish the federal reserve, because the fed does a really bad job of setting interest and bails out banks that deserve to go under.”
Arista Zhu (10)
“Voting under 18. Young students can be just as educated as adults.”
On Tuesday Feb. 25th, Irvington’s six French classes partnered with the resident French Club to put on their annual Mardi Gras event hosted in the cafeteria. Mardi Gras lasted for the entire day, engaging up to 150 students per period in a variety of activities showcasing French culture and French fairy tales. Mardi Gras is a diverse worldwide event with places such as New Orleans, USA and Venice, Italy annually hosting some of the largest Mardi Gras festivals in the world. The holiday celebrates Fat Tuesday, a day of parties and heavy food consumption or “fat eating” before a traditional fasting period known as Lent. There were a total of seven booths on display at Irvington’s Mardi Gras, one for each of French teacher Madame Cayla’s classes (her first period was a combination of AP French and French 2 and had to be split into three groups). Each class was assigned a fairytale and essentially worked together on a large four-part project: build an impressive float, design an informative tri-fold, create an interesting activity, and put together a skit. “All the classes get a week or so to work on it in class, whatever they don’t finish they work on at home,” said French class student and French Club publicity head Mirabelle Vardhan (9). “It’s a huge assignment in our French grade. The class that wins gets a better grade so it’s also competitive on that level. We always want to make it really beautiful and it’s really awesome when we make it gorgeous because the whole school’s going to see it.” The event itself showcased a number of intriguing aspects of French culture. Each class’s presentation highlighted the French versions of familiar fairytales, and stories such as Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, and Little Red Riding Hood were just some of the classics that came to life both physically in the floats and mentally in the French students’ retellings. On the other hand, Mardi Gras
Features Editor
Sarah Tai (11)
Daniel Emmanuel (12)
“I would lower the driving age to 14, because I feel in this society, independence is a necessity. If they hit people, it’s on them, they should be learning responsibility.”
end of the cafeteria also gave visitors the opportunity to try on French festivity masks and bead necklaces that were recycled from New Orleans Mardi Gras festivals. “I went last year to New Orleans for a conference and I got some beads - the very large ones, they are really beautiful,” said Madame Cayla. “Then I went to get more around Christmas time during winter break and we actually had special help from the French Club to buy more masks and more beads.” Irvington’s French classes and French Club have hosted Mardi Gras for 16 years, making it a school tradition. In 2004, Irvington alumna Ashley Pangelenan proposed creating activities that would draw more attention to the holiday, and the Mardi Gras event began in its infancy as presentations conducted in the library. As the years progressed, more and more ideas built onto the celebration until it evolved into the four-part activity it is today. This year the topic of Mardi Gras was already discussed in Irvington French classes around two months before the actual event date, as opposed to last year when the topic was introduced only two weeks in advance. It gave French class students extra time to plan their activities, familiarize themselves with their fairytales, and host an extraordinary event for Irvington.
MSA Celebrates World Hijab Day By Vidushee Mishra
“All pet cats and dogs need to be neutered or spayed because there are too many, which results in a lot of euthanization in shelters.”
did have some shortcomings. While students explored the different booths, videos of the French class skits were projected on the far wall of the cafeteria, almost as a background sound for the whole event. As a result, not a lot of attention was directed towards the skits, and the unexpected volume changes of the videos were also unpleasant at times. “I really enjoy the skits part but that is also a weakness,” said Hasan Abdussamy (10), a French class student. “I do think there should be more emphasis on that but I don’t know how to really incorporate it. We enjoy doing the skits and editing it but no one really pays attention to it on Mardi Gras.” Yet the success of Mardi Gras surpassed those challenges. All the booths were interactive, creative, and considerate of the fairytale theme as well as French culture. Activities such as sword fighting and a booth dedicated to voodoo dolls, taro reading, and palm reading attracted widespread attention from students. “I like the voodoo one,” said Abdussamy. “You get a doll and you poke it with needles. The meaning depends on what type of needle you put in. Sometimes you put your own soul into the doll and poke it with Hope and Happiness. I did Hope and Happiness.” A photo booth located at the far
Irvington’s Muslim Student Association (MSA) celebrated World Hijab Day on Feb. 6 by hosting a FLEX event in Ms. Kamal’s room, in which they had a presentation about the history of hijabs and what they mean to Muslim women and passed out hijabs for attendees to try out. World Hijab Day is an internationally celebrated day to appreciate Muslim women and the hijab. It was first started by Nazam Khan, a social activist, in 2013 and has grown into an annual celebration of the cultural aspects respected by the hijab as well as a means of paying respects to hijab-wearing women. “The purpose of having this is to let people know what the hijab means to Muslim women and what it represents” said MSA President Sameeha Salman (12). “There are a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions around what exactly the hijab is, what its purpose is, what its meaning is, and very small details about what wearing a hijab means to each person, but it goes beyond that.” To bring World Hijab Day to Irvington, MSA decided to give students a chance to experience the daily life of a hijabi by handing out hijabs to students, encouraging them to try it on and keep it. MSA also hosted a FLEX event in Ms. Kamal’s classroom, in which there was a presentation about the meaning and cultural connotation of the hijab, as well as an open discussion and forum about Muslim culture, current misconceptions, and solutions to Islamophobia. The atmosphere inside the classroom was welcoming and open, and all students had the opportunity to speak their minds while enjoying snacks and henna designs from MSA.
“I think it’s important [to have events like these] because a lot of aspects of other religions are celebrated but other than World Hijab Day. Muslim women don’t get a lot of attention or representation in the media and if they do it’s not because of the right reasons since it just reflects stereotypes about things like oppression, but a lot of people need to see the beauty and sense of belonging and fulfillment that you can get within the community of people that wear the hijab. Taking one specific day to recognize that and to teach people who don’t know much about what a hijab is and what it means is imperative,” said Salman. The event had an impressive turnout, with approximately thirty people attending. While MSA members and hijabis attended the event, there were also many people who were unfamiliar with Muslim culture present, increasing the sentiment of diversity at the event. “The best part of the event was watching the MSA officers present about
something that they’re really passionate about and it was clear to see that this topic is really meaningful to them, which makes it easier for the audience to also care about what they’re saying,” said Riya Mhatre (12), an attendee. Overall, MSA’s efforts for World Hijab Day were focused on raising awareness and dispelling misconceptions. “The best part of the event for me was when I was giving my own anecdotes, a lot of people were quiet and were very interested in my stories about when I started wearing my scarf, how my family factored into that decision, the challenges I faced, and other things like that. I’m happy that with this event I got to help clear up some people’s misconceptions about hijabs and help them see things from a hijabi’s point of view,” said Salman. MSA’s efforts on World Hijab Day perfectly exemplifies its commitment to diversity, offering all students a chance to be accepted and involved.
Monday, March 9, 2020
Irvington Debate Returns with Annual Vikings Tournament
By Joy Kuo Staff Writer
On Feb. 1, Irvington Debate hosted its third annual Vikings debate tournament after a gap year due to Work to Rule. Irvington invited schools from throughout the Bay Area, having all teams compete in parliamentary debate and then having eleven schools each participate in both the novice and varsity divisions. The Irvington Debate officer team faced numerous challenges as they planned the event. At first, the administration told the club that there was not enough space for the tournament due to Chinese school and other events running the same day, so the officers had to talk to each teacher individually, asking permission to use their classrooms. After the event was approved, the officer team began planning during winter break so that the tournament would be on February 29th. However, after finding out that a state qualifier tournament was also being held that same day, the officer team pushed up the event to February 1st, forcing them to finish all the planning in two weeks.Three days before the Vikings tournament, Mr. Willer notified the officer team that no chairs were available for the Vikings tournament due to many events taking place concurrently, so they had to rent chairs from a party company. Although there were some obstacles leading up to the event, the Vikings debate officer team pulled through and the tournament ran from 7:30 AM to 9:30 PM. Teams competed in three rounds in the morning and two rounds in the afternoon. Based on the records of those five rounds, the top four teams advanced to semifinals, and the top two teams competed in finals. Cramming seven rounds into a one-day tournament had both its pros and cons. “[The] one day tournament was a lot more convenient because I don’t want to be going to a debate tournament for two days. On the weekend, I maybe want to complete more of my homework or projects on that Sunday or Saturday,” said Irvington Debate member Aryaman Gautum (10). “[But] I think maybe they can include a better play off format, where people who
do well in the preliminary rounds can actually go over and compete and break to go to more rounds.” In the end, Irvington’s debate teams ended up ranking first in novice. Irvington didn’t rank as high in varsity since many underclassmen were sent to compete in varsity for the first time. Nevertheless, the event provided underclassmen with practical experience that they hope will prepare them for the upcoming Stanford Invitationals and future competitions. “I really liked learning from other schools and [from] the varsity people who came over to debate with us,” said Irvington Debate member Selena Song (9). ”Usually,
we watch varsity rounds and learn from them, so it was a really great experience being in the rounds and debating against people a lot better than us.” Overall, the Vikings debate tournament ran smoothly. Even though there were some problems with doors randomly locking and the scheduling software glitching, the officer team along with the help of Irvington debate alumni Rishabh Neswani promptly solved all these issues. “The fact that we were able to pull through in a short period of time, especially without having any chair three days before the tournament, and then having seven rounds in one day is unheard of. No schools
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have done that before,” said Irvington Debate’s President Vidushee Mishra (12). “Being able to do that was a pretty huge accomplishment and just shows that if everyone works towards a goal it is possible. Even though we were very tired by the end of the day, afterwards it was very rewarding seeing everything play out and just pull through.” The debaters received the opportunity to practice, improve, and make new connections in the debate circuit. The success of the tournament has left Irvington Debate optimistic that they will continue the tradition of hosting their annual debate tournament in coming years.
Sachi Goel Caroline Xin (11) hands a novice speaker award to a competitor.
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Monday, March 9, 2020
Monday, March 9, 2020 Page 9
OPINIONS
DISAGREE WITH US?
Submit your Letter to the Editor to Room 84 or through email to irvingtonvoice@gmail.com for the chance to be featured the next issue!
Clash of the Sitcoms
Between The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn 99, which one is best?
The Office
Parks and Recreation Brooklyn 99
By Akshita Nair
By Shradha Krishnamurthy
By Alice Shu
The Office has captivated its viewers for years, even after its end back in 2013. The most watched show on Netflix, the beloved series has not only become a common past-time for Americans and people around the world, but it has become a staple in American culture. Other shows, like Parks and Rec and Brooklyn nine-nine are also wellknown shows in the American TV business, however, they don’t hold a candle to the Office in terms of effort, nostalgia, and plot. While Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a great show, with plenty of humor and great character development, it falls flat in certain areas. The humor is admittedly very funny, but only for some scenes. To make up for the lack of proper plot development, or just plain useless scenes, the writers use dumb jokes as a crutch. In the episode “The Party”, in season 1, episode 16, Jake says “I’m talking to my credit card company. I tried to get an online subscription to the New Yorker and they declined me. Apparently, based on my previous purchases, they assumed it was fraud. That’s crazy. I’m fancy. One time I had coffee-flavored ice cream.” Sure, it’s funny in a practical way, but the jokes don’t hit deep and are pretty corny. The Office doesn’t use its jokes like this, as they are strategically planned so the blow will be that much better. Parks and Recreation is more of a show for emotional, warm, and genuine tones than for actual comedy. We can all relate to Leslie and Ann’s growth in friendship throughout the park project, and ship Andy and April with all our might. There is no doubt that character development was a well thought out in this show, but it’s humor and actual plot lines aren’t captivating enough to make a special place in their viewers hearts. While genuine relationships in a show are not necessarily bad things, it’s considerable low quality of humor makes it inferior to its predecessor. While not every Office episode is directly connected with the previous, and at times there are random episodes here and there, the actions that transpire in them most likely correlate with future episodes and plot lines, such as Michael Scott’s two season relationship with Holly that’s slowly but intricately developed throughout each episode. The Office doesn’t use blatant, cheap jokes as its main form of comedy (the dumb jokes which are uses is more for satire as a way to mock the characters). Instead, they have subtle jokes placed in every scene and action. Sometimes, words aren’t even needed. Jim’s classic “I’m done” looks so well-known to the viewers and always provides some sort of comic relief after any serious scene that transpires before. In fact, as we learn about the character’s personality traits, and we start to associate them with those traits, we can appreciate their actions and lines even more as we know what they mean by those words, as each character can provide a different definition. The characters are so wellthought out, that after just a season or two, their personalities are well-known and appreciated. We know all about Micheal Scott’s tendency to be a wellmeaning oaf, Dwight Schrute’s insufferable bouts of temporary insanity, Jim Halpert’s carefree but somewhatcaring nature, Pam Beesly’s sweet but over-it moods, Angela Martin’s prickly cactus expressions, Stanley Hudson’s indifferent status, Phyllis Smith’s mother-like tendencies, Ryan Howard’s Why-Am-I-Here moments, Oscar Martinez’s intellectually dominant speeches, Kelly Kapoor’s talkative personality, Darryl Philbin’s midlife crisis, Andy’s frequent bouts of unluckiness, Meredith Palmer’s highly inappropriate behavior, Toby Flenderson’s depressing life, Kevin Malone’s ability to consume everything and anything, and Creed Bratton’s…well even after nine seasons this guy’s a mystery.
Of all the sitcoms released in the decade or so, “Parks and Recreation” on NBC takes the cake. Its blend of self-aware mockumentary comedy combined with traditional slapstick situational comedy makes for a satisfying, compelling piece of entertainment. A prime example of comedy done right, “Parks and Rec” outshines all of its competition, with developed and natural characters, good interpersonal relationships, and fantastic writing. “Parks and Rec” finds a way to handle the struggles of its characters with a funny outlook, tackling everything from gay marriage, to the struggles faced by Leslie Knope as a hard-working woman in an industry heavily dominated by men, to the microaggressions faced by the Indian-American Tom Haverford. Additionally, the conservative climate of its midwest setting adds to the conversation around these topics. One of the great things about Parks and Recreation is that it seeks to be humorous, but not to do so at the expense of marginalized groups or pursue a cheap laugh. As a show, Parks and Recreation is both wonderfully funny, while avoiding the tone-deaf pitfalls of other competitors. While both of those shows were funny during their time, the comedy of their earlier seasons does not hold up in today’s political climate. “Brooklyn Nine Nine’s” blatant fatphobia would never fly today— nor should it have ever. In the first episode, Jake Peralta, the protagonist of B99, mocks a murder victim for his weight. Three episodes later, he sleeps with a coroner, blurring the lines between his professional and personal life. While the show has, admittedly, improved in the way it handles things, it is still rooted in a poor start. That being said, it’s still far better than The Office. The Office, the comedy show that everyone and their mother has seen, was quuite good at first, but as time went on, the show really dipped in quality. Michael, the manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton, had a lovable, child-like attitude towards life, and although his shenanigans lead to a lot of conflicts with his employees, bosses, and other branches, it quickly grew old and offensive. He repeatedly makes assumptions about his coworkers based upon their sexuality, weight, and “lifestyle”, in addition to making inappropriate jokes and advances towards Pam, a receptionist, and Ryan, an intern. The Office also fails in another (massive) area: the show’s length. Pam and Jim start out cute with a nice origin story. But that all goes downhill a little after the show’s halfway point, when Jim becomes an absolute controlling nightmare of a husband, buying his parents’ weird old house without even consulting Pam first. The plot stretches on, and it becomes clear after Michael leaves that the show should have concluded earlier. The plot becomes filler, with absolute stupidity disrupting the plot, like the sudden reveal of a microphone boom guy (who is ostensibly part of the crew that films the show—hence the documentary perspective) who has a massive crush on Pam, which really came out of nowhere. The creators of the show successfully manage to make the audience detest Jim, originally one of the main backbones of the show, all because they didn’t know how to quit while they were ahead. In Parks and Rec, all the characters make real progress by the end of the show, like the ones between April and Andy and Ron and Leslie. The conclusion feels timely and natural for all the established characters, and viewers do not come away from the show with regrets. It’s just good old fashioned fun.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is currently in its seventh season, and was preceded by the very popular The Office and the less popular Parks and Recreation. As a cop comedy, separates itself from its sister shows and typical cop/ emergency dramas such as Grey’s Anatomy. Its well-written jokes and frequent action sequences make the show entertaining and exciting. There are distinct character or plot arcs that span multiple episodes, and single-episode conflicts that are still engaging. Each episode(s) is memorable because the detectives approach new conflicts differently, and the persisting mystery keeps the audience engaged. Brooklyn Nine-Nine also handles real-world issues– such as LGBTQ+ and racism- more maturely than its sister shows. Instead of just using gay/ race jokes for comedic effect, Brooklyn Nine-Nine also uses them to highlight injustice and inequality in modern society. These issues are explored throughout the series alongside profound character development. One episode explores the conflict of coming out, while another explores the effects of racism on familial and professional life. The characters experience conflict and development steadily throughout the series as they face changes in personal and professional relationships. The show explores these themes with a small yet diverse cast, including two LGBTQ+ characters, and the minor characters and recurring guest stars, such as Craig Robinson, are also very entertaining. While Brooklyn Nine-Nine uses characters in unique and profound ways, the characters of The Office and Parks and Recreation fall short, over-relying on character tropes and one-dimensional personalities. In Parks and Recreation, the characters of Tom and April are so over-reliant on their respective tropes that the tropes prevent any room for meaningful character growth. When the writers decided to change a character, it was abrupt and uncharacteristic. Brooklyn Nine-Nine also handles conflict and consequences much better. In The Office and Parks and Recreation, characters rarely had to deal with the consequences of their actions. Michael Scott’s fluke of promising college tuition to high schoolers is treated as a punchline instead of an opportunity for Michael to learn and grow. However, in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, characters are forced to address their own flaws and adapt to changes and conflict, including self-inflicted incarceration. These often take place over multiple episodes, showing maturity and development in a more gradual manner. Finally, Brooklyn Nine-Nine has an absence of “cringe humor”, which is a staple of The Office and Parks and Recreation. The first seasons of the latter shows are notoriously bad: Michael Scott’s character had to be significantly altered, and the first season of Parks was an unflattering imitation of The Office. Mockumentary style humor and “awkward humor” is distinct among sitcoms that rely on laugh tracks for a u d i ence gratification (looking at you, Friends). Viewers may not be accustomed to this unique style of comedy, and may find watching the show unbearable. Luckily, Brooklyn Nine-Nine avoids constant “awkward humor” while also being devoid of laugh tracks. The setting of detective and cop work provide action and suspense, which, in addition to the comedy, provide for an engaging and entertaining viewing experience.
Entertainment Editor
Entertainment Editor
Humor Editor
Page 10
Monday, March 9, 2020
“Classic” Books are Surprisingly Homogeneous
It’s Time Vote for a Different Election System By Roxana Shahmohammadi Opinions Editor
We’re currently in the middle of a primary and it has never been more apparent that the current primary system sucks. This isn’t surprising considering it was put into place like a patchwork quilt, with no real reasoning in the ordering of states and massive differences in the voting laws between them. At this point, there is no doubt that the primary system needs to be reformed, starting with abolishing caucuses and closed primaries to increase voter representation and turnout. First things first, we have to attempt to understand the current messy system. Not all states vote the same way. The majority of states vote in a primary, which is a normal ballot vote like in the general, but there are different kinds of primaries: the two major ones being open and closed primaries. A closed primary means that only those officially registered with a party can vote in that party’s primary. An open primary means anyone, regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof, can vote in any primary they choose but they still can only vote in one. Most states currently have open primaries, with only 12 still maintaining closed ones. But not all states vote through primaries; Iowa, Wyoming, Nevada, North Dakota, and the Republican party in Kentucky use caucuses. Caucuses work differently in different states and parties, but in general, they are a method of voting with your presence rather than a filled out ballot. People vote by physically standing with their candidate. A caucus is meant to prevent irregularities in results, since all votes are public, and encourage community and active participation in politics. However, neither of these end up realistically happening.
Ultimately the biggest issues with both caucuses and closed primaries is that they result in lower voter turnout and function as a form of voter suppression. Let’s start with the closed primaries. America operates on a two-party system, which means that American’s choices in terms of party affiliations are very limited. Many Americans choose to register with a third party (Green, Libertarian, etc) or remain unaffiliated. Why should these voters be denied a voice in primary elections? In a true open primary, every candidate gets a ballot with every candidate’s name on it, regardless of either’s registration. The top two candidates, again disregarding party registration, then move on to the general election. This system would be ideal as it would move America away from the highly polarized partisan political state it is currently in and gives voices to voters who would otherwise be disenfranchised. And since one person can only vote in one primary, there is no risk of double or fraudulent votes. Now let’s talk about the caucuses. Since a caucus, unlike a primary, requires a voter’s presence from basically the beginning to the end of the process, most people have to take all day off in order to vote. Of course, this results in lower voter turnout. In 2016, states with caucuses had only one third of the turnout states with primaries did. This lower turnout is typically higher among lower income people and people of color, who are less likely to be able to take a whole day off to vote. The differences in caucuses in different states also result in irregularities in the results, which defeats the whole purpose of a public vote. To increase voter turnout among marginalized people and improve the integrity of election results, all states should switch to primaries and retire the outdated caucus system.
Warner Bros. Pictures The Great Gatsby is one of many western books in the English curriculum with a white male protagonist and author focusing on themes of the American Dream through the lens of western society. By Darsh Singhania Staff Writer Through all of our high school careers, we’ve read many ‘classic’ books in English class intended to increase our reading comprehension and hopefully teach us something deep and meaningful about ourselves. These books should appeal to a variety of audiences, but it is clear that many of the authors, themes, and settings are very similar. This is particularly evident within the lack of diverse viewpoints in addressing these stories, as can be shown via the cultures that are explored in these novels. A very common time period explored in several high school novels are depression-era novels set in the early 20th century, such as “The Great Gatsby”, “The Grapes of Wrath”, and “Of Mice and Men”. All three of these books involve white male characters that rise from poverty and critique the socioeconomic landscape of the United States during his time. While “The Great Gatsby” does differ from the other two in that it focuses on a rich main character, it still functions as a critique of the hedonistic practices of the rich and focuses on the poverty faced by certain characters in the Valley of Ashes, an area of poverty and crime. The other two novels, meanwhile, discuss depressionera poverty and the poor’s desperation to find work. All of these books, focused on economic troubles in the United States, unnecessarily limit their focus to poverty only within one country and its effect on one culture. On the other hand, books
like “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, for example, talk about poverty and discrimination based on factors out of one’s control in a very different cultural context. Using ideas and themes from Afghanistan’s culture, it weaves a very different narrative that manages to talk about deep societal issues without repeating the same content over and over. Many teachers also agree with the assertions regarding the heavy eurocentrism of the core books at Irvington. “11th grade is American Literature, and to define America, we are a nation of refugees, immigrants, and natives,” says Ms. Kamal, an AP English Language and English 12 teacher. “But in 11th grade core, all the authors are white and all the stories are about the white experience.” She cites books like the “Great Gatsby” as a part of this, with the point that there are many alternate novels which could teach the story of the American Dream to the students at Irvington. Novels which focus on the struggles of immigrant families to make money and survive in the United States would be a more relatable way to teach this large concept, as many students at Irvington are first or second generation immigrants to the United States. In Gatsby, however, his dream is simply to get the girl and get rich, a huge missed chance in terms of what the theme of the American Dream could create. One example of a book which takes a different stance is “Enrique’s Story”, which details the journey of a 17-year old Honduran teen who makes a trek to the United States to be reunited with his mother who moved there to send him money. He settles down in the US after some time and even brings his girlfriend over, all in search of a better life for him and his family. Ms. Kamal also claims there are serious negative effects of such a homogenous curriculum. The primary benefit of a diverse curriculum is an idea called “teaching tolerance”. Essentially, learning more about different cultural groups can help create inclusivity and show students alternate perspectives. Instead of learning about the invasion of Vietnam through the book “The Things They Carry”, which has a largely American perspective, students could learn about it from a Vietnamese perspective, like from author Viet Thanh Nguyen, who writes short stories on this subject. His debut book titled “The Sympathizer” uses his Vietnamese-American background to show the Americanization of history and how there are always many different sides to conflicts like the Vietnamese War. There are, however, ways that this situation could be remedied moving forward. “I’ve done ‘Donor Choose’ campaigns, so I don’t even touch the department funds and its a way to get funds from rich donors for a project,” explained Ms. Kamal in regards to how she acquired the funds for her books. “There’s also a nonprofit called ‘Facing History’...which lets you actually loan or borrow books like Enrique’s Journey.”
Monday, March 9, 2020
Are Mandatory AP Meetings a Mistake?
US-ticket.com These familiar AP tickets can be found in multiple online stores such as Amazon and Etsy.
By Isabella Lam Staff Writer
Massive lines accumulating outside a small room. People pushing and shoving, more impatient than Asian parents driving their kids to school. It’s not a Black Friday sale, but rather, the life of any Irvington student right before an AP meeting. The sheer amount of people trying to get into a room is an enormous hassle, but students are still willing to put up with that inconvenience just to get a proof of attendance. While the mandatory AP meetings can provide important information about the workload and inner workings of an AP class, there is currently no effective way to verify whether a student was even there, and in the end, the benefits of the information given is far outweighed by the amount of inconvenience that these meetings cause for students. The obvious chaos of the meetings can be seen throughout the crowd that forms in front of Norse Hall before each one, and it translates into a similarly chaotic verification system. The mandatory status of the meetings has led to massive numbers of students attending for the sake of having a safety net, which means that keeping track of those who have attended becomes a herculean task. The most logical option to keep track of these students is to scan them in by ID cards or numbers, but as of now, the most verification exists in the form of small, easily lost, physical tickets, or a Google form link that can be copy and pasted into group chats. Regarding physical tickets, they can easily be passed around from person to person. Students have friends that are not interested in the AP class attend meetings for them, or buy them off of other people. Not to mention, the adorable smiley face tickets used for the meetings can be bought in rolls of 2000 off of ticketprinting.com for $3.38. Unless counselors are willing to sort through hundreds of tickets to make sure there aren’t any duplicate tickets, originals and fakes become indistinguishable. In summary, the usage of physical tickets hasn’t done anything to indicate whether a student has actually attended the meeting, and instead creates a market for students to sell and trade their tickets. At least these meetings are teaching us some form of economics. While Google Form tickets don’t share the same set of issues, there’s still the problem of the forms having links that can instantly be shared into group chats with
dozens of people that are not interested in being crammed into a room full of sweaty kids. While the administration may try to control the spread of this link by attempting to stop photos of it from circulating (ignoring the fact that it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everyone’s phone cameras), the link can still be copied and pasted. The timestamping of responses doesn’t even matter at that point, due to the nature of technology being so fast at spreading information. We then run into the same issue of students outmaneuvering the requirement of needing to be at an AP meeting to take an AP course. All of the issues that come with keeping track of meeting attendance bring up the valid question of whether the meetings should even be mandatory in the first place. While AP meetings communicate important information to people considering taking the course, this information often falls on deaf ears due to the stubbornness of Irvington students that are taking as many AP classes as possible. Meetings also take place during lunchtime, which most students use for finishing off work, attending club meetings, and simply having a break from the race of school. As a result, many students go glaze-eyed during these meetings due to having other things that they need to attend to. In the end, it becomes clear that the reason why these meetings are attended are not for the sake of the information, but rather for the tickets they need in order to take the course. However, it has to be acknowledged that the information presented in each of these AP meetings is needed in order to fully inform students about the challenging classes that they are planning to take. Keeping meetings mandatory, however, doesn’t necessarily do this as there are simply too many obstacles that come from so many students attending the meetings. While changing meetings to non-mandatory may cause some students to not attend the informational meetings, students that genuinely want to know more about their classes as well as those that are making up their mind about certain classes, which are who these meetings are targeted at, will likely still attend the meetings. Besides, information from the meetings can be communicated in different ways: for example, sending slides, videos, and testimonial videos to students through Loopmail or the school website. One thing is for sure: the current mandatory AP meetings need to be changed in some way, shape, or form for the sake of common sense.
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Stop Mourning on Social Media By Geoffrey Zhang Staff Writer
#BlackMambaForever. #RipStanLee. Insert any hashtag for your dead celebrity and you’re now mourning with the rest of a community. Social media has changed the way we mourn and deal with grief. But with the power of social media, it seems that we overwhelmingly use it to mourn for celebrities in popular culture, setting a hazy standard for what constitutes a “tragedy” while discounting the actual weight of the disasters behind events. Just last month, in the hours after a helicopter crash killed Kobe Bryant (and seven other people) in Los Angeles, social media feeds suddenly became filled with tributes to him. Kobe Bryant was indeed a major figure in the basketball world, and his life should be respected. But within mere minutes of Kobe’s death, millions around the world chimed in on social media with their superficial grief, all due to the immediacy of social media. Grieving is a messy and complicated process, but the collective, real-time, and frequently performative form of grieving the internet enables led to three main responses in the aftermath of Kobe’s death: profound (reflections from reporters about his personality and behavior; heartfelt tributes from friends), basic (“I’m so sad”), and insensitive (“I just got to tell a room full of people that Kobe died, and the vibe is weird!”). The majority of these responses, however, can be considered superficial and insignificant in the context of the larger tragedy. Our increased use of social media removes the emotion usually found when a person dies. Instead, social media grieving becomes a cesspool of users trying to out-sad one another, cheapening the gravity of the loss of life. At the end of the day, the public nature of social media means that most of us grieving are not actually grieving for the loss of human life, but rather are grieving to join a bandwagon to seek attention from oth-
ers. If you lost a loved one, would you first go onto Instagram to post a tribute? On a larger scale, our superficiality with grief on social media has numbed society to the true horrors behind global tragedies. Take the ongoing coronavirus epidemic. Thousands have been infected, and millions have been quarantined. Hundreds of lives have been lost due to the inaction of the government and overpacked hospitals. But despite all of the tragedy behind this event, at the time of its outbreak, it was treated as just another event happening in our world, relegated to the background, in fact, while Kobe Bryant’s death was in the spotlight. Only after people realized the immediate threat of coronavirus did they start panicking and posting about it in fear. Simply put, the nature of social media to flatten everything going on in the world into a single experience leaves us struggling to distinguish between the ordinary, the sad, and the truly awful. Perhaps this is why social media is so often home to hyperbolic language— everything is perfect, the best, the greatest of all time. You need superlatives to break through the sameness. But as a result, our perception of what is right and what is wrong has been severely inhibited by the juxtaposition of memes between an impeachment or mass genocide in the world. Social media is a powerful tool for humans to use. It can and is frequently used for good, whether to fundraise for a unified cause or to crowdsource information. It isn’t always the grim place where people superficially say “rest in peace” to celebrities and ignore world tragedies. But as society continues to increase reliance on social media to stay connected to the world, the reality of how grief has changed with social media’s immediacy has changed the way we as humans mourn for the loss of life. Although personally, I will continue to advocate for society to give as much time and emotion to every tragedy in our world that they care for, social media makes people numb to what truly matters in the world.
A First for the Oscars in 92 Years
Den of Geek
By Arshad Mohammad Staff Writer
When the Oscars roll around every year, millions of people tune in to watch their favorite movies win awards and get the recognition they deserve. The Oscars provides an outlet for smaller films to receive the recognition they can’t get through the box office. Unlike last year’s Oscars (with one of the most boring Best Picture wins, “Green Book”), this year was bittersweet. While there were some historical moments, the ignorance of the Academy towards diversity was glaringly obvious. 2019 was the year for female directors. Directors such as Greta Gerwig, Alma Harel, Olivia Wilde, and more crafted some of the year’s best movies that were representations of unique films and their ability to tell stories in the most authentic way to connect with audiences on a deeper level. Unfortunately, none of them were nominated for the efforts this year. Although “Little Women” received six nominations, the Academy neglected to award the director behind the many nominations and continues to turn a blind eye towards female directors. The Academy is very strict on the genres of movies they will nominate for an Oscar. For example, horror is one of the least recognized genres in the awards show. Unless they provide social commentary, most of the time regarding racism (“Get Out” ), horror movies are overlooked. Two of the best performances came from women in horror movies this year: Lupita Nyong’o in “Us” and Florence Pugh in “Midsommar”. Nyong’o had previously won an Oscar for her performance in “12 Years a Slave,” and her snubbed nomination in a non-race related film suggests the Academy will only
award African American people for movies depicting racism and its issues, which is most likely a guilt nomination from the mostly elderly, white, and male Academy members. Although Pugh had earned a supporting actress nomination for “Little Women,” her efforts in “Midsommar” deserved the nomination more. The lack of nominations for the two was surprising considering they delivered some of the greatest performances. in horror films. In addition to failing to recognize Oscar-worthy films, the awards show awarded the wrong people for a few of the categories. For example, “Bombshell” won for makeup and hairstyling with the tragedy that was Nicole Kidman’s wig. The spotlight has been on Laura Dern lately, with two of the year’s best movies under her belt, she racked in a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “Marriage Story.” While Dern did a perfectly good job as Nora, the divorce lawyer, the performance was not memorable despite a monologue that felt more cringey than natural. Margot Robbie proved she was an extremely talented actress last year with her performance in “I, Tonya.” Her performance in “Bombshell,” however, was nowhere near that level; it was mediocre. There were many other talented actresses the nomination could have gone to, for instance, Park So Dam for her performance in “Parasite” or Adèle Haenel in ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire”. While there were many wins and nominations signaling a new wave of cinema that would get the recognition they deserved, the many female directors, films, and directors snubbed show there is a long way to go before the Academy is a true representation of films that change the rules and redefine art.
Page 12 Monday, March 9, 2020
Presidential Candidates Positions
Irvington
Bernie Sanders gIncrease Minimum wage to $15 gUp to 65% in progressive taxes gSupport climate change reform gSupport Universal Health Care gTuition-free public colleges
How
Register To Vote: The first step in the voting pr want to do it on Election Day and miss important d Election Day or on a physical affidavite. If you are form as soon as possible. If you are 16 or 17 years
Elizabeth Warren
Joseph Biden
gCut down on military spending gBreak up tech monopolies gWealth tax to fund universal childcare, relieve student loans, and Medicare gProvide aid to Opioid epidemic
gReform criminal justice system gGovernment-run health insurance agency gStrengthen economic securities for low-income workers gEconomic equality for African Americans
Vote In Person: You can find your polling place California does not require voters to present photo identification when voting if they are voting for the a ballot, either with paper and pen or on an electro
Vote by mail and absentee ballot: To appl county elections official 7 days before Election Da mail it to your county elections official or drop it o
Club In Debate Donald Trump gWithdrawal from Paris Agreement gSupport reduction of immigration gSupport deregulation of market gPro gun; Anti gun control Cartoon Credit: BBC
Debate is about knowing the intricacies of current-day politics and being able to articulate a certain viewpoint or policy to a judge through case-building, refutations, and impact analysis comparing different scenarios.
JSA JSA focuses on building connections with people who align or oppose your ideas as well as meeting real-life politicians and lawmakers to learn about politics.
Politi Comm
Political create a to study of the Un
Monday, March 9, 2020 Page 13
n Indivisible Created By: Nikoo Alizadeh & Vidushee Mishra Contributors: WIll Peng, Kelly Feng, Anushka Nair, Michael Zhu, Andrew Fu, Kayla Xu, Arshad Mohammad
rocess is getting registered to vote. You should do this early since you don’t deadlines. Specifically in California, voters need to register 15 days before or will be 18 years old by Election Day, you should fill out voter registration s old, you can pre-register to vote. To register, you can do it online at vote.org.
e by calling (800) 345-VOTE (8683) or by texting VOTE to GOVOTE (468683). o identification. However, some voters may be asked to show a form of e first time. Once you’re signed in to your polling place, you’re going to cast onic machine.
ly by Mail or Absentee Ballot, first you have to apply by mail or in person to your ay. Afterwards, you will receive your ballot in the mail. Once completed, you can off at a ballot box.
THIS RESTRICTS NON-VIOLENT CRIMINAL OFFENDERS FROM PAROLE PROGRAMS AFTER THEIR SENTENCE. ALSO, CONVICTS WHO ARE CHARGED WITH MISDEMEANORS ARE REQUIRED TO SUBMIT DNA FOR STATE DATABASES. YES NO
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE, WATER, AND CLIMATE CHANGE PROJECTS BOND THIS MEASURE WOULD REQUIRE $5.51 BILLION IN BONDS TO BE DISTRIBUTED TO PROJECTS RELATED TO WILDFIRES, WATER INFRASTRUCTURE, AND CLIMATE CHANGE. YES
NO
THIS PROPOSITION AIMS TO ISSUE $15 BILLION IN MUNICIPAL BONDS FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION FACILITIES. IT WILL BE PUT TOWARDS IMPROVING SAFETY CONDITIONS AND MORE AFFORDABLE STUDENT HOUSING FOR PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES. YES
Mock Trial Mock Trial focuses on the judicial aspect of the government. Students are given hypothetical cases and asked to recreate trials using methods that real attorneys and courts utilize.
Model UN MUN simulates real life diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. Students gain experience in research, public speaking, debating, and writing skills.
NO
CALIFORNIA PACKAGING WASTE REDUCTION REGULATION THIS REQUIRES CALRECYCLE TO REDUCE PLASTIC WASTE BY REQUIRING SINGLEUSE PLASTIC TO BE MADE RECYCLABLE, REUSABLE, OR COMPOSTABLE AND REDUCE PLASTIC WASTE BY 25 PERCENT BY 2030. YES
nvolvement
Students Action Committee strives to non-biased environment for students and discuss the political foundations nited States.
CALIFORNIA CRIMINAL SENTENCING, PAROLE, AND DNA COLLECTION
CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 13
w To Vote
ical Students Action mittee
Ballot Initiatives
NO
CALIFORNIA STEM CELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE BOND THIS WOULD ALLOCATE $5.5 BILLION TOWARDS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE GROUPS CONDUCTING RESEARCH ABOUT STEM CELLS, THERAPY FOR CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM CONDITIONS, AND OTHER MEDICAL RESEARCH. YES
NO
ENTERTAINMENT
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Make sure to check out our awesome seletction of reviews (like “To All the Boys I’ve Ever Loved Before 2” and “Sonic”) online at ihsvoice.com!
Catching a Case of Senioritis
Nikoo Alizadeh | Features Editor Elaine Vo (12) and Sophie Tran (12) lead seniors in performing an entertaining dance at Senioritis.
By Nikoo Alizadeh Features Editor
Notorious for being the most stressed, their lack of motivation, and eagerness to graduate, seniors at Irvington High School come together every year to create Senioritis, a humorous show that reflects their senior year. “Senioritis is the rollercoaster of emotions that a senior feels primarily throughout second semester” explained class president Nava Babei (12). “Everything from feeling drained and just wanting to graduate to really enjoying your last moments and memories at this school with your friends to reflecting back on four crazy
years.” This year, the show took place on Saturday, February 22nd in Valhalla theatre from six to eight o’clock. The seniors did a spectacular job of performing a combination of lighthearted and amusing skits and dances, in addition to more serious shows that looked back on their memories, struggles, and experiences in their four years at high school. Each of these acts were followed by commentary from judges: Mr. Johnson, Edison Ma (11), Sanjana Moturi (10), and Kareena Gupta-Martinez (9), which made the show all the more enjoyable. The show started off with an entertaining dancing performance by Akhil
Monday, March 9, 2020
DIRECT FROM THE EDITORS
Kandkur (12) that left the audience laughing and clapping. This act was followed by a well-choreographed dance performed by senior contestants of this year’s Next Top Vikings. Led by Sophia Tran (12), Elaine Vo (12), and Jasmeen Chhabra (12), the boys performed multiple skits about school stress in between their dancing. In between some of the acts, emcees’ Audrey Lee (11), Nosheen Ullah (10), and Julianna Nepomuceno (9) invited audience members to the stage to play games. The games included: musical chairs, a Tik Tok dance challenge, a class of 2020 trivia game, and finish the lyrics for popular songs. In the musical chairs game, nine juniors and seniors from the audience were
chosen to play the game on stage to win a coupon for a half-price prom ticket. Also, for the tik tok dance competition, ten audience members were invited to dance to trending Tik Tok dances. After every round, people who didn’t know the dance were eliminated and the last two students remaining won a prize. In addition, to announcing every performance, interacting with the audience in between acts, the emcees did a wonderful job of entertaining the audience when there was a small technical difficulty. Before the “Twinkle Twinkle” performance, there seemed to be an issue with the sound system and the emcees walked around the audience asking people what their favorite act was so far until the issue was fixed. “Julianna was really good at keeping the audience entertained,” Lee explained, “so I wasn’t too worried about that part and all of us were able to yell loud enough when we couldn’t use our microphones.” Two notable performances were “Twinkle Twinkle” by Felicia Chang (11), Anika Goel (12), and Chloe Retika (12), as well as “Reckless Love” by Esther Hong (12). In “Twinkle Twinkle” Retika played the piano while Chang and Goel sang a mashup of pop songs and Disney songs. All of the songs surprisingly worked well together, and their singing was phenomenal. Hong’s performance of the song “Reckless Love” also captivated the audience, with many people waving their phone lights by the end. For the closing act, the ASG seniors stood next to each other on the stage chanting “if I weren’t an Irvington senior I would be” and giving humorous responses such as: David Dobrik, an ASMR YouTuber, and a SoundCloud rapper. Overall, the show was a success and I really enjoyed watching it. The performances did a fantastic job of commemorating the senior’s high school experiences and really cemented the fact that this is the last time they will be able to perform together before graduating.
Irvington Dance Show Off the Power of Love By Achintya Pinninti Sports Editor
On Thursday, Feb. 20, Irvington Dance hosted the annual Irvington Dance production. This year’s theme was the power of love, due to the timing of the show being close to Valentine’s day. This year’s dance production saw about 36 performances, which were split into two acts. Each performance aimed to convey the theme, the power of love, through the selection of songs and choreography. Each performer was required to do two dance pieces, taught by Ms. Dotzeva, and was one per quarter. Additionally, each performer had to do two more dances with a group of their classmates. There were also two non-IHS choreographers, Duncan and Julie, who created a set of dances for everyone who wanted to participate in them. “The initial plan for the dance production was that it would start at 6:00 PM, and each act would be 50 minutes, with a 15-20 minute intermission.” said Dance teacher Ms. Dotzeva. “Luckily, everything went smoothly, and the show ended on time.” Though the show, fortunately, ran smoothly, there were some difficulties in the beginning. One thing that was an initial struggle was the fact that Ms. Dotzeva hadn’t run the show previously, as she is a new teacher at Irvington. “Normally, Ms. Lau would run the show. And she had been doing this for a while, so she was experienced,” according to Advanced Dancer Sunidhi Thakker (12). “Since it was Ms. Dotzeva’s first year, it was up to us to help her out.” In previous years, the dance show would take place in May; however, this year, the show got pushed to February, due to a lack of available dates. From there, the show was planned to happen the day before Valentine’s day. Unfortunately, due to a number of performers having other commitments such as DECA and cheer, the
Achintya Pinninti | Sports Editor Despite having a smaller time frame than previous years in addition to other major changes, Irvington’s Dance classes put on a spectacular ode to love for their annual showcase. show was pushed back a week. Since the show was held almost 3 months earlier than usual, the dance classes had to start preparing for the event almost as soon as school started. Ms. Dotzeva added that they had started practicing as early as the third week of school. Unlike many other shows, the dance production started off with no budget according to Ms. Dotzeva. All the decorations and food sold were bought voluntarily by the students. In order to ensure that everything went smoothly, Ms. Dotzeva created multiple committees like media, snacks, costumes, tickets, and general organizers. “The show really built a sense of community among us.” said Thakker, “because there was no one really in charge of the show, it was just us [the performers].”
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Parasite makes history, but what does it mean for the future? By Prahalad Chari Broadcast Manager
This year’s 92nd Oscars show became one of the most memorable in awards show history when Parasite became the first film not in English to win Best Picture. Time and time again, the Oscars have only awarded Best Picture to Western films. While many international films have received nominations for the award, none of them have won until this year. Parasite’s winning sweep is a monumental scene that signals a new future for the Oscars and international cinema. The Best Picture winner is best watched without any prior information, so if you are interested in watching the film, a fair warning that the upcoming paragraph will have many spoilers. Respected film critics have described Parasite to be genre-bending for its combination of comedy, thrill, and an anxiety-inducing plot. The film focuses on an impoverished family of four, Kim Ki-Taek (Kang-Ho Song), Choong-Sook (Jang Hye-jing), KiJeong (Park So-dam), and Ki-Woo (Choi Woo-shik), who fold pizza boxes for a living. When a close friend offers a tutoring job for a wealthy family to the eldest son, the family sees this as an opportunity to slyly employ each other without revealing that they are related. In their time working for the family, they come across a huge secret that changes the course of their lives forever. There are many layers to the story, and it is executed perfectly by the cast and crew. Parasite is an intelligent film with many subtle details relating to capitalism and the endless cycle of attempting to break out of poverty. The set design and cinematography are flawless with more details signifying the divide between the wealthy and
Voanews At one point the Oscars tried to cut the cast and crew speech after they had won Best Picture, until the audience including Charlize Theron and Tom Hanks chanted to let them speak longer. poor classes. Parasite’s perfect build-up works so well because of the original score by Jung Jae-il, the score is incredible and adds to the anxiety and thrill of the film in combination with editing. The editing accomplishes its job perfectly and gradually builds up to the climax. Overall, it is an incredibly thought out and unique film that forces the audience to pay attention to the undeniable existence of the large gap
between classes. When people try to beat capitalism at its own game, the underprivileged will always end up shedding more blood than the wealthy. Every year, the number of viewers who tune in for Oscars drops by millions. Many viewers complain about the movies a majority of film enthusiasts think are deserving of an Oscar nomination but do not get them. For that reason, many
of them have shown a decreased interest in the awards show. This year some great movies that were snubbed included Honey Boy, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, The Lighthouse, Us, Midsommar, Uncut Gems, and The Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Although many Parasite fans were not expecting the film to win many of the awards it was nominated for, they kept watching in case of a miracle. Their efforts were not in vain, as a miracle did indeed happen. Parasite’s historic wins could encourage more people to watch the Oscars in the coming years again, in hopes of seeing their favorite movies get nominated and win in their categories. Although Parasite winning is a huge win for international films and signals a brighter future for them, one important thing to note is Parasite is exactly the type of film the Academy loves. It has the perfect mix of social commentary, a mind-bending plot, and most importantly, representation of western movie tropes. Had the film been more culturally different than what the Academy is used to the results of the Oscars would have been different. However, the recent success of South Korean cinema has angered other film enthusiasts WWwho believe the Oscars should primarily award American cinema, which is an invalidated argument considering Parasite was voted for by the Academy themselves and the Oscars has always been an awards show meant to honor film as an art and film is not limited to only America. Until the Academy is not comprised of mainly white males, the Oscars cannot be entirely representative of films all over the world.
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The Yakitori Bar
Monday, March 9, 2020
By Kelly Feng Staff Writer
The Yakitori Bar is a restaurant in WarmSprings that serves Japanese style meat and vegetable skewers along with an assortment of snacks in a dimly lit bar. We ordered four skewers with a fried chicken snack. Seasonal Veggie Green Pepper Chicken Thigh Skewer with sauce x2 Japanese Style Fried Chicken ($8) Chicken Heart Skewer with salt x2 Skewer ($3) ($7) ($6)
The Japanese Style Fried Chicken was unfortunately pretty below expectations. It was served pretty quickly but was overcooked. The chicken had rough and dry skin, and I couldn’t taste the tender chicken until I completely bit through the skin. The serving was decently sized, with around six or seven large pieces of chicken accompanied by a large serving of sauce, but the taste was not up to par for its price. I would not recommend this dish.
The Seasonal Veggie Green Pepper Skewer was also surprisingly delightful. Even though it was a little overcooked in some regions, it still retained its original flavor, and had a soft and mushy texture. It tasted slightly bitter, which highly elevated its taste for me personally. I would recommend this dish to my friends as long as they do not mind bitter dishes.
The Chicken Thigh Skewer was served after, and tasted alright compared to the Fried Chicken snack. The chicken was rough and slightly hard to chew, and it would’ve tasted a lot better if it was cooked a bit longer for a more tender texture. For most of the skewers we were given a choice of adding sauce or salt as topping, but the taste of the sauce wasn’t really noticeable since there wasn’t much spread out across the skewer. I probably would not order this again.
The Chicken Heart Skewer was the best out of all of the dishes we ordered. The chicken was tender, and when I bit into it, a burst of juicy chicken flavor immediately overflowed my mouth. We chose the salt topping this time, and the chicken was also served with a slice of lemon which made the chicken taste much more refreshing. I would definitely order this again.
The Yakitori Bar had some great dishes and a decent variety of offerings. The price was a bit on the pricey side, especially considering the size of the dishes. All of the skewers were mini sized and the only dish with normal sized serving was the the Japanese Style Fried Chicken, which had sub-par taste. However, The Yakitori Bar had exceptional service, as our waiter offered us tea often and made sure our stay was comfortable. The total came to $32.78 for my friend and I, and both of us would return again if we are in the area. If you are interested in Japanese skewers, I would recommend The Yakitori Bar, but your experience there will depend on what you order.
Changes Doesn’t “Change” the Fact that Bieber’s Music is Still Awful By Andrew Fu Editor-in-Chief
Times of India Changes is the worst thing to come out since Youtube’s 10-hour loop of nails on a chalkboard. In novels describing dystopian societies set decades or centuries from now, there’s often depictions of torture, where a character is subject to harrowing acts of pain or violence, all described in excruciatingly vivid detail to appeal to its target audience of emo, depressed teenagers, or teachers looking for the next English book to put students to sleep. If the world ever comes to resemble the nightmares in those books, I hope it’ll be thousands of years from now, when we won’t be alive to see it. But if people must be tortured like the dystopian books suggest, then I must propose a surefire way to inflict the worst type of mental pain imaginable. After listening to Justin Bieber’s new album, Changes, I have experienced that pain first-hand, and it’s practically guaranteed to torment anyone of any age, race, ethnicity, gender, or music preference. You name it. Changes was released on February 14th and contains sixteen songs and a remix. The album marks Beiber’s first release since his 2015 hit, Purpose, meaning that for nearly five years in this world, people were spared from the wrath of Justin Bieber’s music. Being one of the smarter people in the universe and having never willingly listened to a Justin Bieber song in my life, forgive me if my review isn’t as musicallygifted or worded as well as you’d expect. I’m going to be blunt: Bieber seems to
have made this album using those short platitudes on chalky, Valentine’s Day heart candies and uses so much repetition, I thought I was listening to a broken tape recorder. “I’m going through changes, I’m going through changes. Though I’m going through changes, don’t mean that I changed.” Woah, that’s like, insanely deep, Bieber. I loved the repetition. Wonderful news that you changed but not really. Why would anyone NOT want to listen to this? Do you guys understand now why I say this album can be used for torture? If the repetition doesn’t kill you, the content sure does. This album is more sexually explicit than watching Fifty Shades of Gray fifty times. In most of the songs, Beiber rapid-fires all sorts of sexual references. He says, “The way you motion, motion in my lap, love the way you move with
it”. Sorry I didn’t warn you to hold a bag over your mouth—I threw up the first time I heard that too. Who’s this song for, seriously? Who’s going to be like, I just LOVE listening to Justin Bieber singing about his sex life, it’s my go-to jam woohoo! This album’s all about the singer’s happiness with his newly wed wife, which according to Bieber, I guess means having sex twentyfour-seven. Which is fine, not my business, but personally, I wouldn’t want to hear sixteen songs about that. But when you’re worth hundreds of millions of dollars, I guess you can do whatever you want, the only drawback being that a poor pathetic high school journalism kid will have to review this for the newspaper. If you’re way too stressed over AP classes and looking for something to make you feel even worse, Changes is definitely
the way to go. It’s unique in that it’s got every single emotion bunched into one album. Exhilaration when you search it up on Youtube expecting it to be decent; disgust when you hear it actually playing; skincrawling, blood-curdling revulsion when Bieber whispers, “yummy-yum” into your ear, exasperation when you realize there’s still fifteen songs and a bonus remix after the first song, self-directed anger for subjecting yourself to this in the first place, and overwhelming, ecstatic happiness when it’s finally over. It’s comparable to a two hour loop of nails getting scraped across a chalkboard, although I’m not sure which one’s better. Now excuse me while I get my hearing tested—after this review, it’s just not the same anymore.
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SPORTS
Monday, March 9, 2020
ON THE RECORD
“Next season, I want to make playoffs... that’s the biggest goal every single year, and I think we’ll be able to do it.” — Boys’ Varsity Soccer Player Abdelnur Hassen (11)
Congratulations to Varsity Wrestler Abtin Olaee (12) for placing 5th at NCS!
Though he only started wrestling last year, Abtin Olaee (12) rose quickly through the ranks and proved himself to be among the best of wrestlers. He also won MVALs for two years in a row. Read more about him on ihsvoice.com.
Irvington Girls’ Basketball ends a Successful season By Geetika Mahajan Staff Writer
Provided by Coach Kevin Flannery
The Viking varsity girls’ basketball team ended the past season with an overall record of 13-13, and a league record of 5-9. The team was relatively young, with many juniors and sophomores that had been bumped up from junior varsity. The team had many highlights throughout the season, one example of which was the Buena Park tournament in Southern California. It was one of the few tournaments that the team had participated in recently, and it was the first in which the team had won all three games. To qualify for the tournament, a team must be at least 0.500 in the current season and at the top of their league. However, the team had their fair share of challenges as well. Team captain Tracey Du (12) admits that they aren’t the tallest team in the league, having to rely on strength and agility to be successful. Additionally, she noted that the team had switched coaches a few seasons prior, so they were still testing out new systems to implement in practices. “We’re a younger team,” says Du, “but that also meant that
we had a lot of energy, which is a good thing.” Another thing that the team struggled with was staying optimistic: “I think we just need to remember to push through and push each other up,” said captain Kaitlyn Kodama (12). Additionally, there were specific games, such as the Newark game in January, in which Irvington did much better than originally expected, winning the game 66-53. They also had a very close game against American, who was undefeated in league. “We always hope that we do well,” says Kodama, “but we didn’t anticipate that level of success.” One difference that the players noted during these games was that the bench was louder, more supportivewhich had an impactMost players feel more supported when the players from the bench are louder, which makes them play better. This basketball season was relatively successful for the team, with an equal number of wins and losses. This was, infact, the main goal for team captain Tracey Du. The team captains believed that they were able to achieve their main goal of promoting more unity and cohesiveness through the team’s members.
Monday, March 9, 2020 Page 19
Girls’ Soccer Shows Resilience in their Season
By Shivangi Gupta Staff Writer
The girls’ varsity soccer team ended their season with an overall record of 4-13-1, and a league record of 3-10-1. A notable achievement for this season was tying Newark Memorial for the first time in Irvington history. While not reflected in the record, this season was a success as the team learned to adapt to a new coach as well as an entirely new practice schedule in the winter. “I’ve been on varsity all four years and this year we got a new coach, and he just ran everything differently,” Captain Samantha Conlon (12) said. “There was a different practice schedule. We actually practiced during break, and we were actually playing together unlike previous years.” However, the team lost their momentum once the regular season began and they lost games which the team feels could have been won. Hana Nguyen (12) attributes several of their losses to a lack of focus. Peyton Schmitz (11) added that the team usually loses their intensity towards the second-half, which allows other teams to score a goal. Conlon added that one of the biggest recurring problems in their games was the players lacking hope themselves. She elaborates that although it was difficult to play games when the team expected to lose, the coach and the players themselves tried to boost each others’ spirits. “One of the biggest problems besides some of the people just playing scared is that they lacked hope,” Conlon said, alluding to a challenge the girls faced throughout the season. ”They just didn’t think they were capable of doing it. It was hard to play games when we expected to
Scores
Girls’ Soccer
Achintya Pinninti | Sports Editor
The 2019-2020 varsity girls’ soccer team shows the close bond between the upperclassmen and the underclassmen, with both groups smiling at the end of a successful season.
lose. But I think as a team we were always trying to pick each other up, and the coach really helped boost our spirit too.” Nguyen said that a major factor in their play was chemistry, which enhanced the team’s ability on both offense and defense. Although in the beginning they started out shy, the new members quickly integrated into the team, even building up the courage to throw toilet paper on the seniors’ houses towards the end of the season as a form of celebration. “We’re a really strong team when we connect with each other,” Nguyen said. “Communication is a weakness though,
[which is why] we have some trouble scoring. We could do a lot more plays if we let each other know.” “Before, we had a lot of players that would take the ball themselves. But this year we passed the ball, and as individuals, we got along really well,” Conlon said. “I’m really close friends with some of the underclassmen.” The team is looking forward to seeing how next year’s freshmen and sophomores integrate in varsity, while also seeing how Coach Juan will help improve the team as a whole for the years to come.
Boys’ Soccer
IHS Cheer Places in Final Competition at Nationals
By Alice Shu Humor Editor
Irvington’s varsity cheerleading team recently attended the annual National Competition, and placed third among the four final competitors in their division, behind Branham and Foothill, who received second and first respectively. While the team won first place at the national competition last year, they are still proud to have made it to the final competition for the fifth year in a row. This year’s result was especially surprising due to the changing team dynamic. “We didn’t even think we were going to make finals, and the fact that we made the top three was just like a dream come true,” said Rachael Johnson (11), “because over the whole year multiple people were getting kicked off or injured. When we competed I think there were ten out of our twelve people were hurt.” The team underwent many changes and faced numerous challenges leading up to Nationals. Many members had either left the previous year, or were unable to perform due to injury. Constantly changing stunt groups meant that it was difficult to maintain consistent team chemistry vital for competitions. The routine itself also underwent many changes to match the team’s skill level. The last regional competition they attended at Deer Valley served as “practice” for Nationals, and they received feedback to improve their routine and choreography. In addition to improving the routine itself before Nationals, the team also perfected their technique to ensure that
Girls’ Basketball
Provided by Ashka Patel (12) Despite facing many difficulties throughout the year, the cheerleading team pulled together and had a successful run at nationals.
they were competition-ready. This season, the team attended only two regional competitions before nationals, whereas they normally attended three in previous years. The routine was also performed at two basketball games during halftime, along with a showcase that featured the American High School’s and James Logan High School’s routines to help them refine their routine. The team’s improvement increased their confidence, and eventually led them to make it to the finals at Nationals. The first time they performed, they didn’t recieve any deductions, but they were deducted points for a fall during their second performance. However, their dance during
the second part of the routine was very entertaining. The team was also the only team at the final competition to perform three tosses at the same time. The team’s main goals were to “perform to the best of their abilities, hit a solid routine, and get zero deductions,” according to Coach Ro Cowan. Despite not winning first place this year, Coach Cowan believes that their goals were met nevertheless. “It doesn’t matter what the trophy or plaque says,” Coach Cowan explained. “As long as you give it your all and you know you fought for it, then you’ll always be a winner.”
team to have better teamwork and reach their full potential. Furthermore, many members of the team were also not able to come to practice consistently, making team bonding and chemistry very difficult to maintain when it came to games. Captain Musa Quddus (12) explains, “You could have all the talent in the world, and this is a very talented team, but talent is nothing without good work ethic and team chemistry.” Besides these low points in the boys’ basketball season, the boys were able to learn from the mistakes they made in the past. The basketball team performed relatively well and maintaining a close game against tough competitors such as Newark Memorial, Logan, and Moreau. “I’m very proud of what we’ve grown as individually and as a team, and I
think we’ve all grown a lot over the season from where we were before,” said Zhu. Everyone on the team stepped up and played their role well when they needed to which led to the numerous victories in the season. In addition, Captain Kaushal Bobba (12) was also a key factor in the team’s success. “We worked hard, practiced, did pretty well overall and grew as a unit,” Bobba said, “We also had eight seniors this season which was really exciting, and everyone else like the juniors and one sophomore also grew and got a lot tougher.” The team faced a few hard hits throughout the season, however, they made sure to work hard and play together. The boys overcame the ups and downs of the season and made it a very fun and memorable season.
Boys’ Basketball Develops through a Tough Season
By Kritika Sachar
Web Editor The boys’ varsity basketball season ended on Feb. 11th with their game against James Logan. Although the season did not end with the team making it to NCS, the team was still successful, with their final MVAL record being 5-8. One of the main reasons the boys were not able to reach their goal of making it to NCS was because of a lack of communication and substandard team chemistry. There were some issues within games as well where the team was struggling with getting rebounds and maintaining a strong inside game. Captain Michael Zhu (12) advised that the team should have worked on not fouling on defense, and keeping their hands off the offending player’s body. This would allow for the
Boys’ Basketball
HUMOR
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Monday, March 9, 2020
The Lemon-Ups Verdict and March Officially Does NOT a Plea to Bring Savannah Exist and That’s a FACT Smiles Back By Kayla Xu Editor-in-Chief
By Alice Shu Humor Editor
To those who are unfamiliar: the cookie itself is about the size of the cap of a mayonnaise jar. The lemon flavor is concentrated in the thin layer of glaze on the bottom of the cookie; one might mistake this region for plastic. The non-glaze area tastes like a distant cousin of an animal cracker. The messages inscribed onto each cookie are about as inspiring as administration during AP Meetings. I would recommend this cookie for old cat ladies who enjoy sitting in rocking chairs and sipping sweet tea while watching tumbleweeds. In conclusion, please bring Savannah Smiles back. I don’t know if it was because of something I did, but I swear, I’ve changed and I just want to be with you. We can start a new life together- just give me another chance. Love, Everybody in the United States of America except for old cat ladies who like tumbleweeds
Geoffrey Zhang | Staff Writer We have denounced Lemon-Ups and will mourn until Savannah Smiles return.
Irvington’s Black Market Revealed By Prahalad Chari Broadcast Manager
The campus supervisors are known for doing their very best to maintain law and order on the rather turbulent Irvington campus. However, recently, they have had their hands full. The IHS Black Market has been on the rise and is expanding its influence to other areas. In fact, it is projected to take over all sales made on school campus within the next two years. How are they doing it? They
excel at selling items that students must have without exception or don’t have access to. The item that got it all started was an extra test drop that applied to any class on campus. Legend says that this holy grail item still exists to this day and is making its rounds amongst the upperclassmen. This slip of paper allows the user to remove a test from their gradebook without the teacher’s knowledge. How it functions is an eternal mystery.
Recently, there’s been an increasing number of individuals telling me of a month that I supposedly “forgot” existed: March. What is a “march”? I’ve never heard of that term in my entire life, so I have a hard time believing when certain people try to tell me that it exists. Last time I checked, there was never a month called “march”. Do you all think I’m stupid? You know as well as I do that there are only 11 months in a calendar year. Don’t go around trying to fool me; it’s not April Fool’s Day just yet. And all of you who keep calling it “College Decision Month,” you all must be confused, you poor thing. There’s no such thing as a “march,” much less that “march” being a month dedicated to colleges letting you if you can sit at the popular table. Anyone who told you that you’ll have to suffer a gruelling, terrifying, heart wrenching 31 days to know how deeply of a failure you are is clearly disturbed. What kind of monster would do that do 17-year-olds? I know what this is. It’s the government, isn’t it? The government is responsible for this. They’ve put a brain-controlling drug into the water and have you all hallucinating a world in which this “march” exists as a month, while for me, it is a form of psychological torture. They’re scared of us, of the power we have to overturn them and strip them of their power. They’re blinding us by turning all our attention toward these evil bureaucratic institutions that we’ve been fooled into believing will be all that defines us as people. All this so that we don’t see them slowly devastate the world around us until everything comes to an end in a horrendous firebomb of death and destruction. They’re leading us towards the end of the universe, people. That must be Get hyped for Void. Question Bread returns. What will he ask? What will he become? BRING SAVANNAH SMILES BACK - QB
The black market slowly progressed to selling more widely used items like free perm coupons (because no self respecting guy could even walk around campus with hair that doesn’t look like steel wool). Then it began diversifying its assets, beginning to sell mass slader, chegg, and study.com accounts that roughly 50% of the school shares now. Because passwords were hot commodities, the black market began offering the WiFi password for FUSD mobile, but due to a recent district wifi update, the password
Kayla Xu | Editor-in-Chief The Church of Anti-March’s official calendar that every self-respecting high scholer, nay, citizen, should use. why they’ve made up this “march.” It’s effective, I’ll give them that; it has all of you people fooled. Well, I won’t be fooled. “March” is a government conspiracy created to cause torment and confusion among the general public. It’s all fake news. See the truth–denounce “march” and you will achieve enlightenment and fulfillment. In fact, join me as I give myself over to the Anti-March cause. I hear the Church of Anti-March is building a safe house and bunker in Northern America that will protect us from the lies of March and the slew of colleges admissions letters that the government threatens us with. (What’s Northern America? Do I mean what? Canada? There’s no such thing as Canada. Lies. THE GOVERNMENT IS AT IT AGAIN.) DISCLAIMER: Articles in this section are not to be taken seriously
was rendered useless, leading to many angry customers. To appease their angry clientele, the major leaders of the black market began handing out small yellow envelopes. Inside these fortune packets was a key to the coveted staff bathroom. Students now had access to a bathroom where people’s “business” was actually inside the toilet bowl. The floors didn’t stick, the faucets worked, the paper towel dispenser actually had paper, and most importantly, you didn’t need a gas mask to enter the bathroom (it actually smelled decent). The keys have since been taken off the market as teachers began fearing that their bathroom would get dirty. But one of the market’s most famous products is the good cafeteria food. Every day, a member of the black market food faction sneaks into the cafeteria and raids their secret stash of good food. The member has to not only break into the building, but has to cross a laser grid, pass 5 guard dogs, and crack a bank vault. Once the good food hit the market it was a sensation. “It’s not that I don’t have any good food, but that good food is inaccessible at school. The current food that they serve looks like it came straight from the toxic sludge that Joker fell into,” an overeager freshman said. However, the food is in short supply currently as the budget cuts have hit the cafeteria hard. The black market food faction is expecting a slump in sales in the next quarter. The one thing that will always sell in Irvington, however, is happiness. This elusive item manages to avoid students almost all the time. Only a select few are able to buy it off of the market. It means that the students not only have to be dedicated consumers of black market items, but they also have to sacrifice a lot of other things, like AP classes and high standards for grades. One day, the black market leaders hope to be able to sell happiness on a larger scale. But until then, they will have to avoid the careful eye of the campus supervisors.
Monday, March 9, 2020
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Scarlett Johansson to Play Literally Every Single Person and Object in Upcoming Film By Geetika Mahajan Staff Writer
Steps to Getting That AP Ticket By Sanjana Gudivada Distribution Manager
Want to get your hands on that AP ticket? Don’t worry- your AP meeting ticket copping expert is here! Although the meetings have come and gone, this advice will be very helpful for next year’s registration. Heed my advice, and it shalt benefit thee. After being to all of the 13 AP meetings- even though I’m only interested in two of them- I managed to finally get that blue ticket. Sometimes, if I was lucky, I would grab five or six and give them to my friends who never even attended the meetings! As you can tell, I’m pretty charitable. If you want to be successful at getting a ticket at a very popular AP meeting like AP Gov or AP Psych, you must ALWAYS get to the room where the meeting is going to be held an hour before it starts. This way you can sit in the front and make sure you have easy access to the teacher so you can tackle them at the end of the meeting and take your ticket(s). Can’t make the AP meeting? Don’t worry about it! You can always buy it from the people who sneakily sell them after every meeting. They’re only $300, but that’s the equivalent to what you will spend on taking those AP tests. Getting a good seat does not guarantee a clear path to getting that ticket, though. Your real enemies are the people standing against the walls. As soon as the teacher gives you the clear to come get the ticket, jump over your seat, trip the person running over to the front, run to the teacher, tackle them and then claim your ticket. But there’s a possibility that you might get
knocked out by that one kid with their color guard flag, and in that case, I’m sorry to tell you that you have to take the L. The flag is superior, and it will beat you. If the last two steps don’t work out for you, fear not. There is always a way. If you can’t get a good seat and you’re not a fast runner, you always have the option of borrowing someone else’s ticket. I’ve seen many kids “borrow” other people’s tickets, which I think is a very nice thing to do. You should always share. All you do is stand in front of them, snatch the ticket from them and run the opposite way. They might run after you, but don’t worry. They just want to make sure you wrote your name at the back of the ticket. Just keep running till you know you’re not being chased anymore. Even if you listened to all the AP scare tactics and decide that the class is not for you, you still need to get that ticket. You can also profit off of the ticket and sell it to sophomores or freshmen who aren’t allowed into meetings like AP Psych. If you’re lucky they might just agree to pay a higher price and you’ll make more money than you intended to. We look forward to seeing the roller-backpack wielding freshmen attending psych lectures. Your ticket is a ticket to your future. Choose wisely: will you let it go or will you persevere and follow those steps I wrote out for you? It’s completely okay if you don’t want to. But here’s the tea between you and me- 99.9% of the people who followed these guidelines were accepted into Harvard, Yale, Princeton AND Stanford! So if you follow these very simple and verified guidelines, you might just be one of them!
Scarlett Johansson has been receiving a lot of attention for, like, most of her life. Most recently, she received a double Oscar nomination for her roles in Jojo Rabbit and Marriage Story, movies that received much critical acclaim over the past awards season. Unfortunately, she didn’t take home the gold in any of the categories she was nominated. Her next venture in the film industry, however, is sure to earn her at least one trophy, on the grounds of sheer probability alone. Johansson has stated in the past that she would enjoy the opportunity to play more diverse characters in films, since the options that are available to her are clearly very limited and restricting. “I’m only allowed to play white women, apparently,” Johansson seethed in a private interview, “as an actor, I should be able to take any role I want. Even if that means shutting out an entire group of people from getting a shot in Hollywood.” Johansson elaborated that, though 94.3% of films starred caucasian actors, she felt that the scope of potential roles was still too low to fully challenge her. She will finally get to display her full range of acting abilities in the upcoming 2020 movie, Any Person, Any Tree, and Any Animal. As the title suggests, Johansson is set to play every living thing and inanimate object that appears on screen. The movie is set to be released in the late 2030s, because it takes about three months to execute the costume, makeup, and filming of one singular scene. Like most actresses who have been part of Hollywood from a young age Johansson has become incapable of aging through a combination of proprietary glycolic placenta oil facial toner and satanic worship. She’s basically a statue now. Scarlett Johansson and her fiance are the main contributors to the film, and they believe that it will be well worth the effort. However, she has been married twice so far, so her fiance’s opinion is subject to change. Though the plotline of the film is still under-wraps, some details have
emerged. Rumors indicate that the two main characters, Karen and Sharon, will navigate through the oppression that most middle aged white women face. These issues have been inspired by Johansson’s struggles with being a middle aged white woman and include: decision anxiety, not being able to find parking at Trader Joe’s, reverse racism, coping with being called a boomer, and bad haircuts. One particularly poignant scene that has already found its way into the hands of prestigious Hollywood critics such as myself depict Karen consoling Sharon after Sharon realizes that her spin class and yoga sessions schedules overlap, and she will be forced to choose one. Scarlett is the picture of an ideal best friend as the patient Karen and gives a gutwrenching performance as the torn Sharon. She captures the disarray of modern life as the pile of unfolded clothes on the sofa. She shows us how fast she can twirl as the clothes dryer in the background. Scarlett demonstrates how few shits she gives about the environment as she plays the hundreds of sprinklers throughout the movie. “I’m really excited about this movie,” says Johansson, “because it’s a really new idea, and it’s never been done before.” Johansson becan acting over a decade ago, but this is one of her most challenging pursuits yet. For hours, she must stand straight, as “Tree one” or hop around as “Crow one”. The reason she wants to do it? “I’m mainly doing this for feminism,” says Johansson. “I’m a huge feminist because it’s popular now, so I bring that up whenever I can so that I stay relevant.” As a prestigious film critic, it’s difficult to predict what the outcome of this movie will be. On the one hand, CGI is extremely common and has been used in hundreds of movies, such as Cats. On the same hand, Cats sucked. While the reaction to this movie may still be a question that we anticipate finding the answer to, this film critic is sure that the road to production of Any Tree will be incredibly interesting. We hope you enjoyed this video. Like and subscribe to stay updated on the latest news about Hollywood.
Contributed By: Isabella Lam, Felicia Mo, Joy Kuo, Shivangi Gupta
EMMA SUN “I used to be very closed off and a little bit antisocial, especially in middle school as many middle schoolers are. That’s probably why I admired, and still admire Jessica Toro and her outspokenness. After joining Varsity Colorguard, most people end up becoming her friend, despite the tough front that she puts up to all the freshmen, and the same thing happened to me. After realizing the positivity that she had due to being more honest, I tried to incorporate this bluntness into myself as much as possible just to catch the mistakes that I make, as well as to help my teammates when they're struggling with something. Or, if they're doing something that's not in the work because ultimately, with mistakes you disrupt the flow of the choreography. Therefore knowing what mistakes we made, confronting these mistakes and then figuring out how to fix them is extremely important to the colorguard team. Honestly, after I got into high school, and especially after I became a part of the varsity team, I just generally became more open to criticism and more open to giving criticism just because I know it's more helpful than ignoring the issue. And I think it helped me make friends with my own teammates better because they knew that I wasn't going to judge them or criticize behind their backs.�
SAMMUEL HUANG “I would say I value kindness. My parents have always told me —I have very nontypical Asian parents— ‘ We don’t really mind what you get in school, but we want you to be a human being. We want you to be respectful, we want you to have good manners, that is what we want you to grow up to be.’ And I think the relationship between people is very important. If you get straight As but you don’t have that relationship with people, you’re not going to get very far in life. The little relationships we build with friends stays with you. For me, I was born in Taiwan and I moved to England when I was ten. When I first went to England, I didn’t know English and people for some reason were so kind. They helped me, they held my hand through the process, and I was really grateful because I didn’t know English. I didn’t know what I was talking about. They tried to help me engage in their activities and it was very heartwarming. I lived there for five years and came here two years ago in 2017.Since most of the people in Britain are very kind and very accepting, it really boosted my confidence when I came here. So now, because I received that kindness when I needed help, I believe it’s only fair that I give that to other people. �
Read the Full stories on the Humans of Irvington High Facebook page!
KELLY TANG “My mother always told me that in high school she was really good at her studies, but I don’t know how much of that I can believe. I think she is just trying to say that because she wants me to do well at school. Other than that, she is one of the few people that keep me going and inspires me to work in school.I admire the fact that she is ambitious and hardworking. Whatever she puts her mind to, she works towards it. I wish I had that mentality, but sometimes I don’t. That’s why she is my role model. I think part of where she grew up in Asia, everyone has to work towards what they want, but in America, we are just given so many opportunities. They really have to work for it, and that’s why I aspire to be like her. I don’t want to be known as some American born Chinese that just receives everything they have from their parents. Our outlook on life is kind of similar. She just tends to put in more effort in life than I do. I just want to be like that. I want to be happy in life, but I also want to get things that I want. I tend to view life positively but with a grain of salt.I guess our personalities are relatively similar. For example, both of us get stressed out pretty easily, but I am hoping that’s something I can change. Identity wise, both of us want something for ourselves. We are constantly are working to be different. She had influenced my daily life and mentality because when I come home, I know she’s a part of my life. I have to keep my head up.�
ZULQARNAIN SHAHID “I’m known as the guy with the really wack sleep schedule. I have a circadian rhythm disorder so I sleep around 6 PM and then do my homework when I wake up at 3 AM. When it comes to my personality, I’m known as helpful and always there for others. I’ll go the extra mile just for a friend, and I often prioritize others’ needs over my own. However, others would also describe me as a procrastinator. I don’t value time as much as I should and I’m always scrambling to get things done on time. I look up to Steve Jobs for his creativity and innovation. He was also dedicated and persistent, as he was once kicked out of Apple yet fought hard to gain a position in the company again. However, he wasn’t necessarily known for his kindness. This is where Juice Wrld comes in. I look up to Juice Wrld due to the good vibes he gave off to anyone around him and his genuine love for the youth and others. I want to be known as someone always looking out for others, just like how he was.To become more like Steve Jobs, I try to work hard in school. Whenever I feel like giving up, I find a way to push myself even harder and get back up on my feet. To become more like Juice Wrld, I try to always look for opportunities to help others and just give off a good vibe in general. I want to be the person who others also want to be around. I avoid being someone who people don’t choose to interact with. I believe that it’s important for people to be open-minded. People shouldn’t be labeled with a box. They shouldn’t be judged for fitting into certain labels that others have put on them. �
Contributed By: Anushka Nair, Akshita Nair, Joy Kuo, Shivangi Gupta
CHANDU GARAPATY “ I want to be kind, but in a genuine way, and not just a kind person that fades into the background, but the kind person that you remember later on. I want to be a person with a happy, loving family, and who loves their family back. I guess I’d like to be known for achieving great things, or being intelligent and kind, and someone who is very easy to talk to. I want to be able to help people work through any issues they have and I want them to feel comfortable with me. Being kind regularly, to not tease people, except gently.Life is tough in general, and I don’t want to see people kind of tear each other down, because I think that’s a problem humans have generally. Sometimes I see a lack of self-awareness on my own part. Looking back, I would do insensitive things as a child. I would tease people really ruthlessly, and then I look back and think ‘Oh, I don’t really want to be that person.’ And since I don’t want to become that person again, I guess that’s what makes me want to be kind, because I wasn’t all that kind before. Instead of just routine, I want to have close relationships with interesting people. Like I don’t know if I’m going to be able to cure cancer and be such an exceptional person to the world, but I feel like if I can be an exceptional person in my personal relationships and have amazing outside relationships, that still will have a great impact on the world even if it’s not too outgoing.”
AMANDA CYRIL “People describe me as someone who’s pretty nice, outgoing, and shy at times. I’m also a very opinionated person, so I may come off as judgemental at times. If I could choose one word to describe me, it would be authentic. I am my own person and I don’t try to copy other people, but I do have two role models, Shawn Johnson and Jonny Kim. As a previous olympic athlete, Shawn was put under pressure, but she still managed to cope with all the stress and snide comments. Her ability to do that while she was a gymnast and afterwards resonates within me as a person. Jonny Kim is a Navy Seal, a doctor, and an astronaut. I look up to him because he’s multifaceted. People nowadays are so fixed at being good at one thing that they forget to expand their hobbies to explore their hobbies. The fact that he’s so good at so many things is admirable. For example, for college, students get told to choose a major from an early point in our life, and I feel like that hinders people's ability to explore who they are as a person. I'm going into biology or computer science, but within biology itself, there are so many different options. I could possibly switch out of biology or take a gap year before I go to med school. Right now, I’m thinking of minoring in art history, but if I really like it, then I'll end up majoring in it. I like being able to adapt to whatever situation I have, and I strive to not be close-minded. I believe that if you are, you're not able to grow or learn, and then you become a person that no one can approach. I want to be someone that can influence others' thinking while also changing my own point of view. “
Who Do You Want to Be? Layout By: Rachel Kavalakatt
MAHESWAR SIDDAM “I aspire to be like Kobe Bryant because of his work ethic and his passion for the game of basketball. Kobe’s game is simply flawless, as a result of the hard work he puts into the game which is something I greatly admire and wish to acquire one day. As Kobe says, “You have to push through the good and bad days.” And the fact that he is able to do that makes him an ideal role model. The passion he has for the game motivates him to give back to the community and help out young players. Kobe is such a genuine person on and off the court, whose love and passion for basketball causes him to be such an inspiration to youth today. His work ethic, determination, and love for the people around him are greatly admirable, as only few people today want to give back to their community and push through daily life goals to achieve their dreams. Kobe Bryant’s inspirations include Magic Johnson and Jerry West, two of the greatest basketball players. I have learned a lot from Kobe and he has taught me to work through the tough times of life and to enjoy the process without worrying about the destination. Kobe Bryant really inspires me and I would love to hang out with him and have him train me for a day. We would talk about his life’s journey,and how he faced all the pressure as a young athlete coming into the NBA. I think we would get along really well because Kobe was my inspiration to pick up a basketball and start playing, even during the tough times.”
ANTHONY CHOI “I aspire to be like a senior that graduated two years ago, Olivia Mendoza. I think she is very chill, caring, and a great friend. She’s very cool and wants to pursue the same major as me, psychology. She’s really friendly and caring as a person. I think she gets her personality from just being calm and seeing things from other people’s perspective. I personally want to be a chill person and someone who will be there if you need them. I think Olivia is always there for me too. After meeting her I was a lot more calm and not as flamboyant or aggressive. She is an outlet for me, and I think Olivia changes me for the better by changing my mentality. We just relate to each other. We have similar common interests, and we talk about stuff that we both enjoy a lot. It’s just really easy to talk to her, and I think it’s not that hard to talk to me either. I have a lot of interests that I can talk about with other people, so I think I am generally an easier person to talk to. I think it is very important for people to know that someone is always there for them to talk to, so they can have an outlet to voice their concern. That’s very important for a person to have, so they don’t have to keep bottling up their feelings and eventually just lash out to other people since they don’t know what to do with their feelings.”
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