BHS Jacket 2022/23 Issue 5

BERKELEY HIGH

PUBLISHED BY AND FOR THE STUDENTS OF BERKELEY HIGH SCHOOL

www.berkeleyhighjacket.com • friday, October 21, 2022

no. 5

since 1912

FEATURES

From crowds of hundreds to dozens: The reality of activist burnout at BHS

STUDENT SUBMISSIONS ON PAGE 9

ART SUBMITTED BY DAVID GUERRERO

BY MADELYN PHILHOWER staff writer

This last month alone, many Berkeley High School students attended one or both of two protests: the No to Coal, Yes to Life climate strike in Oakland and a reproductive rights walkout organized by the Reproductive Justice Club. For a long time, particularly at BHS, protests served as a way for students to push for change. However, protest

attendance has dwindled recently.

Senior Rosy Urbano is the lead organizer and outreach coordinator for the Reproductive Justice club. “(Protesting) gives people a way to put themselves on (a) small platform (and) connect with other people who care about similar issues,” Urbano said. “It’s really (about) making a statement that this is something that is important, and that’s beneficial to everyone

involved.”

Protests can also help strengthen networks and connections, according to Naomi Nickolaus, a senior and co-leader of the BHS Green Team.

To senior Kathleen McLoughlin, “It’s still important to … show support for the people who are facing direct impacts (by protesting).” In 2020, BHS students organized a walkout protesting rape culture at BHS. “We were all fed up and wanted to do something about PAGE 9

LINDSEY RAYON-PIXTUN

Video game based movies consistently fail as a genre

Listen to the The Buzz: What does Halloween mean to you?

BHS defeats Washington High at Homecoming game

Video game movies have a rocky history, from the ‘90s bizarrely horrible comedies to dull family movies today. PAGE 13

Listen to the most recent episode of The Buzz: The BHS Jacket Podcast. Listen on Anchor, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Berkeley High School defeated the Washington Huskies at a home game on Saturday, October 15. PAGE 16

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022

news editors: Kaiya Jordan & Kira Rao-Poolla

NEWS BERKELEY HIGH JACKET

kiraraopoolla@students.berkeley.net

BHS community attends “Unite the Fight” climate summit

BHS students gather during the October 12 climate summit.

PHOTOS BY EMILIA FREILICH

BY MAYA DANG staff writer

Ivanova speaks at the summit.

Zeia Bachrach at the summit.

NEWS BRIEF

BY ELOISE THOMAS staff writer

On October 12, Berkeley High School’s “Unite the Fight” climate summit was held at the Downtown B erkeley YMCA Teen Center, with 35 BHS students in attendance.

The event was organized by senior Ella Suring, junior Zaia Bachrach, junior Shanza Syed, literature teacher Aryn Faur, librarian Meredith Irby, and BHS vocational specialist and Individualized Education Plan case manager Karis Taylor.

According to Bachrach, the summit was intended to bring together BHS students who have expressed an interest in climate change action to come up with a set of feasible actions that they can take to address the issue. She added that the name “Unite the Fight” was chosen to unify passionate climate groups and students on campus and emphasize the change that BHS can achieve as a community.

“We really want to analyze the work that we’ve done at BHS in the past, and how to think SUNNY BEVIS-LIPTON

critically about how we can move forward in a way that’s more effective,” Bachrach said. “Also (considering) the intersectionality of climate c h a n g e a n d e v e r y o n e’s interests,” Bachrach spoke about the concept of intersectionality, which describes how different interests and social issues connect to climate change. An example is how low-income residents and people of color tend to live in more polluted areas, with more oil plants and water pollutants, causing health problems.

The summit consisted of group discussions about climate advocacy, as well as guest speakers, such as BHS’s Native Student Union (NSU).

Topics discussed include the intersectionality of climate change, the effects of extreme weather on our land and planet, different climate organizations around the Bay Area, future events at BHS surrounding climate activism, and ways that students can be more involved in the climate movement.

Raina Ivanova, a youth climate activist and member of the UNICEF Youth Council of Germany, also spoke, describing her past experiences with climate activism, and how students can get involved with PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KAIYA JORDAN

climate actions at the local Ac c ord i ng to But l e r, Pipeline, which violate the and global level by finding the campaign “No One is treaty boundaries set in North a specific part of the climate Disposable” will mobilize for and South Dakota, Montana, crisis that interests them. direct actions for intersectional and Wyoming.

“Start a conversation, a climate and environmental “California Natives used to climate education program, justice. Additionally, Butler use controlled fires or burns or a climate strike,” Ivanova described how the California both to care for the land they said. “Also advocate for State Teachers’ Retirement inhabited and for religious climate policies and join an System organization is trying purposes. It was cultural organization.” to divest all California teachers’ practice and beneficial. But Iv an ov a s t re s s e d t h e pension funds from fossil fuels since 1850, it has been illegal for connection between social by passing a bill and getting California’s indigenous people justice and climate advocacy, teachers to pressure the state to practice controlled burns,” explaining how one can Santana-Thoele said. fight environmental “Since then, California racism, which is defined has become known for “We are not asking for as the disproportionate its drastic fire seasons, sympathy. We are demanding impact of environmental an d w it h i n re c e nt hazards on people of action against the climate crisis.” decades, it has only color. gotten worse thanks to Aniya Butler, Hannah Estrada, climate change. Our fire an organizer for Youth seasons have become Youth vs Apocalypse member vs Ap o calypse and longer, fires burn more another guest speaker, land, kill more animals, also commented on how the and board members. and displace more people.” climate change movement “We are not asking for Bachrach reflected on the is especially important for sympathy,” Butler said. “We are possibilities of connecting marginalized communities, demanding action against the different personal interests to presenting graphs of the air climate crisis, action against the climate change movement, quality where people of color brutal border control, action given the intersectionality it lived and other quantitative against police brutality, action holds. connections between race and against every single oppressive “If you are someone that environmental justice. system and activities that loves art, think about how Aniya Butler, a spoken are killing marginalized you or the art that you create word poet and a member of the communities.” can help fight against climate Youth vs Apocalypse, shared BHS seniors and members change, and that way you a poem about the connection o f t h e N S U R i t a A z u l can get involved in climate between people of color and Huhndorf-Lima and Emiliano change in a way that you feel climate change and talked Santana-Thoele also presented passionate about,” Bachrach about the different Bay Area on the effects of climate change said. “Remember that every organizations and platforms on their native land, Native-led unique voice matters, and that BHS students can groups in the Bay Area, and we need that uniqueness to use. the construction of Line 3 actually drive this movement.” and the Dakota Access

A group of BHS students at the climate summit participate in button making.

UNITY WEEK RESCHEDULED

COVID-19 UPDATE

Unity week has now officially been rescheduled for the week of October 31.

“This was decided by the team and staff in our hopes to honor Angel and Jazy after the unfortunate events that took place not long ago,” said Vanessa Rodriguez Paz, the freshman representative from Hive 4 on BHS Leadership. “We also hope that this gave everyone time to focus on their emotions and mental health.”

Most recent COVID-19 guidelines outline that masking is encouraged, but not required on campus. In classrooms, BHS can stay safe by keeping air purifiers running and windows open when possible.

“Everyone can help us through this pandemic by being up to date with vaccinations and staying home when symptomatic and reporting positive tests,” Raygoza said.

Bivalent vaccine is available at clinics and through health care providers.”

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NEWS

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022

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Student advisory committee organizes Title IX information day

BY YSABEL CHU staff writer

The Berkeley High School Sexual Harassment Advisory Committee (SHAC), a student organization working with the BHS Title IX coordinator, will be hosting a Title IX Information Day to spread information and awareness about sexual harassment.

According to senior Ava Murakami, a member of SHAC and the BHS commissioner of women’s rights and equity, the Title IX Information Day

was rescheduled from its original date on October 3, and the new date has yet to be decided. For the Title IX Information Day, SHAC plans on using posters and infographics to share information about what SHAC does, as well as how students can seek help through the Title IX process.

“Something that’s really difficult about the Title IX process is that information used to be really hard to find,” said Murakami. “So this year we want to make it as simple as possible for people. We wanted the goal of this (to be) drawing people’s attention to the fact

Students created posters in preparation for Title IX Information Day.

that we’re here and people have resources.”

Murakami mentioned that there have been two main challenges to hosting the Title IX Information Day. The first was finishing many preparations to host the event by October 3, its original date. The second: striking a balance between providing information and avoiding triggering students who may be sensitive to information about sexual assualt.

“I was worried about triggering students who are sensitive to (sexual assualt and harrasment) information,” Murakami

MALIN MORELL

said. “So we decided to report sexual harassment or SHAC’s biggest challenge is have all our posters on the assualt. changing the culture of BHS (campus) green, so as to not According to the BUSD and how students manage be too much in students’ Title IX coordinator Jasmina sexual harassment. faces. Students who wanted Viteskic, in addition to “I think changing the to not participate or see the the Title IX Information culture is hard because information could ignore it Day, one of SHAC’s goals (BHS) has a long history if they wanted to.” of just being According okay with sexual “The students need to feel safe on to senior Reem harassment, Mahmoud, a campus. And if the school isn’t going to sexual assault, member of SHAC, do anything about that, then students and it not getting the committee r e p o r t e d ,” need to do something.” was formed in the Mahmoud said. “A 2020-21 school lot of students try Reem Mahmoud, year in response to fit the mold, or BHS Senior to a student being they don’t want to sexually assualted snitch.” on campus the year prior. is to bring back an outside Senior Ella Suring said “I felt that it was consent educator, similar one of her favorite things important to make a to Shafia Zaloom, who gave about being on SHAC is change,” said Mahmoud, schoolwide presentations working with passionate describing why she joined last year. However, SHAC students.

SHAC. “The students need aims for more than one day “It’s great to have to feel safe on campus. And to present the curriculum, ... accountability and if the school isn’t going to to supplement last year’s community because do anything about that, education. everyone is genuinely then students need to do “It (shouldn’t) be a one interested in what we’re something.” off, check the box event, doing,” Suring said. Title In the past years, but a continual discussion IX Information Day has according to Mahmoud, throughout the school year,” been rescheduled, and SHAC helped choose the Viteskic said. “(It should be) will now take place on outside consent educator incorporated somehow into Monday, October 24. who came to BHS and did the classes that kids already Questions can go to Vice school wide presentations have. We were very happy Principal of School Climate for each grade. SHAC has with our consent education and Student Wellness also continually worked last year, but I think Doreen Bracamontes at with the Title IX coordinator everyone wanted more of it.” d o r e e n b r a c a m o n t e s @ to teach students how to Mahmoud believes berkeley.net

State mandated safety committee seeks out new members at BHS having students involved in that, I think is really important,” Tesch said.

As a result of several Berkeley High School is safety issues at BHS in currently in the process of recent years, many students finding new members for report feelings of concern. its safety committee for the “I don’t really feel safe at this 2022-23 school year. An school in general. I mean, email with an application anything could happen, and form was sent out to the I feel like our school won’t community in late August know how to handle it,” said announcing that the school Harriet Roan, a sophomore. was looking for students “Whenever there is a and faculty who would traumatic event that affects like to participate on the our school and community, committee. They plan to they only show support for meet on the first Tuesday of one or two days max, and each month from 4 to 5 p.m. then it’s back to normal,” This committee has Roan added, regarding existed at BHS since the her thoughts on how BHS passing of the California has handled tragedies and Assembly Bill 1747 back violence in the past. in 2018. The bill states that While the specifics of every K-12 school must what the committee will create a safety address this year plan which, in are currently “I don’t really feel safe at this school unspecified, BHS’s return, creates a ... Anything could happen, and I feel school site council safe environment like our school won’t know how to for students and shared this year’s staff. goals regarding handle it.”

“Having a safety in the most School Safety recent safety Harriet Roan, Committee is a plan document, BHS Sophomore mandate, and accessible on the committee’s BHS’s website. primary responsibility is to Mohammed said.

The document explained review, update, and bring Cassandra Tesch, the that the site council aims a Comprehensive School dean of attendance, also for more preparedness for Safety Plan (CSSP) to the shared her thoughts on emergencies such as armed School Site Council for the committee and safety intruders, earthquakes, and approval before submitting at BHS. “I think in terms fires. The document also (the plan) to the state by of safety, it’s important for said that Berkeley Unified March of that school year,” everybody to be aligned on School District schools said Shaheen Mohammed, what it means for us to have must have two armed Dean of Students. a safe environment, both intruder drills per school Mohammed also physically and mentally. So, year. The site council is also

BY AARON STEVENS staff writer

explained that each safety plan is made for the following year, thus this year’s CSSP is for the 202324 school year. Members of the safety committee will consist of staff, students, and parents. “Typically, we have the same number of school staff as parents/guardians/ students,” explained Mohammed.

Mohammed added that a record number of students volunteered to participate in the safety committee. “That exceeds the total number of staff on the committee, but I have plans for including everyone through an ad hoc committee that will be charged with updating our emergency supplies in each classroom as well as serving as Student Ambassadors,”

aiming for a more positive safety. Schools are in the the campus a little bit school climate by using process of making campuses more so we can keep our alternatives to suspension, safer and more secure. The attention on the front door. such as restorative justice. district is adding more It is a really big school, so Another goal for this year cameras and security locks we’ll never have everything is to reduce absenteeism to campuses. BHS is also in accounted for, but through by using prevention, the process of implementing collaborating together we’ll early intervention, and more and more mental be able to identify those concentrated gaps,” Tesch said. support for “(BHS) is nestled “It is a really big school, so we’ll in a busy area, so students with a never have everything accounted higher than 10 naturally, we may for, but through collaborating percent absence encounter things rate. related to what’s together we’ll be able to identify Safety and happening in the those gaps.” mental health have community. But I been of top priority think that mostly Shaheen Mohammed, and high concern people have pretty Dean of Students during recent good intentions, berkeley school and every time there board meetings. During the health services for both staff has been any kind of safety September 21 meeting, John and students. concern we’re notified, Calise presented on the “We have made some and then we act on it really district’s efforts regarding new changes just to secure quickly.”

A record number of students volunteered to participate in the safety committee this year.

FIONA FIREPINE

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NEWS

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022

BHS college counselors reflect on college costs, mental health According to BHS college counselor Yasmin Navarro, low-income students are more likely to find full-ride scholarships and grants at As seniors begin to Ivy Leagues because these submit their first college universities have more applications, many students money to give. In contrast, have started thinking in-state schools tend to give about the huge costs that loans rather than grants, come with attending most which can harm the student universities, which include in the long-run if they aren’t application fees as well as properly educated the actual tuition. on repaying these The process of finding financial “(Discussing financial aid) can sums.

N a v a r r o support has been empower students to make college described how this extremely stressful decisions that are smart financially.” entire process is and confusing for extremely tough on many students, Yasmin Navarro, students’ mental including Mark health, though the Amianda, a junior BHS college counselor issue has become in the Multilingual normalized in Program (MLP).

Amianda described his counselor, there are many today’s culture. “I see it background, moving from different types of financial affecting students and I Kenya to Berkeley last year. aid available to students, see students who maybe “My mom is still in Kenya such as loans, which they don’t necessarily know how and she can’t afford to pay would have to repay later, to broach the subject of for my college because and sometimes grants, affording college internalize it’s so expensive. I don’t which students don’t have it,” she said.

She continued, know if I’m going to have to pay back. Additionally, enough money for college students can apply for describing how educating because right now I only scholarships, as well as free students on financial aid have enough to apply to two or reduced application fees. may help them build a colleges,” Amianda said.

When it comes to better relationship with He added that his only financial aid packages, money. “In reality, the more source of information some schools can offer they talk about finances is Berkeley High School more money than others. and financial aid, the more

BY AVHA MEISELS staff writer

college counseling, and that he plans on reaching out to those counselors to get more information on financial aid and scholarships. “Hearing about financial aid makes me feel like it’s going to help me apply to college. It makes me feel relieved from stress,” Amianda said.

According to Jennifer Hammond, a BHS college

it can empower students to make college decisions that are smart financially,” Navarro said.

Hammond also explained that there are many jobs available to college students that can help them to pay off debt while attending university, rather than after. She

emphasized the importance of students having this knowledge, as it opens up opportunities, no matter their income.

“You just need to get educated and make wise decisions, keeping finances in mind, but not making decisions solely based on that,” Hammond said.

ROBERT GELLNER

She strongly urged all students to educate themselves and seek options that allow them to attend colleges, no matter their financial status.

“You shouldn’t assume, as it will be easy to, that as a low income student, (you’re) not going to be able to afford college,” Hammond said.

School board: STEM camp, literacy action, bell schedule reform

BY OSCAR WALLENSTEIN staff writer

The Berkeley Unified School District Board convened on the evening of Wednesday, October 12.

Topics included a STEM maker camp for rising seventh to ninth grade BUSD students, a literacy settlement to support students with reading, and the controversial bell schedule redesign process.

The public comment portion of the meeting was dominated by an equity

showcase presentation on the Berkeley Maker Camp. The camp is for seventh to ninth graders, run by the BUSD Career Technical Education (CTE) Program in partnership with the Berkeley Public Schools Fund and the City of Berkeley. The goal of the camp was to diversify the STEM career path by recruiting underrepresented students in STEM fields.

They also aimed to provide a high quality summer camp experience for 150 students at no cost, and introduce BUSD middle schoolers to

BHS’s CTE program.

Professional STEM fields are disproportionately white and male when compared to other careers, and the presentation aimed to demonstrate the program’s success in creating a diverse camper population. Black students made up 28 percent, Asian American or Pacific Islander students made up 13 percent, and Hispanic or Latinx students made up 36 percent. The attending body was also diverse in gender.

One parent said, “Thank you so much for this

opportunity that you offer to students at BUSD. I was looking and trying to find something for my son to keep him busy during this summer. He asked for STEM, but camps are really expensive and hard to afford.”

In 2023, the CTE program wants to provide afternoon or weekend STEM opportunities during the school year to participants from that summer. They also want to run Maker Camp again, this time opening it up to rising sixth and tenth graders. Additionally, they aim to expand internship opportunities for eleventh & twelfth graders, and consider collaborations between middle school summer school and Maker Camp. Finally, they hope to open more summer job opportunities for BUSD classified staff to work in Maker Camp.

Also discussed in public comment was a Literacy Action Plan that will ensure that all BUSD students will be able to read and write before the end of second grade. Lindsey Nofelt,

mother of two Berkeley students said that this was a “historic opportunity to right long-standing academic wrongs.”

“Berkeley Unified students have consistently fallen below grade level in reading (and) the core reading curriculum needs to be reviewed and reassessed now, instead of next year,” said Katy Reese, mother of two Thousand Oaks Elementary students.

BHS ninth grader Eva Levenson spoke of her experience as a dyslexic child in a BUSD elementary school.

She described how her vocabulary was advanced compared to her peers, but in second grade she was embarrassed at her inability to read. Luckily, her family was able to pay for tutoring. By sixth grade, she was reading above the expected reading level.

Her mother, Rebecca Levenson, told the story of her first child, who was dyslexic, but was born at a time in her life when she could not afford the extra tutoring that her younger sister received.

Eva and Rebecca Levenson

requested that BUSD adopt a new system including tutoring and help for dyslexic elementary school students similar to what Eva Levenson received.

Towards the end of the meeting, members discussed the bell schedule redesign process. BHS parent Cecilie Rose said that to ensure a bell schedule that everyone would benefit from, transparent and straightforward data was needed from the redesign committee. She explained that the redesign process needed more parent involvement, as only 242 BHS parents had been surveyed, and 66 percent of those were parents of white students, despite the fact that white students make up only 42 percent of the student body.

Seth Fleischer, a specialist in equity in learning and the workplace, said that this schedule overhaul has the opportunity to “fix chronic absenteeism, with a particular advantage for minorities”. He continued, saying that “the students, not a cost-neutral solution, should be the priority.”

INFOGRAPHIC BY GABRIELLA BUSANSKY

OPINION BERKELEY HIGH JACKET

opinion editors: ella creane & ellora mookherjee amodt

AP curriculum must not be disregarded

BY AVA RAMSDALE staff writer

​​

Many Berkeley High School students have had a teacher who begins the year by stating that they don’t like the Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum and therefore won’t be teaching it. This presents problems for students who rely on inperson instruction to help prepare them for the AP exam and understand the college-level curriculum.

Students must either selfprepare for the exam or skip it altogether, due to feeling illprepared for the test. This leads to inequality of preparation and exam access. AP teachers have a resp onsibility to follow the curriculum provided by the College Board, as it ensures that all students are taught the same material, giving them equal opportunity.

When students sign up to take AP classes, they expect to be taught an accelerated curriculum that is as rigorous as collegelevel classes. Many students

aim to take the AP exams in May, but if the teacher refuses to teach the material, they will have to prepare on their own for the exam.

This is problematic, as not all students have the time or resources outside of school to thoroughly teach themselves a college-level course. Therefore, this disproportionately affects students who have less access to outside resources or have other responsibilities

is important that these skills be taught throughout the year. Teachers like Sperske also use AP Classroom to prepare their students for the exam, a resource only available to those enrolled in an official AP class.

Some teachers simply don’t like the AP curriculum, whether it be the content they are provided with or the time constraints they are given to teach the material.

They would rather have the

CLAUDIA BLOOM

outside of school hours.

Ann Sperske, a Academic Choice (AC) history teacher at BHS, said it’s not possible for students to effectively prepare themselves for the AP exams without the proper tools. There are a variety of skills and test-taking tools students develop through AP courses, and therefore it

flexibility to teach the class the way that works best for them and choose their own content. However, teachers should not entirely disregard the AP curriculum. Instead, students who want to learn the AP material should be given an in-class opportunity to learn the AP content, such as a “flex” Monday period, which is essentially a study hall.

Crystal Rigley, Personal Finance and AP Economics teacher at BHS, said that teaching all of the AP material, especially to seniors going through college applications, was tortuous and negatively affected their mental health.

Rigley said she teaches just over half of the AP content, which allows for her to teach more relevant and helpful content. Rigley also provides a flex period on Mondays which students who want to take the AP exam can use to self-study using videos on Google Classroom. This is an efficient alternative for teachers that decided not to teach all of the AP content.

While it is reasonable that teachers would want flexibility in their material, students deserve the opportunity to learn the material they signed up for and have equal access to the AP exams. It isn’t fair for teachers to eliminate that option for students who might be seeking college credits or even just looking to learn from the class they selected. Teachers have a responsibility to give their students the knowledge they need to succeed, and in the case of AP classes, that looks like following the AP curriculum.

District-wide drug education will save lives

BY SERENNA REDWOOD staff writer

Last year 1,146 teenagers died as a result of a drug overdose in America, and it is reported that 1 in every 7 teenagers has a substance abuse disorder according to American Addiction Centers. Drugs have the power to destroy lives, and if teens were given honest drug education, these lives could be saved.

Berkeley High School has not implemented districtwide drug education and this must change for the sake of teenage safety in the community.

The BHS community is not unfamiliar with drug use; it’s very common to enter a bathroom full of people vaping. This is too often expected and normalized. However, we forget that uneducated and unsafe drug use can have serious consequences .

Nina Thompson, president of the BHS Harm Education and Reduction Organization (HERO) club at BHS spoke on how this

issue affects BHS students.

According to Thompson, the club has seen BHS kids with many different experiences, ranging from risky experimentation to much bigger issues.

“People can get addicted or dependent,” Thompson said. “Use can get in the way of their school work… (and) some people on the more extreme side (have) to go to rehab or other forms of treatment because it (is) getting in the way of their health.”

At BHS, HERO is trying to provide missing education and advocate for drug education. Almost everyone who is a junior or younger should have gotten an inclass presentation from HERO in their freshman year on reducing risk with drugs. Although this is a step in the right direction, most schools don’t have this, and there is a need for districtwide implementation of drug education.

This is why BHS carries a responsibility to include drug education in the high school curriculum.

A massive amount of

misinformation about drugs is out there. The effects of drugs are easily underestimated or exaggerated, which means a one-time experiment can lead to addiction.

Abstinence-based drug education is also problematic, as it does not give teens the information they need in order to be safe.

We know that abstinencebased sex education does not work to reduce teen pregnancy and STDs. In the same way, abstinence-based drug education doesn’t work to reduce overdose and addiction.

Non-abstinence-based

drug education teaches students about different kinds of drugs, what they do, what they look like, and how addictive they are.

It also involves informing students on what to do in case of an overdose and who to go to for help.

Not providing accurate drug education allows misinformation to spread, meaning that most teens won’t know how to deal with unsafe situations or where to go for help. Providing accurate in-school drug education would have a hugely positive effect on the way teens approach and use drugs.

ALEXANDRA MORGAN

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022

5

Ellacreane@students.berkeley.net

SHINING A LIGHT ON: ANXIETY SIMONE ZABARSKY

Anxiety affects everyone regardless of if you are diagnosed with it or not.

“Chronic anxiety can lead to serious mental health problems, depression, substance use, and even suicide," the American Academy of Pediatrics states on its website. “It can interfere with the ability to focus and learn, causing school problems that can have lifelong impact. It can also lead to physical problems, such as headaches, chronic pain, digestive problems, and later heart disease.”

Recently, doctors have noticed a high increase in anxiety, especially surrounding teens. Standardized testing, school work, insecurities, double standards, social media, and friendships affect teens on a daily basis, causing anxiety to build up.

As adolescents, we care a lot about our social life, relationships, and extracurricular activities. These things are mostly centered around school, so that's where we get most of our social interactions during an average week. During the school day we have to balance getting to classes on time, doing well in those classes, while at the same time forming friendships. Because of the immense pressure to do well and succeed in life, anxiety is almost inescapable at school.

When anxiety is talked about, it is usually paired with depression — makes sense, right?

They do come hand in hand oftentimes.

Although that can be true, anxiety is deeper than just feeling a deep “urge for your room to be neat” and it's most definitely not the same thing as depression. On many occasions I've heard anxiety be explained as something unimportant. This is the message that we are sending to people all because of the fact that anxiety is rarely talked about in a school setting.

Anxiety comes in many forms, with many different behaviors and compulsions that come with each type. Some forms of anxiety include OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), and GAD (generalized anxiety disorder). These show the range of anxiety disorders. You may get panic attacks once a month or everyday, either way it's an important concept to discuss.

When I was younger and would start feeling anxious I had no clue what was going on with me. Why was the air suddenly thin?

Why was I shaking? Why was I scared? These were all important questions I needed to know to feel safe and to avoid feeling alone.

If you or someone you know is dealing with anxiety, make sure to reach out and try to offer a sympathetic ear. Sometimes just knowing someone else cares enough to listen can make a significant difference. If you feel uncomfortable talking to someone you know, I urge you to visit Teenline.org

6

OPINION

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022

EDITORIAL

BHS must initiate the end to local gun violence now In the early morning on October 8, Berkeley was shaken by another shooting near the University of California, Berkeley, leaving one person dead and three people wounded. Just two weeks earlier, on October 1, the Berkeley High School community lost two brothers to gun violence. According to Berkeleyside, as of October 15, there have been at least 40 confirmed gunfire incidents in Berkeley this year, resulting in 3 deaths and 15 injuries. At BHS this past month, the effects of the tragedy have spread. Many students know someone who recently experienced the horror of losing a loved one, or you yourself knew someone who was killed, whether that's a friend, classmate, or family member. Regardless, the impacts of gun violence on our local community of Berkeley and Oakland are clear. Bay Area youth must take action now to protect ourselves from gun violence and limit access to firearms in our community.

Compared to other states, California does have strict gun laws. However, on a local level, there is even more that we

can do to simply limit the number of illegally sold guns in the community. For example, according to Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, laws in Oakland require gun dealers to report their inventory to law enforcement on a regular basis, and also video record all sales of firearms. However, neither Alameda County nor Berkeley have this law. We must advocate for it, as it could deter local gun dealers from illegally trafficking firearms.

But even the strictest gun control laws by themselves will not eliminate gun violence. It’s community programs that further decrease the impact of local gun violence. Just miles away from Berkeley in Richmond, The Operation Peacemaker Fellowship, which was created under the Advance Peace Program, was found to result in 43 percent fewer gun violence related crimes. The program went into neighborhoods with increased crime rates, where they mediated conflicts and mentored at-risk youth.

The Advance Peace Program also aimed to decrease gun violence through a program called Neighborhood Change Agents: formerly incarcerated people who work with communities of color experiencing gun violence, who are often distrustful of police. The program has been implemented in several Californian cities, and according to a UC Berkeley study, two years after Advance Peace Program was implemented in Stockton, it "interrupted 44 gun-violence conflicts and mediated over 500 community conflicts that prevented escalation into gun violence."

However, one of the issues with programs like Advance Peace is that they simply don’t have enough funding, especially compared to the police departments that receive more funding for similar, less successful programs. According to Berkeleyside, in June of this year, the Berkeley City Council approved a plan

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to "put about $10 million more toward its police department in both 2023 and 2024." The plan will fund around 20 currently empty Berkeley Police Department positions, restoring the BPD to its pre-pandemic staffing level. In comparison, the Berkeley City Council only increased funding for community agencies that focus on public safety and health by 4 percent of it.

Here’s the bottom line: America has waited long enough for the federal government to take significant action to fight gun violence. The recent deaths of BHS students reveals to us that the issue of gun violence is our issue. It is a problem that will only continue to destroy our BHS community if left unaddressed.

We cannot wait for change on a national level, or even for local politicians to make changes. We as students must be the ones to take initiative to save our community. We must advocate for stricter gun laws on a local level. We need to pressure the Cities of Berkeley and Oakland to invest in programs like Advance Peace, as we have seen their positive impact. As our community members grieve, the rest of us must work to minimize the amount of times our community will grieve again.

GABRIELLA BUSANSKY

Teachers at BHS cannot afford to provide classroom supplies

BY KALI PROUD staff writer

Teachers’ wages have been an ongoing issue across the United States, and in Berkeley, many argue that people playing such a central part in our community deserve to be paid more fairly. But another less discussed issue is how many teachers end up having to spend their own hard-earned money on supplies for the classroom.

Expecting teachers to pay out of pocket for necessary classroom supplies is both unfair and unreasonable.

Students need everything from binders to art supplies.

Every year, teachers receive a grant of around $300 or $350 to spend. Maia Wachtel, a Universal Ninth Grade English teacher, says that every year she uses the full grant. While she tries not to spend too much of her own money, usually no more than $100, she does rely a lot on parent donations. Being able to provide enough supplies can also directly affect how students feel in a classroom.

“It creates an environment that feels much more supportive, much more welcoming, and much more conducive to learning,” Wachtel said. “If they feel like even if they show up unprepared, there’s still a safety net for them to have what they need in order to do the learning activities.”

Teachers should be able to provide that environment for students without dipping into their own money.

Furthermore, certain classes differ in needed supplies, an example being more technology-heavy classes

like science and math.

“If they lose their calculators or a lab equipment breaks, then not replacing that would mean that there would be a lab group that wouldn’t be able to do the lab,” Wachtel said. “I think it would make sense for teachers who are new to Berkeley High School or new to the profession to have larger stipends than more veteran teachers because they are starting with less. A lot of my materials are leftover from last year and the years before, but I remember my first year or two, I had to stock my classroom from scratch.”

It’s clear that the school should give larger grants to at least some of the teachers. Without the ability to fully provide students with everything they need, teachers won’t be able to teach to the best of their abilities, and students won’t be able to learn as much as they could.

Some may argue that school resources should be directed towards more urgent issues, but this overlooks the fact that

this is an urgent issue of its own. The problem of classroom supplies is not a hypothetical, it is a reality.

There is certainly a lot of work that the school needs to do in terms of problem solving, but that doesn’t mean that this issue should be ignored. The urgency of this particular topic lies in the fact that it already affects teachers and students. It needs to be included as a priority among the school’s agenda.

Evidently, classroom supplies are incredibly important to the productivity and flow of a class. It’s the school’s responsibility to ensure that teachers can provide an environment where students will have the best learning experience possible. More resources should be given to teachers so that both them and their students never feel like the class is lacking in any way. Students shouldn’t feel like they have less access based on their teachers, especially when it comes to an issue that can disproportionately affect less privileged students and teachers.

Teachers recieve limited grants for classroom supplies.

YASMEEN BAWANY

OPINION

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022

7

Group work, in practice, serves as sexist self-fufilling prophecy to behave and learn with others. However, it’s difficult to cooperate with others through collaborative work “It’s convenient,” said that enforces gender roles.

Berkeley High School Group work isn’t just unfair senior Stella Wellborn when to the student who is forced describing group projects. to do all the work — often Group projects are used a woman — but also the by teachers in order to students who will not learn grade less and teach less. because they are not given Instead of having to teach the incentive to do so. a number of topics to the It’s easy to slack off when whole class, small groups someone else is doing all the teach themselves. Then, work for you. instead of grading Collaboration 30 assignments, that comes with group they grade five. It’s “(Group projects) are a projects is a necessary an understandable manifestaion of a much larger skill, especially as a tool for overworked and less escapable issue that has part of jobs in later teachers who are out existed for centuries, without life.

Group work of time. Like Wellborn allows students to much change.” said, it’s convenient. either be helped or be However, group challenged by their projects are often unfair. “good” students, and boys peers, but often, the same Subtly, all of the work shifts being misbehaving, “bad” person being challenged by to one student who is often students persist as gender their peers is forced to help forced to complete the work roles. them at the same time. If assigned to multiple. More This dynamic continued group projects were perfect, often than not, this student into high school, where the work would be divided is a woman. it transformed from a evenly among students, and Group work is sexist, not stereotype into the new each would do their own by design, but in practice. normal. The purpose of part, with the help of their It solidifies students’ roles school is socialization, group mates. However, this based on their gender, a self- teaching students how isn’t the case and a lot of

BY SIMONE FAULKNER staff writer

fulfilling prophecy which will continue in later life if it continues to be enforced.

“From very early on, boys and girls are learning these gender roles and practicing them, so in the future they’re going to build habits and think that this is normal,” Wellborn said. This dynamic has existed since early education and has yet to change. The elementary education stereotypes of girls being hard working,

Auden Svoboda, Caelen Fry, Hazel Fosket-Hydes, and Konani Chinn work on a group project.

effort would be required to reform the dynamic in which female students are forced to handle all of the work. It’s almost impossible to change a system that has been unconsciously accepted for so long.

Sadly, group projects will exist in different forms for

the rest of our lives. They are a manifestation of a much larger and less escapable issue that has existed for centuries, without much change. While the bigger issue is concrete, behavior is malleable and with recognition of the problem, small changes can be made

NAVEEN SANKA

on the interpersonal level.

Wellborn said that “people don’t understand what it’s like to be a woman in a group of all men.”

Though they can’t grasp the discomfort of that dynamic, their recognition of the roles that accompany it could go a long way.

Academic competition pushes students to find inner potential

BY VIOLET MILLER-BRADY staff writer

GABRIELLA BUSANSKY

Expanding teaching through global perspectives is crucial

BY SHANZA SYED staff writer

If you asked the majority of Americans what the Revolutionary War was about, they would probably be able to tell you that it was the United States’ fight for independence against the British. Yet if you asked them what the Battle of Algiers was, they’d most likely be at a loss. Selective teaching of history within the U.S. remains a longstanding issue. It supports a divisive and Eurocentric narrative. It is imperative that Berkeley High School history classes should teach a more global perspective.

In a highly divisive society where each country exists separate from the rest of the world, people tend to see themselves first as citizens of their respective countries, before seeing themselves as citizens of this planet.

This results in a superiority complex in which richer and

more politically powerful countries brag about the quality of life being higher than many developing countries.

If history was taught from a more global perspective, it would not only explain the current situation of countries with developing economies, but encourage empathy toward the people living with detrimental effects of colonialism. By removing the disconnect between people from different nations, teaching from a global perspective opens the door for mutual understanding.

When people with different lived experiences come together, they each bring unique ideas and perspectives to the table.

Having only one year of Global History that teaches commonly known events at BHS does not set up students to interact with others outside of the U.S. The U.S. makes up 5 percent of the global population.

Collaboration is the key to solving some of the biggest issues today such as climate change, and for that to happen people must be culturally aware.

Many argue that other countries’ history, while it may be relevant to other peoples’ lives, isn’t relevant to our own lives. While this is partially true, as what happens in other countries isn’t directly related to where we live, there are lots of indirect impacts. The war in Ukraine impacted our grain supply and U.S. geopolitical relations with Russia continue to experience strain. The list goes on and on, which proves that in order to understand the current world and how we got here, an understanding of global history is important.

Learning global history is essential to understanding the world we live in as well as to bridge the gap between nations in order to solve real world issues.

As many of us can attest to, high school students put a lot of pressure on themselves to succeed. The future remains a daunting idea to entertain, and feeling the need to be perfect in school doesn’t help with this stress. However, this pressure can also push students to work harder, try things out of their comfort zone, and get used to the struggles people face after high school. At Berkeley High School, academic competitions allow students to gain immense knowledge on a subject through a supportive team environment.

Some of the competitions available at BHS include the Mathletes Club, Spelling Bee, Debate Club, and Model UN. Anoushka Chitnis, a senior on Mathletes, has been a part of the club since ninth grade and has participated in several math competitions.

For Chitnis, seeing other student’s

accomplishments was really inspiring and drove her to put in more work studying.

She talked about her experience as a freshman on the team, “There would be multiple teams from our school, so everyone was allowed to compete ... being part of (Mathletes) pushed me to want to be one of them, and want to be one of the best. I’d review math and just work harder for it.” Negative comparison doesn’t matter as much as finding potential.

Another major benefit of academic competitions is that students learn a lot about the subject. There are advanced classes offered, but these clubs give even more immersive study of the topic, and the

competitive aspect keeps students interested in a way that classes don’t for many people. For kids with a competitive drive but without athletic passion, these sorts of competitions are an outlet for that competitive spirit.

During academic competitions, there is a large chance that students, and their team, will lose. While it can be disheartening, it pushes them to be more prepared the next time. For some students, losing isn’t something that they are very used to. Gaining this experience and learning how to maturely deal with competition is an important life skill, vital to becoming a successful adult. Learning how to lose during academic competitions is a beneficial way for students to push through disappointments and continue to work hard.

It may seem like these kinds of competitions add unnecessary stress, but they help students improve at subjects while enjoying the learning process and push them to strive for greatness.

Students deserve the opportunity to work for a goal that will showcase and improve their skills.

Without these challenges, there is no more drive.

ELIOT PERDUE

8

OPINION

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022

Is homecoming royalty an antiquated tradition?

PRO

CON

After a long-time absence of school-wide dances, Berkeley High School’s will hold a Homecoming dance this year. On top of the school-wide surprise regarding the return of the beloved dance, many students find themselves deeply excited. The return of the Homecoming dance comes with another tradition: Homecoming Royalty. Homecoming Royalty nominees are the people thought to best represent each of their small learning communities, and this practice provides the perfect chance to unify BHS, highlight certain members of the community, and add a little bit of extra fun and excitement to the event.

Many students are excited to nominate someone as a representative of their small school, vote, or participate in any other manner. It is a fun way to learn about new people and celebrate friends and peers. Every small learning community is included, allowing every student the opportunity to participate in both the nomination and the voting process.

Though participation in the voting process isn’t mandatory, it is encouraged, giving all BHS students the opportunity to spotlight their peers and share their appreciation for the people in their communities.

Some might comment on how in media and film, school dance royalty is usually only portrayed in one way: popular, heterosexual couples. However, BHS students possess the power to break down barriers and challenge the stereotypes of what royalty should be. BHS has such a diverse community, and anybody can be nominated for Homecoming Royalty. It is refreshing for students to be given the chance to vote for the people who truly deserve to be recognized as leaders and representatives of their small schools and for all that they have to offer.

Though some might think that allowing BHS to have student-chosen Homecoming Royalty promotes harmful competition, it actually encourages good behavior and community involvement.

This isn’t much of a competition or election. Though there are winners, nominees aren’t campaigning for themselves. They are simply voted for based on how well they are thought to be representative of their learning community.

On top of this, anybody who doesn’t want to participate in the event is not forced to. Students should remember that a beneficial aspect of participating in the voting process for Homecoming Royalty is getting to know more about the nominees.

The purpose of Homecoming Royalty is to add excitement and intrigue to Homecoming festivities, while also providing a positive environment for students to have a spotlight. While Homecoming Royalty keep students engaged and involved in the dance festivities, it also does a lot more for the BHS student body. It provides students the opportunity to support one another, challenge stereotypes, and overall, strengthen the community at BHS.

Going out with friends, shopping for formal wear, and cute Homecoming proposals all seem like fun experiences, leading up to a fantastic night of dancing that will unite students. However, that isn’t the case. With the inclusion of Homecoming Royalty into this years Homecoming dance, behind all of this glamour lies a popularity contest that will cause unnecessary tension.

Homecoming Royalty is an overrated high school tradition that encourages division and endorses toxic ideas about social hierarchy.

Although the title of Homecoming Royalty can carry a lot of pride and endow a sense of belonging for students, it promotes toxic favoritism amongst the student body. Students must fit into specific categories and boxes that allow them to be viewed as candidates for royalty, and therefore, get nominated. There’s little chance that students who aren’t seen as social butterflies will be uplifted, so the tradition becomes a clear popularity contest amongst well-known and respected students who already enjoy the privileges of being popular. Gaining the title of Homecoming Royalty simply boosts existing status and causes tension within the student body, due to the continuation of an enforced attention hierarchy.

Homecoming is supposed to be centered around students enjoying themselves, and, realistically speaking, the students who will enjoy themselves the most will be those who win. There is no way that a popularity contest can unite BHS when all it does is cultivate negative emotions and feelings within the student body.

When competition is governed by surface level factors, whatever intended meaning it has is lost to its impact: extensive self-esteem damage for students. Not being voted for may make them question their likeability, physical appearance, and personality.

None of these should be judged based on a popularity contest where those who are already respected are competing to be recognized even more. This perpetuates the outdated ideas of fitting in with conventional beauty standards, which forms a false narrative and standard of what makes people worthy.

Although some say high school royalty is a harmless and fun tradition solely meant to spice up the night and add a healthy amount of suspense and fun, creating a popularity contest to provide a few hours of entertainment is not worth the long-lasting division it builds. It can create a lot of anxiety and unease about social status, which is the last thing students need, considering all the chronic stress and anxiety they are already experiencing. Rather than challenging pre-existing narratives, it perpetuates them, and damages students in the process.

Therefore, Homecoming Royalty is a tradition better forgotten.

It opposes BHS's progressive stances and harms students and their confidence.

BY PHILIPPA ZLATEV staff writer

BY AVA RAMSDALE staff writer

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022

FEATURES BERKELEY HIGH JACKET

features editors: Lauren Huang & Amelia Wiley Moreira

9

laurenhuang@students.berkeley.net

Activism momentum risks losing significance due to burnout CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

sophomore Lenka Simon.

“We're not changing any it," said Eliza Fosket-Hydes, minds by (protesting).”

BHS alum and 2020 protest Another impact on organizer, “A walkout was protest turnout for BHS (what) came to mind (as an students is burnout. action) that would bring a lot “There are huge protests, of awareness and something and the government that we were all actually able does not make change,” to do (as students).” The McLoughlin said, “That walkout accrued massive becomes really exhausting attendance from students for people, because you're and staff alike, leading to the putting in this time and eventual hiring of a Title IX effort and … nothing gets officer at BHS. done.”

“There are huge protests, and the During the 2020 As a protests, “Almost government does not make change. highschooler, making the entirety of the That becomes really exhausting for a direct impact on student body showed people, because you're putting in this issues can feel hard to up across the street achieve. “That feeling from school, and time and effort and … nothing gets of powerlessness… done.” it was incredible, is very real,” Urbano it was super said. “That gets to well organized,” a lot of people and Kathleen McLoughlin, McLoughlin said. makes them lose BHS senior “People got up their motivation… and spoke about their protesting widespread issues so then they have a hard experiences, McLoughlin can feel pointless. “(With) time showing up for a lot of said. However, when the national issues … I feel like different causes.”

Reproductive Justic club protests and walkouts aren't Fosket-Hydes linked this hosted a similar walkout really going to do anything feeling of fatigue to the this year, “50 people showed because we're in California pressures placed on students up,” McLoughlin said. and because we're (a) when in person learning The pattern of low BHS Berkeley School,” said resumed. “After quarantine attendance is a pattern that has become more widespread in recent years.

Fears around accruing unexcused absences and missing work can discourage students from participating in protests, leading to sparse attendance. On top of that, “it's really easy to feel like it doesn't make an impact for one more person to go,” Nickolaus said.

For many students,

ended and everyone went back to school, a lot of people treated it as (though) …everything should be the same and you should be able to function in the same way that you were able to before (the pandemic, as though) nothing is different, but that's wrong,” she said. “So much is different.”

In order to overcome schoolwide burnout, supporting one another and finding creative solutions to problems remains vital. “What protests do is create a sense of unity and community, (but) you can also do that to smaller (actions)...Emotional burnout comes from feeling alone, so making sure that everybody feels heard is super important,” McLoughlin said. Making change can take many forms, such as spreading awareness on voting measures, volunteering, donating, and supporting local businesses.

Creating networks of organizations within BHS

to focus on local issues could bring people together and increase the impact of actions, Nickolaus said.

“The more people collaborate with each other, and come together over certain issues on a larger scale, the more we can get done, and the more we’ll have an impact,” Nickolaus said.

Focusing on issues within BHS can lead to palpable change in the community, Simon said. “The only reason we have a Title IX coordinator is because

ELLIOT SCHRAG

people were protesting that issue (in 2020). Students can make real change.”

According to many of these students, healing from burnout is necessary in order for BHS to be a hub for social change in the future.

Urbano said, “Change doesn't just happen with a single walkout, it (happens by) consistently trying to exercise your ability in lots of different ways. That's how we can really engage with these topics in a way that makes a difference.”

Student proctors practice responsibility and autonomy in school

BY AELIA GYGER staff writer

While teachers relentlessly work around the clock, before and after the bell rings, a little help to our educators is always welcomed with open arms. Student proctors, or teacher’s assistants, can be seen in some classes, either grading small papers, washing lab equipment, or helping out students, all in efforts to make the teacher’s job a little easier.

Salem Graves has been coming to the library at lunch every day since their freshman year, and over time presided over the comic s e c t i on of the library.

Now a senior, Graves

proctors for the library during fifth period. They are in charge of reshelving books, keeping track of the catalog, and making displays, along with their fellow proctor.

“I normally go over to behind the desk (to) take out the cart,” Graves said, describing what a day in the life of a proctor can look like at the library. “We check in any books that have been returned and I take all those returned books and I reshelve them. I might add or subtract from the displays,” they added.

Last year, BHS senior Giacomo Carlone proctored Andrea Sanguine’s ceramics class. “(Ms. Sanguine) would have me do various tasks, I would clean stuff or set up the (cutting) wires or the TV, tape stuff on the wall or clean

or mop the ground, and sometimes I would just do my homework,” Carlone said. “That's pretty much what (proctoring) is.”

Seniors can proctor classes with an open space in their schedule, where they have the choice for an elective a free period. Being a proctor can fill in your schedule, give you credit, and even can be a study hall.

“Sometimes it's like a free period and sometimes it's basic work,” Carlone s a i d .

“It was cool.…

I'm glad I did it.

Especially because I'd say, if you have a busy schedule, and you want to lighten your load, it's definitely a good way to have extra time to do work.”

While proctoring can be beneficial for the student, it can be equally helpful for the teacher. Mendel Chernack, a U9 English teacher, has been working at BHS since 2005, and throughout the years has had classes with and without proctors.

According to Chernack, BHS offers no formal system when it comes to having proctors.

“It's really word of mouth,” Chenack said.

“Often students come to teachers and just say, hey, can I be your proctor, and it's usually a former student. … I think some teachers try to recruit proctors, but as far as I know, there's no official way to get a proctor other than a mutual a g r e e m e nt with a

Student proctors Desi Reicher, Salem Graves, and former proctor Giacomo Carlone attend a proctor period every day during school.

teacher and a student.”

In his classroom, Chernack’s proctors were usually given the tasks to grade work where no background knowledge was needed: put in pregraded work in the computers, get the mail. All small tasks students could do easily.

But these aren’t the only jobs of proctors. They also help students, and provide words of advice.

“I'd often ask them to share their experiences as upperclassmen about various types of s i t u a t i o n s ,” Chernack said.

“Just to hear from an older person who'd experienced things they also had experienced my own class.”

J u l i e Panebianco, a U9 English teacher who has

PHOTOS BY HENRY GRANT

been at BHS for the past five years, has three proctors.

“My proctors have always been great role models,” she said. “They've been upperclassmen … who have been able to talk to my ninth graders about the small school that they're in and give (relevant) advice.”

Desi Reicher, a proctor for Panebianco’s first period class, is a senior at BHS, and recommends people to be a proctor if they can, and to choose their teacher wisely.

“I picked my teacher because I know that she's a good teacher and that she wouldn't have too much work for me to do,” Reicher said.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY LAUREN HUANG

10

FEATURES

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022

PLANTERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY TOBI HAIMS

Do lockdown drills serve their purpose?

BY CLARA TJEN staff writer

Though this column is about planting, it’s technically not about a plant. It is about a very special type of organism: the mushroom. Fungi are their own kingdom consisting of over 12 million species. Although fungi seem similar to plants, DNA sequencing has revealed that fungi are actually more closely related to animals.

Plants are autotrophs, meaning they use photosynthesis to produce their own food from light and molecules in the air. Fungi, like animals, are heterotrophs. They obtain nutrients from other organisms and organic material. What differentiates animals from fungi is that while animals ingest and digest food, Fungi secrete digestive enzymes into their environment and then absorb the nutrients released - pretty crazy right?

Unlike plants, which reproduce by creating seeds, (which you hopefully read about in my last column!) fungi grow from either spores or tissue culture. Every mushroom releases thousands of microscopic spores, each spore containing its own unique genetic material.

Growing spores is very similar to planting apple seeds because it is unpredictable: each spore will sprout a mushroom totally different from its parent. When a spore lands in the right environment, which is usually damp and rich with decaying plant matter, the spore grows a small thread called a hypha.

As hyphae continue to grow and branch, they form a network similar to a root system called a mycelium. Signals like a change in moisture, temperature, or humidity prompt the mycelium to condense, forming primordia, or “pins”, which are the smallest stage of mushrooms. Primordia grow to form mature mushrooms which release spores, allowing for the cycle to begin again.

Mushrooms can be foraged in the wild, and there are many mycological clubs where mushroom lovers, or mycophiles, can exchange knowledge and build community around mushroom foraging. But, mushrooms can also be cultivated. Sasha Gomes, a senior in BIHS, has grown oyster mushrooms in her own backyard.

When a friend started growing mushrooms, Gomes took it upon herself to do the same.

She explained the process, which begins with purchasing spawn and substrate. Spawn is the material that has been inoculated with a specific strain of mycelium, or “mushroom culture.” There are many types of spawn, but the most popular for home growers are grain spawn and sawdust spawn. “The substrate is what you put the spawn in. It’s where the mycelium can grow and the mushrooms feed off of it,” said Gomes. “I boiled the straw to make it really sterile, so there’s no competing bacteria and it won’t mold over,” Gomes explained. Then, she layered the spawn and substrate in a laundry basket, distributing the broken up sawdust into the straw.

“Over the next few weeks, I saw the mycelium, which looks like this fuzzy white stuff, spreading through the straw,” Gomes recalled. “Sometimes I would go out and there’d be like a new little mushroom that wasn’t there the day before. It was just a very cool and exciting thing to see.”

This past spring, a BHS student threatened to carry out an attack involving firearms. Two BHS students were victims of gun violence just this past month. Just recently a fatal shooting ocurred at an intersection near the BHS campus. Some believe that lockdown drills are a way to prevent further harm, while others they are not an effective tool to keep students safe in the case of an active shooter.

Senior Raina Nelson said, “(I’m) grateful we do them … (because they) help build the muscle memory that will be vital in any emergency response.” Nelson said preparing for a situation as “chaotic, unfamiliar, and terrifying as an activeshooter situation” is crucial for all students, so that they “are still prepared to execute the steps necessary to remain safe.”

Rebecca Villagran, a Berkeley International High School (BIHS) history teacher has a different perspective. “I don’t think

(lockdown drills are) very effective and it gives this false idea that if there was an active shooter, there would be a way to fight back against somebody with a gun,” she said, “What we really need is to know if we were going to evacuate, where do we evacuate to?”

For some, lockdown drills are more than just hiding under a desk, turning the lights off, and locking the door. “I have to ensure that students and staff who require accommodations in a real emergency have access to those things during the drill and staff who support them are trained.” said Dean of Students Shaheen Mohammed.

Additionally, previous trauma can cause students to feel unsafe while during lockdown drills. “Maybe some people have been held up at gunpoint or had experiences with guns,” Villagran said.

In addition, Mohammed said, “Some have had real life experiences that may make a drill traumatizing.” For these students, a lockdown drill is not beneficial.

Even for students without

previous trauma around guns, Villagran said that lockdown drills may cause general anxiety. “Imagining it, students will sit in class and be feeling trapped, or like ‘I’m on the third floor, I couldn’t leave’. So I think they do more harm than good,” she said.

Unfortunately, for most students in the U.S., lockdown drills are now as common as fire and earthquake drills. When asked about how she feels after lockdown drills, freshman Sofia Bloom said, “... we’ve done lockdown drills and fire drills, and all this since elementary

ADEA HANSEN-WHISTLER

school, so I’m used to it.”

Fires and earthquakes are natural occurrences, while lockdowns only happen when gun violence is on the rise.

Villagran said, “I think the problem is we’re being reactive and giving this false sense of ‘if you know how to do a lockdown drill, we can protect ourselves’.”

For better or for worse, lockdown drills seem to be a practice that are here to stay.

Regardless of how it may affect various students Mohammed said, “The objective should remain that we improve our practices and get better together.”

Walter Mitchell: The M gate’s friendly face

BY JULIA BRIMMER staff writer

Berkeley High School Safety Officer Walter Mitchell, has served BHS for over two decades, and has been involved in the Berkeley Unified School District community his entire life.

Mitchell attended what is now known as Rosa Parks Elementary, Martin Luther King Middle School, and BHS. “I love when you all come in and you’re having a great day and excited about being here,” Mitchell said. “That makes it worthwhile to me.”

B e fore a c qu i r i ng h i s position at BHS, Mitchell worked at America West Airlines in Tempe, Arizona.

This entailed flying back and forth between Arizona and California three days a week, since he was still mainly residing in Berkeley.

Mitchell then began working at BHS in 2000, after breaking up an altercation involving his daughter at a school football game. “I had to get in between my daughter and her friends just to make sure nothing happened to them and the head of security at that time, he had asked me about wanting to work here,” Mitchell said. Knowing that his daughter would be attending the school, he accepted the position.

Family has and continues

to play an important part in Mitchell’s life. Every few weekends, when he gets the chance, he will make the trip to Southern California to meet up with his family. When the beginning of the school week comes around, he leaves for Berkeley at 12:30 a.m. to get to the school by 8 a.m., when it opens. Mitchell also spends much of his time taking care of his 90-year-old mother.

History also comprises Mitchell’s closely-held values.

He is especially well read on the history of slave trade; his current readings cover abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison.

In describing the best aspect of his job at BHS, Mitchel l l au g he d, “ T he students!” Mitchell explained that his typical work day mainly consists of monitoring the outside of campus while the gates are open. During the school day, he helps monitor the campus on the inside. “To see you guys, you know, the freshman (going through) graduation and on to college, (and) then they wanna come back and visit, it’s really nice,” Mitchell said.

Overall, Mitchell believes that BHS is fairly safe. He said that he and his team do a fairly good job, especially with the help of the Berkeley Police Department. He said that, while the safety team tries its best, the fact that BHS is an open-campus makes it hard to

Mitchell (above) has worked at BHS for over 20 years.

secure. He expressed hope that the fencing around campus might be improved.

According to Mitchell, “patience, understanding, and a sense of humor” are all integral aspects of being a good safety officer.

BHS sophomore, Alita Saenz, said it’s important to have welcoming and kind officers at school because “the safety officers could be the only thing essentially keeping us safe … if we can trust them personally, it makes them seem more reliable.”

While Officer Mitchell confessed that he doesn’t know most students very well, the importance of his presence has been felt by many in the community. BHS sophomore Uly R aw it s che r usu a l ly sees Mitchell posted at the M gate. “I think his impact was big during COVID-19,” Rawitscher said. “Just by giving out masks for people who didn’t have masks on

LILA HALLWARD

them was very helpful, and I think he made a positive impact as a whole.”

After 22 years of working at BHS, Mitchell’s career is coming to an end. He said that once his granddaughter, currently a junior at BHS, graduates, he will be done with his work at the school. “(I plan on) just traveling and then I’ll work … I built my own catering business in Southern California and (have) two radio stations,” he said. While Mitchell is looking forward to checking these experiences off his list, he said that he will miss his interactions with the students at BHS. “I think that’s good for him,” said Rawitcher, reacting to the news of Mitchell’s near retirement. “He’s obviously been working here for a long time, and can’t work forever. I hope he does get replaced by someone who’s as welcoming and amiable as him.”

FEATURES

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022

11

School board candidates call for change in Berkeley schools

COURTESY OF NORMA HARRISON

Norma Harris on has worked as a school teacher, typist, and grocery clerk. She feels like the current education system does not teach the correct things and it’s focused on helping corporations.

Harrison said, “This system is a babysitting service. So parents,

friends, family can go to their effective cubicles to make profit for owners.” Harrison is looking to redesign with a new educational structure including how we organize knowledge into different subjects and end segregation by age of student.

COURTESY OF MIKE CHANG

Mike Chang, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, has three children who have attended BUSD schools. Chang said public schools are critical to Berkeley’s health. He is focused on school safety, Title IX issues, and supplying interpreters

and translators for Latinx students at BHS. He plans to help students’ mental health by creating “some long lasting wellness centers across each of the schools, where students can access a counselor or be directed towards other wraparound services.”

COURTESY OF REICHI LEE

Reichi Lee is an attorney with two kids attending BUSD schools. She values listening to students, and shared how she wants to conduct Berkeley High School office hours with open dialogue. Endorsed by the BHS Stop Harassing club, she shared, “Safety is a top

priority for me. … If I get elected, it’s going to be a top funding priority.” Specifically, she wants to fully fund new tools for students such as trauma informed emergency plans, crisis intervention programs and door lock upgrades.

COURTESY OF JENNIFER SHANOSKI

Jennifer Shanoski, a single mom of two BUSD kids, teaches chemistry at a local college. Shanoski is a strong believer in community and feels that she should join the school board to give back to the district and improve Berkeley public schools. She wants to

collaborate with students to understand the issues from their perspective and face them unitedly. Regarding BHS safety, Shanoski said, “It’s really important that we stop looking at Berkeley as an isolated island and start collaborating.”

COURTESY OF TATIANA GUERREIRO RAMOS

Tatiana Guerreiro Ramos works as a co-director in the academic support program Classroom Matters. She has kids in public schools and touched on how her inspiration to run is from them and their peers. Guerreiro Ramos said, “I’ve seen so many

students who have been failed by the system, including my own children. I want to try and change things from the inside.” She plans to create a BHS committee to evaluate teachers and enact the law allowing 16+ year olds to vote in school board elections.

COURTESY OF KA’DIJAH BROWN

Ka’Dijah Brown, current school board president, is running for re-election. She is a sixth grade public school teacher who attended Berkeley schools her whole life. On the school board, Brown has worked to diversify staff and find affordable housing options

for teachers and faculty. To students, she said, “Your voice is incredibly powerful. Your voice will change the world.

So please use your voice in Berkeley.” Brown encourages students to get active.

BY SABINE ROSEN staff writer

OUSD Office of Equity pioneers targeted racial justice initiatives

BY PEARL GAUTHIER staff writer

“Just looking at the data, it’s very clear that African American students, families, and educators need and deserve targeted support,” said Iminah Ahmad, co-founder and program director for the Office of African American Female Excellence at Oakland Unif ied S cho ol Distr ic t (OUSD).

On September 16, OUSD held a Racial Justice, Equity, and Healing summit, inviting all of its staff, families, student leaders, and community partners to learn about ways to strengthen their support for Black students. Ahmad explained that the summit served to spark conversation, educate par ticipants on antiracism, and celebrate Black culture and achievement specifically within OUSD, hoping to continue the fight for Black community members needs to be met.

The summit, held on OUSD’s staff development day, occurred mostly on Zoom, ending in a Black Joy Celebration. The online portion contained workshops, which aimed to educate and inspire faculty, covering topics like the four C’s of anti-

Blackness, the n-word, and empowering Black students.

The ending celebrat ion include d p er for mances, games, and catering from student chefs. “It was really beautiful,” Ahmad said.

The majority of participants were faculty and families, who looked to serve the students through educating themselves. Ahmad noted that after looking at feedback forms, many participants had breakthroughs, inspiring possible future change in classroom policies and a better overall understanding of dynamics surrounding Black members of OUSD. “I really want to see (Black students) feeling like they have a real place in this district, they are seeing their value, feeling like they are heard, they are supported, and that their schools are a place for them,” said Ahmad.

This summit was the first OUSD has ever had specifically targeted towards the Black community, and may even be the first of its kind nationally. It was made possible

by OUSD’s unique and extensive Office of Equity, which spans the school district and cont ains

t arge t e d i n it i at i ve s for underser ved groups like African American Female Excellence, Latino Student Achievement, Arab Asian Pacific Islander Student Achievement, and LGBTQ+ Programs. The Office of Equity was founded in 2016; its initiative of origin was OUSD’s African American Male Achievement (AAMA) initiative, founded in 2010.

Last year, a new position was created for a Racial Justice Coordinator, who will focus on implementing racial justice and

equity throughout OUSD. According to Jama l Muhammad, targeted st rateg ies sp e cia list for OUSD’s AAMA initiative, Oakland schools have a history of systemic racism, causing disproportionate damage to its Black students.

“Unfortunately, the conditions that produce the need for an Office of Equity are there,” Muhammad explained. “But at the same time, years of grassroots organizing, community activism, and a fight for justice has created people that can answer the call.”

The combination of an intense need for racial justice inter vention within OUSD and a history of activism created a sort of perfect storm that provided a push for a revolutionary program to be created.

“This is a continuation of the legacy Oakland has,” said Ahmad, explaining that decades of advocacy for Black students by groups and figures like the Black Panther Party and Superintendent M a r c u s Foster have CLAUDIA BLOOM

led to the current welldeveloped Office of Equity in OUSD. “I personally can attest to the power of being able to have a class full of Black b oy s ,” s ai d Mu h am m a d regarding AAMA, which has created elective classes and programs across OUSD specifically for Black male students. AAMA focuses on fostering a “positive cultural identity” and education surrounding Black men’s “innate excellence” within its students. Muhammad said that AAMA students have expressed an appreciation for the space the classes provide to just be themselves, and receive love and support. “(Students in AAMA) get a sense of cultural pride, identity, love, support, engagement, encouragement, a n d e m p o w e r m e n t ,” Muhammad said.

OUSD’s Office of Equity is unique, and according to Ahmad and Muhammad, likely the only of its kind in the country. Because they are pioneering the work that they are doing, there is always room to improve. “We’ve still got work to do, in terms of increasing our presence across OUSD, especially in terms of policy around suspension,” Muhammmad said. He explained that a

main concern of the Office of Equity currently is the disproportionate rate of suspension and absences among Black students specifically, as well as other marginalized groups.

“I would say (working within the Office of Equity has been) the most rewarding eight years of my professional life,” Muhammad said. “It’s been an honor, and it’s been humbling as well, because there’s things I had to unlearn and relearn. … I don’t think there’s anything more valuable than this type of work.”

In terms of the future, OUSD is on track to have summits in January and June.

“What we’re doing with the summit, with my office, with the Office of Equity, is institutionalizing the change. … We’re making this a core part of how our district operates, and that’s something that I would love to see across the country and around the world,” Ahmad said, explaining the value of institutionalized change over just conversations and workshops. “White supremacy was institutionalized into these systems, and racism was institutionalized.

So the changes and the antidote to that need to be institutionalized as well.”

12

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022

ENTERTAINMENT BERKELEY HIGH JACKET

Entertainment editors: Ruby Freedman & Marina Howard

PAJAMAS & THEIR POTENTIAL IMPACT ON LEARNING MADELEINE KELLY

Does what you wear impact how you do in school, or simply how you perceive yourself?

And more importantly, does it potentially affect your performance on tests or exams?

Fashion at BHS features an interesting medley of style and inspiration: some people plan their outfits nights in advance while others simply throw on whatever’s clean. Neither is wrong because there is really no wrong way to dress.

Berkeley High School is a school where no obvious dress code exists. This means that we have kids showing up on both ends of the formality spectrum. Some opt for suit jackets, although many stick to the tried and true basics of sweats and a tank top.

Many kids will choose pajamas as the school year progresses as their favorite basics to fall back on. It’s generally seen as a pretty smart choice by many students. It’s not hard to see why, especially considering how little time students have in the mornings and the superior comfort of this type of clothing. I looked into this phenomenon online to try to decipher if this was the norm at other schools, too. And to be honest, I was really surprised. I was met with countless articles authored by what seemed to be angry moms with too much time on their hands. They ranted about how distracting pajamas are in a classroom setting and how disrespectful they could be to a teacher.

From what I could find, there is no definite research that what you wear to school has any impact on your learning. However, there is research that says that what you wear to work could impact your performance. A study conducted by the professors at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University found that what kind of clothing you wear might affect your performance on tests, based on your associations to a certain form of clothing. The study took people wearing lab coats and some people not wearing them and conducted tests. The conclusion was that because lab coats were associated with attentiveness and carefulness, subjects were more likely to exhibit such values during testing. This led to the conclusion that the underlying meaning you might assign to your clothes might have an effect on how well you perform certain tasks.

They called this “enclothed cognition.” However, that study only included one test, which didn’t have that many similarities to what you would be tasked with doing in a school setting.

While clothes may potentially have an impact on how you perform, comfort levels — both physically and emotionally — are ultimately more important. So just do whatever feels right for you and understand that while people may have different opinions on the matter, there is no concrete proof that you should dress a certain way.

Rubyfreedman@students.berkeley.net

Pixies band: Back again with ‘Doggerel’

BY MUHAMMAD DELGADO staff writer

Pixies made a longlasting impact on the alternative music scene in their early days, with albums like “Surfer Rosa” famously inspiring Kurt Cobain, PJ Harvey, Thom Yorke, and so many others. Now they’re back with “Doggerel,” their

first studio album since 2019.

Black Francis, with his signature eccentric lyrics, returns in this aptly named album. The word “doggerel” can mean anything from “crude” or “irregular” to “burlesque” or “humorous.”

Pixies have traditionally been noted for popularizing the loud-quiet, hardsoft dynamics that would

IRIS LE LIBOUX

become a staple of grunge music. In “Doggerel,” they add something new to the mix.

Opening with “Nomatterday,” David Lovering’s stoic drums drive the track forward until a sudden tempo shift knocks the song into an energetic latter half, with an amusing chorus that can make you giggle and sing along. These wild shifts happen a few times throughout the album and highlight the untamed nature of Pixies.

“Vault of Heaven” is one of the exceptional tracks on this album. The twangy guitar gives the song the feeling of a cowboy’s tune, although the subject is far more quixotic than anything you’d find in a Leone or John Wayne film.

The music video, produced by bassist Paz Lenchantin, features a cast of old folks dressed as 20th century pop stars goofing around a 7-Eleven. You’ll find yourself wanting to believe the surrealistic

visions of old man Elvis, still alive and gyrating around a liminal 7-Eleven, as well the man riding around Los Angeles on a toddler-sized pony, wearing nothing but a Zorro hat, mask, and cape as the legendary Don Diego.

“Get Simulated’’ is certainly Pixies’ proudest track off the album. In fact, Paz and Joey name it as their favorite. The bass and rhythm guitar crawl forth over the drums like a spider up a water spout. Francis sings in whispers until a heavy synthesizer washes over the track, making for a hypnotic ending.

“Doggerel” is a quirky mixture of funk-adjacent sleaze and strange guitar.

The bandmates and producer Tony Fletcher have really settled in with each other as collaborators and have come out with some excellent tracks. There’s something in “Doggerel” for everyone: from catchy lyrics and sweet melodies to heavy rock riffs and draggled rolling rhythms.

Halloween’s evolution from kids to teens

BY LUCY GRIFFITH staff writer

Is there another holiday that encapsulates growing up like Halloween does?

As kids grow up, the costumes, activities, and meanings of the holiday shift dramatically.

As children, it’s common to dress up in imaginative and colorful costumes, and kids parade around their elementary schools, showing their outfits off and making crafts in class.

It’s a favorite day for many because of traditions like trick-or-treating and the opportunity to bring home a huge haul of candy. Many would trade candy with their parents for a treat that wouldn’t rot their teeth, or with friends to get their preferred selection of sweets. For young children, the holiday is mainly about innocence and excitement.

Middle school brings a new era of selfconsciousness for most kids, which definitely holds true at Halloween. Nobody wants to dress up as their favorite Sesame Street character anymore because they’d rather explore more mature ideas, like horror movie characters and more sexual costumes, or they simply don’t want to be seen as “weird.” Trick-or-

treating with your parents or family is suddenly seen as “uncool” and the new norm is to go out with friends. In Berkeley, kids go to streets like Mariposa Avenue and Josephine Street with big crowds, candy cannons, and the chance to have a good time. This kind of independence is often new for a middle schooler.

In high school, the holiday yet again morphs into something new for the majority of adolescents.

Teens have more freedom, which opens up a world of possibilities. Candy becomes much less of a hot commodity when you can simply buy it at the drugstore. Teens also start

going to parties.

However this also brings the highly sexualized standard that femaleidentifying teens are held to when it comes to their costumes. Young girls are made to don constumes that were once innocent, a cat or even a bunny, but instead of a furry jumpsuit, they can be seen in revealing lingerie that puts their bodies on display. The media perpetuates this standard, as is seen in the popular movie “Mean Girls,” when Cady Heron, the teen protagonist, says, “In girl world, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything

else about it.” Although this is a satirical quote from a lighthearted rom-com, it accurately portrays the societal pressure women and girls face when choosing Halloween costumes.

The pandemic put a pause on this holiday but with life returning more or less back to normal, Halloween will be in full swing. It’ll go back to being our most important coming-of-age holiday.

The Halloween transition happens at different times for everyone. Whether you choose to watch a horror movie with friends, go to a rager, or stay home to hand out candy to cute little kids in pumpkin onesies and bat wings, Halloween is back.

For children, the meaning of Halloween lies in collecting candy during trick-or-treating.

MORGAN OSTRER

ENTERTAINMENT

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022

13

Romance reality TV shows fail to deviate from heteronormativity

ROBERT GELLNER

BY AMAR WALKER staff writer

Many watchers of dating reality TV shows know the feeling of wishing that two contestants will fall in love with each other. Sadly, this rarely happens, and it won’t improve if reality TV doesn’t change it’s exhaustingly

boring heteronormative formula. This shouldn’t be the norm. We need more queer representation in reality TV. Admittedly, shows like “Too Hot to Handle” and “Love Island” occasionally slide in a couple snippets of LGBTQ love. But it feels performative, considering that they rarely build a

LEILAH DOOSTAN

relationship or go on a date with someone of the same sex. In season three of “Too Hot to Handle”, two women, Georgia and Izzy, shared a kiss just to be rebellious.

When the male contestants found out, they called it “hot.” However during the season, Georgia and Izzy exclusively dated men and never gave each other

ARTIST PROFILE

The variety of mediums, techniques and styles that art holds are endless, as are the feelings that art can evoke. Shai Eastman, a senior in Academic Choice (AC,) is as talented as art is expansive, and she refuses to limit herself to one medium.

Eastman began truly exploring their artistic side when they took an Introduction to Figure Drawing class during the pandemic. They went on to take two years of IB studio art at BHS. Currently, she participates in theatrical spoken word, music, charcoal drawings, as well as painting with acrylics and oil.

The different mediums of art carry different purposes for Eastman. While music is relaxing for them, theater is more about fostering a space of emotional expression. In her drawings and paintings, she hopes to create personal reflection for her viewers. “I definitely hope that it invokes thought, and that the meaning isn’t super clear, but you’re able to create your own perspective,” they said.

Eastman has a few works they are particularly proud of, often featuring important parts of their life and their values. “I have one in process right now that is a comment on reproductive rights and specifically parenthood from the feminine side and birth, and I’m really appreciating making that piece because it’s very intense and I put a lot of thought into it,” they said.

While her dream is to study health and sex education, Eastman hopes to continue art as a possible minor in college, and regardless, will continue to create beyond high school.

— Elta Tracy

another glance. was asked why there aren’t a major step forward, but we “Too Hot to Handle” homosexual Bachelors/ have yet to see a “Bachelor/ could have easily represented Bachelorettes in an interview Bachelorette” season in a queer relationship, but with the New York Times, which two members of the instead displayed lesbian he said, “The question is: ‘Is same sex end up together. fetishization, invalidating it a good business decision?’

Blurton’s season was the the whole community. and after, ‘Is (it) our job least watched in Bachelorette Additionally, “The to break barriers, or is it a history, with less than B a c h e l o r / 500,000 people B achelorette” viewing her finale.

“Too Hot to Handle” could constantly follows Previous seasons a heteronormative brought in over 1 have easily represented a queer narrative. The show’s million viewers.

This relationship, but instead displayed theme involves lesbian fetishization, invalidating the inconsistency may people finding love have been due to the whole community. with the opposite overall dramatics of sex, and that just the season. Or, more seems old fashioned. “The business?’ ” In the end, all likely, the shock of having a Bachelor” has aired for any reality TV show cares bisexual bachelorette caused over 20 years, and despite about is making money, people to take a step back. complaints, not once have remaining afraid to take the Due to this, Bachelor Nation they considered revising the leap and potentially damage made less money, and hasn’t show’s design. their success. invited openly LGBTQ One of the sole queer The one other time an out individuals onto their show love stories in this genre was LGBTQ individual starred since. on “Bachelor in Paradise”, in “Bachelor Nation” was on The entertainment in which a lesbian couple, “The Bachelorette Australia.” industry must stop Demi and Kristian, got Brooke Blurton, the first prioritizing its own engaged. Their story was bisexual Bachelorette, financial success, over its very wholesome, and even took the spotlight in 2021, influential responsibility to though it didn’t work out in serving as a groundbreaking American society. Society is the end, the majority of the event in which Blurton progressing at a rapid pace. viewers loved it. So why isn’t dated both men and If reality TV can’t keep up this normalized? women. In the end, she got with that, we won’t be able When Chris Harrison, engaged to a man. Though a to call it reality TV for any the former “Bachelor” host, rollercoaster of a season and longer.

Video game films are lackluster

BY ZACHARY YOO staff writer

In 1993, “Super Mario Bros.,” the first major movie based on a video game, was marketed with the tagline “This Ain’t No Game.”

Despite the film’s disastrous performance both critically and commercially, it absolutely lives up to the slogan.

“Super Mario Bros.” is nothing like the games it’s based on. This film began the curse that is video game movies, and since ‘93, countless beloved video game franchises have received their very own theatrical embarrassment.

From “Street Fighter” to “The Angry Birds Movie,” video game movies have just never been very good.

One of the main reasons video game movies consistently fail is that storylines in the games themselves often aren’t very interesting. A story about birds who fight pigs to save their eggs is fun on the handheld screen of an iPhone, but just doesn’t work for an hour and thirty minutes on the big screen.

These movies often go through identity crises when drastically altered from their original mediums. In 2001, “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” was released, featuring a cast full of new characters. These changes might’ve aimed to cater to more to the tastes of general audiences, but they only make the film more ridiculous. Lara fights

against the Illuminati, who she must stop from finding an ancient artifact and gaining the power of time travel. The movie was received middlingly by viewers, but received a zero out of five stars from ING, a popular gaming news outlet, calling it “unbearable.” This begs the question: who are these movies even for?

Modern video game movies have improved, but still don’t really make the cut.

Though 2019’s “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu” was well received, its praises were mainly focused on its depictions of the franchise’s iconic creatures rather than actual content. Three years later, the movie is ultimately unmemorable, falling into irrelevance as Pokémon explores other ventures.

The genre’s most recent successes, the “Sonic the Hedgehog” films of 2020 and 2022, were both

received positively by general audiences and hardcore fans alike. But while the Jim Carrey-led action comedies are alright, they’re plain average within the wider category of children’s movies. This is where modern video game movies have found their niche, as inoffensive but uncreative entertainment for the whole family.

Video game movies have a rocky history, starting in the ‘90s with bizarrely horrible comedies, and continuing today as dull family movies. Mario, Mr. Video Game himself, will throw his cap back into the ring next year with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” to be portrayed by Chris Pratt. The iconic Italian character might star in the first truly great video game movie, but the history that he jumpstarted in the first place foretells otherwise.

ISA SHIMOMURA

14

ENTERTAINMENT

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022

Modern trends of vintage tech encourage user sustainability big brands like Apple and Samsung releasing new models regularly, the cycle of supply and demand In recent years, a of newer tech creates revitalization of old unnecessary waste. When technology from the early many tech companies 2000s and even as early as made the switch from the 1980s made a rampant wired earbuds to wireless return among today’s earbuds by removing the youth. Previously deemed headphone jack in 2016, outdated technology such they created an unspoken as flip phones, Walkmans, requirement for consumers record players, and wired to buy the newest set of headphones are all making headphones or earbuds a visible comeback. The available along with their real question is, why now? phone.

This fad, or at least a A trend that part of it, is thanks focuses on bringing to celebrities such By popularizing items that are old technology back as Bella Hadid, relatively cheap, the trend challenges to life could be just Zoë Kravitz, and enough to break the the idea that expense equals Hunter Schafer, who consumer mindset fashionability. participate in trends of technology. like wearing wired Not everyone is earbuds instead of willing to pay over modern, wireless options. functional accessories. $500 for Apple AirPods This choice in technology The use of older Max headphones, many even gained exposure from technology can actually would rather gravitate high-influence fashion be seen as something toward an older set of names like Vogue, turning beneficial and serve as a way wired headphones. This the use of classic-style to combat the high waste trend is accessible in earbuds into a fashion and hyper-consumerism terms of affordability and statement. of new technology. With encourages upcycling

BY OCHI GRACE staff writer

The rise in old technology can also be attributed to the revival of early 2000s Y2K fashion, often associated with things like low rise jeans, bedazzled clothing and accessories, bright colors, and cropped tops.

Social media platforms like TikTok have also had a major impact on its revival, with Y2K styling tips that feature 90s tech going viral.

These videos also include bedazzled flip phones and iPod classics being used as

THE CROSSWORD

ACROSS 2. Regions 1. “Me too!” synonym 3. Great ones think alike 5. ___ of Clans 4. Consume through one’s mouth 10. Stench 5. Rams running back Akers 14. Opera solo 6. Gaze at 15. The largest artery in the body 7. 2016 alien film 16. Nike competitor 8. 14 pounds, or a rock 17. Misshapen 9. Dangles 18. Idiot, buffoon 10. Unenclosed 19. Long ago 11. Outer membrane that protects the brain 20. Totally sick 12. Administrative center of eponymous Siberian 21. Colorful rattlesnake killers oblast 23. Basketball helper’s stat 13. Give 5 stars to 27. Italian motor scooter 22. Sunscreen number 28. Country with the most people 24. World governing body of Cricket 30. Have the right shape for 25. Ball that is “put” in a field event 32. In a while, ____ 26. Lunar-attracted water 36. Price that is too high in Berkeley 29. 1492 craft 39. America’s largest government agency 31. SAT or ACT 40. Usual number of fingers 32. Music storage disks 41. Nixon government agency 33. Decompose 44. From ___ to shining ___ 34. Norse god with two ravens 45. Mix 35. Long, skinny, fish 47. See you later, ___ 37. Matrix protagonist 50. Less than gross amount 38. ___ and feather 52. Small islands 42. Stack or heap 53. ___ up, said 43. Improves, as fine wine or cheese 56. ___ de corps 46. Scaly animal, or a clue to 21, 32, 47, and 60 across 60. Plastic straw hater 48. Like a gecko’s eyes 64. Wedding words 49. Killer of Cleopatra 65. Sumerian god of water 51. International school in Japan’s capital 66. In front (of) 54. Czech capital 68. Not many 55. Anesthetic gas 69. Wicked 57. Gun with a spiraled barrel 70. German state containing Frankfurt and 58. Lightbulb moments Wiesbaden 59. Midsize urban areas 71. Scottish familial group 60. ___ of doubt 72. unit of force equal to .0001 N 61. Typically the fourth of the Seven Deadly Sins 73. British behinds 62. Similar (to) 74. Fewer 63. Lessen 67. ___ Moines, Iowa — Raven Fonseca Jensen DOWN 68. Commonly damaged knee ligament 1. Hummus brand

— Nicholas McGlashan

Vintage tech, like record players, is at the forefront of recent trends.

alongside secondhand purchasing.

By popularizing items that are relatively cheap, the trend challenges idea that expense equals fashionability. TikTokers and other social media influencers also created an emphasis on sustainability by highlighting how upcycling is an alternative way to express creativity in fashion.

However, one downside is that the overall quality

of older technology doesn’t always compare to the quality of newer technology. Many of these pieces are less likely to have ideal features such as noise cancelation, or an advanced comfort fit. It depends more on what the customer is prioritizing, whether that’s appearance, comfort, sound quality, or affordability.

However, high cost does not always equate to higher quality. Overall, it really

GEORGIA PAULOS

depends on individual preference.

Fashion trends are repeating themselves in ways that encourage sustainability and new perspectives on hyperconsumerism in regards to clothing and accessories.

While there remains much more work to be done, this revitalization fad promotes creative individuality, allowing technology to best fit its wearer’s ideals.

PLAYLIST: ELECTRONICA

Amygdala - Bladee, Ecco2k Film- Aphex Twin Tranz - Gorillaz Hand It Over - MGMT Oh Baby - LCD Soundsystem Pro: Lov: Ad - Sweet Trip Snake Bite VIP- Eliminate Moon Age - Duster

My Red Hot Car Squarepusher Apt. A (1) - cLOUDEAD, Illogic Tonight Might Have to Last Me All My Life - The Avalanches, MF DOOM Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels Mount - Aphex Twin

GABRIELLA BUSANSKY

SPORTS

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022

Cross country races rivals over rolling hills

BY COLINA HARVEY staff writer

On October 12, the Berkeley High School crosscountry team traveled to a meet at Point Pinole, where they raced against nine other schools. The course was three miles long and consisted of rolling hills as well as paved and unpaved paths.

The meet was successful for BHS, with men’s varsity taking first place and women’s varsity taking second place. In addition to team accomplishments, Olaf Dietz, a junior, and Carina Nottingham, a freshman, placed first and second in the men’s and women’s

races, respectively.

A highlight of the meet was that both the men’s and women’s teams prevailed over their rival, Piedmont High School. “In the league, we go back and forth with Piedmont, but we know them really well. So, we’re rivals but it’s all fun,” Dietz said. Sonia Delangle, a senior, appreciates the rivalry with Piedmont because if she “sees someone pass who’s (a Piedmont runner), it’ll definitely make (me) try to go catch them.”

Each course that the team races hosts its own set of distinct features, and as such, Point Pinole presented unique difficulties at times. Head Coach Bradley Johnson

said that what makes the course challenging is that, “(Coaches) can’t get a lot of instruction in because the athletes are away from you for the entirety of the race.

They’re on their own, which could lead to athletes to kind of fall asleep in the middle of the race.” Kai Kumar, a senior, says that the course is difficult because, unlike other courses, “you’re not doing loops over and over again so you don’t know where you are in the course.”

Since cross-country is a more individual sport, there is great variance in the performances of the individual runners. Some did well, while others have room to improve. However, one consistently positive

On October 12, BHS cross country competed against nine schools at a Point Pinole course.

aspect of the meet was the supportive culture, including the teammates cheering from the sidelines.

For Hanna Gohlke, a senior, the cheering is“what makes the race.” She says that “if there was no cheering people would gain 10 to 20 seconds because of the amount of energy you get when there are people watching you and you have your team.” Delangle stated that it’s really nice to see her “team looking out for (her) and cheering (her) on.”

“I think that everyone gave it their hardest. I think that’s just what our team does. We do a really great job of keeping it positive to others around us,” said Gohlke.

SASHA BALASUBRAMANIAN

Centuries merge niche groups of cyclists “Right away, you feel more having so many cyclists on connected to other people… the route for any given day you don’t feel like people makes it super fun.” are judging you or making Graham says that the Athletes on Berkeley assumptions about you reason he keeps going to High School’s mountain based on how you ride,” she these races is because he biking team are not confined said. can keep on improving. to one faction of the local Andy Graham, a BHS “Every year, it’s a different mountain and road biking parent, has been biking for experience, and at the c o m m u n i t y. almost his entire same time, I feel like I can Many BHS life, during which challenge myself more c y c l i s t s “They have a different feel than other he participated because I know what’s participate in bike races because you’re riding with so in many century coming.” broader local rides. He gets his Since the biking many different people.” groups that motivation from community is so close, most frequently come the other riders. of the events and trails are Amalia Kermaninejad, together for 100 “There’s all the discovered through word mile century people around of mouth. Centuries are BHS senior rides. These road you that you don’t but one example of the biking events even know, out regular, intense sporting often happen in Santa Rosa century ride I did, I was there on their bikes, also events that happen outside and other places around really nervous,” Diaz said. “I doing the century. Some are of the athletic mainstream Napa Valley. Usually, bikers thought, ‘These guys might doing their first, some who in this tight-knit and active pay 100 dollars to participate drop me or go too fast’ but have done many before, but community. in the race, which begins they slow down or stop any at six or seven a.m. Along time you need them to.” the trail, there are rest stops Another BHS senior, with food, drinks and bike Amalia Kermaninejad, mechanics. The niche but likes how laid back the thriving events draw a range century rides’ communities of cyclists and are filled with are. “They have a different a sense of community. feel than other bike races BHS senior Neruda Diaz because you’re riding with is on the BHS mountain so many different people. biking team, and is a You don’t need to feel any member of cycling clubs sort of pressure, it’s much Waffles and Wheels, which more social.” She added is an all-ages group that that the biking community rides every Thursday, and in general is very accepting Be The Change, which is compared to other sports. Neruda Diaz, an avid century rider, rides his bike.

NOLAN WHITEHILL

BY LULI GALINSON staff writer

focused on uplifting riders of color and meets every Saturday. Between these two groups, he has ridden five centuries in the past three months.

He says anyone can get into biking, even complete beginners.

“The first

A TRANSGENDER EXPERIENCE SOL DE UGARTE

In the past, “he” was considered the gender neutral third person pronoun. Now, most of us have come to realize this language comes from a time when women weren’t considered in the equation of life outside the home. The English language moved to using “he or she” as an equalizer of sorts. Comedian James Acaster made a point in his Netflix comedy special that I remember often. He said that, now, really the only people who use “he or she” are men.

They do it with a pause, “he… or she!” as if forgetting women all together. He ends the segment by explaining that women use a word unfathomable to men — “they”.

Language is fascinating. It changes with time and cultural influences, leaving behind bits of history and the continuous need to edit.

Words become hurtful or unnecessary because of the way they are used. Words are changed or added to make things better. Except some words, which are intended to make things more equal and end up just leaving a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. The main culprit: “dudette”. The conversation around whether or not “dude” is gender neutral is a whole other debate. While blatantly feminizing the word, dudette creates a frilly, fragile feeling to it. This takes away from the meaning and ostracizes women into a realm of undudelyness.

Other words remain in a gray area. Is the word “actor” a truly gendered word? Should the use of “actress” fade out of existence? Words like “waitress” leave ample room to misgender people. While the -ess suffix has become less commonly used, it still is very much something that should be thought about.

Perhaps more interesting, though, is the word “heroine”. It’s derived from ancient Greek and not a creation in a similar vein to “shero’’ or “herstory”, both plays on the fact that “hero” and “history” both contain the pronouns he and him. However, it is pronounced almost identically to a drug with a sinister history and effects. When searching for the history of the word heroine, the first Wikipedia article was about heroin. While for some, words like shero or heroine could create empowerment, they make me feel slightly uneasy. Who decided that the word “hero” was masculine in English?

Heroes and heroines become separate, instead of one united group of problem solvers.

Words are also created as a way to include the excluded. Like I mentioned above, shero and herstory were created to add women into the equation. The words womxn and folx have also been implemented, in order to include nonbinary people. However, they remain awkward at best. Folks is already gender neutral, so changing the “s” to an “x” is just weird. Additionally, women is a gendered word for a reason. Womxn very much gives the vibes of spaces for “women and nonbinary people” even though they’re really just talking about people assigned female at birth.

Language is complicated. Words serve a place in time, but times change. Maybe words and our use of them should as well.

15

16

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022

sports editors: Luisa Bertolli & Norah Lee

SPORTS BERKELEY HIGH JACKET

norahlee@students.berkeley.net

Coaches overlook importance of sleep

BY ZADA SANGER staff writer

The BHS football team charges the field with force from a cloud of blue smoke.

LEV TEIBLUM

BHS takes Huskies in Homecoming win

BY LEO SILVERBERG staff writer

A crowd, decked out in colorful flower necklaces, packed into the tropical Homecoming football game on the afternoon of Saturday, October 15 to watch the Berkeley High School Yellowjackets defeat the Washington Huskies in a 53-19 blowout.

There were many BHS football alumni in attendance, including Nathan Dahl, class of 1999. “(This) current excitement is something we didn’t have.

We didn’t have this number

of fans,” said Dahl, who saw over 10 of his teammates in the crowd during the game.

The Jackets came in off of a 27-23 win against Hayward, where they were labeled as a big underdog.

According to senior linebacker Elijah Dupaty, “Last game really brought us together as a team … we really stepped up from the past weeks and started building up like a program.”

Athletic Director Ross Parker brought up that the BHS football program was one of the best in the area 10 years ago, but has struggled since, until noticeable improvement this year.

Berkeley Unified School District Berkeley High Jacket 1980 Allston Way Berkeley, CA 94704

Non-Profit Org. US Postage Paid Oakland, CA Permit No. 8334

The animated student section cheers on, sporting leis.

AVA MUSSI

“This team has taken leaps and bounds,” he said.

The Jacket offense started slow. On their first drive, they failed to get a first down and were backed up near their own end zone.

However, their bold decision to fake a punt succeeded, converting a first down.

Soon after, sophomore BJ Thurman caught and ran for a 50 yard touchdown.

From then on, there was no slowing the team.

Star senior wide receiver Jackson Harris got an interception, and on the next play ran for a 60 yard touchdown. It seemed as though every time the ball was in his hands, no one could tackle him - he got five total touchdowns, including a kickoff return.

“I think he’s definitely the motivating factor of this team … I’m surprised he doesn’t have more attention, because holy … he’s good,” said starting center and junior Eli Moulton. The victory was a family affair as Jalen Harris, Jackson’s brother, also had a touchdown, and multiple long kickoff returns.

Junior quarterback Drew Henderson was accurate and precise throughout the whole game as well, and BHS cheer presented an exciting three-part halftime routine.

Coach David Perry praised the team’s character.

“They’re learning that when things get tough, you lean on your brothers and you lean on your teammates.”

The community leaned on each other during a solemn moment at halftime, when the game jersey of BHS class of 2017 linebacker Brandon Bailey, who passed away this summer, was presented to his mother Tanisha Wilder by Perry and Tiffany Sutherland, BHS cheer coach.

With generations of athletes and alumni behind them, and fresh energy this year, the team is reaching new heights. “We knew that we were going to be doubted by everyone, (this season),” Dupaty said postgame. “We come out on this field every day to show that we’re not the same old Berkeley, and that this year is a whole new team.”

For high school students, sleep is often sacrificed for homework, college applications, extracurriculars, and seeing friends. Despite a generally callous attitude towards sleep, it remains a crucial foundation to mental and physical well-being.

Student-athletes are especially affected. Long practices and late-night games can force these students into unhealthy sleeping habits. Berkeley High School junior and Long Beach State volleyball commit Preslie Yates said that, “A good night’s rest makes me more aware of my surroundings and faster to react.” Despite this, “coaches are not active in helping players prioritize sleep; my club team will hold practices until 10 o’clock at night during finals week,” said Yates.

BHS senior varsity soccer and volleyball player Amelie Haji said that “practices from six p.m. to eight p.m. don’t leave enough time for work to be done in between

school and practice, so I have to do all my homework when I get home at like nine.”

Interviews with 10 various BHS studentathletes showed an average of seven hours of sleep per night, from a range of three and a half to eight hours. Children’s Hospital recommends that teenagers get eight to ten hours of sleep per night to maximize overall health.

For adolescent studentathletes, nine to 10 hours are recommended.

Beyond the mental and physical tax on athletes, it is in the best interest of athletics programs to be involved in ensuring that players are able to have adequate rest, because their own success is dependent on it. Boardcertified psychiatrist Dr. Lex Denysenko, MD, asserted, “Poor sleep habits have been shown to increase exhaustion and injury in athletes, in addition to causing cognitive consequences resulting in poor reaction time and accuracy.” Sleep has too heavy an influence on health and well-being to continue to be ignored by coaches.

GWENDOLIN WEBER-STOVER

ATHLETE PROFILE

MEI SAPHIR

Camille Jacala is a junior at Berkeley High School, and captain of the girls varsity volleyball team. Jacala started playing volleyball at 13, inspired by her mother, who also played. She is a setter for both the BHS and her club team; the latter of which is where she coaches elementary school volleyball players in addition to playing. She hopes to remind them to have fun and reduce the pressure around the sport, while inspiring them to be passionate about volleyball and improve. She finds that her years in volleyball have helped develop her leadership skills. “I’ve grown in my ability to take initiative and be responsible,” she said, adding that “volleyball has helped me to have more selfawareness … and develop a strong worth ethic.” Beyond volleyball leadership, Jacala is president of the Asian Pacific Islanders Club, where she uses the skills she’s honed as captain and coach to empower the BHS community.

— Finola Jackson