Tiger Newspaper March 2023

VOLUME 109 ISSUE 6 MARCH 16, 2023

IN

COMMISSIONER ELECTIONS MARCH WELLNESS ACTIVITY CAASP TESTING

ASB Commissioner candidates will be elected by South Pasadena High School students on Friday, Mar. 17.

The Wellness Center will be hosting a wellness activity during lunch on Friday, Mar. 17.

SPHS students will began administering CAASP standardize tests on Monday, Mar. 20.

WASC VISITS SPHS

PHOTOS SAMANTHA SHIROISHI

From Sunday, Mar. 11, through Wednesday, Mar. 14, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) made their periodic accreditation visit to SPHS. To contribute to their all-encompassing evaluation of the school, WASC toured campus, and talked to students and staff.

The scores in categories that WASC assessed were released Wednesday, Mar. 14, and their official designation will be released around July. Accreditation is a way for the state government to hold schools accountable for providing certain standards of education that adhere to federal and state guidelines. The highest ranking possible is a renewal of a six year accreditation visit with a mid-way progress report, which SPHS has not received less than in over 30 years. If the WASC Committee identifies significant issues, they may enact probationary accreditation and return within one, two or three years to ensure corrective actions have been enacted.

The preparation for this evaluation began over year ago when SPHS teachers Rama Kadri and Oliver Valcorza began to collect information for their comprehensive analysis of the school. As a part of this process, Kadri additionally hoped to use this report to discuss and have meaningful conversations about student socio-emotional health on campus.

“I think socio-emotional health is so important, and it’s such a big conversation in education right now… [being involved] was a way to have meaningful conversations about this; [about] what we could do to improve as a school,” Kadri said.

ELECTORAL COLLEGE

The analysis includes the formation of a student committee with student representatives to weigh in with their experiences at SPHS. After talking to stalkeholders, conducting surveys, and researching information about the school, Kadri and Valcorza drafted a report detailing over one hundred pages of information about the school.

“This just stands for a way for people to basically hold us accountable for the type of instruction we’re doing…it’s [also] kind of a way to celebrate the strengths that we have as a school, and the strengths that we have as a community,” Kadri said.

Throughout the days they are visiting, WASC will also pull students aside during classes to talk to them about their experiences at SPHS. WASC also will also take into account standardizing testing scores as part of their evaluation.

Valcorza and Kadri both viewed the WASC as a way of celebrating teacher and student accomplishment in addition to helping the school direct their attention to areas for improvement. The committee will validate or redirect the plans of action that Valcorza and Kadri have drafted, including proposals for a female security guard on campus and a short advisory period for students.

“[We] don’t pretend to be a school that is perfect, we know that there are things that we need to improve upon,” Valcorza said. “I do hope they get to see everything, because through that they will really see the amount of work, the dedication, the commitment, the hard work of all of our staff members as well as the great and outstanding work done by our students and [all] stakeholders in the community.”

PSYCHICS

Tiger explores the intersections of film and television in conjunction with mediums, psychics, and the supernatural as the industry preys on emotionally vulnerable clients.

Page 12 Page 15

THE

Community center hosts spring-themed clarinet concert

STORY LINDA YUN

PHOTO EMIKO (EMI) ESSMILLER

The Los Angeles Clarinet Choir (LACC) performed an all-Japanese composer program at the South Pasadena Community Room on Saturday, Mar. 11. The performance featured the works of Morita, Taruya, Sakai, Nakashima, and the West Coast premiere of “The City and the Glass Sea” by clarinet artist MICINA. Admission to the concert was free.

Founded in May 2005 by Southern California clarinetist and teacher Dr. Margaret Thornhill, the Los Angeles Clarinet Choir has a strong commitment to performing new, original music of unusual instrumentation. The ensemble features 14 clarinetists performing on sopranino, soprano, alto, bass, contra-alto and contrabass instruments.

“Incorporating other instruments has historically been a rarity with this group,” principal conductor Thornhill said. “Because there is such a big range from low to high [within the clarinet family], it can be used to create very satisfying combinations and sound different in different pieces depending on how the composer decides to implement those colors.”

Members of the ensemble are selected by audition and have college degrees in clarinet performance or the equivalent in college level music study. In past years, the ensemble has received critical acclaim, having been featured at five International Clarinet Association ClarinetFests.

The program incorporated traditional Japanese folk songs with contemporary compositions in time for the Cherry Blossom Festival in April. The concert began with a warm rendition of Sakai’s “Journey of Leaf”, depicting the playful falling of leaves in four distinctive seasons - autumn, winter, spring, and summer leading into a nostalgic performance of Morita’s “Offrandes aux Chansons Populaires.” Soloist David Myer performed an arrangement of Andy Scott’s “Fujiko” for the E-flat clarinet, followed by a recounting of traditional Japanese folk song “Sakura Sakura.”

After a performance of Nakahashi’s “Falling of the Seasons,” depicting the falling of leaves, snow, blossoms,

and sunlight in four movements, the ensemble debuted MICINA’s “Scene of the City and the Glass Sea.” Finally, the afternoon concluded with a lively rendition of Taruya’s “A Picturebook without a Picture.”

The ensemble is not a newcomer to the South Pasadena Public Library. In 2010, the group performed at the South Pasadena Eclectic Music Festival in the Community Room.

“The community room really has wonderful acoustics for us,” Thornhill said. “It has a nice high ceiling, lots of room for the audience, and beautiful letter glass windows behind us. It’s fun to play there.”

Originally scheduled for 2020, the concert was moved back in accordance with COVID-19 protocol. As the pandemic begins a return to normalcy, so has the regular concert season of the ensemble.

“My favorite part of this ensemble is that we all play the same instrument,” concertmaster Christen Hablewitz said. “Unlike an orchestra, it’s a band with the same timber – [which is] really beautiful because you all blend together really well, whether it’s a big or small clarinet.”

The LACC is now booking concerts for the 2023-2024 season. The ensemble’s upcoming concert plans have yet to be announced.

SPHS Writing Club organizes student-led book drive for Long Beach residents

“At Marengo we believe books are everything! They connect us to our imagination or our desire to expand on what we already know,” Lang said. “Whenever Marengo can, we like to share those experiences with others. That’s why we’re thrilled to collaborate with the SPHS Writing Club book drive.”

The books donated should be within the age appropriate range of kindergarten to high school level reading, since all books will be given to children or teens. The children’s books will go to Longfellow Elementary School in Pasadena. The older, Young Adult literature, will be donated to The Book Truck, a teen literacy outreach program that gives thousands of free books to foster care, homeless, and low-income teens throughout Los Angeles County and Long Beach.

Regan organized the book drive along with Kuhn and the officers of the club. They created the club for students who are interested in writing for all different genres and are passionate about improving their writing.

“The book drive is a way to share our love of reading and writing with kids,” Kuhn said. “I’m glad that there are other book drives going on at SPHS because they’re a great way to help out the community and instill a love of reading in kids which is so important.”

The SPHS Writing Club launched a student-led book donation drive on Monday, Jan. 16 of this year, where new or gently used books could be dropped off by students and donated to those in need.

Run by sophomores president Benjamin Regan, vice president Zoey Kuhn, treasurer William Chang, and freshman secretary Sonya Shimpock, the Writing Club has previously hosted author visits, including author and USC professor Percival Everett, who talked about his book, The Trees, at SPHS. Throughout the year the club regularly provides leisure writing activities and feedback on one another’s work.

The Writing Club was originally formed during the pandemic at SPMS, with the help of middle school librarians Betsy Khan and Rozanna Baranets, and later brought to SPHS.

Books can be dropped off in Room 121 with English teacher Diane Shires, where they will then be donated to Longfellow Elementary School and The Book Truck in Long Beach, CA. The donation drive was extended from Tuesday, Mar. 7 to Saturday, Apr. 30. The Writing Club encourages and reminds students to donate with the announcement and flyer posted on the Tiger Bulletin and their Instagram club account.

Holly Lang, a second grade elementary school teacher at Marengo, is contributing to the book drive with a donation bin in her classroom as well.

The Writing Club hopes to make a dent against book deserts and improve literacy among underserved communities. Kuhn hopes to raise enough books to make even the smallest difference in a person’s life, where they can find a book that will open the floodgates to the reading community as a whole.

“We not only teach literacy skills, we create the intrinsic motivation to read. Through our innovative programming, The Book Truck gets teens who have never picked up a book to start reading,” The Book Truck’s mission statement wrote. “Our goal is to break down as many barriers to reading as possible so that every teenager who approaches the truck feels like this is something for them.”

The Writing Club plans to next host author Joe Ide, who is planned to have an appearance in April of 2023 on the SPHS campus.

IN COLLABORATION WITH MARENGO ELEMENTARY, Writing Club officers and members host a student-led book donation for Long Beach children.

STORY MORGAN SUN

PHOTO EMIKO (EMI) ESSMILLER

The Los Angeles Clarinet Choir, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, performed an all Japanese composer program on Saturday, Mar. 11.

Denise Gill: Scouting scholarships for SPHS

Celebrating two decades as SPHS Scholarship Chair, Gill continues to find financial aid for students.

STORY JAYDEN TRAN PHOTO JAYDEN TRAN

SPHS English teacher Denise Gill has been coordinating student financial assistance as the head of scholarships on campus for 20 years. Since 2003, Gill has worked with several organizations throughout the local community to give back to the students during Senior Awards Night, set to take place this year on Wednesday, May 24.

Every year, Gill begins a small amount of the work in the fall semester, but continues a majority of the scholarship efforts in February. Annually, her duties include communicating with different groups in South Pasadena, discussing recipients with committees, and finalizing the program and presenters for the Senior Awards Night.

Gill works closely alongside groups such as the SPHS PTSA, the SPHS Alumni Association, and the Oneonta Club that have established foundational scholarships for students. The Alumni Association’s general scholarship and the several branching scholarships and the Oneonta Foundation letter and interview scholarship are commonplace and remain present every year.

“I feel like we have an unusual community in that there are always groups that want to offer financial assistance to our students,” Gill said. “When one scholarship opportunity expires or moves on, somebody else is always stepping in and adding one.”

Gill, after communicating with organizations and the student body of available scholarships, also leads the efforts of several scholarship committees on campus. Working alongside faculty and senior nominations, Gill heads the efforts of the Karen Offenhauser award that is given to one nominated senior every year.

Another campus award and scholarship effort led by Gill is the Weldon Fair Play Award; the award is given to six students, typically three boys and three girls. The Weldon Committee is formed once a year and chaired by Gill, including several members of faculty and staff alongside a group of five to six sophomores and juniors on campus that are nominated by teachers.

“Serving on the Weldon Committee is a fun and fulfilling experience because you can learn about the

efforts of students both on and off campus and hear more about our graduating seniors in a different light,” Weldon Committee member Maryann Nielsen said. “It’s a continual discussion where we celebrate students and talk about how great they all are coupled with a complicated voting system that can take several hours.”

After all award recipients and scholarship winners have been selected for the year, Gill works with several faculty members to establish a program filled with presenters for Senior Awards Night. While the entire night used to run for over four hours, recent changes to the slideshow and allotted time have brought the event down to two hours.

At Awards Night, seniors celebrate their successes and scholarships with one another as their peers are awarded; this event is one of the many events that signal the end of the year.

“Three of the awards honor young people who either my husband or I had taught during their time at SPHS,” Gill said. “Being in touch with those families is sort of a part

of that grieving process. Even if it’s been long, it’s special to be a part of that.”

The final aspect of scholarships rely on communicating with students and working with faculty on campus. Alongside James Jontz, the head of the Student Bank, Gill works to write checks and finalize envelopes for students to receive at Awards Night. She also handwrites postcards for students that are sent to families to alert them of their graduate’s reception of an award.

“At Awards Night, seeing everyone so happy and being handed money is nice to see. On the committee, we hope we can always spread the love and make sure a diverse range of students are awarded for their achievements through a variety of scholarships available,” Gill said.

Gill has scouted out several scholarship opportunities from the local community for the 2022-2023 school year. These scholarship applications can be found on the SPHS Tiger Bulletin, and Gill continues to update the awards document as she recruits more opportunities for students at SPHS.

Recent weather in the SGV

Facing wind, rain, hail, and most shockingly snow, San Gabriel Valley and its residents marveled at unprecedented weather in Southern California. Within the months of Feburary and March, South Pasadena and its adjacent cities reached lows of 48 degrees in what was considered a snow storm in the area. While the streets of South Pas were not sprinkled with snow, Pasadena, Claremont, and La Crescenta were among the cities that saw white floating down from the sky.

STORY MORGAN SUN & ROSE VANDEVELDE PAGE DESIGN ALLISON LEE & KAHLEN MIAO ILLUSTRATION ALLISON LEE

Residents of South Pasadena marveled a few weeks ago as snow-adjacent flecks fell from the sky. While not technically at freezing temperature, the weather phenomenon that occurred was undoubtedly a rare event.

According to the Pasadena Museum of History, the last time it snowed in Pasadena was Jan. 11 1949, 74 years ago. A picture of Stratford Ave., South Pasadena from the South Pasadena Library features the iconic California palm trees lining the street under a dusting of snow.

At an elevation of 659 feet, South Pasadena experiences, on average, zero inches of snow per year. The moment the snow started falling in South Pasadena, this average grew for the first time in 74 years.

Why climate change?

The San Gabriel Valley has experienced the lowest temperatures this winter in decades. The alerts for blizzard warnings, flood watches, and avalanche threats are startlingly unusual for Southern California, a region typically defined by its sunshine and temperate weather. Most storms travel down the Sierra mountains and lose moisture by the time they reach Southern California, but the incoming low-pressure systems have accumulated Pacific moisture as it moved down the coast of Canada. These strong winds and cold temperatures coming off of the Pacific ocean are recipes for blizzards in California.

The potential totals of snowfall in the mountains around Los Angeles are significantly greater than past years, with a forecast of nearly 100 inches of snow falling on Mt. Baldy — home to Mt. Baldy Resort, a ski retreat. Even places that don’t normally see snow should get some snowfall, including up to 12 inches at elevations between 2,500 and 4,000 feet, and up to 4 inches at elevations between 1,500 and

2,500 feet — roughly the elevation of the acclaimed Hollywood sign.

National Weather Service officials said that the winter of 1978-79 was particularly rainy, with 30% of the days in that time recording rain. Each rainy day averaged about 0.1 inches of rain recorded. In comparison, 2023 is at 20% of days with rain as of yet, with many of those days experiencing heavy downpour.

“What we’ve had this year is apparently similar to 1979. We’ve had a lot of systems dropping down out of the Gulf of Alaska area. Instead of moving quickly through our area like a normal cold blow will do — they normally move from west to east pretty rapidly — they’ve been persistent,” John Dumas, National Weather Service Science Operations Officer, said in an interview with the LA Times. “They’ve been hanging out in the area for quite a long time. It’s not just a California phenomenon, it’s gone on across the country. That’s why we’ve had some

long cold snaps, really long extended periods of snow or rain for the country.”

California has been in a water drought for years, but the storms that have brought extra snow and rain produce an additional 3-5 inches of water for the area. However, much of the state is not built to efficiently collect the run-off, hence an extensive amount of snow currently in California’s mountains will end up back into the ocean, rather than in storage for California’s population.

The highly volatile system will likely bring heavy rain, strong winds, thunderstorms and potential localized flooding to areas in the San Gabriel Valley. The National Weather Service has advised residents to avoid travel during any storms and to be prepared for potential power outages, downed trees and other hazards. While the storms currently pose an immediate threat to the safety of locals, they should be beneficial in the long-run for California’s drought recovery.

THE TIGER

ESTABLISHED 1913

CSPA SILVER CROWN 2021

CSPA GOLD MEDALIST 2019

CSPA SILVER CROWN 2018

CSPA GOLD MEDALIST 2017

CSPA CROWN AWARD 2016

CSPA GOLD MEDALIST 2015

CSPA GOLD MEDALIST 2014

CSPA GOLD MEDALIST 2013

CSPA GOLD MEDALIST 2011

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ANIKA EBBERT

MANAGING EDITORS

HANNA BAE, Print

ELSIE WATERS, Online

NEWS

KAHLEN MIAO, Editor ROSE VANDEVELDE, Associate

OPINION

MICHAEL MAYEMURA, Editor LINDA YUN, Associate

FEATURE

HANNA BAE, Editor ELSIE WATERS, Editor MORGAN SUN, Associate

SPORTS

BENJAMIN REGAN, Editor ETHAN KWAK, Associate

DESIGN

ALLISON LEE, Editor

EMIKO (EMI) ESMILLER, Associate ISOLE KIM, Associate

PHOTOGRAPHY

MICHELLE SHADMON, Editor

SAMANTHA SHIROISHI, Associate

COPY

KAHLEN MIAO, Editor

RALUCA TUDUSCIUC, Editor

STAFF WRITERS

CLEMENTINE EVANS ISU PARK JAYDEN TRAN

PHOTOGRAPHERS

SHIN-HYE (RACHEL) CHOI

EMIKO (EMI) ESSMILLER

ILLUSTRATORS

ETHAN LYONS

ELLA MIZOTA-WANG

GRAPHIC DESIGNER ELLIE NAKAMURA

BUSINESS AND ADS

ADA BORREDON REV BRICK

ETHAN LYONS

FACULTY ADVISOR

KAREN HAMES

VOL. 109 NO. 6 DISTRIBUTED ON MARCH 16, 2023.

DISTRIBUTION: 1477 STUDENTS; 70 COMMUNITY. 1600

COPIES PRINTED. DISTRIBUTED BY TIGER STAFF FREE OF CHARGE.

TIGER IS PRODUCED BY THE ADVANCED JOURNALISM

NEWSPAPER CLASS AT SOUTH PASADENA HIGH SCHOOL, 1401 FREMONT AVE, SOUTH PASADENA, CA 91030. LAYOUT AND PHOTO IMAGING ARE COMPLETED ON-SITE.

SIGNED ARTICLES APPEARING IN TIGER REPRESENT

THE WRITER’S OPINIONS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE STAFF, STUDENT BODY, FACULTY OR ADMINISTRATION OF SPHS. ORIGINAL STORIES WILL CARRY BYLINES, ALTHOUGH STORIES REWRITTEN BY ANYONE OTHER THAN THE ORIGINAL WRITER WILL NOT RECEIVE ONE. CONTRIBUTING WRITERS WILL ALSO RECEIVE ONE.

CONTACT THE PUBLICATIONS OFFICE AT (626) 441-

EXT. 2615 BETWEEN 8:00 A.M. AND 4:00 P.M. FOR

5820

ADVERTISING RATES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS. TIGER WELCOMES ARTICLES, LETTERS OR REBUTTALS FOR PUBLICATION IN THE PRINT AND ONLINE EDITIONS. ALL LETTERS MUST BE SIGNED AND VERIFIABLE, BUT NAMES WILL BE WITHHELD UPON REQUEST.

TIGER’S MISSION IS TO PROVIDE A RELIABLE NEWS OUTLET FOR SPHS AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITY. THROUGH A VARIETY OF COVERAGE, TIGER EMPOWERS/ENABLES STUDENTS TO THINK CRITICALLY AND CREATIVELY, COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY, SOLVE PROBLEMS, SET AND REACH GOALS, AND WORK COOPERATIVELY AND INDEPENDENTLY AS RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS. TIGER IS A FORUM FOR STUDENT FREE SPEECH, IN ACCORDANCE WITH CALIFORNIA ED CODE 48907.

ALL REMAINING CURRENT TIGER NEWSPAPER POLICIES ARE ONLINE AT TIGERNEWSPAPER.COM INCLUDING: CONFLICT OF INTEREST, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, CORRECTIONS, AND SOCIAL MEDIA.

STAFF EDITORIAL

OPINION

Uncovering blindspots in PE

Students call out PE, citing student rights and anonymous testimonies.

In the past five years, many physical education (PE) teachers at South Pasadena High School have left and been replaced. With a recent overhaul in staff, recent waves of complaints have flooded over. And, like all waves, they have subsided, altering the landscape and wiping all traces away.

For most students at SPHS, PE is not a question of why, but how it is implemented. The California Physical Education Standards are not at fault. It is no secret that PE has had a longstanding reputation as a “blow-off” class – a period that does not require much effort. However, in recent years, teachers at SPHS have tightened the expectations. Now, these standards have surpassed unreasonable.

Teachers utilize so–called “participation points,” which evaluate a student’s performance out of four points per period in the gradebook. The rationale behind this grading system is that all students need to do is follow instructions for an easy A. This criterion, which varies between teachers and is just one example, appears realistic and easy to accomplish.

“4 points per day x days per week 3 PREP -Prepared- RespectfulEngaged- Professional Dressed, on time, participating, good behavior/attitude.”

However, as many students have discovered, participation points do not address a significant blindspot: approved absences. Especially in the wake of COVID, rampant sinus infections, and everyday injuries, students find themselves confined at home for weeks on end. Instead of marking a gradebook entry as N/A, students return to school with glaring zeroes.

An anonymous student reported that they could not attend school for two weeks due to the flu. When they returned to campus, they held 5 “zeros” in the gradebook. As a teacher rationalized when confronted by a student who missed a single day from an injury, “Your future boss will not pay you if you

don’t come to work.” This idea is inherently flawed. The teacher rationalized that this rule would prepare students for the “real world.” Naturally, students want to know why points are being docked. This reveals another significant gray area that leaves students confused and grades at a perpetual decline. The run days, which are assessed on completion, raise unnecessary challenges for those with unique case by case situations.

“I had a cast on and couldn’t lift weights; he said that I wasn’t participating and that I wouldn’t get points for it … my lack of participation should’ve been excused by the medical note given by my doctor,” another student said.

One student, who was on their period, was not allowed to go to the bathroom despite openly bleeding through their shorts. The student was told that they could not leave the track until completing a mile. The ethics of this situation are bizarrely askew and are a testament to unethical teaching practices exhibited by PE staff. Official reports and testimonies filed by students have made little impact on the way PE operates at SPHS. A 2022 report called for SPHS administration to acknowledge discriminatory gradings on the basis of gender and ability, stating that such occurrences “violate our student rights and happen way too often.”

While it is difficult to prove gender discrimination in grading, several anonymous testimonies share a common trend: female identifying students are being singled out for what they wear. A single teacher, who will not be named, has called out students for wearing tank tops, which violates PE dress code, while failing to address male identifying students that violate the same rule.

These issues hinder the progression of education at SPHS and undermine the focus of physical education which is, as stated by CA.gov, “to develop fundamental and advanced motor skills, improve students’ self-confidence, and provide opportunities for increased levels of physical fitness.”

Boos & Bravos

Tiger’s cheers and jeers for the month of March

BOO to admin. Please let my mommy drop off my school lunch, please??

BOO to negativity. Life is a hoot and a holler

BOO to 2-in-1 shampoo. Your head and shoulders cannot possibly be... clean.

BOO to Joe Biden. He can’t even let us in to watch him talk very... very... slowly.

BOO to Beiber-Gomez drama. Like what even.

BOO to WASC. My teachers kind of care now...??

BRAVO to people going to the beach in winter. Hypothermia looks good on you.

BRAVO to Lauren DuBria. The teachers are like quintuplet family now.

BRAVO to Joshua Ou. You need a break, man.

BRAVO to the EEAO editing team. Five editors, Premier Pro, and a dream, just like Tiger!!

BRAVO to Kohakutou crystal candy. ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!

BRAVO to Jamie Lee Curtis. Nepotism at its finest.

PRO/CON: The tradition of Chalk Day

Chalk Day has been an upstanding tradition at SPHS where seniors draw art on campus related to their futures. Recent debates have emerged questioning the motives and the impact the event has on students.

Honoring student efforts and achievements at SPHS

Chalk Day is a senior event that takes place at the end of college decision season in April. Hailing celebrations for the end of their high school careers, seniors draw icons or mascots affiliated with their future in chalk and write their names under their art. Despite originally becoming a tradition for seniors attending a fouryear university, recent years have shifted to promote inclusion of all future tracks like gap years and military service. In the past two years, this tradition has clashed with the rise in mental awareness. With parents of SPHS spearheading the movement to end Chalk Day as an event, it is imperative that this tradition be kept to honor the individual successes of students who have worked throughout their high school careers to move on to their next chapter of life.

The origins of Chalk Day come from students themselves, not staff. Students want to celebrate their personal achievement and their future. The tradition is more than personal achievement and more than bragging; it is a place for seniors to appreciate where they will be going in the future and where they will find themselves moving on after the years they have spent in both high school and in South Pasadena.

STORY JAYDEN TRAN

ILLUSTRATION ELLIE NAKAMURA

In recent years, South Pasadena High School has attempted to rebrand the definition of success; administration and faculty alike attempt to champion student wellness both within the classroom and throughout campus. These changes have trickled throughout the school and into clubs and courses such as Challenge Success and Peer Mediators. Parents, staff, and students have worked to align these changes in all forms at SPHS. After success with reform of Saturday Schools, changes to viewing academic excellence, and more shifts throughout campus, the next item Challenge Success seeks to address is the senior tradition of Chalk Day.

With the expansion of students involved in Chalk Day, there have been boundaries set in place for students who are not interested in participating. Seniors are not forced to engage in any of the celebrations as is, thus providing all graduates the ability to either opt in or opt out. Furthermore, growth of the event has allowed for any future to be included in playing a part of the event. Last year, several seniors opted to draw airplanes to symbolize a gap year and others have chosen to draw makeup or electricity to represent trade schools. The evolution of Chalk Day has allowed for all seniors to be both included and involved, but also provided all seniors the opportunity to participate or opt out.

A driving argument that Challenge Success parents are using as a basis for their argument is that schools are in the process of moving away from college acceptance as a definition of success. Claims have arisen stating that Chalk Day is detrimental to the mental health of the

individual and visually seeing where people are attending college can create tension and turmoil for students. However, SPHS continues to publicize college commits — online through social media, in the final issue to Tiger Newspaper, in the Copa de Oro Yearbook on commit spreads — so arguments used against Chalk Day should technically apply to other traditions and college decision announcements on campus. However, this is the only tradition being called into consideration. While the event is a more visual approach to celebration of college acceptance, it is similar to the rest of the ways SPHS publicizes commitments: optional.

After four years of hard work and dedication at SPHS, the least students should receive is a day to celebrate their individual, cumulative achievements. Students have dedicated months of time volunteering for organizations, participating in extracurricular activities, furthering their academics, establishing athletic careers, and much more; their successes and resume itself are worthy of wherever they end up.

Students may not have gotten into their dream school, but that does not mean tensions should accumulate between themselves and peers that got into a college they were rejected from. Some graduates may seek alternate paths from the typical track of university that SPHS counselors and staff mainly promote, but that does not mean their peers should not be allowed to celebrate their successes and hard work. Ultimately, the issues that stem from Chalk Day are the fault of pressure to succeed and the individual drive of each student at SPHS.

A big complaint with Chalk Day is that students are perceived to be bragging about getting into better colleges, but the issue aligns with the stigma behind “attending a bad school” that is present at SPHS and rooted in the culture of America itself.

Rather than challenge an upstanding tradition, we should seek to address these perspectives from the beginning of a student’s high school career by having counselors and teachers build the mentality within students that college is whatever they make it as opposed to where they go.

Struggling to overcome the barriers of acceptance

STORY MICHAEL MAYEMURA ILLUSTRATION ELLIE NAKAMURA

In an effort to modernize the meaning of academic success, SPHS has shifted its focus from college admissions to future endeavors ─ or, so it says. As juniors and seniors prepare themselves for higher education, counselors have emphasized the importance of fit and practicality over prestige when it comes to selecting their future paths. And yet, the annual senior Chalk Day only serves to nullify the message championed by the school.

The very nature of Chalk Day is to celebrate the culmination of work and achievements a senior has compiled throughout their life by tying their activities’ value to the colleges one has been accepted into. More often than not, it neglects the darker aspects of the college admission process for a ceremony aimed at comparing academic success. It furthers this competitive tradition in South Pasadena to be the best and to one-up everyone else — gift-wrapping it into an all-inclusive daytime activity. It undermines the notion of best-fit in favor of impractical brand-recognition.

By now, most seniors are familiar with the convoluted mess that is so simplistically branded as “college applications.” Students are familiar with the countless hours endured studying for the SAT or ACT, the hours poured into high school classes to achieve a desirable GPA, and the sports or extracurriculars delved into in order to “round-out” ones’ application. It is these little discrepancies that highlight the systemic classism in the nation’s college admission process.

South Pasadena is known for its more affluent residents, but it is also home to many middle-class and lower-income families that are often overlooked. For the city’s more wealthy residents, students have access to resources their less-fortunate peers do not — resources such as SAT or ACT tutors or prep courses, college counselors who help polish up applications, or even the financial stability to afford attending or applying to certain universities. The unfortunate truth is more prosperous families provide more prospects for their students to succeed and attend prestigious institutions.

Now, this is not to say that lower-income students do not have the means to get into said colleges. It is just that income correlates to practicality. At the end of

the day, attending college is an investment — one that not everyone has the ability to partake in. Chalk Day merely serves as another way for the privileges of South Pasadena’s residents to surface. It is neither practical nor inclusive to boast and tie one’s future success to the colleges they attend.

In recent years, Chalk Day has made strides to be more accepting and embracing of alternative options. It has allowed students attending vocational schools to participate in the event, students can opt out of the event if they wish, and gap years are often depicted on the floors of the Tiger Patio. But that is the problem — Chalk Day was never meant to encompass these unconventional choices, it had to be added in. The hope that the tradition can continue to be altered, so much so, that its foundation as a college-centric event can be concealed is naive. At its very roots, Chalk Day still encourages students to stick to the norm, to attend a four-year college or university, and offers other options as mere exceptions.

The tradition sponsors this idea that one’s academic worth and accomplishments are indicative of the university or college they attend. It spotlights students attending schools like USC, Yale, Northwestern, Harvard, Northeastern, or UChicago because of their implications.

They imply a well-rounded student — straight A’s, captain of some sports team, who also managed something extraordinary in their lifetime — and places them on a

pedestal. It devalues the work of similar students who, for one reason or another, failed to be admitted into a university of similar standing.

As such, little value is ever placed in student health. The catalyst for the school’s shift in focus — from school prestige to school fit — was the detrimental effect that college admissions had on student health. It was the preconceived relationship between university and worth. Yet, in all its attempts to remedy this false-equivalency, the school seemed to disregard chalk day. Instead, it pursued this practice that only serves to exacerbate that mutuality — that places the weight of all one’s accomplishments in mere chalk on pavement.

In order to grapple with the changing definition of success, it is necessary for SPHS to alter its underlying attitudes towards college admissions; that starts with Chalk Day. There are a multitude of events that can be undertaken on campus in order to remedy the grossly apparent lack of recognition for unconventional avenues towards success.

One such event that has been carried out before is a career or college fair that promotes lesser known routes for the future. This fair could provide students a more holistic look into vocational schools, jobs that can be pursued immediately after high school, and other means to attain success than just through a 4-year college.

Voluntourists versus volunteers

The values that magnify Western saviorism in America are the reason you and your friends are in TASSEL.

STORY ISU PARK

ILLUSTRATION ELLA MIZOTA-WANG

In 2010, the earthquake that devastated Haiti became a project of large Western charities. The Red Cross launched a multimillion dollar relief aid to rebuild the damage. After roughly half a billion dollars were raised, six homes were built, and where the bulk of the money was spent has never been disclosed. It was a failure on part of its volunteers; an over reliance on “good-intentioned” foreigners who do not speak French or Creole. This is just one example of the voluntourist epidemic, which plauges impoverished countries, becoming trendy in Western media, and found its way into American high schools.

Voluntourism, a form of tourism where travelers do charity work, has become a huge facet of the Western identity. Traveling the world has allowed people with time and money to help the places they visit. Despite its seemingly ethical and righteous motivations, voluntourism fails to make any sustainable impact. A good example of this is South African “orphan tourism,” where volunteers act as caregivers. In turn, children are forced to cope with the constant arrivals and departures of volunteers and orphanages have taken to operating like businesses. These situations stem from constructs that have and will always empower Western superiority to a point of saviorism.

“The white savior industrial complex is not about justice. It is about having a big emotional experience that validates privilege,” Teju Cole famously Tweeted. Western saviorism embraces ethical urging but aims for surface level solutions. It is a space for Westerners to carry a

deep, pitiful sentiment for international poverty but not consider a past of Western foreign policy and what has explicitly created global wealth gaps.

Voluntourism is gaining more influence as younger people join the movement. Take SPHS’ Teaching and Sharing Skills to Enrich Lives (TASSEL) club. TASSEL was founded to “provide free, high quality English education to poor children in [the] rural villages” of Cambodia to help employment and overall education, an addressment of the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge and a push to rebuild the nation. The organization has spread its involvement into American schools, totaling 12 chapters nationwide. These volunteers can work as teachers and have the chance to serve in person over the summer.

There is no doubt that TASSEL has made its impact, particularly with their direct relief programs, but there is such little attention to how its volunteer system is also a perpetuator of Western saviorism, which, in this context, is counterproductive to their mission and to all volunteer service. On top of that, many Western areas including South Pasadena tend to quantify extracurricular work for the sake of status – or for high schoolers, for the sake of college applications – which goes to say how underqualified the weight of volunteers are. With all voluntourism, being privileged enough to travel the world does not in any way provide for the qualifications to be a volunteer.

It is difficult to come up with answers to world issues because of how deep they run, and maybe it is fair to say that volunteering abroad has helped some people. However, this form of service is worthless without

understanding how organizations have failed at their missions and how rich charities are only getting richer. Those who want to see change should start at a place of research, and this can progress to mutual aid and true community care. As young people with resources and opportunities, developing skills in this way is more effective and sustainable in the end. It is a volunteer’s job to serve what is possible and what is appropriate, not to turn the narrative into their own.

The Electoral College undermines democracy

Beyond this, the system and its reliance on a bipartisan majority actively detracts from democracy by discouraging eligible voters from voting in cemented Republican or Democratic states — evident in low voter turnouts in U.S. elections. A 2022 study by Pew Research Center found that, although there were 168.3 million registered voters, it accounts for only two-thirds of the total voting-age population and 72.7% of citizens of voting age. Since electoral votes are determined by population size and most states have a “winner take all” system in the College, states like California are categorized as “blue” states, because a Democratic leader has a clear lead in the state, as well as the Republican Party in such named “red” states.

STORY

HANNA BAE ILLUSTRATION HANNA BAE

In the 2016 presidential election, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton snatched the ballots and galvanized the American people, edging out Republican candidate Donald Trump by one million votes. Even so, Trump reigned victorious, serving as the 45th president of the United States — despite losing the popular vote. This stark divergence is accredited to a unique voting system that rules the United States: the Electoral College.

The Electoral College is a system that was founded on the basis of compromise. At the time of the country’s founding, industries and institutions divided the country between large and small states. It established a system of proportional representation, where the number of electors is based upon the number of senators and House Representatives a state is alloted. Each state elects a group of electors, known as a “slate,” who are bound by certain laws that specify their selection process and responsibilities. Many states employ a “winner take all” system where electors all cast votes on behalf of a state’s

HOT CAKES & HOT TAKES

MICHAEL MAYEMURA

Same America, Same Love

“We press play. Don’t press pause. Progress, march on!”: lyrics from Macklemore’s 2012 hit single “Same Love” that, oddly enough, still feel relevant over a decade onward.

And though I would like to believe that we have progressed since 2012 — that the incomprehensible homophobia that inspired this song had been a ruse — I am now confronted with the very real Tennessee law that has further suppressed the LGBTQ+ community.

popular vote. While the Electoral College has served as a means of balance, the practice only upholds outdated values in a modern government that does not look the same as it did 236 years ago, actively detracting from principles of democracy and expression.

The discrepancies enshrined within an election’s final decision for the President and Vice President of the US undermines democracy. In particular, as mentioned on the website of the National Archives, “if no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, the Presidential election leaves the Electoral College process and moves to Congress.” Logistically, this means that the House of Representatives would choose the President while the Senate would choose the Vice President; but there are nearly no guidelines on how the President and Vice President would be determined. This also runs the risk that candidates from opposing parties are elected since the process turns completely over to the dictation of those in Congress and widens the gap of expression. This is incredibly dangerous. The decision then falls into a closed off group with little to no outside input from the American people.

Despite its subtler tune (reminiscent of spoken word), “Same Love” manages to drown out Macklemore’s entire discography. There is just something magical about its melancholic melody that has safeguarded a message that we desperately need to revisit today.

It is shameful and despicable that I have to sit here and explain why certain people deserve rights. The recent Tennessee law criminalized “adult cabaret performances in public or in the presence of children’’ and “bans them from occurring within 1,000 feet of schools, public parks, or places of worship.” Lawmakers reasoned that if it was illegal for minors to attend a strip club, it should be illegal for children to attend “sexually explicit drag shows” — a euphemism for “we do not want our children to be turned gay.” That is the problem.

While it is easy to quickly label these conservatives as bigoted and ignorant to the realities of modern America, at the very root of their belief is fear and misinformation. There is this misfounded belief that one can “become gay” or that “it is just a phase” when that is far from the truth. Having spent most of my teenage years in South Pas, I have grown to support and appreciate the depths of the LGBTQ+ community. My friends — some of whom

This develops a sense of doubt in the power of a single vote because of such drastic majorities seen in “red” and “blue” states. There is a notion that the majority is already decided and one vote is not going to make a difference in the final election results. The election is consistently dependent on swing states, acting as battlegrounds where candidates target their campaigns. In these states, there is higher voter turnout in an effort to make a decisive decision democratically, since there is a perception that the election is incredibly close that pushes voters. The Electoral College’s dependence on swing states and bipartisan participation discourages the right to vote, a concept that is so heavily paraded in the United States.

It is evident that the Electoral College and the implications that accompany it are heavily flawed and founded off of outdated principles that do not apply to modern democratic practices. It is apparent that the need for an altered system is crucial and the current state of the union and its election process is in critical condition. Change is necessary to ensure that the chief of the people is indeed elected by the people.

are part of this vibrant community — have imparted their struggles and experiences with me. I have grown to understand that sexuality is not something definitive: it is not something that we can shove into a box. Sexuality is fluid and, as we grow more tolerant as a society, people grow more comfortable expressing themselves and uplifting others like them.

One of my favorite lines from “Same Love” was “No law’s gonna change us, we have to change us.” It is a line that still rings true in the modern day. The same Tennessee law that aimed at protecting children will only further harm them. The LGBTQ+ community in Tennessee — one that transcends age groups — will not “become straight” as a result of this bill. And the non-LGBTQ+ community in Tennessee will repeat this oppressive cycle founded upon ignorance and a lack of compassion for those with a different lifestyle to their own. No law can change who we love, but we can change who we choose to uplift. We can change how we view people with lifestyles seemingly different from our own.

Looking back it is funny. America the brave is still afraid of what we do not know.

More than COVID-19

California Legislation

California is officially unmasked. The pandemic wrought state of emergency began three years ago in 2020. California Governor Gavin Newsom ended the emergency proclamation on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

On the federal level, the White House plans to remove the nationwide state of emergency in May, along with funding for COVID-19 testing and other resources. During the pandemic, government agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made tests affordable and even free. New structures were erected, some online, and some in local clinics to support residents during the pandemic. Now all of these efforts are doomed to stall. According to the government, COVID-19 is no longer a threat to the daily lives of Americans.

However, new laws have been enacted to help ease Californians back into the lives they temporarily lost during the pandemic. California’s State Senate Bill 510, proposed in October 2021, will require insurers to continue providing funds for COVID-19 related procedures until the national state of emergency ends. State Bill 1478, proposed in November 2022, aims to keep over the counter testing available as well as Pavkloid, a therapeutic treatment for COVID-19, for those with insurance. However, these laws may not apply to those without health insurance.

Certain California cities, such as San Francisco, still have their own separate states of emergency. One of the greatest effects will undoubtedly be on households that have relied on food stamps from CalFresh, which has supplied 2.9 million families during the pandemic and is now withdrawing from $281 a month to as low as $23.

“There’s no way to overstate how devastating this is going to be. Families are going to see a dramatic and sudden drop in their food benefits at a time when food price inflation and the cost of living in California especially is through the roof,” said Becky Silva, director at the California Association of Food Banks, in an interview with KQED.

With an estimated 2.9 million families in California using food stamps from CalFresh, advocacy groups have proposed that the state incorporate a 2 billion dollar five month plan to “ramp down” food aid.

With the decline of food aid in California comes a procedure that requires the removal of members who lost qualification during the pandemic to Medi-Cal, a state implementation of Medicaid serving low-income families. This criterion was delayed by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act during the pandemic. Now three million people are at risk of losing their coverage.

Recently, California has faced the zenith of the uninsured percentage at seven percent, according to Covered California, the government health insurance company. Now health professionals urgently recommend Medi-Cal members to check their status to prevent people from being left behind.

An evaluation by the Biden administration predicted that 15 million people, or 15 percent of people enrolled, will lose their memberships to Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

These recent actions by federal and California legislation have catalyzed our return to “normal.” Ultimately, California has not just unmasked itself but also uncovered greater problems that undermine the foundation of our nation.

Perpetual effects

The COVID-19 pandemic never really ended. Not for me, and not the lower half of our faces, showing only the eyes. For the past eyes, and anything under the mask has become dangerous. The now the world seems to have gone back to “normal.”

Since 2022, the amount of people wearing masks has dwindled, holding a candlelight to the recoiling curse that was the pandemic. longer strongly recommends indoor masking, some teenagers provided, even throughout the darkest of days in quarantine. However, administration has announced the end of the nationwide state the emergency proclamation.

My family is privileged enough that the incoming food aid restrictions affect us, and the end of the pandemic brings only benefits. However, day — the numbers down about 75% from last year but nevertheless will continue to be exacerbated with the end of pandemic emergency by compounding the damage upon minority groups at risk. During Biden administration to design policies meant to bridge the gap testing, treatment, and vaccines.

The official end to the pandemic should not come with the administration must take this as a lesson to better the healthcare to the medical system during an emergency if the groundwork The policies put into place during the pandemic should serve Medicaid insurance coverage and larger Affordable Care Act subsidies. The end of the public health emergency is necessary; states end, policies to prevent COVID-19 driven inequities must be disproportionately by powerless communities. I may be merely people all around us depend on the action of the government. resources to good public health for all.

COVID caused confinement

I am like a clay pot, with the cracks in it that seems to continually Pasadena, as I explored the many facets of the city through boba pandemic hit, all I can recall are the cracks in my pot becoming Stuck at home with my family, I sought solace on the internet. invested in academics and extracurriculars to talk to people online. and forums, building a name for myself as an anime profile picture thought. Becoming closer and closer to people on the internet, who I would typically see everyday at school became an afterthought from the pandemic made me feel as though there was no effort remained outside of homework help and complaints for teachers.

Disconnecting from the real world because of the pandemic became family, I turned to relying on others online; probably never a smart socialization. My dedication and time to people throughout the Connection to others online challenged the growth of my personal online was the only way I could feel appreciated. My obsession away from my academics over the pandemic. It was through this the vulnerable.

The people I’ve met through my time on the internet during the now and back then, my friendships (which were skewed by a essays, asking for me to “give them a chance” only to identify outrageous amounts of time with them and away from others.

When myself and SPHS returned in person, I could not fathom without distance or a screen separating us was an atrocious socialize with my peers. It feels as though all my water in the through the cracks. As I have continued to grow and restore myself being painted over.

Kintsukuroi is the Japanese process of restoring broken pottery beautiful and rich filling. While my clay pot may have water leak supposed end to the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed me to restore

Three years after the initial lockdown, the pandemic has “ended.” In this issue, Tiger dives on a federal and state level, as well as the the past three years and

than a mask:

of the pandemic

not for the people I know that are protected by masks, hiding three years, the world has seen each other solely through the The lower half of each face was unwanted and went unseen, but dwindled, leaving a select handful still vigilantly wearing masks, pandemic. While COVID-19 cases have shrunk and the LA County no find themselves squeezing onto the security that these masks However, the end is not only near, but the end is here. The Biden state of emergency, and the state of California has already closed restrictions signaling the end of COVID-19 response acts will not However, nearly 500 Americans are still dying from COVID-19 per nevertheless dreadful. The toll of the disease is not spread equally and emergency measures. Pandemics tend to reveal social inequalities

During the height of the pandemic, these inequities prompted the gap in healthcare and allow most Americans to access COVID-19 endangerment of the lives of vulnerable groups, rather the healthcare system. There should be no need for temporary reform groundwork is set in place for all people to receive equitable healthcare. as a foundation for an improved system such as the expanded subsidies.

states of emergency cannot persist indefinitely. However, to that be put into place now before the burden of COVID-19 is held merely gripping onto my mask for my own stability, but the lives of It is not enough to end the pandemic — we must provide the

confinement online

continually be leaking. My home away from home became South boba outings with friends and library study sessions. When the becoming larger, wider, more prominent.

internet. I dedicated hours of my life that would typically be spent online. I helped build and invested my time into communities picture that played games and had moments of philosophical internet, I felt myself pulling away from my friends in real life. People afterthought that seemed to fade. In my mind at the time, isolation effort being made to keep our friendship a kindling flame that teachers.

became my downfall. Alone without friends, separated from my smart decision but something that became my main source of the country and world was jarring as time zones separated us. personal development. Becoming infatuated and relying on others for focusing on something manifested in others as I was drawn this that I would learn the hard truth: people take advantage of

the pandemic have continued to remain present in my life. Both delusional perception) became them asking me to write their identify their own sexual desires or identity, or asking me to spend

fathom how to properly interact with others. Talking with others atrocious thought that frightened me. Even now, I feel awkward as I the clay pot, my thoughts and feelings and words, seem to leak myself to what I once was prior to the pandemic, I feel my cracks

pottery and fine china with gold, repairing the jagged edges with a leak through the cracks, while my clay pot might boil over, the restore my cracks with gold and shine as I once used to.

Local COVID-19 protocols continue to soften

Tweaks in federal COVID-19 policy have made little changes in South Pasadena. The community remains largely unmasked as COVID-19 transmissions continue to plateau.

SPUSD continues to follow Los Angeles County Department of Public Health protocols, which are subject to change depending on public health conditions. Vaccines are available for anyone six months or older, while regularly administered ad-home kits have been discontinued thanks to declining transmissions. Masking, reporting, and isolation continue to be strongly recommended.

Since the city of South Pasadena does not have its own public health department, it defaulted to LA County’s COVID-19 emergency protocol throughout the pandemic. The county public health department’s reaches into every aspect of public health, including, businesses, tenants, and other protections, rendering it a relatively large entity.

On Tuesday, Governor Gavin Newsome ended statewide COVID-19 emergency protocols, furthering the nationwide streamline of a return to normalcy. Legislations following Newsom’s declaration of emergency set in March of 2020 are set to officially end on March 31.

The decision also aims to allow local agencies and local public health departments to prepare for the phaseout of the state’s emergency authority so as to ensure success in managing the COVID-19 pandemic without the availability of the additional authorities afforded by the state of emergency.

The Greater Los Angeles area has also experienced a steady decrease in transmission. On Thursday, Jan. 23, LA County officials relaxed their broad recommendations of indoor masking from “strongly recommended” to “optional.”

Despite the loosening of COVID-19 protocols, the county continues to uphold regulations to ensure the safety of its residents. State occupational health and safety rules still require workers who have been exposed to COVID-19 to wear masks at their worksheet for 10 days after their exposure. Recently infected individuals who have exited isolation after testing negative on a rapid test still have to wear a mask at work through the 10th day following onset of COVID-19 symptoms after initial positive test.

Since mid-November of 2022, when over 100 cases were detected in every 100,000 residents, cases have fallen significantly. Today, the COVID-19 level within Los Angeles County is considered “low” by the US Center of Control and Prevention.

Inaccuracies within reported cases have obscured federal and local COVID-19 data. The growth in popularity of at-home tests have left health agencies searching for adequate COVID-19 reports. However, the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NCSS) offers an alternative means of monitoring COVID-19 levels. By measuring the concentration of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater, NCSS provides an early warning of an up and coming COVID-19 wave within a community.

Next to Dockweiler State Beach on Santa Monica Bay, Los Angeles County’s Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant (HWRP) serves the country’s 4,000,000 residents. The plant observes a valley in the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 genes of all variants, coming in at around 120 PMMoV N, compared to the most recent relative peak that weighed in at 554.7 PMMoV N.

While COVID-19 cases are severely undercounted, unconventional forms of risk analysis help policymakers close the gap. As COVID-19 enters a new era, so will the people who adapt to it. The city of South Pasadena will continue to observe trends in COVID-19 transmission and ensure the health and safety of its residents.

the state of emergency of the COVID-19 dives into the implications of the pandemic the overarching effects on individuals over and in the coming “end”

STORY ETHAN KWAK, MORGAN SUN, LINDA YUN, & JAYDEN TRAN

FEATURE

Charlotte’s Web CHARLOTTE DEKLE

Since March is Women’s History Month and I have exhausted all other avenues of expressing myself in written-form, I will instead focus this column on a misunderstood woman, Daisy Buchanan from The Great Gatsby.

In the article “Nick Carraway is gay and in love with Gatsby” that Mr. Afram’s AP Lang class dissected after reading the seminal classic, author Greg Olear goes on a bizarre tangent about Daisy, calling her a “piece of sh*t.” Not only is this language completely inappropriate, especially in scholarly contention, it also reveals the blatant double standard in discussions of Ms. Buchanan.

To give context, the Great Gatsby takes place in 1922 — two years after (white) women were granted the right to vote in the ratification of the 19th amendment. Daisy did not grow up in this world of proto-women’s liberation. As a woman in the early 20th century, a wealthy marriage was the priority. Hence, despite her love for the eponymous Jay Gatsby, her marriage to the old-money philandering Tom Buchanan.

The Shortsightedness of AI Music Recommendations

AI generated music recommendations are rabbit holes in infinite cycles

STORY ETHAN KWAK ILLUSTRATION ISOLE KIM

The most prominent AI music recommender is Spotify, with 205 million premium subscribers. Originally launched in 2006, the music platform set out to revolutionize music, introduce new artists, and create a “thriving ecosystem of creativity.” With personalized playlists such as Discover Weekly, premium users receive AI generated music recommendations on a daily basis.

The evolution of music has most notably included the development of records and compact discs (CDs). Of the two, records have experienced a recent upsurge in collectors. Now heralded as the latest music trend, most self-proclaimed audiophiles gush on about the increased sound quality, aesthetic, and retro vibes. Digital streaming has opened gateways that previous iterations of music listening could not.

Before the age of online music recommendations, enthusiasts read liner notes and the backs of records. We flipped through now defunct copies of Trouser Press, hoping to find the next addition to our collections. Bargain bins were a paradise for those willing to search deep enough. Now it takes a single click to be redirected to new artists. Even so, there is a limit to what Spotify can recommend for users.

I have had to continuously create new accounts and like different songs to discover something new. Eventually, I return to the same bands and the same tired algorithm. After thousands of songs and hundreds of albums downloaded, it pivots, faces the road, and retraces its steps. Spotify guided me through phases of prog rock, power punk, electronic, alternate folk/country, rap, and now anything indie.

With a burgeoning interest in punk subgenres, particularly in the punk and folk vein of Link Wray, I started my second account last year. I discovered raucous cowpunk acts such as Jason and the Scorchers but also

the derry-pop punk band Undertones. The Undertones’ slight connection to That Petrol Emotion developed my interest in 90s electronic/dance, swapping my fixation with punk to folktronica pioneers such as Beth Orton. I purchased my first record in 2020, a first pressing of Private Eyes by Tommy Bolin. His avant garde and bluesinfluenced guitar led me to Les Dudek, Jethro Tull, and Rory Gallagher, among others.

But records can be an expense. Especially the player, which is a hefty investment. With Spotify no longer pushing the boundaries of my interest, I turned to compact discs. In America, used CDs are dirt cheap, drop proof, and made of plastic with a half life of 50,000 years. And largely unappreciated.

In the SP Public Library, between hour–long math study sessions, a quick browse between the 50 cent last chance CD collection has introduced me to artists beyond the usual mix of pre-2000s music. I pick a title, download it on my Spotify account, and listen between pages of blank worksheets. So far, I have discovered the intricate guitarworks of Angolan composer Waldemar Bastos, the clean pop hooks of Aimee Mann, and the whiny synth of Warren G, to name a few.

I have no filter; no means to judge, other than the literal cover. Spotify music recommendations pass through a gridwork of personalization. The music you hear is exactly what Spotify wants you to listen to based on a plethora of checkboxes. After I started liking random songs from the library on my account, I started getting less and less personalized recommendations.

Spotify music recommendations are the most comprehensive way to find new music online today. Despite my discoveries on physical formats, Spotify has shaped the way I think about music. I still believe in the merit of records and compact discs, despite being less accessible. For the explorers out there, a quick trip to the library or temporary deviation from the online rabbit hole may yield eye-opening discoveries.

Olear chooses to ignore this contextualization and skip right to the timeless misogynistic vitriol. He derides Daisy’s character by stating that “[she] marries Tom, whose hateful and racist rants she permits.” Notice how this sentence is not a clear admonishment of white supremacist Tom, but reframes the relationship with the onus on Daisy. It is not a sin that Tom is hateful and racist, but that Daisy allows him to be.

The clearest way to understand Daisy’s character is her famous quote, “I hope she’ll be a fool — that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” Although Daisy is referring to her daughter, it also perfectly encapsulates her mentality. She has grown up in this society where she realizes that women must stay subservient to their husbands. This line signifies that she is fully aware that she does not have the upper hand in her marriage, meaning that she must stay oblivious to Tom’s rendezvous, as it is the safest way for her to live. The best thing she can do in her life is to have fun and stay a fool. Instead of taking this as a cry for freedom in a world that seeks to trap her, Olear takes her literally and states that “she has no job, no discernible skill (unlike her BFF the professional athlete), and her life is one of complete leisure.”

Moreover, Olear revels in comparing Daisy to “her BFF the professional athlete” Jordan Baker. Setting the inherent misogyny of comparing women with different goals in life and determining one as superior aside, not every woman in the 1920s can be witty and independent Jordan. Daisy does not have the freedom to be sexually promiscuous without being derided by men like Olear stating, “As soon as Gatsby reveals his ardor, [Daisy] goes off with him, betraying her husband.” So Daisy refusing to permit her husband’s behavior is now seen as a disgraceful action.

Obviously, Daisy is not perfect. Her murdering Myrtle (her husband’s mistress) is evidence enough of that. But taking her character out of historical context and castigating her on an unrelated tangent is reprehensible. Daisy is not a “piece of shi*,” at least not more than her husband. The truth is that Daisy Buchanan, just like any human, is flawed. But reprimanding her for occupying the limited role afforded to her and chastising her for being human is misogyny.

Gidra: a monthly of the Asian American community

What a student-run zine did for Asian Americans and the legacy of Asian American radicalism.

STORY ISU PARK ILLUSTRATION ELLA MIZOTA-WANG

In April of 1969, a group of Asian American UCLA students independently launched Gidra, a zine for the Asian American youth community. Under the surface of the mainstream Civil Rights era, empowered revolutionaries and radical groups began to gain more influence and spread their missions for anti-conformity and self-determination.

These movements were voices for the un-represented and their legacy lives on through print. Despite a significant impact that zine culture had on Asian activism, perpetual struggles of Asian America continue to be overlooked, and tributing a forgotten tradition of Asian American radicalism is the answer.

Gidra printed from 1969 to 1974 in Los Angeles, California as a student-run start-up. After being rejected by UCLA administration, young writers pooled their own money and resources into funding the paper themselves. Founder Mike Murase, a Japanese-American UCLA student, and an anti-hierarchical staff of writers wanted to create a space for young Asian Americans to explore and reclaim their cultures and identities. The zine quickly became a database of Asian political art and the spread of accurate Asian American cultural knowledge. Issues came out monthly, filled with interviews on Asian revolutionaries, notably Black Panther member Richard Aoiki, comics that satirized anti-Asian racism, and commentating on war machine complicity. Additionally, each print contained powerful personal narratives directly from the community. As one of the only voices for Asian America at its time, Gidra is arguably the most influential Asian American zine to ever exist.

Like virtually all periods of American history, Asian Americans were neglected as valid people and citizens throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s. All Asian Americans became targets of xenophobic violence and politics during and after the Vietnam War.

It was this, coupled with a growth of civil rights activism, that forced many Asian Americans to completely reassess their racial identity in what white America has done to Asian skin. The movement for Asian American

civil rights emerged in the late 60’s, strongly rooted in Black revolutionary thought (i.e., influence from the Black Panthers and Black women of color feminism). Although situations for Asian Americans have evolved into different contexts today, misunderstood concepts of Asian America linger both culturally and politically. Just this year, two shootings have plagued California Asian American communities at Lunar New Year festivals; in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay, respectively, bringing on fear of future anti-Asian violence and trauma of 2021’s spike in these hate crimes.

The lack of attention, representation, and credit for Asian Americans throughout the country’s past is entirely the reason for this continual vulnerability of Asian American communities, also widening a divide within these groups. The misconception that Asian Americans have and maintain a complacent history has only covered Asian struggles with indifference. Nonetheless, some have taken to the strategies of historical radicalism to empower community love and Asian culture today.

Gidra was reestablished in 2019 by permission of some of its original members, and now continues as a tribute through digital platforms as The Return of Gidra, published in Koreatown, Los Angeles. Gidra’s legacy lives on as a unifier of Asian American radicalism, and an honor to the underrepresented Asian communities across the country and across the globe.

Perpetual Asian and Asian American targeted violence and hate needs the lessons of those past movements; that there is nothing more powerful than coming together. Seeking truth from respective communities and honoring the redemption of true and accurate history is the backbone of all revolution.

To quote the Gidra platform, “We are multi-generational. We honor our ancestors. We are here, because they were here. Words and art are not neutral. We work to be together.”

All original copies of Gidra can be accessed online in the Densho Visual Repository and issues of The Return of Gidra are available at their website, gidramedia.com.

Red Moon In Venus is a transportive tribute to romance

STORY ELSIE WATERS ILLUSTRATION ELLIE NAKAMURA

Kali Uchis has carved out a distinct space for herself within the R&B genre over the span of her decade-long career. She has crystalized a distinctly lush and evocative sound that highlights her commendable, siren-like vocals. Since releasing her debut mixtape in 2021, Uchis has maintained consistency in creating music that feels intimate and secretive, yet empowering through the star’s embedded confidence. Released on Friday March 3, Uchis’s latest album, Red Moon In Venus is no exception to this trend.

The record is transportive as Uchis has seemingly constructed a world of her own to place her songs in. This is a world of pure love and passionate vengeance all draped in the allure of Uchis’s glamorous vocals — it promotes an outlandish listening experience. And through it all, Uchis maintains an intentionality in the delivery of her tracks. Red Moon In Venus is an ode to love, upholding themes of desire, lust, and romance so often employed by Uchis. Each track seems to detail a new love story, or Uchis’s personal insight on love through sultry vocals and lyrics. Uchis established this goal with an interview with NPR.

“[It is a] very romantic album. Erotic, some might say,” Uchis said. “That was definitely what I wanted to get with the album. I wanted to put more love into the world. And yeah, what the world needs now is love.”

This intention is received from the get-go. “...in My Garden,” is the introductory ballad to the album, relaying a short message from Uchis, “Hello/Can you hear me?/I just wanted to tell you, in case you forgot/I love you,” delivered through a voicemail-imitating effect. The words are spoken and Uchis voice, soft yet assured, introduces an air of intimacy the album is grounded in.From this track, the sounds of smooth, echoed vocals, distant wind-chimes, and birds singing bleed seamlessly into, “I Wish You Roses,” the primary single released prior to the album.

The track features repetition of alluring comparisons between Uchis and flowers on top of an enchanting melody. However, beyond the trance of optimism and well-wishes lay Uchis more ominous intentions. “With pretty flowers can come the bee sting/ But I wish you love, I wish you well/ I wish you roses while you can still smell them.” This balance between a lovesick and slightly more threatening tone is key to Red Moon In Venus. Uchis reveals the nuance of her themes, addressing the conflicting emotions that accompany romance and relationships.

“Something very important for me was showing all thdifferent dimensions of love - so, like, you know the downs and the ups and the times where you’re at peace, the times where you’re in pieces, all of it,” Uchis said.

Such intentionality fosters authenticity, setting a foundation of reality and logic that allows the space for Uchis to create

a world of her own. She creates love songs like “Endlessly,” to entrance listeners to the mystique of love, “Love you endlessly/ You, endlessly, consistently, that’s all I want” and immediately follows it with, “Moral Conscience.” This song is darker, full of warnings and promises of karma, devoted primarily to the phrases, “When you’re all alone, when you’re all alone/ You’ll know you were wrong/ You’re gonna feel it… Everyone’s replaceable,” against a steady beat that allows Uchis to feature her commendable vocal range. Tracks such as “Moral Conscience,” highlight the anger and bitterness which accompanies the pain of love lost.

Listeners can observe the shift from a tone rooted in expressions of love gradually turning darker and vengeful. Admissions of adoration and devotion begin to morph into the manifestations of Uchis past scorns. Beyond her lyricist capabilities, the sound that Uchis presents is one of the dominating reasons as to why her music is so enthralling. Listening to this album is an immersive experience. Highlighting sounds from the natural world and using them to propel her own vocals creates an atmosphere for her music to be received. From low, intimate vocals to high-pitched notes, Uchis commands her audience’s full attention.

At its core, Red Moon In Venus is an escape to a world that feels entrancing and fantastical. The stories and warnings and ballads that Uchis presents are as captivating as her wonderful vocals.

Film festivals fall short with poor conduct

STORY MORGAN SUN

ILLUSTRATION ELLA MIZOTA-WANG

Film festivals once appealed to the common person, generating an enjoyable day out with friends or family to binge movies back to back. They have been a significant part of the film industry, especially for the budding filmmakers hopeful to break out into the business.

The top tier events such as the Sundance Film Festival or the Berlin International Film Festival have a constant stream of reporters publicizing the new movies with significant producers attending the fair. The event provides aspiring creators with collaboration and networking opportunities, but only in the rare festivals that provide true media coverage.

Websites such as FilmFreeway, an online festival submissions platform, supply countless occasions for filmmakers to publicize their movies and gain feedback or recognition. However, the lenient regulations allow many postings to become “pseudo-festivals” — a mere scam for hosts to glean money from small producers.

Film festivals have sparked widespread controversy in the movie industry when most obscure festivals do not supply proper attendees and force creators to spend thousands of dollars on wasted opportunities with flimsy foundations. High costs may be universal to all

film festivals of any pedigree, not just of the unknown, but if the participating filmmakers choose to pay for “optional” fees for increased perks in smaller festivals, they find most benefits lacking.

These small festivals are flourishing thanks to the hundreds of dollars each individual filmmaker is willing to spend on submissions alone. There is no guarantee on being accepted, but if they are allowed to showcase their movie, producers must then book travel and accommodation expenses to the festival out of pocket. To capitalize on profit, the host serves up an increasing array of costs that are rarely mentioned in the application — promoting the film, taking part in workshops, going to awards dinners and even simply seeing other creators’ films.

The Nice International Film Festival, attended by Australian filmmaker Claire J. Harris in 2018 with her feature Zelos, fell into the category of making money off of vulnerable upstarts. Harris bought into all of the optional expenses and each one did not match her expectations. Promotion of the film, costing a fee of hundreds of dollars, consisted of a small poster hanging in the hotel hallway. Each screening took place in a conference room, where a projector played movies backto-back every day with no public audience. Attendance was scarce, and the acclaimed awards dinner had what surmounted to essentially be participation awards.

Various filmmakers encountered the same issue in separate festivals, and it will only become more prevalent unless the online websites used to market film events create a vetting system to distinguish the security of the festival. Even within the high-quality genuine festivals, the demographic of the attendance to each movie conflicts with the true audience that will authentically watch it. Most, if not all, of the attendees at every film festival are either the screenwriters themselves, or public media and independent self-proclaimed critics. When a movie is released to the public, audience opinion is generally conflicting with the opinion of attendees at film festivals. Visitors explore the film festival through the lens of either networking with industry giants, or critiquing the movies. On the contrary, authentic audiences view the movie organically with emotion rather than analytically with pedantic interpretations. Film festivals began as a delightful event to showcase blossoming filmmakers, but has gradually turned sour in its attempt to expand. Festivals have no statute in place to protect the creators, and some moneyhungry hosts actively take from small-time producers. Potential distribution and investment opportunities are important for independent filmmakers to make a break in the industry, but the superfluous film festivals are not providing the space for consumers and creators alike to obtain the interconnection needed to thrive.

Psychics prey on vulnerable people for money

STORY CLEMENTINE EVANS

ILLUSTRATION ISOLE KIM

The $2.2 billion psychic industry has roped in believers and continues to swindle gullible people to follow and have faith in their “abilities.” Psychics, with their readings that are “hot” and “cold,” prey upon vulnerable people who are highly suggestible.

One of the main techniques that psychics use is cold reading. Cold reading is fundamentally taking highprobability guesses about a large group of people. The secret and “science” behind cold reading is the broad generality—the question with high probability to elicit a response from an audience member. Interestingly enough, when these psychics do inevitably make errors during a cold reading, it seems to be that that energy is conveniently coming from somewhere else in the room.

The second technique for psychics is hot reading. This method requires the psychic to do prior research about a person before reading them. Psychics will research clients they know they will be reading or will have an interview with. Hot reading and cold reading are two methods that do not generally harm people who are being read, but when psychics target vulnerable people, that is when the danger of psychics truly arises.

Tyler Henry, from the show Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry, used the technique of hot reading on former Today show host, Matt Lauer. Henry read Lauer and provided insight through his description of seeing an older male in alone in a fishing boat. Visibly stunned, Lauer then expressed that his father shared two passions with him: golf and fishing; and that whenever he goes fishing, it is “incredible” that it could be a time to communicate with his father.

To the audience, it seemed that Henry was truly accessing the afterlife. But more realistically, Henry most likely researched Lauer’s personal life and hit the jackpot with links to interviews and articles where Lauer mentioned fishing with his dad.

Although some may argue that there is no harm in allowing psychics to tell people that their deceased relative loved them, it is at best careles to let a stranger ventriloquize the dead. Death and mourning are difficult

and complex, and everyone has different ways of going through the healing process. At its worst, when psychics’ abilities seem authentic and genuine on TV, it can encourage a society of parasitic vultures to feed off the tragedy of others. When children go missing, parents are in their most vulnerable mental state. Psychics will be yet another problem these parents have to cope with. Parents are overwhelmed with phone calls and unwelcome visits to their homes by psychics promising to find their child for a fee.

Psychics are provided platforms for their smoke and mirrors by desperate TV show hosts willing to do anything to increase their show’s ratings. The Montel Williams Show would regularly feature a psychic named Sylvia Browne. Browne would make predictions for the

upcoming new year, as well as give parents “advice” on their missing children. Although Browne made false predictions for parents and was directly responsible for the heartbreak and anguish she has caused those parents, Montel Williams also bears responsibility for giving her the literal stage from which she gave performances of deception and fraud.

Daytime and reality shows continue to showcase psychics and their so-called powers. This gives audiences the impression that what these psychics are doing is acceptable and legitimate, when it is nothing more than ghoulish actions. Psychics and talk show hosts hold equal blame for creating and compounding unnecessary trauma to bereaved parents and those who have lost loved ones.

Film festivals no longer perform up to par with their purpose and filmmakers are left scrambling for publicity.

TAAGLAA: La Laguna Playground

TIGER’S AWESOME ADVENTURES IN THE GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA

STORY BENJAMIN REGAN

PHOTOS SHIN-HYE (RACHEL) CHOI

La Laguna Park in San Gabriel, also known as Monster Park, is home to 14 concrete structures for kids and families to enjoy. The park opened in 1965 and it has not been altered or updated since, aside from recent renovations. La Laguna is recognized as a local, state, and national landmark and has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

La Laguna is not an ordinary playground. It does not comprise of the expected monkey bars and sliding pole. Instead, one feels as though they’re walking into a story, a land filled with creatures and monsters.

Tucked between the local Little League field and McKinley Elementary School, La Laguna Park invites children to play on its monster-themed structures and its sandy floor. With a lively atmosphere alongside a gazebo and a wooden platform for parents to congregate, La Laguna is surrounded by glistening green trees and shrubbery.

When one enters La Laguna park, they will set their sights on a variety of concrete sculpted structures for kids to play on. At the entrance, a blue-and-yellow snail, roughly ten feet tall with its eyes extending out of its head, greets visitors. Kids climb up the shell of the snail and ride the built-in slide. Next is a starfish, its tentacles curling up to the body so kids can sit on top. An array of brightly colored dolphins give way to the main attraction of La Laguna: the dragon slide. There is a concrete foundation and steps leading up to the slide. Kids slide on the tongue of a dragon, sliding down to the sand and eagerly sprinting up again to ride it again.

In the center of the playground is a sea serpent whose body is coated in scales. There is another dragon slide on the

opposite end of La Laguna park. The dragon curls around a lighthouse and kids walk up through the lighthouse stairs leading to the top of the slide. Additional pieces include Ozzie the Octopus, a whale containing a slide, a seal, and a shipwreck. Each structure flows together, connecting to a common theme and giving kids a unique and gratifying experience.

Eloy Zarate, professor at Pasadena City College, has been coming to La Laguna park since his childhood. He lobbied to save La Laguna park when the city threatened to demolish it in 2006. Zarate and his wife Senya Lubisich, professor at Citrus College, now run the Friends of La Laguna non-profit.

“I grew up in San Gabriel Valley, my entire life has been tied to this park. All our birthday parties were here at monster park, and we’d come once or twice a month just to play,” Zarate said.

The park was built and designed by Mexican sculptor Benjamin Dominguez. La Laguna was Dominguez’s last ever project. Born in 1894 in Guanajuato, Mexico, Dominguez came to America in his mid-50s along with his 11 of his 13 children.

“The Benjamin Dominguez experience is representative of a certain period of time. He really does fulfill the promise of what this country is about, he comes as a 56 year old to a new country, doesn’t speak a word of English, and makes a life,” Zarate said.

He began his work in El Paso, Texas, becoming a master craftsman turning concrete into whimsical creatures. After gaining traction, Dominguez moved to Las Vegas and started working on bigger, more ambitious projects.

“Dominguez, when he got to Las Vegas, began thinking about what would be most appropriate for kids in terms

of how sharp things would be,” Zarate said. “[At La Laguna Park] you’ll notice there are no sharp edges; everything is curved, smooth, inviting, there’s nothing that is pushing you out.”

In 2006, the city of San Gabriel declared that La Laguna Park would be torn down. Zarate, who has been going to La Laguna for over 50 years, wasn’t going to let the park be replaced. Zarate traced Dominguez’s journey and realized that the park had to be saved in order for Dominguez’s story to be remembered. Dominguez is now celebrated for his work on playgrounds.

“We found his drawings, and this park, every single plant that has been placed, it’s all there for a specific reason. This is [Benjamin Dominguez’s] vision, and from the very beginning, it’s been about Benjamin Dominguez, keeping him and his influence alive,” Zarate said.

The preservation effort was gaining steam for the Zarates. The turning point in the fight to save La Laguna was when the organization received a $75,000 grant from the Annenberg Foundation and entered negotiations with the city.

Once the community was assured that La Laguna would remain, a rehabilitation project was undertaken in 2012 to add a wooden platform for people to sit and look out on the park. One noticeable trait of La Laguna is that it looks natural and raw – there is no unnecessary padding or modern safety features. While some could interpret this style as dangerous, La Laguna is a child’s dream of adventure and exploration.

“The people that come to this park are walking into a time capsule,” Zarate said. “It represents an entirely different way of parenting, because a lot of parents that come here now just see the risks and hazards, but in actuality, this space is meant for parents to watch their kids.”

BUILT MY BENJAMIN DOMINGUEZ IN 1965, La Laguna is home to unique pieces shaped like monsters for kids to explore.

WATERS, EMIKO (EMI) ESSMILLER, & HANNA

The UCLA v USC Rivalry, as shown in South Pas

STORY BENJAMIN REGAN ILLUSTRATION

ISOLE KIM

S ophomore twins Charlie and Gabriel Vogel take largely the same classes, play baseball for the South Pasadena High School, and listen to the same music. When it comes to their collegiate allegiances, however, the Vogels couldn’t be more different. C. Vogel supports the University of Southern California (USC), cheering for the Trojans every Saturday during football season and rooting for USC in basketball and baseball. G. Vogel, naturally, had to go the opposite route. G. Vogel represents the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), rocking UCLA’s gold and blue. The Vogels’ mother attended USC for graduate school and their father went to UCLA for law school. Each twin had to pick a different side.

“I think it was the idea of having my own thing to like that wasn’t shared by Charlie, and of course I had to oppose Charlie,” G. Vogel said. “I’ve been a UCLA fan and Charlie a USC fan for as long as I can remember.”

Many households in South Pasadena like the Vogels are split between UCLA and USC. With UCLA and USC taking the spotlight as one of the main college rivalries in the country, many kids aspire to go to one of the universities from the time they start elementary school. Both the academic and athletic side of the schools are held to and measured against the other, setting the standard in Southern California. UCLA and USC are seen as these pillars of collegiate education in California, and from a young age, most kids have chosen whether they will be a Bruin or Trojan. If you live in Southern California, you have to support one or the other.

USC was founded in 1880 as a private university, almost 40 years before UCLA established its original four towers in Westwood in 1919 as part of the public UC system. Located just 12 miles apart within Los Angeles, UCLA and USC were destined for opposition. The rivalry was kickstarted in 1941 when USC students stole a 300-pound bell from UCLA’s campus. Since then, the winner of the team’s annual football game has been awarded the Victory Bell. The next prank of note between the Trojans and Bruins occurred in 1957, when UCLA students planned to hold up cards at their football game against USC that spelled out an anti-USC message. USC students, catching

word of this plan, altered the cards so the UCLA students displayed an anti-UCLA message instead.

The rivalry extends far beyond the football field and baseball diamond, even into the classroom. In 1989, USC students dumped an estimated 30,000 crickets, painted with USC’s signature red and yellow, into a UCLA library. The prank came during exam week.

USC’s recent attacks on UCLA have centered around the statue known as Bruin Bear in the heart of UCLA’s century-old campus. In 2009 in the height of rivalry week, the Bear, located in Bruin Square, was vandalized with cardinal red and gold paint. UCLA is estimated to have spent $30,000 to repair the statue. A half-decade later in 2014, USC students struck again. Bruin Bear was further victimized, the phrase ‘SC Runs LA’ spray-painted on body. UCLA, seeking revenge, went on to pummel the Trojans a week later on the field.

Both schools showcase excellence in all facets of their campuses. UCLA Health hospitals are ranked top 5 in California, while Keck Medicine of USC follows right behind. The athletics of the two programs are unmatched in both accolades and variety; UCLA and USC compete

in 19 NCAA Division I sports. The Trojans and Bruins challenge each other every year for the Crosstown Cup, which has been renamed three times throughout the history of the competition. Thought of as the overall marker of either school’s success in a given year, the Cup is awarded to the university that beats their rival in the majority of the 19 sports. USC took the cup four out of five years in a dominant stretch from 2010 to 2014. UCLA, claiming the 2013 crown, knocked off USC in 2015, 2017, and 2018.

There are many other traditions that define the UCLA v USC rivalry. Since 1950, the staff of the Daily Bruin and Daily Trojan, the respective newspapers on campus, face off in a flag football game. Both campuses compete for charitable causes a week before the annual football game, seeing who can donate more blood. The winner is announced at halftime. UCLA boasts “Beat SC Week” in Westwood while USC covers “Tommy Trojan” in duct tape during rivalry week.

USC and UCLA are so fundamentally opposed that being a Bruin or being a Trojan becomes part of someone’s identity. As the Vogel brothers have found out, there’s no rivalry quite like UCLA v USC.

Collegiate athletes must earn payment for their work

STORY MORGAN SUN ILLUSTRATION ETHAN LYONS

For more than a century, college athletes had no legal means to earn rewards more tangible than trophies or plaques for their achievements. Athletes were strictly prohibited from accepting brand deals or endorsements from sponsors and saw none of the profit made by the college. The collegiate sports industry benefits massively, making billions of dollars from the effort put in by the players, where coaches and administration of the teams can make a six or seven figure salary.

Schools merely cover the cost of education with a scholarship, but even then, the scholarship is limited. The average scholarship is roughly $18,000, which doesn’t cover the total cost of attending most public or private schools.

Only a select few athletes — about 1% according to the NCSA College Recruiting — in their “headcount” sport receive full athletic scholarships covering tuition and fees, room and board, and books. On the other hand, the “equivalency” sports provide less profit for colleges and therefore have limited scholarship money that must be divided between athletes by the coach’s determination. These scholarships are not guaranteed and are handed out year-by-year, which can be rescinded for numerous reasons, including injuries.

On July 1, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in opposition to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) regulation and lifted most restrictions on earning money from sports. College athletes were allowed to earn money from the use of their names, images, and likenesses (known as NIL) athletes could make deals with companies and endorse their products. They could even accept money from boosters, longtime donors, or local businessmen with ties to a university — all transactions that previously would have led to severe sanctions against their teams.

However, most college athletes continue to see no profit from their work. Of the approximately 520,000 students currently competing in intercollegiate athletics, about 519,000 are making no money at all.

While it is true that the most prestigious athletes earn the most money, it is solely the athletes with the most fame and connections that bring in the profitable brand deals. Smaller sports without as much recognition continue to suffer as the primary sports squeeze their grip on their monopolization of the industry.

While the use of NIL is a step in the right direction for providing collegiate athletes with a salary, it still does not account for the inequity of pay across all sports.

The NCAA must establish a standard rate of pay for all athletes that depend on certain factors in the game, such as the amount of minutes on the court or field. Schools themselves cannot dictate the pay for the players, as the chasm between rich universities and colleges with a limited budget would grow further. Athletes would be drawn only towards the schools that offer the highest salary, in turn enabling affluent institutions to win the bidding war of recruitment.

Paying collegiate athletes offers an incentive to continue with the sport and compensation for hard work,

while also generating solid reserve funds in the great likelihood of an injury. A seriously injured athlete could lose their scholarship, jeopardizing their opportunity to play professionally and potentially earn millions.

Collegiate players produce billions for an industry that profits off of them, but it does not reciprocate. The least colleges can provide is reimbursement to the athlete, and a net to fall back on if the worst were to occur. College athletes all across the board — from secondary sports to the major leagues, and universities with all kinds of budgets — must be allowed to earn money for their labor. To continue in opposition is a blatant form of exploitation, when participating in intercollegiate athletics constitutes a full-time job.

Without student athletes, a billion dollar industry would be eliminated. Even so, most of these athletes receive little to no pay, while only the top few make a profit off of marketing endeavors.

Hartstein: Heart of Gold and Hands of Steel

“Being selected was super exciting and definitely a big step towards my goals. In the end, I want to try to make it to a camp, not just a clinic,” said Hartstein. “With soccer, I want to play in college, hopefully in Divsion 1 of the NCAA.”

Outside of her selection for the IDC, Hartstein’s dedication to the sport has resonated throughout the SPHS Girls Soccer Team. Despite changes with a new coach this year, Hartstein’s attitude has remained consistent as she continues to develop her skills.

“Ava is the most positive person on our team and one of the main people who refused to give up on the goal of CIF,” junior Zoe Judkins said. “Her dedication to her goal along with the captains kept the team working and helped us win the second game against Temple City, putting us as contenders for CIF this season.”

This year, Hartstein faced an injury that took her off the field for the beginning of the season. During the preseason of Girls Soccer, she had a broken finger that required her to get a surgery where doctors inserted pins into her pinky.

SOPHOMORE AVA HARTSTEIN EXEMPLIFIES THE QUALITIES of sportsmanship and dedication. Her talents have granted her the opportunity to be recruited for national soccer teams at the upcoming Southern California Identification Center.

STORY JAYDEN TRAN PHOTO SAMANTHA SHIROSHI

S PHS sophomore and Girls Soccer Goalkeeper Ava Hartstein has been blocking the competition since her first season on campus last year. Her efforts in training her reflexes, efficiency, and perception have awarded her support from the SPHS soccer team, the Rio Hondo 2021-2022 1st Team Goalie award, and now, the opportunity to participate in the US Youth National Team Talent Identification Center (IDC) in the Southern California region.

UPCOMING GAMES

ID Centers are hosted periodically throughout the year; they provide select students the ability to demonstrate their skills in soccer to recruitment managers for national teams. Alongside top talents, athletes compete and play alongside one another to develop their individual expertise in the sport.

Having participated in middle school soccer and extended her athletic career on the varsity Girls Soccer team for two years, Hartstein has demonstrated her capabilities as a goalkeeper through her attitude and her awards.

“Ava is extremely hard working and has the best attitude out of anybody on our team,” Girls Soccer Captain and senior Sabrina Bluml said. “Despite being injured, she infused the team with her spirit from the sidelines and then came back on the field stronger than ever.”

Outside of the SPHS team, Harstein plays for the Elite Clubs National League, the highest level for women’s club soccer in the Southern California region. After beginning her career in club soccer at 12 years old, she has climbed up the ladder to ECNL, where she scrimmages and plays against high level peers to develop her technique and game sense.

The IDC was scheduled to take place at the end of February, but was delayed because of the rainstorms that wreaked havoc in California. Hartstein is prepard to participate in the rescheduled clinic that is likely to be hosted in March.

FRIDAY, MARCH 17TH @ 3:30 PM, BASEBALL & SOFTBALL VS. TEMPLE CITY AT HOME

MONDAY, MARCH 20TH @ 3:30 PM, BADMINTON VS. MARK KEPPEL AT HOME

MONDAY, MARCH 20TH @ 3:30 PM, BASEBALL & SOFTBALL VS. SAN MARINO AT HOME

No, Valorant should not be in the Olympics

Since the first nationwide Space Invaders competition in 1980, millions of young adults have adapted to a life on the screens. But unlike movie screens – where coming into the public spotlight is unattainable for the average user – the life of video gaming seems to boast a clearcut alternative, giving teens an instruction manual to stardom.

While esports as a realm of entertainment is valid, the industry should not claim the status and viewership rights of traditional sports.

Short for electronic sports, esports have taken the world by storm – and they are not a new phenomenon. The first home consoles arrived in the market as early as 1972, and tournaments of varying sizes began soon after. Although large tournaments existed before the 21st century, the number and scope of the tournaments only indicated a true spike in esports participation in the 2000s.

There is a significant crossover between esports and traditional sports, but not enough to warrant esports a “sports status.” There is no denying that nonphysical sports can still be physically demanding; the fast-paced nature of gaming requires quick reflexes. However, defending the physicality of moving pixels across a screen says just as much about the element of physical activity within esports as it does for the pride of those administering it. At the end of the day, whether something is or is not a sport boils down to physical activity. It takes effort and time to become a professional at anything, and gaming is no exception. But in spite of all it takes to climb the ranks of VALORANT, it does not pose the organization and risks of physical activity of a sport.

One exception many look to is chess – another sport approved by the International Olympic Committee. But in the case of the likes of chess, poker, and darts, such games have been around for centuries. The distinctive line between games of this nature and esports is that, in the case of other mental games, no organization has monopolizing power over the game itself. Yet in the case of esports, the entire platform the tournaments happen under one game developer. Whereas the bulk of the

revenue of traditional sports goes to paying the teams and athletes, game publishers’ incentives are not necessarily aligned with those of investors. In other words, publishers can afford to operate money-losing esport leagues so long as they drive interest in their profitable video games, even when that means an underwhelming payout for teams.

The fanbase of an activity can also challenge its status, albeit inadvertently. In the VALORANT Champions Tour Lock In in São Paulo, the second largest VALORANT event in history, fans raged out of the stadium after the esports team Fnatic defeated its highly favored opponent LOUD. Walkouts are not uncommon in the rambunctious world of traditional sports, but are highly disrespectful in intellectual games. While a lack of audience sportsmanship is a bad face on any sport, disobeying the norms of an up and coming genre creates the atmosphere that esports is not to be taken seriously. In fact, when star player

Jake ‘Boaster’ Howlett gave his victory speech, the stadium was almost empty. Major sporting events like the World Cup or Super Bowl are not new to walkouts. But even then, the walk-outs always happen for good reason – most often for a political or social cause. Yet in the case of the VCT Lock In, there was no other motive for walking out except a release valve of nationalistic rage and more exactly, a lack of sportsmanship.

While the debate of esports wades in murky waters, the precarious validity of esports as a sport does not detract from the legitimacy of the esports industry and those who find genuine happiness in gaming. The creators of a platform should not be responsible for the actions of its fan base, but the responsibility has to fall somewhere. By virtue of both not meeting the level of rigor of traditional sports and a mismatch of interests that meet anyone but the “athlete,” esports cannot be Olympic recognized.

STORY LINDA YUN ILLUSTRATION ALLISON LEE

SPHS overcomes hurdles at Redondo Nike Invitational

STORY JAYDEN TRAN

PHOTOS RACHEL CHOI

T he South Pasadena High School track team participated in the Redondo Nike Track Festival on Saturday, Mar. 11 at Redondo Union High School. With events ranging from the triple jump to the 200 meter sprint, both the Varsity team and the Frosh Soph (FS) teams performed in a variety of events. Despite training throughout the year, the SPHS team fell short to their typical standings with averaged performances against schools such as South Torrance and Roosevelt, who dominated the competition.

The girls of the SPHS track team were able to achieve excellence in their respective events. Junior Lyla Keller beat her season record for the 100 meter dash, earning a 12.70 second run. Keller was ranked 21 out of 100 competitors, and was first for SPHS.

Senior Ashley Toshima also beat her own personal record for the 100 meter hurdles, earning a 18.25 second time. She was ranked 23 out of 41 for her respective event and first for SPHS.

The boys of the SPHS track team placed in the lower half of the competition. Junior Zeke Gavlack was ranked 27 out of 114 in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.33 seconds. Junior Keeran Murray earned a 2:03:76 minutes for the 800 meter race. Murray was ranked 42 out 91 in this respective race.

Sophomore Abigail Errington was one of the few runners who was able to challenge other runners to place third at the meet in her event. Racing in the 1600 Meter Run, Errington’s efficient pacing led to a time of 5 minutes and 6 seconds; she narrowly beat her competition by less than two seconds to secure third overall at the Redondo meet.

Running in the 100 meter dash, Senior Rachel Noonan placed second overall in the event. After dealing with an injury at the start of the season, Noonan came back to participate during the Redondo Invitational as her first meet of the 2022-2023 season.

“I had a horrible start because of my nerves, but hearing Lyla cheer me on from the sidelines helped me push on and get to second place,” Noonan said. “I felt really happy because that was my first race of the season due to an injury, so I’m moving forward into the upcoming meets feeling confident in myself and my times.”

One of the standout displays of teamwork occurred during the Girls 4x800 Sprint Medley Relay for both Varsity and Frosh Soph. The Frosh Soph team ran in heat three, placing fourth overall with a time of 1:57.30.

The Varsity team also ran in heat three, and were able to place fifth overall with a time of 1:54.25.

Junior Mia Holden contested the competition at the meet, placing third overall for the 300 meter hurdles. With a time of 44.94 seconds, Holden’s score currently ranks as the fourth fastest time in California for the season. Despite this being her second time running the event this season, Holden was able to edge out her competitor from Central High by 0.2 seconds.

“My mindset going in was to get out fast, attack the hurdles. and finish strong. I feel like I accomplished what I set out to do,” Holden said. “I am looking forward to continuing to make progress throughout the season, and my goal this year is to break the school record, help the team compete in CIF, and qualify for state.”

The SPHS Track team will be competing in their next meet against the La Cañada High School track team on Thursday, Mar. 16 at La Cañada High School. The first event will begin at 3:15 p.m.

FALLING SHORT TO PRIOR MEETS, the track team kept their spirits high as they participated in the Redondo, two-day meet.

Competition in sports takes away from enjoyment

STORY ANONYMOUS ILLUSTRATION ELLIE NAKAMURA

Many students enter high school excited for new opportunities in athletics, or an elevated experience with sports. Pre-high school sports fulfill a desire for exercise, and to be part of a community, have fun, or satisfy a passion to excel. Once students enter high school, sports can become overly competitive, and the desire to participate in a sport can diminish. The competitiveness of high school athletics takes away the positive aspects of sports.

High school coaches yelling at student athletes that “You are not here to play! You are here to work!” can be disheartening for casual sports participants who are there just for the pure enjoyment of it. Kids have memories of the last second of a basketball game and making the winning, buzzer-beating shot having teammates victoriously slap them on the back; hearing their coach congratulating the team. These fond memories are cut out when kids enter a new and different world filled with aggravated coaches yelling in frustration, and teammates on the bench saddened by a deeply disappointing loss.

Student athletes enter a world of high school sports where the positivity is taken away and replaced with competition. The fun that athletes once correlated with sports is gone.

When students enter high school in hopes of continuing their athletic career, they unconsciously separate themselves into two groups, in accordance to how their first game plays out: winners and losers. Both of these groupings result in psychological turmoil for some. Students who lose their game, or race, inevitably compare themselves to others who won. The lack of achievement can be devastating. They can be ostracized for contributing to the loss of the game, or may lose confidence in themselves.

On the other hand, students who win games run the risk of a superiority complex. They can develop overconfidence and an entitlement to a victory; or worse, lose the important sense of team effort and good sportsmanship. The pressure to continue their streak of triumph can fuel anxiety in athletes. But perhaps the most harmful result of competition in sports is student athletes comparing themselves to another, obsessing over the weight of their own worth against someone else’s.

There also does not always have to be a choice of whether or not sports can be either competitive or fun. Sports can be both, as they are not mutually exclusive. High school sports prioritize competition over fun, but it does not need to be this way. People see famous athletes being interviewed saying things like “It is about having fun with your team. You do not always have to win to have fun.” With this narrative clouded by the booming voice of high school coaches telling students to “work, not play,” the line between competitiveness and enjoyment will be constantly blurred. Now, fewer student athletes feel the desire to participate in sports. Sports is not just about winning the game. It is about having fun and playing the best game one can. Athletes can excel in sports while having fun; putting in the hard work, that results in improvement, are components of the fun associated with sports. Enjoyment of the game does not have to be sacrificed or diminished if an athlete or team loses. A University of Michigan study ranked youth athletes’ motivations for playing sports and found that the top reason was “to have fun.” High school sports’ competitiveness and over-emphasis on winning takes the fun out of sports.