January Issue by The Tam News

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News

CONTENT

January 2016

Young Entrepreneurs Prize Offered by Danielle Egan SAGA Pushed For Gender Neutral Bathrooms by Megan Butt & Franny Kiles Tam Increases Focus on Attendance by Ethan Lawrence

Lifestyles

Bowmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Perspective on Eating in the Library by Tandis Shoushtary Artist of the Issue Q&A: Isabel Alamin by Connor Norton Aziz Ansari: Master of My Netflix History by Cam Vernali Vince Lars: Saxophonist to the Stars by Franny Kiles

Features 10

Torn Up by Piper Goeking

Op/Ed 15

16 17 18

19 20

Editorial: The Gun Violence Discussion by Staff Listening to My Music, Not You by Wanya Williams In Defense of Free Art by Claire Donohue The Real Cost: Used Craigslist Car Buying by Elliott Jacobs

Sports Q & A: Reilly Johnson by Misha Krivoruchko Season Preview In the Words of the Coaches New Wrestling Coaches by Misha Krivoruchko & Calvin Rosevear Athlete of the Issue: Jaiana Harris by Misha Krivoruchko

Dear Reader,

Last month’s issue showcased the accomplishments of different Tam athletes across a spectrum of sports. This issue, Piper Goeking’s feature, “Torn Up,” takes a look at one of the less-glamorous facets of high school athletics: the challenges faced by athletes who suffer ACL tears playing basketball, soccer, football, and other non-contact sports. “Torn Up” documents the experiences of Tam athletes who have torn their ACLs and have undergone the rigorous rehab process required to return to their respective sports. The feature sheds light on the sometimes all-consuming sports culture that leads high school athletes in modern America to participate in athletics year-round, and the extreme toll that such a regimen can have on a young person’s body. Youth sports are an essential component of high school culture and can teach student-athletes important lessons about teamwork, commitment, and responsibility. However, they come with serious risks — injuries such as ACL tears can have long-lasting health repercussions, to say nothing of the toll that rehab takes on an athlete’s mental well-being. We hope that “Torn Up” provides a perspective on one of the challenges faced by high school athletes.

Hannah Chorley, James Finn, & Raqshan Khan

Cover by: Megan Butt & Kendall Lafranchi On the Cover: An x-ray of junior Addy Ball’s knee after she tore her ACL in March 2015.

EDITORS IN CHIEF: Hannah Chorley,

PHOTOS: Claire Donohue & Sam Toland

NEWS: Danielle Egan & Marina Furbush

GRAPHICS: Leo DiPierro & Luke Rider

James Finn, & Raqshan Khan

LIFESTYLES: Claire Donohue, Jackson Gathard,

COPY EDITORS: David Hanson,

FEATURES: Tandis Shoushtary, Megan Butt,

SOCIAL MEDIA: Hannah Chorley

OPINION: Cam Vernali, Maddie Wall,

DESIGN: Tandis Shoushstary

& Max Plotkin

& Kendall Lafranchi & Trent Waltz

SPORTS: Calvin Rosevear & Misha Krivoruchko

Izzy Houha & Glo Robinson & Maddie Wall

WEB: Marina Furbush

BUSINESS TEAM: Sam Toland & Peter Wynn ADVISOR: Jonah Steinhart PRINTER: WIGT Printing

Volume XI, No. IV January 2016 A publication of Tamalpais High School Established 1916

Tamalpais High School 700 Miller Avenue Mill Valley, CA 94941 www.thetamnews.org

REPORTERS: Nicole Anisgard-Parra, Elissa Asch, Maddie Asch, Griffin Barry, Vincent Boot, Aliona Brichov, Trevor Bukowski, Willzie Connelly, Kennedy Cook, Alexandra Deane, Michael Diamandakis, Keldon DuaneMcGlashan, Kate Finn, Piper Goeking, Jacob Goldman, Nick Goldman, Arya Guinney, Adam Harband, Marie Hogan, Whitney Howard, Elliott Jacobs, Gibson Katz, Franny Kiles, Blake Killingsworth, Ethan Lawrence, Virginia Lazarus, Ilaria Lobo, Samantha Locke, Jackson Loder, Joshua Love, Thibaud Mabut, Lila McKinley, Nicholas Moe, Jack Murphy, Lilly Murphy, Elisabet Nelson, Connor Norton, Benjamin Olizar, Mitchell Pardi, Luca Pelo, Morgan Pinney, Samuel Pletcher, Max Plotkin, Alexander Price, Madeline Reilly, Isabel Rodriguez, Charlotte Rosgen, Miles Rubens, Wilton Schultz, Connor Scutt, Hannah Shulman, Francis Strietmann, Adam Tolson, Blake Villanueva, Wanya Williams, Maxwell Williams, Zoe Wynn, Dash Yarnold, Dahlia Zail EDITORIAL BOARD: Hannah Chorley, Claire Donohue, James Finn, Marina Furbush, Raqshan Khan, Franny Kiles, Connor Norton, Tandis Shoustary, Blake Villanueva

The Tam News, a student-run newspaper publication, distributed monthly, is an open, public forum for student expression and encourages letters and article contributions. The Tam News reserves the right to edit submissions for length and content. All content decisions are made by student editors. The Tam News is published monthly, though dates may vary. The Tam News is nonprofit and any proceeds and contributions are used in the production of the newspaper publication and for journalism education. Additional information concerning contributions or advertising can be obtained by writing to the address provided above or through our website. Copyright © 2015 by The Tamalpais News. All rights reserved. Reproduction is prohibited without written consent.

News

Young Entrepenuers Prize Offered

ubmissions for the annual Young Entrepreneurs Prize (YEP), which recognizes the business ideas of high school students, will be due on January 11. All students with entrepreneurial ideas can enter. Junior Miranda Church, Tam News editor-in-chief and junior Raqshan Khan, and Tam News reporter and senior Kevin Lee teamed up to win third place last year. They proposed a company named Code-Arc, which would create affordable websites for local businesses. “We’re all interested in coding and we felt it was something that was needed in Marin,” Church said. There are three rounds of selection: in the first, teams submit a video with an out-

by Danielle Egan

line of their idea. If a team makes it to the second round, they meet face-to-face with Mill Valley Labs members . The final round is a presentation of the remaining groups. “It was really cool watching other people’s presentations because they all had really different ideas and were going about it in really different ways,” Church said. Church’s team plans to recruit more people and contact small businesses in the area that could use websites. However, they haven’t put their prize money to action yet. Through the contest, Church gained insight into the business world. “I learned that apparently in business it’s a lot more than just your idea,” she said. “They take into

account your presentation and the profitability of the thing, it’s a lot more than just, ‘this is an interest of ours and we’re really into coding. It was kind of a look into the business world.” Church has advice for future applicants. “Listen to [the judges’] feedback and stay organized. Really target your idea on something. You don’t want it to be broad, you want to have a tagline,” she said. According to the Mill Valley Labs website, $5,000 are collectively awarded to the winners, as well as other prizes including introductions to investors and 10 hours of consulting with Mill Valley Labs members.♦

SAGA Pushes for Gender-Neutral Bathrooms T

he Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA) club is pushing to implement a gender-neutral bathroom system starting this school year. SAGA plans to designate one bathroom on campus as gender neutral and to create signage to indicate that it is available. SAGA co-president Amara Radetsky believes that creating gender-neutral bathrooms is a critical step toward making Tam’s environment more accepting for LGBTQ+ kids. “I think because we live in Marin we often have the conception that everything is fine because our attitudes toward LGBTQ+ kids are so evolved, but that’s not necessarily the case,” Radetsky said. “The problem is that we are kind of at a tolerance [and] acceptance stage, but that’s really not enough. The goal is not only to have it be tolerated; it is to have awareness and an [LGBTQ+] presence on campus.” After meeting with Assistant Principal Brian Lynch, SAGA received permission from the administration to begin their project. The group first plans to make the single-stall bathroom by the art and music

by Megan Butt and Franny Kiles

rooms into an official gender neutral bathroom. This bathroom will be accessible to all Tam students and staff members of any gender identity. In addition to establishing a gender neutral bathroom, SAGA intends to create official signs that will direct people to the genderneutral bathroom.

These signs will be put next to the other restrooms on campus to inform students of the availability and location of this bathroom. Radetsky hopes that the creation of a gender neutral bathroom will help make the LGBTQ+ community feel more comfortable at Tam. “Having a gender-neutral bathroom [is] not saying that only these kids can use it. It’s like anyone can,” Ra-

detsky said. “So when someone who is gender-queer or non-binary is standing in front of those representations of male and female [on traditional bathroom signs] they won’t have to choose.” SAGA is also working on other ways to better acknowledge the LGBTQ+ community at Tam. “Making [they/ them] pronouns more mainstream, that’s actually one of our major goals this year,” Radetsky said. “Putting that [information] on Home Access so that teachers will see that when they do attendance...they’ll see that this kid uses those pronouns or has a different preferred name.” SAGA’s four co-presidents Amara Radetsky, Cameron Creath, Sadie Munter, and Elodie Townsend and other club members meet every Tuesday in Room 320 at lunch. Any new additions to the club are encouraged and welcomed.♦ GRAPHIC BY: LUKE RIDER

News

Tam Increases Focus on Attendance E

mails sent from Tam administrators to Tam High Staff November 5 and 13 informed them that a stricter attendance policy will be enforced and that Jay DeMaestri was hired as a new campus supervisor. “We believe that kids need to be in class and based off where the last few months have been, we’re making it a priority to address this,” Assistant Principal Brian Lynch said. According to Lynch, attendance policies aren’t changing, but rather the existing policies are being reinforced. “The rules haven’t changed. [This is] not just us cracking down but getting teachers to feel more empowered to keep kids in class, and when they see kids out of class without passes to get them back to class,” Lynch said. Senior Trenten Francis has noticed more attention put on kids being in class. “In the past there have been instances where myself and others have left classes or just not gone because there [were] not many consequences,” Francis said. “Recently I have noticed the whole school locking down on the ditching of classes and wandering around the campus, whether it is the [campus supervisors] keeping an eye around the campus or the teachers doing stricter attendance.” Lynch explained that there are many different aspects of the attendance problem: tardies, unexcused absences, parents excusing their kids, and students leaving class for long periods of time. “It’s multilayered,” he said. “It’s not just cutting class or leaving class for a long period of time. We also have a lot of kids whose parents call them in and [give them] excused absences. I just know that kids with unexcused absences is one issue [but] we’re also dealing with a lot of kids that are being excused by their parents, which creates a whole other challenge.” “I do understand the necessity of having an enforced attendance rule,” sophomore Sasha Greenschmitz said. “I know people that abuse the opportunity of having such an open and relaxed campus, but I definitely know others that have taken advantage of this for the good of their mental

by Ethan Lawrence

health. I understand that [when] some people get overwhelmed, an adult should be notified and an exemption, I’m sure, could be made if it was necessary.” Administrators are increasing communication with parents, making sure they know when kids miss class “One thing we’re doing is we’re being very deliberate, like here’s the attendance sheets for the kids I oversee and if a kid has three unexcused absences, we’re sending home truancy letters,” Lynch said. “After a student’s second truancy letter, the school attendance review team, which is comprised of administrators and a juvenile officer [has] the capability of referring kids out.” However, some students are unaware of these rules and don’t understand the punishment policies. “Besides the fact that your parents get a call home if you have an unexcused absence, the rules were never made very clear to me,” Francis said. “I once heard that there was a detention of some sort if you missed too many classes but considering the amount of unexcused absences I’ve had without being called for a detention, it would be hard to believe we have a detention system. I just simply don’t know if there are any consequences for repeated unexcused absences and tardies.” Greenschmitz agreed. “As far as getting caught leaving school, I’m not sure what the exact punishment is,” she said. “I’m sure many people know in general that they will get in trouble but I don’t think

the students are aware of the exact rules.” Administrators plan to bring the detention system back in hopes of keeping more kids in the classroom. “We’re looking to bring back our detention program which we’ll be instituting soon,” Lynch said. This won’t be the first time Tam has implemented a detention program. In the past, students were given detention when they skipped class or received multiple tardies, according to Lynch. “You would get assigned double detention if you didn’t show up to your first detention and if you didn’t show up to that you were suppose to be suspended, which philosophically I had some issues with because you’re trying to get a kid to attend and you’re granting them permission not to come to school by suspending them. We’re trying to get kids in class and we’re trying to figure out how,” he said. Francis believes Tam is moving in a positive direction by keeping kids in class. “I think just having the continued focus on making sure students are not leaving their classes through the yard duty and teachers is enough to make a difference and positively impact the school,” Francis said. The administration has also formed an team to tackle the issue. “[Assistant Principals] Ms. Straton and Ms. Herrera are leading an attendance team of teachers and other staff members and hopefully students too to have a more comprehensive effective approach to attendance,” Lynch said.♦

Lifestyles

Bowman’s Perspective on Eating in the Library In light of recent frustration with library policies, librarian Melissa Bowman sat down with Tandis Shoushtary to comment. On past work experience: My transition year before Tam, between Texas and Tam, I worked for San Francisco schools, and that library was so lax...It was obvious from the state of the library that they were allowed to eat...because I found food all over the place. In fact it was so bad that the books had been infested with insects and anytime you wanted to pick up a book you would find bugs coming out...And I ended up, with the blessing of the library director, [getting] rid of the books. We threw everything out, hundreds [and] hundreds of books, and started all over again. In [the Tam] backroom, we have a lot of rare books that concern Marin County’s history and San Francisco Bay’s history. A lot of stuff that is out of print. So I feel responsibility to put reasonable protections, like the food rule, in place. On student reactions: The procedures are completely in line with every other high school that I worked with...What seems to be different here is that we are open during lunch, and I think that where some of our conflict is, because people are hungry during lunch and they should go eat. If they don’t eat, they...are going to be angry with the new situation that doesn’t give them much food. On why drinks are allowed in the library: [The rules] are not new. There were signs up when I came here, that said ‘no food and no drink’ and I decided that the ‘no drink’ was not something I felt the need to enforce, because I mean I come in with my coffee all the time. I’m not [going to] make a rule that I’m not going to follow. On restricting the backroom during lunch: The [restriction of the] backroom — that is new. True. That was actually upon recommendation; it wasn’t my idea. I was finding people...who were out there having a picnic basically. It wasn’t a first time offense either, this was like the third, fourth, fifth time, because Mr. Goto is doing his thing, he doesn’t necessarily want to police things. I don’t want to police things, but I just feel it’s necessary, I just feel very committed to that. That’s me, we are all different. I was like, oh my god, this is getting out of hand. And I was like, well obviously they are going back there to eat... It had gotten to the point that I would walk into the backroom, correct people, go out for two minutes, come back in, and it’s still going on...So I asked the other librarians in the district, because they have the same policy, no food, in fact they don’t even allow drinks, and one of them suggested you should close off that backroom because that will send the message. On the results of closing the backroom during lunch: Even though we are a little crowded and a little uncomfortable, everything has been pretty good since then. So, you know I gotta

by Tandis Shoushtary

LIBRARY LEADER: Melissa Bowman, Tam’s newest librarian, helps enforce the various library rules, most noticably the long running ban on food. PHOTO BY CLAIRE DONOHUE

say it’s working. I mean, I would rather everyone wouldn’t be so crowded and uncomfortable, but I’m finding my stress level has gone way down, I mean wow I can actually look at the computer once in awhile and not listen for that paper wrapper rustle...I still see [no food] signs being snatched and I can tell there’s still some anger issues. Every now and then someone writes me a little message on a sign, and I go and replace it, [so] that tells me that I still have to do it this way. And once I’m certain enough of us have changed, gotten used to it, that we understand, I’ll probably open [the back room] up again. People are still upset, and I understand...I don’t think I can do anything about it other than let them heal for a while...There are bigger things to get angry about. [Note: since the interview was conducted the backroom has been re-opened to students during lunch as a result of student complaints.] On possible solutions: I would like to say eat first, then come to the library...And also consider if they really need the library to get their assignments done...What I’ve noticed is a lot of them are just really needing the tables. So there is the student center and...that might be a space to consider, because that’s obviously food friendly. I wonder if the student center would be willing to house some textbooks. Because I’ve noticed that’s primarily what people use. People are not checking out books during lunch. So I don’t think the issue is access to the collection. I think what they want is a big space..I don’t want to keep people from eating.♦

Lifestyles

Artist of the Issue Q&A: Isabel Alamin J

by Connor Norton

Do you have a strategy when you come to class to make art? I’ll look for photographs sometimes, just of things I want to draw if I’m not feeling super inspired, or I’ll listen to music and I’ll come into class and say, “Hey! I remember I see a lot of different mediums repre- that thing I saw on the street or that lyric I sented in your art. How did you start us- really liked and I’m going to draw it now!” ing such a wide variety of tools? So there’s not really any strategy for me. It used to be just drawing. I used to use only It’s pretty, just like, free. mechanical pencils and that was the only type of art I would do. And then freshman What’s the biggest difference you’ve noyear I did a watercolor piece, and I realized ticed between high school art class and I really liked watercolor. Sophomore year middle school art class? I started to use charcoal and acrylic paint, In middle school it’s more about just getand honestly I hated those mediums before ting the assignment done, but in high I actually tried them, but then I realized I school I feel like it’s actually like a real really liked them and they’re actually prob- class. I don’t think people realize that art ably my favorite mediums to work with isn’t just something you can just sit back now. and do whatever you want in. You really have to think about the composition of the piece, where you’re putting things, what unior Isabel Alamin is an Advanced Placement Art student who has been making art since sixth grade with her mechanical pencil. She has since graduated to charcoal and acrylic paint.

type of line you’re putting down. You really have to think about what the whole picture is going to end up being, instead of in the middle school when it was more, “Here is the assignment get it done and when you’re done, you get an A.” Do you do art outside of class? I try to, but honestly I don’t have any time. The only time that I ever get any actually good pieces done is in the class. I draw in a sketchbook at home, but lately I’ve had less than zero time. Will you take art in college? I plan to, but I don’t think I’m going to go to a school of design or anything that’s like solely an art school because I love art but I have other interests that I want to do. Also, selling work makes me really sad so I don’t think I would be able to make it as an artist, so that option is kind of [off the table].♦

MIXED MEDIA: Junior Isabel Alamin’s art ranges in medium from watercolor to charcoal to acrylic. These four pieces represent the diverse style she’s developed. PHOTOS BY CONNOR NORTON

The Tam News — January 2016

Lifestyles

N E Y T F M L F I X O H R I E S T T S ORY A M by Cam Vernali by Trent Waltz

on Bon Mill Valley’s decor style is somewhere between

a child’s daydream and a grandmother’s candy closet. hileThe I tryvarious to pridesweets myselfinonglass not bejars inglining one ofthe those “techie youngsters” shelves of the right and back as my grandfather my “Tootsie peers, roll” and walls havewould namescallfrom Netflix is a“Bit-o-honey” guilty pleasuretoI “chicken can’t live and with-waffle salt-water out. I check for new additions pretty nise,cinnamon a lesbianhard black woman who is also taffy.” Chocolate mints, fruitfrechews, quently, skipping movies that don’t appeal a friend of Ansari’s candies, and lemon drops fill the shelves. Below these who gives the show a to me andare binge-watching shows that grab baskets fresh voice. Other a collection of small wooden patrons useactors who add a kick to my interest. So you could imagine my dethe show are Ansari’s to select candies from the lower shelves. More gooey real-life parents, and light whensweets I saw are Azizhigher Ansari’s new behind show, the H.counter, Jon Benjamin, up and where awho is actually the voice “Master Of None,” on Netflix on Novemof Bob from “Bob’s Burgers” (his voice restaff member can pick one for you. ber 6. When I first allythat getsof to any you once The saw backit in of my the recommenstore looks like ice you realize that fact). dations I knew it was either a star-studded The show has cream shop but boasts organic local ice cream in a typi-a rotating cast, meaning beautifully-shot diamond in the rough orthey an stock that not everyHoncharacter is present in each cal Marin fashion. The brand is called overhypedeymoon disappointment. Let me tell you episode. This allows and falls in the same category as the Fairfax for the series to seem right now:scoop “Master None” is a true andOfThree Twins, buthit. with amore betterrealistic texture:—it’syou don’t hang out with I’ve always been a fan of Ansari. Grantall the same people day in and day out, afincredibly creamy and melts in your mouth. The chocoed, his stand-up comedy on Netflix was a ter all. Having rotating cast also lets the late is more sweet than flavorful (in this respect, nota as bit dry, butgood overall I’ve regarded him as a content of the show as Fairfax Scoop’s), but the texture is impossibly roam more. funny guyrich whoand generally “Master Of None” is a well-written, smooth.turns out quality, unique humor.Bon His Bon role as Tom Haverford entertaining show that is full of three-dioffers its own special type of ice cream on “Parkssandwiches: and Recreation” is one of my mensional characters. It smashes stereohot press. Sounds like a horrible idea: favorite characters on any television show types and evokes messages without seemwarm crepe-pancakes with nutella spread and cold ice out there. cream I had not seen much Regrettably, of his work it ing preachytheorfirst cliché. Ansari’s character in the middle. is. Though since the show ended, but I hoped he would deals with the issues bite is phenomenal, it’s not long before the ice cream of being a millennial come backisaround fresh soon. today,onand the pros and cons that come a liquidwith mess andcontent the crepe/pancakes theall outside Thankfully, my wish was granted. with it. One of myoffavorite scenes when Anbecome soggy with soft sugar-cream. The crispiness “Master Of None” is aas10-episode sari is trying to infigure out where he wants the outside is gone, is the cold perfection of the series on side. Netflix that follows Dev Shaw to eat tacos; he then proceeds to go looking (played by Ansari), a 30 year-old every Yelp, Bon Bon’s cookies Indianare almostthrough the standard for Zagat, Instagram reAmerican what actor store-baked in New Yorkcookies trying to live view and list written should taste and look like: about the best tacos in in the modern world. Eachwith episode follows New After he spends an incredginger cookies perfect granules of York sugarCity. on top a theme, such as parents, sexism, or racism ible amount of time and peanut butter ones with flawless impressions in searching and decides in the acting Ansari show on somewhere thefield. surface. Thecreated cookiesthetaste perfect, a mirror of to mygo, he arrives at three in whith writer Alan Yang, both of whom used the afternoon and imagination’s expectations, with the only exception be-finds out that they’re out to work oning “Parks andflavors Recreation.” tortillas. “What that the aren’t particularlyofstrong. With eacham I going to do now, go “Master Of None” features Noël Wells eat the second best cookie there is the intended flavor with a side-taste of taco?” Ansari says. as Rachel, Ansari’s love interest; Eric Another memorable moment is when sugar and excess sweetness. Wareheim as Arnold Baumheiser, one of Ansari’s character tries to invite a girl to a Ansari’s friends; and Lena Waithe as De- Father John Misty concert and she doesn’t

reply for days. This then sparks a long debate about the etiquette of texting and replying, something that may not seem interesting but is brought to life with Ansari’s acting and the acting of his co-stars. It’s not just that the situations are relatable to people today; the quality of acting and insightful writing brings this show to life. Don’t let me forget to mention the soundtrack, though. Music in a TV show can make or break it, and the music sends “Master Of None” out of this world. It is evident that the songs were thoughtfully chosen, and may fit perfectly into the episodes as a result. From songs like “Catch” by The Cure, “Burning Airlines Give You So Much More” by Brian Eno, and “Devil’s Pie” by D’Angelo to “There You Go” by Johnny Cash, this soundtrack is worthy of a five-star review all on its own. Of course, the show is not without its flaws. There are some moments when the jokes fall flat and some times when the dialogue was off. Other scenes are a bit cringe-worthy. However, those moments were forgivable with the other hilarious moments in the show. It’s expected that the first series of a brand-new show debuted directly onto Netflix would have its flaws, but “Master Of None” has far fewer than most other new shows. Overall, “Master Of None” is an incredibly hilarious show with witty writing, a diverse cast, and a great soundtrack to boot. My only complaint is that season two should come sooner since I’ve binged on all of the episodes way too quickly. Once again, I have Netflix to thank for a great show. ♦ GRAPHIC BY LUKE RIDER

January 2016 — The Tam News

Lifestyles

Vince Lars: Saxaphonist to the Stars V

ince Lars has been a beloved guest artist in the Tam jazz band and symphonic orchestra for nearly seven years, but his time spent in the Tam music community is just a snippet of his life as a musician. Over the years, Lars used his skills as a saxophonist to perform with Beyonce and Destiny’s Child and has even played at one of President Obama’s campaign rallies in 2008. “It is just amazing what your instrument can do for you,” Lars said. Lars started learning saxophone from his grandfather at age nine. “I accidentally found my grandfather’s horn in his closet. I was just exploring and... [my grandfather] walked in the room and caught me messing with it,” Lars said. “I jumped at first, thinking I was going to get in trouble, and he was like do you want to learn how to play that? I said yeah and that’s how it all started.” After that seminal moment, music became a huge part of Lars’s life. “When I was growing up at that age it was a really rich time for music...the whole Motown movement and all of the stuff that’s classic now was made then,” he said, “It was like I was just hearing all this kind of music and it touched me that I could actually play it. It was really cool.” Lars grew up in Richmond and in 8th grade he won a scholarship for the Young Musician’s Program at UC Berkeley. “They taught us music at the college level,” Lars said. “[After that] I started touring the world and seeing things. I’m so

by Franny Kiles

happy that I got that really great education through the scholarship.” Lars’s scholarship and his pursuits in music set him up for a number of extraordinary opportunities. “I have a picture with Barack Obama; he and I with our arms around each other,” Lars said. “I hooked up with this group called Tony! Toni! Toné!.. we were the opening act for Janet Jackson’s tour that year...Then I played with Eric Benet who was married to Halle Berry for a minute, and I met her. I met Prince because I played with Larry Graham and just a lot of unexpected things.” After many years of touring and other amazing experiences, Lars felt the need to settle down so he could spend more time with his family. “You grow up as a young musician wanting success and you want to travel,” Lars said. “You never think about the part where you might meet someone and fall in love and have kids and [your music’s] going to take you away from them. It’s an enormous contradiction.” Lars currently plays with corporate bands so he can support his family without having to go on tour. However, he still plays at very special events. “I played for Seinfeld’s co-writer’s wedding, a lot of sports figures, their

weddings, and [for] Ricky Watters, an ex -49er.” Lars is also working as a music producer, composing his own music and writing for other music groups. “I’m into trying to do this pop act,” Lars said, “It’s a girls group I’m writing for and producing for and I’m looking forward to doing that. I’m trying to start a little record label...I want to make a lot of money like these young pop stars, so I can ride off into the sunset and retire.” While he is not performing or producing music, Lars continues to work at Tam. “I’ve been working with the concert band and the jazz band,” he said “I like the diversity of music that we do...those were the two bands that I participated in when I was in high school and even though I was a jazz R&B guy I really learned to love classical music.” For the past seven years, Lars has been a huge asset to the Tam music program and has done wonders for the development of Tam’s winds players. “We’re really lucky to have him,” Tam music teacher Spiro Tsingaris said. “[Lar] helps specifically by leading sectionals with the wind players. He’s excellent but he doesn’t come across as pompous. He’s strict but he’s also easy going...I’ve really enjoyed working with him.” ♦

PHOTO BY CLAIRE DONOHUE

The Tam News — January 2016

9 9

Features Features

analyzing tAM’S acl INJURY epidemic

by Piper Goeking photos by Claire Donohue and courtesy of Addison Ball

Don’t look down. Whether you are sprawled on the court or the field, the thought is the same: if you don’t look at the knee, then there’s no swelling. You won’t hear the infamous pop all athletes dread. You’ll be able to stand on your own and run. Your season won’t be over. But then reality crashes in. You heard the pop, and you feel the pain. You’ve torn your ACL. 10

January 2016 — The Tam News

Features Features “The sound is like a thousand people cracking their knuckles at the same time. It’s kinda grotesque,” senior varsity basketball player Walker Sapp said. “It hurts, but the reason people are yelling and screaming on the ground is because of the shock of feeling something inside your body pop like that.” “On a scale of one to ten, [the pain] was like a nine,” junior and varsity basketball player Jaiana Harris said. “It was really painful. What made it worse was that I heard the pop, but I didn’t want to believe I had hurt it. I knew something was wrong, but I was in denial...I was in shock, so I didn’t cry immediately, but after thirty or forty seconds of being on the ground, I just burst out into tears.” Dr. Jo Hannafin, the president of the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, noted, in a Lohud.com article, that the rates of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears have increased over time, and the injury is becoming more common in young athletes. “With year-round sports, no one ever has the chance to rest,” she said. This theory applies to Tam athletes, as many are playing on a year-round club team in addition to playing for the school. Consequently, many Tam athletes lack the opportunities to allow their bodies to recover from the strain of a full season, and are injured more often as a result. The ACL is one of two ligaments that cross in the middle of the knee, connecting the thighbone to the shinbone and helping stabilize the knee joint. ACL tears are most common in sports that involve cutting and changing direction, such as soccer, basketball, skiing, football, and lacrosse. Teenage females are six times more likely to tear their ACL than their male counterparts, according to the Mayo Clinic, because of a difference in pelvis and lower leg alignment, looser ligaments, and the effects of estrogen on ligament properties. Sports physician Dr. Steven Horwitz wrote that two-thirds of ACL tears result from non-contact situations, such as a sudden change in direction, a one step deceleration, or landing a jump in an awkward position. “The girl had the soccer ball in front of me and I stepped to her, going in with both feet, just like any person would, and the knee popped,” said junior and varsity soccer player Addison Ball. “It wasn’t even a crazy tackle, it was just like jumping on your leg.” According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, a torn ACL doesn’t require surgery if the subject does light work or lives a sedentary lifestyle. However, athletes who wish to return to sports will need surgery. The procedure replaces the torn ACL with a substitute graft made of tendon from a hamstring, quadricep, or patellar tendon of either the athlete’s body or that of a cadaver.

Senior Walker Sapp tore his ACL three times over his sophomore, junior, and senior years playing basketball. His first full recovery took about a year.

Athlete of the Issue junior Jaiana Harris was injured in 2014 playing basketball. Her recovery time from ACL reconstruction was 13 months.

Junior Addison Ball was injured in March of 2015 playing soccer. December marked her seventh month of recovery.

The Tam News — January 2016

Features Features Features

Sophomore Alexis Travers was injured in 2013 playing basketball. Her recovery time was 8 months.

“They took a part of my hamstring and used part of a dead person’s because I didn’t have enough in my hamstring [to make the graft] and [then they] pieced [the ACL] back together, totally reconstructing my knee,” freshman skier Madeline Bell said. An ACL tear not only takes athletes out of their sports but also greatly impacts all other aspects of their lives. They endure a four-hour surgery, followed by six to 14 months of recovery. The athlete is on crutches for up to four months of this rehabilitation process. This can make something as rudimentary as navigating Tam’s stair-riddled campus a strenuous task. The first step of rehabilitation is to simply regain the ability to walk. “Immediately after their surgery, the main focus is on continuing to reduce swelling and getting the knee’s full range of motion back,” Tam athletic trainer Aubrey Yanda said. “As they progress they’re adding different weight training, they’re increasing the amount of range of motion they have, until finally they regain all their strength and all their motion.” “For a month right after my surgery I was working on getting my motion back, because I couldn’t bend or straighten my knee and you can’t walk until you’re able to bend and straighten your knee all the way,” Harris said. Doing all of the basic rehabilitation necessary to regain their strength and full range of motion is just the beginning. For athletes who want to return to competi-

January 2016— The Tam News

Freshman Madeline Bell was injured in 2015 skiing. December marked her eighth month of recovery.

tive play, sport-specific rehabilitation is the next step to full recovery. This rehabilitation process integrates dynamic movements such as running, pivoting, and jumping back into the athlete’s lifestyle. “You have to re-teach yourself to do everything on the field because what happens when you get surgery is it completely rips apart the basic movement in your leg, so your leg as well as your brain need to re-learn how to do basic things, like walking and running,” Ball said. Getting through the physical trauma and rehabilitation aren’t the only challenges faced by student athletes who’ve suffered an ACL tear. The injury also has psychological implications. “It messed me up mentally more than it did physically,” Harris said. “I woke up every day knowing that I wouldn’t be able to play basketball for the year. I told myself I wasn’t going to play anymore the first like couple weeks after the surgery because it was hard: I didn’t know how to walk—I couldn’t walk. It just felt like I never was going to be able to play again.” Coaches and training staff often notice the detrimental impact on the athlete’s mentality and sense of self. “Mentally, these athletes go through every stage of mourning. There’s denial, grief, bargaining, all of that they go through,” Yanda said. “It’s really hard to see someone who’s worked this hard and then you see an injury like this. It’s something you have to be mentally tough to go through.” Tam girls’ varsity soccer coach Shane

Kennedy echoed Yanda. “It’s really hard. I think that the physical component is probably the easier of the two,” Kennedy said. “Kids are so athletic and so active, and [their] bodies are so used to that activity, that kind of sets up the other parts of their lives. It’s calming for [them]. [They] kind of have exercise to work out anxiety, academics or whatever. That’s all gone. The camaraderie of team is gone. The feeling of accomplishment maybe is gone a little bit. I think that’s as big a piece as the physical component.” The physical and mental implications of an ACL tear have gathered international attention from The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). FIFA’s Medical Assessment and Research Center (F-MARC) has found that the risk of sustaining an ACL injury can be reduced through specific training. To address this F-MARC has developed FIFA 11+, an injury prevention warm-up program. The program is to be implemented at the beginning of a training session and is composed of 15 exercises with emphasis on body control, straight leg alignment, knee-over-toe position, and soft landings. According to the program’s informational brochure, “It has been shown that youth football teams using the FIFA 11+ as a standard warm-up had a significantly lower risk of injury than teams that warmed up as usual. Female and male teams that performed the FIFA 11+ regularly at least twice a week had 30-50 percent fewer training and match injuries.”

Features Features

- Aubrey Yanda

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It’s really hard to see someone who’s worked this hard and then you see an injury like this. It’s something you have to be mentally tough to go through. Tam Athletic Trainer

ThTam News — January 2016

Features Features Features

Dr. Noel C. Barengo of the University of Bogotá and Dr. Oluwatoyosi B. A. Owoeye of the University of Lagos both did studies testing the effectiveness of FIFA 11+. Each study confirmed that teams that incorporated the program into training sessions experienced a decrease in injuries while the players’ motor skills also improved. “Evidence of these improvements in performance are important in ‘marketing’ the program to coaches, players, and clubs since the injury may be seen as a random event,” Barengo’s study stated. Owoeye’s study also supports an implementation of FIFA 11+ into youth athletics, concluding, “A country-wide campaign and implementation of the FIFA 11+ injury prevention programme may be pursued by youth football administrators and federations across Nigeria and regions of Africa respectively in order to help minimize the risk of injury among players. The world governing body for football (FIFA) should consider supporting federations and local administrators in achieving this.” Some Tam teams are taking steps to prevent ACL tears in their athletes through a redesign of their team warm-ups using the FIFA 11+ program. Though the program was designed for soccer players, it can be modified for athletes of different sports. “Varsity boys’ basketball did a preseason injury prevention program using FIFA 11+,” Yanda said. “They did six weeks where we did a training session every Thursday, for about thirty to thirtyfive minutes. I’ve done some of the prevention strategies with individual members of girls’ basketball and girls’ soccer, so everybody’s kind of getting their feet in it.” Boys’ varsity basketball head coach Tim Morgan thought the program helped his athletes. “I think the pre-season training went well,” Morgan said. “I think next year we’ll do it twice a week. This year it was about once a week. I think the more we can, the more we have those types of workouts. I think it will benefit everyone.” FIFA 11+ has only been implemented teamwide in the boys’ varsity basketball program. Along with Morgan, Kennedy is also behind integrating an injury program into pre-season and regular season training, but recognizes finding time to do so

January 2016 — The Tam News

is a challenge. “It is difficult to do pre-season injury prevention programs since many players are with club teams during that time,” Kennedy said. “During the season it’s difficult because of the limited amount of practice time. If we could find a way to make more time for injury prevention training, I would definitely be behind it.” Athletes also support the integration of the program into their training regimen. “ACL prevention definitely should be done [at Tam]…. The teams I’ve been on haven’t done much of it,” sophomore varsity basketball player Alexis Travers said. “Having torn my ACL, I’m behind [ACL injury prevention] even more. We wouldn’t lose great players during the middle of the season for some stupid twist of their leg that could have been prevented with some early-season stuff....If we could just prevent those things, prevent the kind of physical and mental pain this injury causes people, it would be so much better.” Ball echoed the sentiment. “I don’t think the current ACL prevention program at this school is enough,” she said. “I really think that it should be a standard at this school to have at least at the beginning of training sessions an ACL warm-up, because [ACL tears] have affected so many people at this school, and it’s going to continue affecting people if we don’t strengthen in that regard. I never thought that I was going to tear one, not in a million years. I think that this school should be supporting injury prevention in every sport.” Yanda agrees with Ball and recommends that all sports implement the FIFA 11+ training program. “There are prevention strategies such as FIFA 11+ out there that don’t cost a lot of money and it just takes a little bit of time to do them,” Yanda said. “They’re shown to work to prevent injuries, and even if the entire team has to do it to prevent one injury, it saves six to nine months of rehab time and it allows players to stay on the field and do what they want to do. I think that there’s always going to be injury. We can’t stop that, but if we know what we can do to help try to prevent it, that’s really the direction we need to go.”♦

Opinion/Editorial

EDITORIAL: The Gun Violence Discussion We Must Be Proactive Rather Than Reactive

n Friday, October 2, a man shot nine people to death and wounded nine others at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore. On Friday, November 27, a man shot three people to death and wounded nine others inside a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs, Colo. Five days later, on Wednesday, December 2, a radicalized married couple shot and killed fourteen people and wounded fourteen others at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California. After each of these incidents, President Barack Obama has addressed the nation, calling for “common sense gun safety laws” to reduce the number of mass

shootings in America. In October, after the shooting in Oregon, Obama addressed the nation. “Somehow, this has become routine,” Obama said. “The reporting is routine, my response here at this podium ends up being routine...we’ve become numb to this.” Recently, the Tam News staff held a discussion centered around the recent mass shootings in America. We were angry, upset, and scared. As Obama mentioned in his October statement, the conversations about gun violence that spring up in the aftermath of mass shootings have become painfully, frustratingly redundant. These discussions and emotions seem to flare up after each

Crackin’ and Slackin’

mass shooting and slowly subside in the days following, ebbing and flowing with each publicized instance of gun violence. It seems as if the prevalence of gun violence and mass shootings in our nation is only brought to the forefront of conversation after we are left with more deaths and more injuries. The recent discussion that we had as staff became the basis for this month’s editorial. Yet, it feels ironic that the sole catalyst for this editorial was the San Bernardino shooting. As members of the community - and especially as journalists - our discussions about these issues should not be contained within the immediate days after these deadly shootings. Up until now, we have been reactive, rather than proactive. We have expressed frustration, but we haven’t taken the practical and tangible steps towards helping prevent another attack from happening. Although we may not agree on the specifics of gun control as a staff, we agreed that people who have been deemed a threat to national security should not be able to purchase assault weapons, or any kind of weapons, with the same freedom of ordinary citizens. Some of the factors that lead to mass shootings are out of our control. We can’t prevent every person in America from becoming radicalized, and we can’t necessarily provide a cure for every individual who has a mental health issue. What we can do, though, is pass laws restricting the distribution of the weapons that have led to more deaths in the United States since 1970 than deaths in all U.S. wars since the American Revolution (according to Nicholas Kristoff’s October 3 New York Times story). It’s appallingly easy for people with radical aims to obtain firearms -- and it’s within the control of Congress and the American people to make it much harder than it is right now. ♦

Opinion/Editorial

Listening to My Music, Not You by Wanya Williams

hile I’m chilling slapping, “Count Up” by 10YP, I see Karim trying to get my attention. Putting on those headphones is a sign to leave me alone. Whatever Karim is trying to tell me better be important or funny, because if it is not I’m probably going to ignore Karim for the rest of the day. It is a waste of energy to pause the song, take your headphones off, and then listen to whatever is about to be said. Whenever someone is trying to get my attention when the best part of the song is on, taking the earbuds off is like taking my soul out of my body, even though it is not that serious. I can’t stand to be interrupted by someone when they know I’m listening to music. Sometimes I ask myself, “Why didn’t he or she ask before I turned the music on?” I don’t get how someone can have something important to say right when you put the headphones on. That’s like me being with you for the whole day, just happily walking around, but then when you are having a conversation, I interrupt you to tell you that your shoes are untied. Karim is a good friend, and a part of me wants to ignore him, but the other part tells me to listen to whatever he is going to say. I can always replay the song over. “Do you enjoy having time to yourself, but

Heard in tam hallways by the Opinion Staff

“

always feel a little guilty about it?,” Gareth Cook writes in a article on introverts in Scientific American. I can relate to this question because I don’t want to be disrespectful and not listen. Some adults might say this is a problem teenagers have with our phones. They say people with phones are not as social as people without phones. It might seem like I am trying to block people out of my life by being on my phone and listening to music. But that’s not the case. Music, to me, is used for relaxing my mind. “Children learn by watching us how to have a conversation, how to read other people’s facial expressions. If that’s not happening, children are missing out on important development milestones,” said Dr. Jenny Radesky told the New York Times. Let’s be real: there are some kids and even adults who are on their phones all the time. Radesky should chill out. In my opinion, I think a phone does not play a part in missing out on important development. I think

I can speak for most people who think playing music on their phone helps them stay calm and stay focused. There are different ways to learn how to have conversations. Nowadays we have television and YouTube if we want to learn to read other people’s facial expression if it’s really important to see when someone is sad, mad, or happy while having a conversation. I’m not saying stay on your phone throughout the whole day. Sometimes I can catch myself paying more attention to my phone than the teacher. Not everybody is addicted to the phone. But we can also use our phones in good ways like finding out about current events. We are all titled to our own opinion on this topic. Sometimes I need times to myself, and music can help me separate myself from others. It’s nothing personal. I think I’m not the only one.♦

GRAPHICS BY LEO DIPIERRO

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You know I care about my aesthetics. - Upper Keyser

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The tiger in my basement is named Larry.

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- Photography

In Defense of Free Art

Opinion/Editorial

by Claire Donohue

ast month I wandered contentedly through the halls of The Broad, Los Angeles’ newest contemporary art museum. Most of my joy stemmed from the fact that I was surrounded by some pretty neat art, ranging from a whole room of Baldessari to an hour-long music performance being projected onto ten surfaces in a dimly lit room. But the rest of my satisfaction came from knowing that it didn’t cost me, or anyone around me, an entrance fee. While this may seem shallow (especially coming from a well-off Marin teenager), I believe that getting rid of museum entrance fees has a bounty of benefits. First and foremost, free admission boosts visitor diversity. A full-access adult ticket to the De Young Museum in San Francisco costs $25 on a Saturday. That’s the same price as five whole pieces of gourmet artisan organic toast. The crowd I witnessed at The Broad featured young children, groups of elderly woman, tourists, locals, artists sketching paintings, cliques of teenagers, and spectators of all races and suspected artistic interest. Now compare this to the overwhelmingly white 30-somethings that dominate San Francisco’s modern museum scene. Timothy Potts, director of The Getty in Los Angeles, explained his reasoning to keep admission free to the Huffington Post in 2012. “The people who can afford to collect, have an art history degree, go to museums around the world — they can still afford [entrance fees], they can still come,” Potts said. “It’s the people who haven’t had all those benefits, but you really want to open their eyes to what an art museum represents, and they’re the ones you lose by charging even a relatively small amount.” I also believe free admission promotes a different kind of appreciation of the art.

When I’m paying for something I feel as though I ought to see it all, to try and get my money’s worth. I think an art museum should be comparable to a library: a place to learn and explore free of charge, as opposed to a pricy amusement park created purely for entertainment. What was planned as a few relaxing hours at the Legion of Honor ends up as a mad dash to glimpse each and every painting before closing time. If four separate trips to the museum didn’t cost a total of $100, I’d split up my time. Cutting admission fees would let viewers see art in a more casual and approachable way.

Many San Francisco museums are already holding a few select free admission days, the first Tuesday of each month. And although this seems like a fool-proof plan to create affordability in the art scene, in reality it leads to excessive crowds and further segregation. It becomes a day of field trips and mobs of 7 year-olds. Some museums only stay open until 5:15, so someone working a regular nine to five job doesn’t have much of a chance to take advantage of the deal. The majority of U.S. museums are

non-profits. Their funding comes from a variety of sources: a mix of government funding (federal, state, and local), private donations, and earned income. According to International Information Programs (IIP), an average U.S. museum derives a bit over 24 percent of its operating revenue from government funding, with only a small percentage of that coming from a federal level. IIP also reported that 38 percent of revenue comes from private donors. And on average, only five percent of revenue comes from admission fees. The rest comes from food, retail, rentals, and exhibitions. Five percent of total operating revenue isn’t a tiny number, making the leap for art museums to omit fees a substantial one. But there’s an easier financial alternative. Museums like The Met, The Brooklyn Museum, and P.S.1 MoMA have initiated a system called “Pay-What-you-Wish.” They list a recommended price, but it is by no means required. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds. Most who have the ability to pay full price still will. This leaves a smaller loss of revenue overall, but still provides access to everyone. I am by no means fully in tune with the finer working of the economic situations of San Francisco art museums. But according to IIP, 37 percent of U.S. museums were offering free admission in 2012. I believe that if cities like Los Angeles and New York have already successfully implmented free or recommended prices, San Francisco shouldn’t be lagging this far behind. The options for making up the lost funds are endless: surge prices for parking, hosting more prestigious auctions and dinners, charge double for anyone wearing a Comme de Garçons shirt. Regardless of the means, our city’s art ought to be accessible to all interested parties.♦

GRAPHIC BY KEVIN LEE

orn babies “areNewbhell a ugly. ” - Student Center

Dude, I surfed “thre e days this weekend. ” - Arches

“Hail Santa!” - Orange Court

Opinion/Editorial

The Real Cost: Used Craigslist Car Buying list thumb gallery map

cars & trucks - by owner all owner dealer search titles only has image posted today search nearby areas PRICE

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by Elliott Jacobs

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GOAL: I will be looking at unusual used cars on Craigslist that warrant commendation. These ads are riddled with spelling errors written by people looking to get rid of their sketchy cars. STEP 1: Go on Craigslist STEP 2: Search cars and trucks STEP 3: Set price max at $750 STEP 4: Find your dream car 1. “98 Cadilac Deville for sale $750 obo or trade” There are two pictures along with the Craigslist listing. The first picture is of a white Cadillac parked on the street with a dude standing on top looking like he’s about to shoot a music video. The second is of the car’s worn interior that includes leather seats, leather steering wheel and opening windows, all of which the owner ironically documented as “emaculent.” Is that the only problem though? Should I judge the validity of a car on the owner’s understanding of the English language? I then read the dreaded part of a craigslist listing: the car is missing the ignition. This car was most likely stolen. Damn. 2. 89 Acura Integra - $750 (pittsburg / antioch) Take home this beauty with a low 32,655,061 miles on it. With an average of 3372 miles a day this car is a grave reminder to check that your car is a car and not a spaceship. Hopefully it gets good gas mileage. 3. 1978 Dodge Motorhome - $600 (santa rosa) With low mileage, this dodge RV has spent a quarter of a century sitting in the owner’s backyard developing, as he called it in an email to me, “severe wood rot.” The RV is now a flatbed truck with no back. It is surprisingly in running condition, though gas will probably cost more than the vehicle itself. 4. 01 nissan sentra CHEAP - $300 (san jose east) Due to an accident, this car’s max speed peaks at about 35 mph. This car makes me want to join a demolition derby. It costs 300 dollars. The average household grocery bill is around this price. 5. $150 1991 Honda (Can Run, Should Tow) - $150 (menlo park) As we lower our standards even further, we reach the cars that are borderline sketch. Between burning oil and “making a grinding noise while driving except for when turning left” this car has some problems. The image posted shows a neglected car covered in mildew and leaves. It is topped off with the advice that the “car will run but you will need to bring some gas.” 6. 1996 Toyota Corolla for salvage/parts - $50 (palo alto) What else costs $50 you might ask? Well, here’s a list of things that are in the same ballpark: filling up your gas tank, a three course dinner date at Applebee’s, a 30-minute massage, a pair of pants, a gallon of lube, a car radio, 10 shares of Rite Aid stock. Mind you, THIS CAR RUNS. “It is drivable with a jump start, though highway may be risky, would add power steering flo.” CONCLUSION: The weirdest part of all of this is that some of these cars might run fine but, we discount them because at face value they are a little beat up, or because there may be spelling errors in the ads. Maybe the cars are just fine. Maybe we’re judgmental kids who won’t accept these cars for who they are. Maybe we’re the ones with a broken catalytic converter. At the end of my search for my dream car I have learned two things: I need a larger budget and there is a lot of misinformation and errors on Craigslist.♦ GRAPHICS BY LEO DIPIERRO

Sports

Q&A Reilly Johnson: Varsity Soccer Player by Glo Robinson

ophomore Reilly Johnson has been playing soccer since she was around six years old and has played competitively since the age of eight. She played for Tam on the girls’ JV team during her freshman year, and now plays on varsity. Q: What inspired you to play soccer? When I was eight, [I played] for the Mill Valley Rockers team and played with them for a couple of years. Then I transferred over to Central Marin Soccer and played on that team for about one to two years. Then I came back to play Mill Valley soccer again because it was closer and the practices were held in better locations.

Q: Why did you decide to play competitive soccer? I love playing soccer. I play it all the time. When I played with my friends, I didn’t feel challenged. I like to play actual games against other girls. Q: What has your experience been with Tam soccer? I played on the [JV] girls soccer team last year as a freshman. I loved it. I loved everyone who played on the team. Everyone was really nice and we got along very well. It was not a cliquey environment at all. Our team won almost all of our games. Q: How do you feel soccer has impacted your life? Soccer has impacted my life a lot because it opens up college opportunities. On a daily basis, it impacts me because I play soccer everyday for about two hours, sometimes longer. For Tam soccer it is five days a week and I have my club team on the weekends. Q: What do you gain out of playing soccer? I gain confidence. When you play on the field, you have a certain position. To be a good player, you have to feel confident about your position. Being on a team is a great opportunity for friendships and

playing competitively makes you become stronger [and] physically tougher too. If someone pushes you around, on the field or in life, you know how to handle it. Q: What are some life lessons you have learned through soccer? Well, you have to learn teamwork, how to work with people, and how to treat people with respect because there are people that are not as strong as other members. You have to teach them how to play but have a positive attitude so they understand that you want to work with them and hopefully as a result they want to work harder. Q: Where do you see your future in soccer? I am having a hard time deciding if I want to continue playing soccer in college. I definitely want to continue soccer for the rest of my high school years. I definitely know I don’t want to play it as a professional career, but I might try to play either with a college team or recreational soccer during college. I don’t want it to take up all of my time in college. Q: What do you hope for this season? I hope we win MCALS and we work well together as a team. [I also hope we] stay safe and do not get injured.♦

MAKING VARSITY: Sophomore Reilly Johnson has been playing soccer competitively since early elementary school. She made the girls’ varsity soccer team this year. PHOTOS BY CALVIN ROSEVEAR AND COURTESY OF REILLY JOHNSON

Sports

New Wrestling Coaches

Season Preview In the Words of the Coaches

Co-Ed Varsity Wrestling: Luke Jones Well, I don’t really know what to expect coming into a new area...but I am excited. I’ll work them hard...I think we’ve got a lot of good kids that are talented. Girls’ Varsity Soccer: Shane Kennedy It’s a rebuilding year, we graduated nine seniors, and a lot of goals...So, we’re going to have to be patient. I think we have good players...I have a lot of hope for the upcoming season. I believe the end result is going to be good for us, but we need to grow a little bit as a team. Boys’ Varsity Soccer: Spencer Stanton My main hope is that we are able to fulfill our potential. Whatever that looks like as far as a record is concerned, I have no idea. This is my first year here, I don’t really know what the league looks like. My expectations are that guys show up and compete and are committed to the group. Girls’ Varsity Basketball: Mike Evans We have a very experienced team coming back...So, we’re pretty deep in terms of our team and we have eight players returning from last year’s team, so we have some high expectations. Boys’ Varsity Basketball: Tim Morgan We are trying to get ready for league, MCAL is tough...We just want to play together and bring it every game, we also have to stay consistent...We want to get as many wins as we can and build the team in the process.

by Misha Krivoruchko & Calvin Rosevear

ead coach Luke Jones, and assistant coaches Nick Proctor and Joe Rizquallah have been hired to lead the wrestling team this year. Jones and Proctor have been wrestling for most of their lives and want to continue their wrestling careers through coaching at Tam. They wrestled for and graduated from Michigan State University last year and moved to Marin County soon after. “I moved out here and I was looking for a way to stay involved in wrestling,” Jones said. “I was helping Redwood out with a couple of their practices and I heard Tam needed a head coach, so I signed up.” “I feel like this new coach will help us because he is young,” said Henry Duler, senior captain of the wrestling team. “He works out with us, he wrestles with us, and he knows what is required for success.” Proctor wrestled two times in the Big T e n Conference tournament in college and he and Jones have coached at summer camps before. The main difficulty that the Tam wrestling program faces is not with coaches, but participation. “Our biggest problem is that we just don’t don’t have enough people who are interested in wrestling at Tam,” Duler said. This year, the Tam wrestling team does not have the amount of wrestlers they need to have one person in each weight class. However, coaches and players are still excited to start the season and are confident

BY THE NUMBERS

1-2

MCAL record of boys’ varsity soccer team as of December 8.

about what they will accomplish. “This is going to be the most technically sound team in the county by the end of the season,” Jones said. “I’m excited and I’m going to work them hard and we’ll do the best we can do.” “We have a lot of good kids, so I think we’ll figure things out,” Proctor said. As new coaches, knowledge of the individual wrestlers takes time. Proctor understands that. “We’re trying to get to know the guys, we want them to be able to trust us as much as they can.” As a four year wrestling veteran, Duler believes that this is a team that “works hard and gets things done.” Last year the wrestling team placed second in MCALs and qualified for NCS. Duler wants to continue that success. “I feel like with this squad, we can definitely pull off first place in MCALs.”♦

Number of seniors lost by the boys’ varsity wrestling team that placed top 5 in MCAL’s.

Sports

Athlete of the Issue: Jaiana Harris Varsity Basketball Player & Rising Rapper

t has only been a few weeks since junior Jaina Harris transferred to Tam from Redwood, and she is already having an effect on school culture. She is a captain of the girls varsity basketball team and a rising rap star. “My mom wanted me to go to Tam freshman year, but I wanted a new start,” Harris said. After attending Redwood for more than two years she decided that it was time for a change. Before she transferred to Tam, Harris struggled academically at Redwood, and her mom suggested that she go to Tam. “I didn’t like the culture [at Redwood] and I didn’t feel like it was a place that I fit into,” Harris said. Many of the students she knows at Tam are friends and family members that went to elementary and middle school with her. “I want to graduate with the people that I went to school with,” Harris said. Consequently, it hasn’t been very difficult for Harris to make the switch to Tam and so far, she has enjoyed the atmosphere. “It’s a little more relaxed here, teachers aren’t always on your back,” Harris said. Along with her academics, one of the most important things in Harris’s life is basketball. “I didn’t play last year [at Redwood] because I tore my ACL so I had knee surgery,” Harris said, “Physically, it was a little bit hard for me to come back, but I had a college coach rehabbing with me so it wasn’t too bad.” When she has been on the court she has had a big impact. “I already got D1 college offers Kansas, Boise State, San Diego State, Wichita, Purdue, and Eastern Washington. Next year, after my travel season I’ll actually

by Misha Krivoruchko

start looking and committing around De- Dominic Bynum. “One day I was just at cember of next year,” she said. my cousin Dominic’s house and there was Harris has watched other teammates this beat, and we just started rapping to it,” go to Division I colleges to play for schools Harris said. Since then the video, filmed in such as Kansas and Cal. Most of the rec- Sausalito and Marin City has recieved over ognition Harris gets from division one col- 5,500 views. “We had a Count Up, and we leges is not through her high school basket- had a Count Up remix, and that’s what we ball team, but through her travel basketball did the video to.” team. This may be part of the reason that Jaiana Harris’ presence at Tam has she says she “[doesn’t] really stress about been noticeable. Her impression of Tam high school basketball.” has been more positive than negative and Harris is not surprised that she is being Harris says she hopes to continue at Tam. recruited. “Not to be cocky or anything, but “Its just a little different. Here, I have famI knew my talent would get noticed,” she ily on the team. [At Redwood], I knew evsaid. erybody.” However, Harris still wants to do her To read more about Jaiana Harris, flip best to earn a championship for Tam. “I to page 10 to read the cover story, which think we’re going to win MCALs,” Har- features her and her injury.♦ ris said. Over the past 10 years the girls’ varsity team has yet to win 20 of their 30 games. However this year a 3-0 start is putting them on the right track to win a championship, and Harris believes she will play a key role in that. “Last year, Tam was the better team, this year Tam is the better team. And me coming to Tam will hopefully make [Tam] a better team,” Harris said. Culturally, Harris has been having an impact on Tam with her music. Her song “Count Up” and the “Count Up Remix” have become popular among students of both Redwood and Tam. The song about count- WELCOMED BY TAM: Junior Jaiana Harris transing up money was a creation ferred from Redwood this year and now plays on the of Jaiana Harris and her cousin Tam girls’ varsity basketball team. PHOTO BY NICK GOLDMAN

Place of the Boy’s varsity basketball team at the Gold Dust Tournament in Placerville, CA.

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Number of goals scored by the girls’ varsity soccer team in their first two MCAL games. They allowed 0 goals.

Sports

from the archives:

October 1997:

October issue of â&#x20AC;&#x2122;97

Tam Students of the past celebrate the integration of internet jacks in every classroom. A feat of the future by their standards.

The Tam News Thanks Its Patrons Adrienne & Garrett Lawrence Alan Frankel & Lily Chen Allen & Lisa Preger Ana Levaggi Andrea & Jerry Lane Anne Courtney Annie Lazarus Arthur Antonio Barbara Bowman Barbara Laraia & Chris Pilcher Barbara Wingate Bill & Heidi Whalen Blake Sgamba Bryce Goeking & Tina Miyamoto Cabana Family Caroline Frost Catherine & Jim Long Chris & Kelly Haegglund Chris Hill Christine Hildebrand Chuck Gathard & Kay Arentsen Claudine Murray Cnthia Koehler & Gordon Renneisen Cole Jordan Connor Scutt Cynthia Stone Dale Rice & Jeff Johnson Daphne de Marneffe & Terrence Becker David & Leanne Hansen David & Stefany Harband David Furbush Dawn Dobras & Eric Swergold Dee Dee Taft Diana Coupard Diane Chang Diane Worley Donna Wenig Eric Lagier Ethan Moeller Fox Family Fran Chouchena & Stephan

Thomas Francia & Ian Grant Gary Ferroni Gillian & Richard Reilly Gretchen & John Boyle Hanna Ostroff Harold Ball & Amy Zimpher Heather Young Howard & Valerie Wynn Ingrid & Andrew Tolson Isabel Smoyer Jan Hiti Janie & Joe Karp Jeff & Tracy Brown Jennifer & Kyle Klopfer Jennifer Duffy-Bello Jim & Sally Simpson Jon & Gale Love Jonathan & Deborah Goldman Judtih Weaver & Steven Blackburn Julie & Tripp Taylor Karen & Steve Jaber Karen Benke Karen Fritz Kathleen Clifford & Bill Lampl Kathy & David McMahon Kathy Sonderby & Rich Ross Kelly & Dennis Leary Kerstin Bastian Kevin Head Kim & Vic Rago Labeeuw-Anderson Family LaDuke Family Laurel Johnson Lauren & Jerry Hancock Laurie & Ralph Eddy Liam Shore Lide Jordan Lisa Hukari Lisa Terry Lori & Mark Coopersmith Lowry Parko Family Lynn & Mark Garay Mara Brazer Marcie Meyers

Margaret Kirvoruchko Margie Herman Mari & Richard Allen Marianne Shine Mark & Shonalie Guinney Marnie Furbush Maureen Keefe Max Perkoff and Melanie Wice Perkoff MC Handsome Mcquaid Family Mia Krueger Micaela Breber Michael & Amy Thomas Michael & Ruth Chavez Family Michael D. Tadlock Michelle & Jeff Tripp Mike Webb & Patty Mullen Molly Baumhoff Molly Brown Nancy Conger Nessa Brady Nicola & Paul Stiff Pam Sowerby Patricia Prince & Leonel Figueredo Phyllis Manning Lee Pierre Levin Richard Rider Robert Schultz Rubens Family Ruth Ann Spike & Elliot Neaman Sam & Aaron Wall Sandy & Peter Goetz Sarah McNeil Sasha Faulkner Sharon Brusman Shawn Yarnell Steve & Jan McDougal Steve and Jan McDougal Steven Podesta Sue & Steve Weinswig Sue Oliver & Tim Pozar Susie Pung Suzanne DiBianca Tamara Goldman

Teresa McGlashan The Alamin Family The Allen family The Begler Family The Berlinger Family The Bishop Family The Boot Family The Ferro Family The Gant Van Vliet Family The Griffin Parker Family The Kiles Family The Korngut Family The Kuhn Family The Levine Family The Oliver Family The Parker Family The Parkin Family The Pulgram Family The Rose Family The Rosevear Family The Weisert Family Tina & Jeff Taylor Toussaint Family Trish Bernal Tristan Naramore Waluk Family Wei Yin Wong Wendy Tobiasson & Raoul Wertz Whitney & Peter Bardwick Wil & Barbara Owens Mary Anne Vorfeld Jim Finn & Janice Vorfeld Peter & Julie Butt Jennifer Oreste Erin Butt Caroline Donahue Sol Broner Maxine Bonnette D.M. Hanson John & Karen Sellick Marie Furtado Jerri Sellick

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